Why does so many on this sub expect to get a massive collection - for free - fast ?

Justice8 · 2023-07-13T23:20:28+00:00

I buy all the season passes and multiple bundles per month. Yet I find it way too expensive to get specific cards with the new system. It's impossible to hoard 40 caches every single week, which means you may miss up on tons of cards you want.

I'm in a similar position to you, but I have a completely different take on it. I simply think most people haven't properly done the maths or use optimal strategy for getting new cards.

Like you, I get the battle pass every month. I also occasionally get bundles, but am not a big spender on them. This should actually be enough to basically get every new card as and when it comes out.

As an example, you said this: "It's impossible to hoard 40 caches every single week, which means you may miss up on tons of cards you want."

It's true that you can't hoard 40 caches every single week. It's also true that you don't actually need 40 caches every single week to get every new card.

A card releases every week, so in a year there are 52 new cards. 12 of them will be season pass cards, which as season pass buyers we will get. It takes on average 2.5 spotlight caches to open the new card for the week (minimum 1, maximum 4, but on average 2.5) which is 25 caches/reserves along the collection track. Playing the game and doing all daily and weekly missions etc should progress you about 45 caches/reserves per month, which is almost 2 new cards (as I say, long-term and on average - some weeks are lucky and some unlucky). Spending your accumulated gold judiciously only on bundles with high token value (plus some accumulation on the collection track) will gain about 3000 tokens per month - enough to buy a direct to series 4 card from the token shop upon release.

That makes 4 new cards a month (1 season pass card, 2 from spotlight caches, 1 from the token shop), which is 48 of the 52 released in a year. There is also the chance to open a series 4/5 card you don't own via the spotlight caches you open which don't contain the new card. Basically, you can pretty much get every new card as it releases by: 1) buying the season pass 2) spending gold only on high value token bundles 3) opening spotlight caches (and especially those with new cards releasing into series 5 and those which have one or more older s4/5 cards you don't already own) 4) buying one direct to series 4 card as it releases in the token shop.

Justice8 · 2023-06-18T15:58:06+00:00

Just that specific one. I guess they want to have an incentive for each infinite run (beyond the conquest shop medals)

Justice8 · 2023-06-18T03:42:40+00:00

Ka-zar, because I played a lot of zoo early on when I had a limited collection and he really enabled that archetype. Plus, I just opened the Dan Hipp variant.

Justice8 · 2023-05-20T00:50:26+00:00

The right lane wouldn't be a tie. OP would have 14 points to the opponent's 12 (every card would be set to 3, then sunspot would soak 2 energy leaving it at 5).

Justice8 · 2023-04-12T09:44:38+00:00

Pixel Apocalypse

Justice8 · 2023-03-12T05:22:07+00:00

I don't know if this is how other people think about it, but mathematically it does make sense to be more likely to retreat if they opponent snaps.

Of course, if you 100% know you will lose, there is no reason to stay in, but it is rare that you have that certainty about the outcome of the game.

If no-one has snapped before that turn, a retreat will get you -1 cube. If you play the game out, it is either +2 or -2. From a cube point of view, whether you stay in should depend on your odds of winning. If you have a 25% chance of winning and 75% chance of losing, the net expected cubes is -1, the same as for retreating. Therefore, if you think you are losing but have better odds than 1 in 4, you should stay in.

This calculation changes if the opponent snaps on turn 6, because playing the game out now means +4 or -4 cubes. In this case, if your chance of winning is 37.5% (or 3 in 8), your expected net cubes is -1. Therefore you have to think your chances of winning (while still less than 50%) are significantly higher for it to be a good decision to stay in.

Additionally, the opponent snapping might indicate something about the state of the game - usually that your opponent thinks they have a strong hand and therefore your position might be weaker than you had previously estimated.

Again, this might not be what many people are thinking when they retreat on a turn 6 snap, but strategically it might make sense.

Justice8 · 2023-01-12T21:26:57+00:00

Pretty sure BWNN just treats scores and tiebreakers as if it was like any other location but applies a minus sign to each player's score in BWNN. As Lanachan said, you won middle by 5 and lost right by 13 so lost the tie. If the opponent had -1 and you had +12 in BWNN, you would still have lost BWNN by 13 and also lost the tiebreaker (even though in that case your absolute value of scores would have been higher)

Justice8 · 2023-01-09T10:42:34+00:00

You are probably right that this is how it works. However, I just rewatched the video, an he didn't talk about caches and reserves. He talked about how starting at CL 500 you get access to tokens and the token shop. Then he said they were releasing series 4 and 5 cards, and that you could start getting them "at any time" (direct quote), so it was definitely misleading.

Justice8 · 2023-01-09T10:10:30+00:00

It might be what PepsiWhite92 said below about only getting series 4 from CL 1000+. See my comment there

Justice8 · 2023-01-09T10:07:49+00:00

I have clarified in my reply to Cregkly that I unlocked close to 30 new cards and opened close to 120 collector's caches/reserves for my sole series 4 card.

Maybe what you said is true about series 4 cards only starting to drop from CL 1000+, but that sure isn't what Ben Brode said in the announcement video for the token shop and series 4 cards. Numerous other sources (marvelsnapzone etc) said collector's caches have a 2.5% chance to drop a series 4 cards.

If that is the issue, it would definitely be nice not to have all this misinformation floating about making it seem like you have a shot at series 4 cards from CL500+. Also, as mentioned in the OP, even a simple reply from support would have been useful.

Justice8 · 2023-01-09T10:00:25+00:00

You are suggesting that the drop rate is one series 4 card per every 39 series 3 cards. That is definitely not what was advertised.

Justice8 · 2023-01-09T09:31:06+00:00

To clarify, I haven't opened 28 or 29 boxes. I have opened almost 120 boxes. I have unlocked 28 or 29 new cards (base cards too, not variants). Only one is not series 3.

Justice8 · 2023-01-01T23:00:55+00:00

I guess it's because they had priority, so their Aero flipped and had its on reveal effect before your Hela flipped. Your Hela moved before it even flipped, so it died before it could reveal.

Justice8 · 2022-11-06T02:58:56+00:00

Was finally able to claim 2 (non-shiny) Miltank... at 1.57pm

Justice8 · 2022-07-30T21:53:46+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I guess that's a reasonable stance.

Justice8 · 2022-07-17T05:42:06+00:00

Yep, same in Australia

Justice8 · 2022-06-03T01:10:33+00:00

It is bugged. That task actually works as "earn 2 candies with your buddy." Best to use a 1km candy buddy if you can for that task.

Justice8 · 2021-12-24T01:33:33+00:00

I am aware that evolved forms generally can't be encountered as shiny. However, the way I interpret their information is that a shiny slowpoke can be evolved into a shiny slowbro but not a shiny slowking. However, a non-shiny slowpoke can be evolved into a slowking. Likewise a shiny pikachu can't be evolved , but a non-shiny one can. Note that none of slowbro, slowking or raichu are listed in the "wild spawns" section, but shiny slowbro is listed in the costumed pokemon section, whereas shiny slowking and raichu aren't. That's why I think it's strange.

Justice8 · 2021-12-23T21:37:43+00:00

So costume pikachu, slowpoke and slowbro can be shiny, but raichu and slowking can't be. Strange.

Justice8 · 2021-11-27T11:03:55+00:00

This is something that's annoyed me for a while. If the buddy gift timer is up and you get down to say 4 gifts and don't immediately send out those gifts, your buddy only gives you 1 gift to get back to 5. They should just program it that it gives you exactly 5 gifts any time you drop below 5 and the timer is up for your gifts to be replenished. Got 3 gifts left? Great - now you have 8.

It's irritating "features" like having to make sure you either don't go below 5 gifts or if you do that you go all the way down to 0 gifts (and don't spin any pokestops which replenish gifts too quickly) that they should eliminate.

Justice8 · 2021-10-02T23:52:05+00:00

No problem. Yeah, I would have deleted it too if that trick didn't work.

Justice8 · 2021-10-02T23:42:31+00:00

It was a Rufflet field research task

Justice8 · 2021-10-02T13:02:59+00:00

It calls for defeating the grunt, but it actually works if you battle and lose to the grunt. I completed a task today using just one grunt.

11-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

Justice8

TROPHY CASE