Pokémon Pocket's latest set is a very odd Ducklett indeed. Rather than bringing out a batch of new cards, the designers have given us a bunch of reprints. The 'deluxe pack ex' is a celebration of the first year of the game and a chance for players both old and new to catch up on their collection, picking up some ex cards and some important staples that they may have missed.
It also seems to be deeply unpopular, and could prove dire for the long-term health of the app.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the deluxe pack. I've been able to grab some important exs that I hadn't even realized I was missing, and shore up those I only had one copy of. And if I hadn't used trading to pick up the important trainers I was missing, this set would've been invaluable to me on that front too.
It's got some good chase cards as well, with shiny versions of perennial big hitters Darkrai and Giratina, and a full art Professor Oak which, like the golden Pokéball card, you'll be able to play in every single deck.
There are definitely some negatives too, with strange choices by the devs that are annoying for fans with a completionist mindset. For instance, why does every non-ex card in set have both a shiny and a regular version? This just bloats the cardpool and makes it harder to pick up everything.
Even more baffling is the fact that if you open up a reprint you were missing in the deluxe set, it doesn't fill in its earlier slot in your binder. This doesn't mean anything for gameplay of course, but given that the whole point of the deluxe pack ex set is to let players collect cards they were missing, it's deeply unsatisfying that it still leaves you with these glaring blank spaces in your Pokédex.
For me these are minor issues, but judging from the amount of complaining I've seen online, they're deal breakers for some fans.
More worrying to me is the fact that this set is sticking around until the end of October. This might come across as hypocritical, since I was just humming and hawing about the rapid release schedule, but two months between new card sets leaves a lot time for Pocket's simple meta to grow totally stagnant. I don't know if I have it in me to go through another 30 days of Suicune/Greninja games.
A combination of a stale meta and a set that the most established players seem content to more or less skip could see more fans taking a hiatus from Pokémon Pocket than ever. The people I know IRL are taking a break, and online I'm seeing fans calling this set an 'off-ramp' for them. Could the deluxe set be sounding the death knell for the game?
The deciding factor will be how exciting the Mega Evolution set launching on October 30 will be. This looks to be a huge set, comparable in size to Genetic Apex, and I've a feeling it's going to bring many fans back into the fold. Personally, I'm just happy to have a reason to save my hourglasses for the next release.
What do you think of the latest Pokémon Pocket release? Come join the conversation on the Wargamer Discord. And if you follow the physical TCG as well, you may find our guide to every Pokémon TCG set - or just the newest Pokémon set - a handy resource.