How Much Does It Really Cost To Complete Pokémon TCG's First Set?

Nintendo ADR‘s NTDOY Pokémon TCG Pocket, a mobile game that combines the collectible card game experience with a free-to-play model, has made waves with its pricing structure.

Gamer and Reddit user Weens4Life has shared how they spent $1,500 to complete the Genetic Apex set—a task that involved opening 1,741 booster packs to obtain all the cards, according to IGN.

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The set, which contains 286 cards, includes 226 base cards and 60 alternate art “secret” cards that are much harder to get. While completing the base set of 226 cards cost about $200, collecting the alternate art cards was far more expensive. Weens4Life spent between $500 and $700 just to collect the final three alternate art cards.

“It was worth it to me,”said Weens4Life. But he added: “For future packs I will only be collecting the base set though.”

The Free-To-Play Grind

While the game is free to play, the rewards are not easy to come by. In the beginning, players receive many booster packs, but the amount drops off quickly. Eventually, players can only earn two packs per day during lulls between events. For players who want to progress faster, spending money is almost necessary.

Weens4Life used the Wonder Pick feature to get more cards, but this method offers only a 20% chance to pull a desired card, making it an unreliable choice.

They ended up opening 8,582 packs, which included 129 Slowpoke cards and nine rare Mewtwo cards. Despite the large number of packs, they never pulled a "god pack," a rare event where players get a full set of the most coveted cards in one go.

Future Sets And Continuous Content

Creatures Inc., the developer behind Pokémon TCG Pocket, plans to keep the game fresh with more card sets. The company has confirmed that a smaller card drop is coming in December, followed by a full set in January.

This means that players who completed Genetic Apex will face another round of card collecting, and those still working through the set will have new cards to chase.

In its first three weeks, the game earned $120 million and had 30 million downloads after just nine days.

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