How to Pay-to-Win Are Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Battles?

What makes a game pay-to-win? Simply put, it’s when META-affecting features or items are locked behind a paywall. In the case of Pokemon TCG Pocket, all cards can be unlocked through gameplay, assuming you’re lucky enough. However, it’s difficult to completely rule out the possibility of Pocket being a pay-to-win title. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have a history of providing unfair advantages to players willing to spend money, making Pokemon TCG Pocket a potential candidate for this strategy.

This post explores every paid aspect of Pocket’s content and analyzes whether the game’s premium features can create an imbalance in the metagame favoring paying players.

Is Pokemon TCG Pocket Pay-to-Win?

Microtransactions in Pokemon TCG Pocket speed up the card acquisition process, which can contribute to winning matches. However, the game features two RNG-based mechanics that favor free-to-play players: acquisition randomness and card draws.

Even if you pay to open more packs, there’s no guarantee you’ll pull META cards, and even if you do, you may not draw them at the right moment during a match.

Pokemon TCG Pocket is a skill-based strategic game, so simply having a collection of ultra-rare characters won’t guarantee victory unless you’re skilled at using them. In this sense, the gameplay does not inherently promote a pay-to-win model.

However, like any gacha game, Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s microtransactions facilitate faster progression, which can negatively impact the metagame. While free-to-play players take a long time to unlock essential cards, premium players can complete the entire Pokedex in under a week. Therefore, their decks will consistently be more advanced.

What Type of Paid Content Is in Pokemon TCG Pocket?

Pokemon TCG Pocket’s in-game store primarily focuses on cosmetics, which don’t lead to any pay-to-win consequences. However, it also includes two premium features, the Season Pass and Poke Gold, both of which allow players to open more card packs.

To mitigate paid exploitation, the game limits the daily usage of Poke Gold to 720, equating to 120 paid packs per day. This restriction can still enable whales—players who spend significantly on microtransactions—to gain an advantage and potentially dominate the metagame.

F2P and P2W Content Comparison

• Average number of F2P packs per month: 80
• Average number of premium players’ packs per month: 205

By spending $110 monthly in Pokemon TCG Pocket, you can open 205 packs and acquire up to 1,025 cards. Here’s the breakdown: you pay $10 for the Premium Pass, which grants you 30 extra packs each month on top of the free 60 packs. Additionally, purchasing the $100 Poke Gold bundle gives you 690 Gold, allowing you to open 115 more packs.

In contrast, free-to-play players receive 60 free packs per month (2 per day) and can generally earn about 20 additional packs by completing missions and event objectives. This totals around 80 free packs, resulting in approximately 400 cards per month.

Looking at the above numbers, progression through Pokemon TCG Pocket’s paid elements is about 60% faster than that of free-to-play content, creating a significant gap in a game focused on card collection.

Purchasing additional card packs with Poke Gold is more expensive than acquiring them through the Premium Pass. However, the benefit is a shorter cooldown, allowing players to open up to 120 packs a day, compared to just three packs a day with the Premium Pass.

Can Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Paid Content Affect PvP?

Technically, all META cards necessary for winning Pokemon TCG Pocket’s battles can be obtained through free-to-play features: Daily pulls, Pack Points, Wonder Pick, and Hourglasses. No PvP-essential content is locked behind a paywall.

However, since paid players progress much faster, they have a better chance of accessing strong cards like the EX versions of top Pokemon, which can impact the metagame.

Fortunately, there seems to be no RNG favoring premium players; free-to-play players have the same chance of pulling EX cards as paying players. So, if you’ve been fortunate enough to build a META deck using free packs, you need not worry about competing against paid players.

If you plan to play as a free-to-play player, make sure to take advantage of

Pokemon TCG Pocket
’s reroll exploit
at the beginning. This strategy allows you to start the game with multiple rare and EX cards, helping you progress more quickly.