Booster pack (TCG)
Booster packs are typically packs of 10 cards from an expansion in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, contained within a foil Booster Wrap. However, booster packs come in a number of variations, some of which contain fewer cards. Booster packs are the most common way for cards to be distributed. Sleeved Boosters are a variation packaged in cardboard instead of foil.
Many Pokémon Trading Card Game products include a number of additional booster packs. Some products, like Booster Bundles and Booster Boxes, are entirely dedicated to having multiple booster packs. A Booster Bundle contains 6 booster packs and a Booster Box contains 36 booster packs.
Terminology
This term is normally written in all lowercase, as in "booster pack". For instance, the Pokémon Trading Card Game Rules released for 151 reads:
- "Once you’re ready, you can start building your collection of cards with Pokémon TCG booster packs." (page 3)[1]
One exception from early official media is Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy Color. The manual for the game rendered the term in title case as "Booster Pack":
- "When you win a duel, you will receive a Booster Pack. Each Booster Pack contains 10 cards, and the cards available in the different Booster Packs will vary." (page 25)
Overview
Booster packs offer the chance to acquire cards that players can use to strengthen preconstructed decks, create new decks, or customize old ones. While every booster of the same group contains the same amount of cards, the exact contents are randomized. However, booster packs have "slots", namely the rules by which cards are collated and put into booster packs at the factory, which therefore determine which kinds of cards are inside the pack. Generally speaking, the slot that a card is allowed to occupy is determined by its rarity. There are more slots in a booster pack for Common (
) cards than Uncommon (
, and more slots for Uncommon cards than Rare (
) cards. Normally, only a single slot in a booster pack contains a Rare card. However, it is possible for that slot to instead have an "ultra rare" card, a card of a number of rarities generally tied to special cards like Pokémon 
and Pokémon 
.
- For a full description of Common (), Uncommon (), and Rare () cards see the Rarity article.
Booster packs have contained varying amounts of cards over the years. From the first Base Set through to Neo Destiny expansion, internationally released boosters contained 11 cards. Beginning with the e-Card Series and continuing through the entirety of the EX Series, boosters had only 9 cards. Since the release of the first Diamond & Pearl expansion, these consistently had 10 cards. Starting in Sun & Moon, internationally released boosters contain one Basic Energy card in addition to the 10 other cards. Between Brilliant Stars and Crown Zenith, a booster pack has a chance of having a VSTAR marker instead of a Basic Energy card.
A booster pack consists of two parts: the cards themselves and the booster wrap surrounding them. This wrapper has artwork themed to the set the booster pack is for, usually featuring Pokémon with prominent cards in the expansion. International sets usually have at least four possible artworks on booster packs, whereas Asian sets only have one associated booster pack artwork per set.
Pull ratio
Every internationally released booster pack is guaranteed to contain at least 1 Rare () card, generally 3 Uncommon () cards, and the remainder are Common (). However, the Rare card(s) may have a rarity of Rare (★), or be a "ultra rare" card mentioned above, such as a Pokémon-ex. Since the release of the Legendary Collection expansion, one Reverse-Holo (also known as Reverse foil) print of a Common, Uncommon, or Rare card has also been included in every booster. A Reverse-Holo card is identical to its normal counterpart, aside from a Holofoil effect in the picture or card background. Reverse-Holo cards in the EX Series also contain a stamp of the expansion logo in the bottom right corner of the picture. The inclusion of Reverse-Holo rare and Holofoil rare cards created the potential that one booster may contain two rare cards.
Japanese booster packs usually have 5 cards per pack, with special sets such as VMAX Climax containing 7, 10 or 11 cards per pack. Brazilian booster packs meanwhile have 7 cards per pack (6 before Sun & Moon))[2].
Starting in Scarlet & Violet, a booster pack contains the cards as specified in the table below. Older sets can and will vary from this standard. Notably, Scarlet & Violet retired the Rare Holo rarities. Instead, all cards with a rarity of Rare or higher are Holofoil cards by definition.
International releases
| Quantity | Rarity |
|---|---|
| 4 | Common
|
| 3 | Uncommon
|
| 1 | Reverse Holo |
 Shiny Rare (Paldean Fates only)
| |
 Shiny Ultra Rare (Paldean Fates only)
| |
 ACE SPEC Rare (Temporal Forces onward)
| |
| 1 | Reverse Holo |
 Illustration Rare
| |
 Special Illustration Rare
| |
 Hyper Rare
| |
| 1 | Rare
|
 Double Rare
| |
 Ultra Rare
| |
| 1 | Basic Energy card |
| 1 | Pokémon Trading Card Game Live code card |
Brazilian releases
| Quantity | Rarity |
|---|---|
| 3 | Common
|
| 1 | Uncommon
|
| 1 | Uncommon
|
| Rare
| |
| 1 | Uncommon
|
| Double Rare
| |
| Ultra Rare
| |
| Illustration Rare
| |
| Special Illustration Rare
| |
| Hyper Rare
| |
| 1 | Reverse Holo |
| Basic Energy card | |
| 1 | Pokémon Trading Card Game Live code card |
Products with Booster Packs
A number of products have booster packs as a major component. These are listed below.
- Sleeved Booster: A booster pack additionally wrapped in cardboard. They are able to hang from pegs, making them common at major physical retailers.[3] Note that the name is rendered in title case.
- Booster Bundle: Six booster packs from a specific set, all contained in a box.
- Booster Box: 36 booster packs from a specific set, all contained in a box. This is another commonly seen format at retailers.
- Elite Trainer Box: A box containing 9 booster packs, a promo card, 65 card sleeves, and 45 Basic Energy cards. There are also releases available for a limited time exclusively through the Pokémon Center website, which contain two additional booster packs and an additional promo card with the Pokémon Center logo on it.
- Build & Battle Box: A box containing four booster packs, as well as a pre-built 40 card deck and one of four promo cards. These are designed for use in Sealed events, such as the Prerelease format or the Build & Battle Draft format. However, they can be equally used outside of tournament play, perhaps by friends and family.
- Build & Battle Stadium: A box that contains two Build & Battle Boxes, three additional booster packs, and 121 Basic Energy cards.
As a general rule, the more booster packs a product has, the cheaper the cost of those booster packs is compared to buying the same number of booster packs individually.
Code cards
- Main article: Code Card
Internationally-released booster packs mainly released after Black & White will come with a code card that can be used to redeem a virtual booster of the same expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online and Pokémon Trading Card Game Live. These booster packs state that they contain a code card on the packaging.
The codes found in booster packs will generate a set of virtual cards that is different from the physical cards that were inside the pack.
In the games
Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Trading Card Game 2
By winning duels against most characters and through Dr. Mason's recurring emails, players usually receive booster packs of game-exclusive sets and automatically get their contained cards.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Online
Booster packs could be obtained in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online to add cards to a player's digital collection and follow the same pull ratios of a real booster pack, but never replace Basic Energy with VSTAR markers. After being obtained, the booster pack is added to the player's Collection, where they could open it right away or save for later.
Tradable booster packs unlocked tradable cards, while untradable ones unlocked trade-locked cards. A tradable booster pack could be exchanged for different items, and the community-led economy for the game was based mostly around trading booster packs between players for desired cards and other items as though booster packs were a currency. Tradable booster packs could generally be acquired from code cards (following the card quantity of its physical booster and being the only way to acquire non 10-card or 11-card booster packs), good standings the game's Events, and Challenges for Knocking Out Pokémon.
Trade-locked booster packs for any set could be purchased from the shop with 200 Trainer Tokens. Beating each Trainer in the Trainer Challenge with four different decks also allowed the player to obtain a trade-locked booster pack, and beating 12 different Trainers in this mode with each Theme Deck rewarded the player with a trade-locked booster pack for the expansion the Theme Deck was released with. The login bonus was also another recurring way to earn these boosters packs.
When opening a booster pack, the game fans out the cards. All of the commons and uncommons would automatically flip face up, but any cards with a rarity of rare or higher would stay face down until the player clicked on them.
In the transition from Pokémon Trading Card Game Online to Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, booster packs in each player's collection were converted into Crystals.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Booster packs can be acquired in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live through code cards, by purchasing a specific expansion's booster pack with Crystals, Ladder End drops, and Battle Pass rewards. Card drop rates differ from real-life products and, unlike its antecessor, booster packs are always automatically opened upon redemption.[4]
Booster packs contain six cards (five, prior to Scarlet & Violet). A card with a rarity of rare or higher is guaranteed in every pack. However, every slot without a normal chance to have a card with a rarity of rare or higher has a smaller chance to contain a card with a rarity of rare or higher instead.
Opening a booster pack is like receiving any other item. Cards are presented in a stack, and they are flipped over one at a time, then pulled over the bottom of the screen to reveal the next card.
References
- ↑ Pokémon Trading Card Game Rules, Pokémon.com
- ↑ Faq | Copag
- ↑ Buyer's Guide to Pokémon TCG Twilight Masquerade, Peter Day from TCG Player Infinite
- ↑ Pokémon TCG Live Card Drop Rate Information
|
This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. |
