5 ways to prepare for Day 1 of Pokemon TCG Pocket's release

Pokemon TCG Pocket launches globally on October 30, 2024. The latest mobile game in the Pokemon franchise aims to give fans a full trading card experience on a virtual platform. Not only can players compete in matches against one another using custom decks, but collecting and trading cards is also incentivized.

Some players may be wondering how they can make the most out of Pokemon TCG Pocket's early days. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when playing the game straight away upon release.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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5 ways players can get the most out of Pokemon TCG Pocket on Day 1

1) Buy the Premium Pass

Pokemon TCG Pocket's Premium Pass grants an additional daily booster pack (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Like a lot of games, Pokemon TCG Pocket offers a Battle Pass that players can purchase once per season for the opportunity to earn better rewards from gameplay. This title's Premium Pass also grants an extra free booster pack every 12 hours. This gives players an extra two booster packs per day, in addition to the two every user receives.

Getting the Premium Pass early ensures players get the most value from this offer, making it easier to collect every card in the first expansion or build the perfect deck.

Thankfully, every player who gets TCG Pocket will have two weeks of the Premium Pass for free, but it will cost around $10 afterwards.

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2) Open as many packs as possible

Judging from the open test in New Zealand, players should get plenty of opportunities to open card packs (Image via DeNA)

Pack Hourglasses are valuable items that players can earn by completing various missions in Pokemon TCG Pocket. One of these items speeds up the timer for opening a free booster pack by an hour.

The New Zealand open test revealed that many initial missions that players receive upon making their account reward them with Pack Hourglasses.

Pack Hourglasses pair great with the free Premium Pass all early players receive, as the bonus booster pack is given every time the standard pack recharges. With this combination, players can quickly acquire a large number of cards, with likely duplicates that can be used for converting into resources or traded to another player.

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3) Learn about Poke Gold

Pokemon TCG Pocket offers a premium currency (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Like many online games, Pokemon TCG Pocket has a premium currency that players can get from leveling up or by buying them with real money. Poke Gold can be exchanged for special accessories for the player's deck and profile. It can also be used to speed up the timer for opening booster packs.

Poke Gold can be purchased, with the lowest option being 5 Poke Gold for $1 USD. It will likely be very easy to earn this currency during the first few levels of a user's profile.

Those interested in cosmetic items may want to look at the shop before using their Poke Gold strictly for speeding up booster packs.

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4) Make use of Pack Points

TCG Pocket grants players Pack Points with each pack opened (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon TCG Pocket features a resource that can be used for making other cards. In this game, it is referred to as a Pack Point.

Players can earn Pack Points by opening booster packs and converting cards they do not want. They can spend their Pack Points to make any card they want, with the required amount scaling with the rarity.

Since it is so easy for new users to open multiple booster packs in one sitting, they will quickly be able to generate Pack Points, which are especially handy for those trying to build a perfect deck.

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5) Quickly stack Shinedust

Players can add cosmetic effects to their cards with Shinedust (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Players can equip special cosmetic effects to their cards using duplicate copies and a new resource called Shinedust.

Shinedust is collected every time a duplicate card is pulled from a pack. Players can convert their duplicates into more Shinedust, but this might not be the best idea.

Converting a couple of duplicates into Shinedust when the user is so close to a goal may sound tempting. However, the amount of Shinedust players receive per duplicate scales with the amount of duplicates of a given card that they have. For example, if players keep their five copies of Bulbasaur, they will get more Shinedust upon pulling their sixth if they kept the other copies.