Pokémon TCG Pocket has a very odd pattern to its “events”—there appear to be weeks when the game falls fallow with nothing extra to do, then three special challenges will happen at the same time. That’s happening again today, as the Genetic Apex SP Emblem Event 1 launches, joining the ongoing Venusaur Drop Event and the Bulbasaur-themed Wonder Pick Event. And while it’s strange, it makes it a great time to pick up the game.
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Emblem Events are, in my opinion, the best of the current rotation of special challenges the mobile card game offers. They’re focused on battling other real-world players rather than the game’s mediocre AI, and with far better rewards than the standard for-the-hell-of-it battles that’ll only net you thimbles of XP. The current Venusaur Drop event against the CPU certainly gives you something to do, but go into it with a half-competent fire deck and you’ll have won all the good loot within half an hour. Emblem Events, named for the badge-like prizes rewarded that you can display on your profile, offer a tastier challenge against real people, with decks you don’t know in advance.
With Pocket’s signature bemusing lack of clarity, the new event is titled “Genetic Apex SP Emblem Event 1.” And if you’re thinking, “Hang on, I’m pretty sure that already happened,” then no, silly, you’re thinking of “Genetic Apex Emblem Event 1,” which took place in November. Don’t you look daft.
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SP stands for...ummm...“consecutive wins”? Yeah, no, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. But that’s the goal here: winning multiple matches in a row, which is so much juicier than anything that’s come before. Last month’s version was just about accruing wins overall, but this is much tougher. And it’s also uncharacteristically generous in its first handful of prizes, awarded just for participation!
For playing once, whether you win or lose, you get three of the coveted Pack Hourglasses, then another three for playing three battles, and once you hit five matches, you get six more hourglasses! That’s enough for a whole new pack, just for playing five times. Then there’s another 12 for battling ten times! Two packs, just for goofing around in the event, is—pleasingly and also miserably—better than the challenge rewards you get for paying the $10 a month for the god-awful Premium Pass. (There’s also 150 Shinedust for winning three battles, but that’s rubbish.)
The gloat-worthy prizes are the emblems, with four on offer, each increasingly more grand than the last, awarded for winning from two to five battles in a row. So having that crowned picture on your profile comes with some earned bragging rights.
It’s a short event, only lasting seven days, so get cracking. And don’t forget to gather Bulbasaur and Magnemite cards in the current Wonder Pick Event, and all the promo cards dropped in the ongoing Venusaur Drop Event. Woo! This is Pocket at its best, I reckon, and it’s looking likely to go quiet again on all fronts in a week.
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