Pokémon TCG Pocket has a monthly subscription called Premium Pass. The shiny golden ticket may attract you on the home screen, but should you buy it? Is it worth buying?
We explain below, breaking down the math, if the Pokémon TCG Pocket Premium Pass is worth purchasing and explains when may be the best time to activate your free two-week trial of Premium Pass.
Is it worth buying the Premium Pass in Pokémon TCG Pocket?
Yes, the pass is worth it if you want packs and plan to invest money in the game while playing daily.. Here's our math to explain:
The pass costs $9.99 per month and lasts for 30 days.
For $9.99 you can get 57 Poké Gold at the regular price or 72 Poké Gold as part of the “launch celebration” sale. One Poké Gold reduces the pack timer by two hours (so six Poké Gold gives you a full pack cycle, reducing the timer by 12 hours). This means that for $9.99, you can get either nine or 12 packs, depending on which gold pack you purchase.
The Premium Pass offers you the following:
- Monthly premium missions that reward Bundle of 11 Hourglasses, Eight Wonderful Hourglasses, and 29 Premium Ticketsif you complete all the required missions
- An extra packet every 24 hours (as indicated by a Delibird timer that will appear on your home screen)
- Access to the Premium Storewhere you can purchase special promotional cards and deck accessories in exchange for premium tickets
That said, the pass can give you at least 30 packages for $9.99as long as you log in every day to claim that extra package, This is worth much more than paying gold for $9.99.
Premium missions are also fairly easy to complete just by playing – they're loaded with tasks that involve simply opening packs or finding specific types of cards. So if you're just opening your daily packs, chances are you'll complete these quests, getting all the rewards and therefore extra cosmetics.
When should I redeem the Premium Pass free trial?
There are a few things to keep in mind if you're trying to continue playing for free and want to strategically claim your two-week free trial of the Premium Pass: quest reset times and collectibles in the Premium Shop. Unfortunately, since the game was released, we have no concrete experience with how these quest and store rotation timers work, so we're going to work with the in-game timers we're looking at right now.
Assuming the quests weren't reset on November 1st because the game was released on October 30th (and would therefore only give you about two days to complete) and assuming they will reset on December 1st, The best time to redeem the free trial would be any time during the week leading up to December 1st.. This would allow you to claim two months of quests and therefore double the rewards, earning you 22 Hourglass Packs, 16 Wonder Hourglasses, and 58 Premium Tickets. (Quests are completed even when you don't have the Premium Pass; you only need the pass to claim rewards.)
Image: Creatures, DeNA/The Pokémon Company via Polygon
The next thing to keep in mind is what's in the Premium Pass store. As of this writing, there is a Pikachu promo card and Mewtwo-themed accessories. The Pikachu card does not have a timer, although Mewtwo's accessories have a timer set for January 1, 2025, which is when these accessories are supposed to rotate and be replaced with a different cosmetic theme. If you hate Mewtwo, you might want to keep your free Premium Pass trial until this changes.
All that said, again, this is based on some assumptions. Feel free to keep your free trial if you hate Mewtwo or want to try maxing it out at the end of November, but we also can't promise the pass will work that way just yet. (However, we will update this guide later when we can confirm more information.)