Pokemon TCG Pocket May Have Already Burned An Ace Up Its…

Once again, Pokemon trading card collectors who enjoy the shiny, moving cards of Pokemon TCG Pocket were given a new expansion to rip into at the end of July. The latest expansion, Wisdom of Sea and Sky, focuses on Gen 2's Johto region and all the little creatures Pokemon Gold and Silver fans would expect to see. Players can now rest easy knowing August's set isn't long behind thanks to a recent leak, as well, so there are even more Generation 2 cards on the way. As part of Johto's recent push into the card game simulator, Baby Pokemon have been added to the game.

Baby Pokemon are very easy to underestimate thanks to their presence in the mainline games, but in the tabletop TCG and now Pokemon TCG Pocket, the story is flipped on its head. TCG Pocket is a more streamlined version of the experience compared to its origin, but Baby Pokemon still function in the same way. Pichu, Cleffa, Magby, and all their little friends don't need any energy costs for their attacks and effects. With the way Pokemon TCG Pocket works, these cards make a notable difference in many ways, and it's something DeNa may want to be careful of expanding in future sets.

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Hot off the heels of Prismatic Evolutions' Budew card in the tabletop TCG, Pichu in Pokemon TCG Pocket has made a surprising name for itself in a few strong decklists already. The way that its effect helps players generate energy beyond the standard one per turn is incredibly useful, especially since it isn't as selfish as Giratina's effect. Budew and Pichu do a great job at illustrating the potential Baby Pokemon have to impact the game, but this strength is heavily undercut by the fact that there aren't enough baby critters to justify including them as often as some might like.

Baby Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket Are a See-Saw Balancing Act in the Making

The way that Baby Pokemon don't require any energy to activate their basic attacks and effects has been a part of the Pokemon Trading Card Game since the Heart Gold and Soul Silver expansions. Some fans who are new to the game through Pokemon TCG Pocket might not have been aware of this fact, because not many Baby Pokemon make a lasting impact on the game at large. All of that changed when Prismatic Evolutions introduced Budew into the game with an effect that inherently brought the preferred tempo of the game to a halt.

Budew's attack, Itchy Pollen, stops the opponent from playing item cards on their next turn. In normal games, this might not be a problem, but in meta decks where the aim is to get specific cards to activate combos as fast as possible, Budew essentially tells players to slow down and almost literally smell the roses. It's an annoying card to run into, but it won't be around forever thanks to Play! Pokemon's rotation rules for standard competitive play. Budew serves as a cautionary tale as to what TCG Pocket's Baby Pokemon might be like without rotational rules.

Pokemon TCG Pocket's Collecting Mechanics Go Against the Concept of Rotations

The big selling point of Pokemon TCG Pocket when it was first released was the emphasis on collecting over battling. While many players asked for - and received - a ranked battle mode, the battles are not the focal point of the app itself. This has led to an interesting environment where players have watched Pokemon TCG Pocket evolve with every expansion where specific decks rise and fall with cards that change how they flow between booster packs. For better or worse, this means that when a strong card comes to the game, it'll stay at the top of tier lists and ranked matches for some time. Giratina serves as a great example as it was once a cornerstone Psychic-type card that's lost its throne thanks to the two latest sets.

Pokemon TCG Pocket could get its own Budew menace in any future expansion, but then have no real way to get rid of it without a rotation system. Adding one goes against the entire core tenant of TCG Pocket, and the same could be argued for a possible future ban list. The silver lining is that there are only 19 Baby Pokemon across the entire series, and TCG Pocket is going to be busy trying to include the other regions for a while. New Baby Pokemon cards shouldn't be too much of a concern at the moment. Still, from how few Baby Pokemon there are to the way rotations and ban lists might hurt TCG Pocket rather than help it, the tiny critters will certainly need more forethought with their cards than others.

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