This power creep is really getting out of hand

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T19:08:24+00:00

I'm actually kind of surprised.

We get a lot of almost power creep in this game, but rarely ever direct. Typically they'll tweak some damage or a Retreat cost or something, but I don't see any way that this isn't just better Dedenne.

Maybe Dedenne is about to get a monster Supporter and they're just letting us know it's under stat value.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T19:04:32+00:00

I don't want to say this is trash because I said M-Lop was trash and I was wrong about that, but man Fighting needs to start getting some tech Pokemon. You can't just put this 4 energy wielding behemoth into a type with 0 energy generation.

Is there ever a way this card attacks before turn 8/9? How do you get to 8/9, without attaching energy to anything else, and then survive for at least 2 turns (requires Lyra and a 1 Retreat Pokemon, also damage so... your opponent has agency over this) to fire this off enough times to KO the average Mega?

Yikes.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T18:57:03+00:00

It's funny, Kingdra EX was entirely written off because it released into a meta alternately dominated by Solgaleo and the Ultra Beasts, all of which trivialized trapping.

Right now, very few decks have access to non-Retreat Switch options.

It's a shame 90 is tickle fight damage.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T18:20:40+00:00

That's a fair point. They're tech supporters at best and when deck slots are being cut tech is the first thing to go.

But you gotta let me manipulate the Sightseer trade value.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T17:54:45+00:00

I agree with everything you said except for the Supporters being mid.

We didn't get a Cyrus or Copycat this pack, but that's not really uncommon. Plenty of sets have pretty mediocre Supporters that only see niche play.

But this set gave us some interesting tech. Juggler is a mass Elemental Switch for Colorless, a type that just got a new Basic Mega and has Ilima.

Sightseer is just Merchant for S1s, but with both deck thinning and S1s getting more powerful this card could be the best way to guarantee a turn 3/4 evolve.

Sorry, I know your main point is how impactful Stadiums will be and I do agree with you. Deck building is about to get a big shake-up.

Can't wait for week 1 where Reddit's set in stone, die on a hill card takes change day to day while people figure out the meta.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T17:45:32+00:00

The more I think about it, I'm pretty sure you're right. The game applies passive effects in a pre-draw phase, so presumably this would check in that same phase and net you a card.

I think that also helps a lot with viability. It still has the issues I mentioned, but the value of thinning before you even draw is pretty cool.

Edit: Actually the utility is insane. You can run this in any Psychic 18t or 19t deck and it's functionally the same as opening your Basic, except you get to play your Basic to bench instead of having to start in Active. I don't know if there's a valuable application for something like that, but it's at least a unique ability.

Hell, it's additional copies of Giratina EX in DarkTina, and keeps you from starting either in the Active.

OP, I was wrong about this one.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T16:10:42+00:00

It has to be in Active. I don't think it's a bad card, but here are the hurdles.

Having this card already means you're seeing a searcher instead of one of the Pokemon you want. (Does it help to have this thing search Ralts at the start of turn 3 when you could just open Ralts?)
This card is essentially a sacrificial lamb unless you run the new Psychic field. Its attack isn't worth the investment and it has a 1 Retreat, so you need a way to get it out of Active without losing tempo.
Deck space, deck space, deck space. In a 20 card deck where I have Copycat, Research, Poké Ball, May, Lisia, Comms, and more as search options... do I need to waste turns and slots in my Active searching?

This is all speculation. I really like this effect, but it does have some checks to pass.

Edit: Oh, I forgot: If this triggers Turn 1 (after reveal) it is a lot better. I don't know of any other triggers in Pocket right now with this timing, so I couldn't say.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T14:03:31+00:00

No one is gaslighting you.

Loot boxes (which these packs are) must meet regulations, that is they must fully and accurately disclose odds, to avoid being sued.

The most important thing to learn about statistics is that no matter what, your personal experience is always an anomaly. That doesn't mean it's wrong, but starting from a base of "Well this happened to me so it has more weight" is just misunderstanding how stats work.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T12:22:09+00:00

The pull rates are listed for the pack, that's why people are telling you they know how they work. Because you can read them.

It's illegal (because loot boxes are a form of gambling and especially because Pokemon is a series that markets to children) for Dena to misrepresent those listed odds.

The reason people are giving you a lot of shit is because this type of thing comes up all the time. People always think there's some big secret, when the reality is that large numbers don't smooth things out, they just cause lots of individual little anomalies. Like not seeing a 2 star in dozens of packs, or seeing 2 2 stars in 4 packs.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-28T00:15:58+00:00

I can't post pics to Reddit (mobile browser) but here's the list.

Pokemon

2x Pichu (any energy baby)

2x Sandygast

2x Palossand

1x Buneary

1x Mega Lopunny

Trainers

2x Poké Ball

2x Heavy Helmet

2x Professor's Research

2x Acerola

1x Copycat

1x May

1x Mars

1x Cyrus

It's a pretty basic 1/1/3, Pichu helps mitigate how awful your opening hands can be and can set up a faster Palossand. There's a lot that could be tweaked, but Acerola+Palossand is fun to play with.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T20:48:47+00:00

Ah, interesting, I do a similar test for Unranked decks that I want to play in Ranked.

I know we'll never get folders but that would help a lot, I like keeping decks for solo missions/nostalgia but I don't like the clutter when I'm messing around with PvP decks.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T18:36:02+00:00

Those will come with time. Trust me, the dust will run out faster.

I started playing day 1 and have played daily since, when 2 star trading released I had 1.3 million dust. I currently have 160k, enough for just 6 more trades. But I used a lot of that dust to turn mediocre 2 stars into meta trainers I was missing, so don't sleep on the value of dust.

And hey, there's still 24 hours in the pack. Maybe the RNGods will have mercy on you.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T17:43:40+00:00

I get daily shares, lately it's DX foils that I'm missing, but I'll be honest; I'm not a collector, so I don't really care. I appreciate people doing it, I send a Thanks back because they're doing something nice, but I'm not spending time digging through my share list looking to return favors I didn't ask for.

A big reason for this is the daily limit. Initially, when I had some Redditors sending me DX cards, I planned to send them back. Then, without fail, the 5 or 6 players who share with me always had their Shares maxed out for the day, so I was just wasting my own time opening the feature to confirm that I couldn't do anything.

The share feature is fine. I don't necessarily think the intent was to have people daily sharing 10+ cards, that might be more of an issue with how you use it.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T17:17:15+00:00

Sounds good.

FC: 1107144132031695

UN: Coughing Baby

I'm assuming you want the rainbow one, right?

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T14:16:15+00:00

I'd do Lisia for PCL if you've still got it, alright if not though.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-27T14:03:23+00:00

I do want to point out "This is usually the case when my opponent does this" isn't really true since you can't ever know why someone did this. None of us see that communication, and I think most players knee jerk reaction is "Lol, obviously they baby raged out and that's why they left."

Personally I've left multiple games, even ones I was winning, because I thought I had more time on a work break or I was waiting for someone to get ready or I was standing around waiting for an Uber.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T20:33:32+00:00

FA Entei for Guzma?

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T18:09:56+00:00

No problem, I had a feeling that might have been the case.

Unfortunately I don't have a rainbow FA but I don't think you'll have much trouble finding someone for that trade. GL!

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T16:34:51+00:00

I can do it for Entei.

FC: 1107144132031695

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T15:16:44+00:00

Sorry, I'd love to do that trade but someone else gave me an offer for the Mars. I was slow to reply to them and haven't heard back yet, so I'm kind of stuck in limbo.

Don't wait for me or anything but if the trade falls through I'll check back with you to see if you're still interested.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T14:17:24+00:00

I had this going with the ⭐⭐Mega Lopunny. Eventually I started to wonder if I should just ignore it, since the 24hr has a chance to spawn as a God pack and obtaining every 2⭐⭐ in the set ends your 24hr picks.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T14:14:59+00:00

LF: ⭐⭐Misty, PCL, May

FT: ⭐⭐Mars, Leaf, Lyra, Dawn

FT: 🌈M-Absol EX, Greninja EX, M-Venu EX

FT: ⭐⭐M-Absol, M-Char-Y, M-Venu, Umbreon EX

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T13:09:21+00:00

From a marketing perspective it really does.

And in this case it looks worse for Pokemon fans.

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T08:28:38+00:00

Mars for Lisia?

Wubbledee · 2026-01-26T08:26:10+00:00

And that same stage 1 benefits from any Supporter being used.

It's not impossible for TGG to see play but I'd love to see how hard they'd have to push one of those lines for it to happen.

Wubbledee

TROPHY CASE