I have hated the Wonder Pick mechanicinPokemon TCG Pocketsince day one, and six months later, I’ve only grown to hate it even more. What’s meant to be a cute little way to interact with your friends and a chance to claim a card missing from your collection is actually such profound psychological torture that I’m pretty sure it’s illegal under the Geneva Conventions.
I can’t be the only one who hates Wonder Picks, can I? I swipe through the options five times a day looking for the cards I need, and on the very rare occasion I see one, I hit the button, deposit my handful of wonder bucks, and inevitably find myself overcome with disappointment. They say it’s a wonder, but if you ask me, it’s Pocket’s biggest blunder.
Wonder Pick? I Wonder Why I Keep Getting Screwed!
Wonder Pick is supposed to be Pocket’s version of Wonder Trade from the mainline games. Instead of trading a random Pokemon with a stranger, Wonder Pick lets you look at the cards in a bunch of recently opened packs your friends have opened, choose one, then get a random card from it. I say ‘get’ a random card rather than ‘choose’ a random card because, as we discovered earlier this year, the card you get is predetermined. Yes, you do get to choose one of the cards in the pack. No, it doesn’t matter which one you choose. Yes, this is a new reason I hate Wonder Pick.
My colleagueBen Sledge found this revelation freeing. Instead of beating himself up when he chooses the wrong card, he just reminds himself that he never had a choice at all. If that’s how you look at it too, more power to you. Personally, I resent a higher power disguising fate as free will. Why are the Poke Gods so patronizing? Also, if you’re telling me the game decides what card I get before I even pick it, then I hate the game for refusing to give me the card that I want.
I have so many questions. How does it determine which card I get? Is there some kind of pity timer that will give me the ex I don’t have if I’ve done so many Wonder Picks and only gotten bulk commons? Is it actually the opposite, and the game decides Ican’tpick a new ex if I recently received one? Because that would make me mad. Real, real mad.
Also, what’s the deal with Sneak Peek? If it’s predetermined, is that entire mechanic a lie?
Is It Better To Have Picked And Lost Than To Never Have Picked At All?
I’m just guessing here, but I’d say I get the card I wanted in a Wonder Pick about once every 20 times. In fact, I’d say my Wonder Pick rate is worse than my hit rate from just opening packs, which is pretty sad, because in Wonder Pick I’m literally only pulling from packs that have hits in them. The math says I should get what I wanted 20 percent of the time, but there’s just no way that’s how it shakes out. I’d say I’m just unlucky, but we know luck has nothing to do with it. Somehow, someway, Pocket is deciding which cards you get in your Wonder Picks, and the damn game has decided I’m not allowed to have any fun.
I wish I could say I’m going to just stop doing Wonder Picks. I wish I was strong enough to protect my mental health and stop doing things that make me feel bad. But who among us is that strong? Every moment I’m not checking the Wonder Picks for a hit, there’s a chance my prize card has come and gone. Every time I don’t pick, I could be missing the one chance I had to finish a collection. Keeping up with a new set every month is already hard enough, I can’t just quit Wonder Picking too, even if I pretty much never get the card I want.
I can fix everything wrong with Wonder Pick so fast. Instead of showing me 17 packs at once, just show me five. If I see a card I want, I can spend the hourglasses to have it. The Wonder part is wondering which five packs I’m going to get to choose from. I’ll still spend my hourglasses. In fact, I’m likely to spend real money buyingmorehourglasses if I know the card I want is guaranteed. It doesn’t have to be such a painful process. Please change this Godforsaken system to something less punishing. I need the wonder without wishing I were six feet under.
