I’ve got a serious love-hate relationship with Pokemon TCG Pocket. It stands as my top pick for mobile games released this year. The game brilliantly captures the essence of the physical trading card game and transforms it into a captivating virtual collectathon. Yet, it has also awakened a part of me I thought I’d left behind at 21—a version of me that harbors a fiery dislike for strangers worldwide.
This game keeps me glued to the screen at 2 AM, even though staying up that late has long lost its appeal. I go to bed annoyed, and that annoyance seems to linger, haunting me the next morning as I sip my coffee and mull over Mewtwo EX decks, wondering how reliant some players are on them. This isn’t a mark of a poorly designed game. Quite the reverse—only a truly exceptional game can grip you emotionally like this.
A while back, we wrote about the need for a competitive ranked match system within the game—something to truly test your mettle against trainers across the globe. While what’s been added isn’t exactly what we envisioned, it does spark that competitive spirit. Initially, a basic PvP mode offered rewards for wins, and more recently, a mode has emerged requiring consecutive victories. This latter addition has absolutely hooked me.
It’s an ideal setup to experience the peaks and valleys of the meta. There’s a universal rush within the community to assemble the ultimate deck before new cards shake things up again. It’s a bit like celebrating the victors of the game’s version 1.0—decks like the greedy Charizard EX or the nefarious Mewtwo EX deck, not to mention the cunning Starmie/Articuno EX with Misty. As I write this, we’ve recently seen a new basic PvP event along with the Mythical Island pack, which means these formidable decks plus the current Deck of the Month, Celebi EX, are back in action and causing headaches.
The developers truly deserve the acclaim they’re receiving. While the popularity of the Pokemon franchise and card game certainly helps, they’ve crafted a game with broad appeal, engaging players across various skill levels by sprinkling in events to keep everyone, including more seasoned players, engaged. This approach, I believe, is why so many are still excited to open packs. It’s irresistibly addictive.
With fresh cards on the horizon, I can confidently say I’m deeply engrossed in this game. I initially tried the premium pass free trial upon its release—a savvy move on their part—and I have no plans to cancel that subscription any time soon. In my view, it’s money well spent. How else am I supposed to acquire the cards needed to tackle top-tier decks in a pitch-black room during the wee hours of the morning?
