The latest installment of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, titled Shining Revelry, has just hit the shelves. However, players may face significant challenges in trying to complete their collections due to a particular aspect of the Wonder Pick mechanics. Featuring 72 new cards alongside an assortment of Secret Rare cards, this recent set also introduces Shiny Pokémon cards as a novel category of secret rares. A total of 14 distinct Shiny Pokémon cards are part of this release, yet players’ ability to collect them is hindered.
Reports from Reddit indicate that Shiny Pokémon cards do not make an appearance in Wonder Picks, primarily due to the classification of their rarity. Since Shiny cards are categorized with a higher rarity than 2-Star, any pack containing a Shiny Pokémon card will not be included in the Wonder Pick selections. Consequently, players can only acquire the Shiny Pokémon cards in Shining Revelry by opening the actual packs.
PSA: 1 and 2 Rainbow (shinies) are flagged as PackSharingPrevent by u/ShaDis_255 in PTCGP
The Impact of Wonder Pick Rules on Shining Revelry
Increased Ineligibility of Shining Revelry Packs
Historically, Pokémon TCG Pocket has excluded packs containing Immersive Rare or Gold Rare cards from the Wonder Pick pool. Consequently, all packs that feature Shiny Pokémon cards are also eliminated from Wonder Picks since they exceed the 2-Star rarity threshold. In fact, approximately 5% of the packs in Shining Revelry are ineligible for Wonder Picks, a noticeable increase compared to just 1.1% for prior sets.
Wonder Picks are instrumental for collectors aiming to obtain secret rare cards. While players have a 20% chance to secure a specific secret rare from a Wonder Pick, the odds of pulling a 1-Star or 2-Star card through traditional booster pack openings are only around 15%. The challenge is amplified in Shining Revelry, as this set features a significantly larger number of cards that cannot be obtained via Wonder Picks, complicating the collection process.
Challenges in Collecting Shiny Pokémon Cards
Potential Trading Restrictions for Shiny Pokémon
The exclusion of Shiny Pokémon from Wonder Picks suggests that similar restrictions may apply to other collection-enhancing features like trading. In fact, trading functionalities in Pokémon TCG Pocket are limited to 2-Star cards or lower. Since the game has not expanded its trading capabilities since its launch, it is likely Shiny Pokémon trades will also face restrictions.
Players looking to collect all Shiny Pokémon cards must open about 308 packs of Shining Revelry to accumulate the necessary Pack Points. The only exception is the Shiny Mewtwo card, available for direct purchase with real money. Regular Shiny Pokémon cards require 1,000 Pack Points, while Shiny Pokémon ex cards demand 1,350 Pack Points, making these cards noticeably harder to collect than traditional 2-Star secret rare cards, though somewhat less costly than immersive art cards.
The Reality of God Packs in Shining Revelry
High Ineligibility Rate for Shining Revelry God Packs
Furthermore, players will likely find it challenging to procure the so-called God Packs for Shining Revelry via Wonder Picks as well. God Packs, known for containing solely high-rarity cards, are usually available unless they include Gold Rare or Immersive Art Rare cards.
However, an alarming over 35% of these God Packs will feature at least one Shiny Pokémon card, which leads to more than one in three God Packs being excluded from the Wonder Pick selection. For comparison, earlier sets like Triumphant Light saw only about 9% of God Packs containing ineligible cards.
On a positive note, Pokémon TCG Pocket has designed its secret missions to reflect the increased difficulty in collecting Shiny Pokémon cards. Instead of needing a complete set of Shiny cards, the missions now require players to gather any one Shiny card, divided across six objectives (three for standard Shiny Pokémon and three for Shiny Pokémon ex).
The reality remains that, due to Pokémon TCG Pocket’s implementation of its new Shiny Rarity system, completing the entire Shining Revelry set will require considerable financial investment. Similar patterns may be observed with other sets in the TCG, where players used to manage a significant part of their collections without excessive expenses. The new limitations undermine this balance and pose a challenge for Pokémon TCG Pocket enthusiasts.
Source: Reddit