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Following its late 2024 launch, Pokémon TCG Pocket maintained a predictable schedule. Every few weeks, the handheld trading card game grows with new expansion sets, unveiling many of fresh collectibles that shake up the battle scene and offer users fresh targets. However for its one-year birthday, Pokémon TCG Pocket introduced an update that largely does neither.

Defying the Usual Pattern

The Deluxe Pack: ex pack, released on Sept. 30, disregards pretty much all the common guidelines for a new TCG Pocket update.

Usually, a regular TCG Pocket expansion contains dozens of fresh additions in its roster, distributed via a couple of expansion boxes. This latest set features a massive hundreds of entries in its single-booster pack, but nearly all of them have been featured in previously released sets. Importantly, when you acquire a card from Deluxe Pack: ex, it counts toward your new set roster, but not toward the set from which it came.

Imagine you’re still missing Lugia ex from the Wisdom of Sea and Sky. If you get it from opening a new set pack, it’ll remain absent from your original set.

Adjustments to Reward System

There's more. Historically, opening a expansion provides a handful of items. Each latest acquisition only includes a smaller set, though the balance there is that each pack is promised to have at least one card rated at four-diamond rarity or more exclusive — suggesting you have an almost certain likelihood of acquiring a special edition or a strong battle card.

Yet the primary concern is that the pack itself is temporary and will become unavailable as of the end of October. Expansions have not been temporary throughout TCG Pocket’s first year, and while these items remain available the app — many are still obtainable in alternative packs — the looming expiration date creates pressure on players working to finish their latest inventory.

Problems with Game Points

Making things worse is the existence of virtual points, an game resource earned by acquiring expansions. The currency can be applied solely for expansions in the release you collected them through. Developers stated in a announcement that “Accumulated points won't expire even if the availability window for that set finishes,” but if the set is going away, so, how are you supposed to use those points after Oct. 30?

Fan Reactions

These changes represents what many players view as a giant middle finger — especially to those who focus solely for the whole “gotta catch ‘em all” thing. If you avoid competitive play and focus exclusively on TCG Pocket for building a collection, by opening the complimentary offerings, it is practically unlikely to obtain all the cards in the latest set before it ends. Assuming you didn't obtain the same card twice, getting a handful of items per opening at a frequency of two packs per 24-hour period falls far short to the 353 mark. It requires use real-money options or challenge-based time-saving items to get there. Moreover, that’s presuming you’re exclusively getting unowned collectibles; the real odds for some cards all but ensure the probability for completion are vanishingly slim.

Ongoing apps are known for benefiting paying users over those who avoid spending, but a number of budget TCG Pocket fans claim the Deluxe Pack: ex expansion makes it worse — and they are vocal in expressing discontent.

“The new pack is ruining the experience of aiming for full sets and might be an off-ramp out of the game for collectors,” one self-described non-spending user said in a widely shared message on the game’s dedicated subreddit.

Reacting, some players mentioned that the set is indeed a way to collect needed entries, but the prevailing opinion is that cards obtained through this expansion should apply to the rosters they previously belonged to, rather than remain siloed in a separate but duplicative Deluxe Pack: ex collection.

Menu Problems

Additional users have taken umbrage with how the new release has changed team creation for the battle system. While many entries are copies of previously released cards, TCG Pocket recognizes them as fresh additions obtained through the newest release. If you attempt to build a new deck, by standard, TCG Pocket will display items from the newest expansion initially. Thus in light of the new set, this essentially means your latest acquisitions are often a group you previously obtained. This isn’t just a annoying issue to the organization of the interface; it additionally makes it harder to see, in a timeline view, which cards were popular during which competitive phases.

“This set has flaw after flaw with the expansion,” one user stated in a Reddit post addressing the concern. The top response? “The expansion is absolutely a dumpster fire.”

Community Mockery

Meanwhile, a online thread reposting the developer's statement about the in-game currency has sparked a series of mocking replies. Several players suggested that the developers will provide a limited quantity of Shinedust — an virtual item commonly viewed as useless among the community — as recompense for the frustration, as has occurred before. Additional users mocked that “players should continue our premium subscription immediately.” By and large, the majority of users request the adoption of cross-expansion currency — that is, resources you’d collect from a single set could work with <