Pokémon TCG Pocket is finally getting rid of one of its most frustrating features

Along with reducing the release speed, trading cards and all-arounds are also improved

Pokémon TCG Pocket is about to turn two at the end of this month, and with that, developers DeNA are announcing a slew of changes for the mobile game. Along with the news that there will be new ways to get Immersive cards, a way to build in-game meta decks, and a much-needed improvement in trading, there's also the very welcome news that the release cycle for new sets is finally slowing down.

It may seem like a strange complaint that PTCG Pocket releases new sets and very attractive cards, but if you've tried to keep up with the game in the past two years, you'll understand. Each month unlocks a brand new set of packs, each with full art cards of various rarities to collect, and new abilities that complete the fight scene. No matter how you approach the game, it becomes tedious to continue and creates a severe FOMO effect. Slowing down this track sounds like a great idea, allowing more time to catch up on recent builds and slowing down the meta change.

“We received feedback that the large number of cards released in each pack up until Series B made it difficult to collect,” the “B” update says, referring to the Year 2 set collection. "In the new series, we'll be changing the booster pack release cycle from an approximately four-week cycle to an approximately six-week cycle, in the hopes that it will allow more players to enjoy building sets at their own pace.

One of the most attractive features of the PTCGP are immersive cards, special cards that often play stunning animations on the frame. But catching them has been entirely based on luck. Their pull rate is said to be around 1%, and given that the game gives you two packs to open per day, you can see why, with 30-day release cycles for sets, people probably won't get through the previous cycles before the next lot arrives. The new plan is to provide a way to unlock them through missions based on "completing collections".

I've been playing this game almost every day for the past two years and my motivation has been to collect all the cool stuff. I've done this for Series A, but a bunch of Series B have eluded me, and while you can get them via Pack Points, they require 1,500 set-specific points - a number that can only be obtained by opening a ridiculous 300 pack. (Fans have been clamoring for closed scores to be shared across all sets, but that has yet to be heard.)

Also for the C series will be something called special packages. These are unlocked with their own unique "Special Pack Endurance" that "heals once a week". The first lot is called First Partners, a set that contains all 27 starter Pokemon, and it's awesome! There will also be 1-star promotional cards as rewards for missions - so far the promotions have only been standard cards, so it's nice to see full art cards coming here.

The deck also appears to be under repair. Currently you can build your own decks from scratch or "rent" decks created by the game, but now we're getting community decks. These allow players to build decks that are popular in the competitive meta without having to search for them on external websites. In other great news, rental decks will no longer be limited to 10 uses, but will be unlimited, and will also be more readily available at the start of the new set launch.

Finally, and very welcome, is the news that some of the weirdest features missing from the deals will be added. Currently, if you trade with someone on your friends list, the game seems to go out of its way to not tell you what cards they've lost, and even worse, not show you their full wish list. All of that will change, meaning you'll no longer be making wasted trading efforts when someone offers you a card that you've already dealt five cards.

What's not mentioned is an improvement in the app's appalling slowness, which hangs and stutters when performing the most basic actions like switching tabs. It was supposed to improve with a 3GB update this July, but it seemed to get worse. It's a shame that after two years, the Pokémon Company and DeNa haven't been able to get the game right. It's on Android or iOS properly, and it doesn't look like you're going to try. It also doesn't help that none of the 10 things we listed as needing improvement two years ago have been addressed. It's not too surprising that this app has lost half of its viewership since launch when it refuses to make so many major improvements. However, many of the items listed in the new update are really welcome.

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