The Pokemon TCG Pocket Wonder Pick system lets players pick from another person's card pack, shuffling the cards around and letting you draw one of them… at a price. Wonder picking cards in TCGP is a very good way to fill out your deck, though you can often struggle against the randomisation element. Every time you Wonder Pick, not only do you use up a limited resource, but you have no guarantee that you'll draw any of the cards you want from that pick, if some of them aren't ones you want.
With that in mind, we'll explain the Wonder Pick system in Pokemon TCG Pocket below, including how it works, how you can get the most out of it, and if there's any way to guarantee a specific card from the Wonder Pick itself - it's how you can get some of the Pokemon TCG Pocket best cards, after all.
How to Wonder Pick in Pokemon TCG Pocket
The Pokemon TCG Pocket Wonder Pick system is how you can get the same cards as friends and other players. Here's how it works:
- From the Main Menu you can choose the Wonder Pick option. You'll be shown the results of recent packs that other players have opened, including your registered friends.
- By spending the gold "Wonder Stamina", you can choose to get one card from another player's card pack.
- The card you get is random, but the cost in Wonder Stamina is based on the highest rarity of the card in that pack (so you pay more for a chance to get any of the Pokemon TCG Pocket rare cards). You pay the higher cost no matter whether you actually pick a rare card or not.
- Potential Wonder Picks hang around for 3 hours before being replaced by another one. You can still choose expired Wonder Picks for a short time afterwards by spending a Rewind Watch, a consumable item, as well as the Wonder Stamina cost.
- Wonder Stamina restores at a rate of 1 Heart per 12 hours. You can restore a certain amount instantly by spending Wonder Hourglasses, which can be redeemed for one hour each.
It's a fairly simple system, but also arguably a pretty ruthless one. When a super rare card is an option, you can find yourself spending the higher costs in the hope that you get it, then find yourself drawing the common or just unhelpful card next to it. And once you've tried a Wonder Pick, you can't repeat that choice. You get one shot at each pack, and then you'll have to try others.
With that in mind, we recommend being fairly sparing with your Wonder Picks, to save them for the cards you really want, or when you see selections showing up with multiple cards you'd be happy to draw. The slow speed of recharge attached to Wonder Stamina means that you might see a better draw before you get that energy (or the required Hourglasses) to try it.
You should also make as many friends on Pokemon TCG Pocket as possible. You'll always have a random assortment of picks available, but having more friends broadens the pool of options you have at any one time. Plus, after a pick you can send a thanks to the player who generated it, which rewards them with a free Shop Token.
Can you draw specific cards in the Wonder Pick?
In early phases of Pokemon TCG Pocket some players were convinced that by carefully watching the shuffling of the cards in the Wonder Pick, you could track specific cards. However, we have recorded and slowed footage of the Wonder Pick in the current build and can sadly state that the shuffling animation bears no relation to where the five cards end up.
This means that even if you track the movements of the cards with your eye, they probably won't be the cards you expect. This is a random draw - and there's nothing any player can do to stop that.
How to restore Wonder Stamina and get Wonder Hourglasses
Stamina for the Wonder Pick is restored through Hourglasses and Gold Bars. Here's how you can get them back as fast as possible.
- You can get 12 Wonder Hourglasses and 2 Gold Bars by levelling up.
- You can buy Wonder Hourglasses in the Shop in exchange for Shop Tokens.
- Players get one free Wonder Hourglass per day in the Shop as part of the Daily Gifts package.
- Players can earn Wonder Hourglasses through missions and challenges, such as the Pokemon TCG Pocket Lapras ex event.
- And of course, you can buy Gold Bars for real money in the shop.
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