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Pokemon TCG Pocketis a card-collecting game where you can amass a collection of beautiful Pokemon cards. Once you’ve built up your collection, you can build a variety of decks using 20 cards, then battle other players or challenge NPC trials.
With so many cards, decks, and cosmetic options, it can be difficult to know where to start or what to focus on first. Luckily, that’s where we come in. Below, we’ll take a look at several tips for beginners to Pokemon TCG Pocket to help you start your new journey.
Focus On One Pack Type
Every 12 hours, you can openone card pack for free, but you can keep opening packs as long as you havePack Hourglasses. There are three different packs to choose from in the Genetic Apex expansion: Mewtwo, Charizard, and Pikachu. It may sound like a good idea to pull from a mixture of all three types, but it’s actually better tofocus on just one.
The reason for this is that each pack type has a different set of cards, and to build a viable deck, you’ll oftenneed two of each card you want to include. This means to get all the cards you’ll need for potential decks, you’ll want tofocus on only opening cards from that pack type, at least until you get the cards you need.
Save Up Pack Points
Every time you open a pack, you’ll getfive Pack Points, which you can then spend at the Pack Point Exchange forany card of your choosing. Of course, the rarer the card, the more Pack Points it costs to buy it. We recommendsaving up your Pack Points to buy an EX cardyou need to complete a deck, or rarethree or four-diamond cards.
From the Pack Point Exchange, if you select a card, you can alsoadd it to your Wishlist. Wishlisted cards that show up in Wonder Pick options will bemarked with a heartto conveniently help you decide where to spend your Wonder Stamina.
Build Your First Deck
After you’ve collected enough cards, you’ll want to startcrafting your first competitive deck. If you’re brand new to Pokemon TCG, you may be lost during this step, without the knowledge of competitive meta, which cards are good, which cards go into a deck, and so on.
Luckily, you have a few options to help you craft your first deck. The first is tolook them up online; there are tons of resources from other players about good decks and budget options that will help you decide where to start.
Alternatively, you may try collecting the cards from thepre-made Themed Decks, which offer decent starting options. You can find these decks in theDeck Missions tab, where you can see which 20 cards you need to complete them.
Fill Out Themed Collections
Themed Collectionsare a special type of mission that involvescollecting groups of specific cards. For example, the First Choice Themed Collection requires you to collect any Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle card. Completing a Themed Collection willreward you with currencylike Wonder Hourglasses, Shop Tickets, and Emblem Tickets.
Working towards completing Themed Collections is a good way tostock up on some extra currency, especially for Themed Collections that reward you with Hourglasses.
Get Missing Cards From Wonder Pick
Wonder Picklets you pick a random card fromanother player’s recently opened pack. Every card has anequal 20 percent chanceto be chosen, but the cost of picking from a pack varies depending on the rarity of the cards it selects from.
In selections that include one or more rare cards, you’ll have to spend three, four, or five Wonder Stamina at a time, and you’re stillnot guaranteed to get the card you want. This means you’ll want toweigh the pros and cons of each Wonder Pick selectionbefore you spend your Stamina on it, as itrecovers much more slowly than Pack Staminadoes.
If you may deal with the potential pain of losing an RNG roll, it may be a good idea touse Wonder Pick exclusively to get EX cards. Even at a 20 percent chance, this isone of the best ways to get these cards, as they are rare when opening packs yourself and cost quite a bit in the Pack Point Exchange.
Set Up And Share Binders
After reaching level six, you canmake your own Binders. These arecustom collectionsfilled with cards of your choosing, allowing you to showcase your collection. Binders have a Cover andany 30 cards from your collection you want to include. you’re able to also add tags such as Holo Cards, Favorite Illustrations, EX Pokemon, and so on.
If youmake your Binder visible to the Public, you’re able to alsoreceive likes from other players. For every like you get, you’ll getone Shop Ticket, up tofive times a day. You can also get likes if someone Thanks you after using your Wonder Pick, or after a Versus battle.
Sharing your Binder is a great way tobuild up Shop Tickets every day, which can then be spent onextra Pack Hourglasses or Wonder Hourglasses.
Upgrade Cards With Shinedust
As you open more and more packs, you’re bound to getduplicate copies of cards you already own. Luckily, these don’t need to go to waste, as you can use duplicates and a little bit ofShinedusttoadd a Flair to your cards.
Shinedust can be earnedevery time you level uporobtain a duplicate card.
The number of duplicate cards and Shinedust you need to add a Flairdepends on the rarity of the card. Adding a Flair hasno mechanical advantage; it doesn’t necessarily make the card stronger, but it does make itstand out more in battle.
Additionally, the more you upgrade the Flair of your card, themore intense the effect will become, and you can even getunique effectslike fireballs raining across the card, musical notes dancing around, twinkling colored lights, and many more.