The Monkey’s Paw Curls – Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Ranked is a Blessing and a Curse

Pokemon TCG Pocket came out just a little over five months ago, and it has already amassed a huge number of fans and in-game cards for players to collect, including the recent Shining Revelry expansion. The game is rapidly evolving and getting new features or even some changes based on fan feedback, such as Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s new trade policy for later this year. This is a good thing for an otherwise gacha-like mobile game, and the developers made sure to improve this further by adding free events and cards, as well as the new ranked mode. As much as ranked was a highly requested addition, it is far from perfect in its current iteration.

Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s new Shining Revelry set changed the meta quite a bit, introducing some powerful cards to deal with Ex critters, such as Red and Meowscarada, as well as more outliers like Giratina Ex and Wugtrio Ex. With this also came a sudden shift in terms of which decks are good to use in ranked, especially seeing how many layers of tiers there are for the game mode. Between the tier system, the rewards at the end of each season, the length of ranked seasons themselves, and more, the game mode is simultaneously great and not so much.

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Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Ranked Mode: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s ranked mode is divided into ranks and tiers, with each win awarding points and losses reducing them in higher ranks. The system works as follows:

• Beginner Rank (Tier 1 to 4, wins grant 10 points and losses don’t count)
• Poke Ball Rank (Tier 1 to 4, wins grant 10 points and losses reduce them by 5)
• Great Ball Rank (Tier 1 to 4, wins grant 10 points and losses reduce them by 5)
• Ultra Ball Rank (Tier 1 to 4, wins grant 10 points and losses reduce them by 5)
• Master Ball Rank (Wins grant 10 points and losses reduce them by 10)

The Cons of Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Ranked Mode Explained

This system is quite practical in theory, but it can be a bit of a grind in higher tiers due to the way meta decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket can disrupt game plans with RNG cards like Misty or Team Rocket Grunt, as well as how going first or second can change the outcome. With matches typically lasting between five and seven minutes for most players, going through tiers and ranks can take a very long time. This is far from ideal when factoring the fact that each ranked season lasts for one month, meaning fans would need to play a lot to reach higher ranks unless they go undefeated for long periods.

One phenomenon that players may run into when playing ranked is that they may get fewer “thanks” from opponents at the end of a match. This results in fewer Shop Tickets, which in turn results in fewer Hourglasses overall. It may not happen frequently, but there is a higher likelihood of it happening due to the more competitive nature of the mode.

On top of that, the rewards for ranked in Pokemon TCG Pocket are a mixed bag, in the sense that they are pretty good when it comes to quantity (awarding Hourglasses and an emblem based on the rank at the end of a season), but they are distributed after the season ends. As such, players can go without getting tangible rewards for their time for up to a month, which is far from ideal.

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The Pros of Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Ranked Mode Explained

Still, one can hypothetically get to Master Ball rank and settle there until the season ends, starting the new month with 100 Hourglasses to spend on booster packs. While it may be disappointing that even the highest tier doesn’t award enough Hourglasses for players to open 10 packs, it’s still a generous amount. Players can get from 10 to 25 Hourglasses in Beginner Rank, 30 to 45 in Poke Ball, 50 to 65 in Great Ball, and 75 to 90 in Ultra Ball. These are all good rewards for players, as they can help a lot with collecting Pokemon TCG Pocket sets, which can further boost their decks.

The game can even improve on the good of ranked by giving players small rewards upon reaching a new rank for the first time in a season, giving them a more immediate sense of achievement. Not only that, but extra Hourglasses can make up for the rather fast release schedule of new sets in Pokemon TCG Pocket, giving players time to build their collection before the month ends. However, this is not confirmed yet, and players will have to wait and see.

For now, though, ranked mode does offer a good way for players to test the limits of their decks – be it powerful tournament-winning decks or a homemade brew with meta calls, such as Meowscarada to deal with the many Ex decks out there while also surviving one attack from Giratina Ex and being immune to Red in Pokemon TCG Pocket. For now, the mode is in a good spot to receive further attention and updates, perfecting its formula and offerings, so there is hope that its issues will be resolved in the near future.

Systems

Released

October 30, 2024

Developer(s)

DeNA, Creatures Inc.