It Takes Almost 2 Years to Complete Just the First Pokémon TCG Pocket Set, Unless You Spend Money

A Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket player has calculated just how long it takes to complete the first set, Genetic Apex, and those not looking to spend any money can expect to be collecting ’em all for towards two years.

Kotaku spotted a Reddit post from TCGPCollector, who broke down how different methods of collecting resulted in different completion times, revealing that the most optimal way to collect the 286 Genetic Apex cards without spending money will take 655 days.

Those put off by the huge amount of time, which requires players to log in every single day and always have access to a card they need in the often unreliable Wonder Pick feature, can take solace in knowing this number includes the 60 alternate art cards not included in the regular numbered set (which totals 226 cards).

It also doesn’t take into consideration the incoming (but currently undated) trading feature, which will allow players to pick up those last few cards much easier than using the otherwise random odds. Those paying $9.99 a month for the Premium Pass can collect all cards in 437 days, though the subscription would add up to almost $150 in this time.

Those not desperate to collect every alternate art card, identifiable by their artwork expanding beyond the normal borders to cover the entire card, can do so in just 130 days, or 87 with the Premium Pass. Developer Creatures Inc. will presumably release a new set of 200 to 300 cards every three or four months, so those playing every day should just about be able to complete one before another comes out.

Pokémon TCG Pocket, like many other free-to-play mobile games with microtransactions, floods players with dozens of packs on their first day as they complete simple quests and gain large amounts of experience. But this generosity soon dries up as the option to pay real money for packs is waved in front of players, and those not willing to spend can open one new pack just every 12 hours. The Premium Pass lets players open one extra pack a day.

TCGPCollector also provided some tips on how players can optimize their collecting, recommending that Wonder Picks only be used to collect 2 Star rarity cards. Pokémon TCG Pocket cards are classified by rarity, with the standard 226 ranging from 1 Diamond to 4 Diamond.

The 60 alternate art cards range from 1 Star to 3 Stars, followed by three super special gold background Crown cards. Regular alternate arts are 1 Star, ex Pokémon are 2 Star, and the special immersive cards with fully animated artwork are 3 Star.

The most efficient way to collect cards is therefore only to pick out alternate art ex Pokémon in Wonder Picks, though it’s far from guaranteed one will appear in the regularly rotating spots.

Elsewhere, players should only use Pack Points to obtain the 3 Star and Crown cards. These are the points players acquire for opening regular booster packs, obtained at the rate of five per pack. Cards at 3 Star cost 1,500 points, demanding the opening of 300 packs, and Crown cards cost 2,500 points, meaning 500 packs.

It will obviously take a long time to get there, but TCGPCollector is essentially recommending players play the long game and not be tempted to exchange Pack Points for cheap cards they’ll come across in booster packs eventually.

Finally, the last recommendation implores players not to use Poké Gold to buy packs, noting that the Premium Pass and, again, a little patience, is a much better way to spend money. Spending $9.99 on a Poké Gold bundle instead of the Premium Pass, for example, would allow players to open just nine packs compared to the 30 accrued over the course of a month.

Even the best shop bundle, which grants 690 Poké Gold for $99.99, grants just 115 packs and therefore averages out at 87 cents per pack. This is much more than the 33 cents per pack average from the Premium Pass.

This financial logic isn’t enough to stop many, many players from buying bundles of Poké Gold, of course. Pokémon TCG Pocket pulled in a whopping $12 million in its first four days, so the simple routine of opening packs, collecting cards, building decks, and battling others is certainly enticing enough to open the purse strings of players.

The digital, streamlined version of the traditional Pokémon Trading Card Game is keeping players entertained in other ways, with Creatures Inc. having already launched two events including one that allows players to win a Lapras ex.

Players may otherwise want to keep an eye out from cards from the two decks currently dominating the Pokémon TCG Pocket meta, headlined by usual suspects Charizard ex and Mewtwo ex. Those who love a conspiracy theory can also discover what some players think is the best way to obtain such cards.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.