The new Pokémon TCG Pocket app offers a variety of special features, one of which is Wonder Picks. This feature enables players to tap into rare card drops made by other players. With Wonder Picks, players gain an extra shot at acquiring the cards on their wishlists, and they come with slightly improved odds compared to opening regular booster packs.
While Wonder Picks don’t guarantee a win—much like the booster packs—they’re definitely worth exploring. Plus, since players receive an in-game currency specifically for Wonder Picks, there’s really no downside to using this feature, especially since there’s currently no trading option available in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
What Are Wonder Picks?
A Unique Way to Get That Special Card
When you launch the Pokémon TCG Pocket app, your main dashboard will present various options. In addition to prominently featured booster packs, you’ll find tabs for the in-game shop and Wonder Pick. Upon clicking on Wonder Pick, you’ll see clusters of cards associated with player names, accompanied by countdown timers. These are your Wonder Picks.
Each Wonder Pick offers a selection of Pokémon cards that players have drawn, enabling you to choose one card while knowing all available options. An important aspect is that each Wonder Pick has a set deadline displayed at the top of the screen, after which new options refresh on the page. Don’t worry if you miss one, as there is a way to retrieve an expired Wonder Pick.
How to Use the Wonder Pick Feature
Select a Batch of Cards & Test Your Luck
Using the Wonder Pick feature is simple. After identifying a batch of cards you like, click to select it, confirm your choice, and the five cards will be shuffled and displayed face down. You then get one chance to pick a card that you can keep. Unfortunately, the shuffle is completely random, so there’s no way to game the system with Wonder Picks.
Having tried about 20 Wonder Picks myself, I noticed that the most sought-after card often appeared in various locations, occasionally even in the same spot. You might find that the card you want frequently shows up in the same position across multiple Wonder Picks. Ultimately, you have to choose one and hope for the best.
Occasionally, you’ll come across special Wonder Picks such as
Chansey Picks, Rare Picks, or Bonus Picks
. These Picks provide unique rewards, ranging from a full set of rare Pokémon cards to shop tickets and Hourglasses.
Once you choose a card, it will be added to your collection, and that Wonder Pick will be marked as complete. If you’d like to participate again, remember that you start with only five units of Wonder Stamina. This means once you’ve used all five, you’ll have to wait for their recovery before attempting more Wonder Pick draws.
How to Recover Wonder Pick Stamina
Purchase Wonder Hourglasses & Complete Challenges
Although Wonder Stamina automatically recovers over time, it takes 12 hours to refill one unit. This means you’ll need to wait nearly two and a half days to fully replenish all five units. For those unwilling to wait that long, you can recover Wonder Stamina instantly by using Wonder Hourglasses.
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Wonder Hourglasses can restore one hour of recovery time for Wonder Stamina, meaning you would need 12 Wonder Hourglasses to fully restore one unit of Wonder Stamina. While that may sound daunting, I managed to gather over 100 of these in my first 24 hours of playing Pokémon TCG Pocket, so it’s more feasible than it seems. You can obtain these in a few ways, with the most straightforward being purchasing them from the in-game store.
The Pokémon TCG Pocket shop features a dedicated section for hourglasses, where you can exchange two Shop Tickets for one Wonder Hourglass or trade 12 Shop Tickets for six Wonder Hourglasses. Both options have a limit of 10 uses each before the shop refreshes, though the exact refresh duration hasn’t been confirmed yet, with speculation pointing to a monthly cycle.
Altering your device’s time won’t affect the recovery time for Pack or Wonder Stamina.
Pokémon TCG Pocket may even display an error if you try to do this, preventing access until the issue is resolved.
Another way to acquire Wonder Hourglasses is by completing missions. Currently, the premium pass for Pokémon TCG Pocket includes several missions that reward you with a handful of Wonder Hourglasses, and more missions are likely to be introduced over time, so be sure to check the rewards available regularly.
How to Get the Best Cards & Pull Rates
Prioritize Wonder Picks with Rare Cards
If you want to maximize your Wonder Picks, focus on the best cards from each pack, as shown in Spragels Pocket‘s YouTube video above. The goal of a Wonder Pick is to provide you with a chance to pull a card you haven’t been able to obtain before. Since it takes a while to recover Wonder Stamina, you don’t want to waste it on low-value common cards. Instead, look for full art editions, ex cards, or Pokémon TCG Pocket‘s exceptional Crown Rare cards.
Even if you don’t end up with the desired card, you can always express thanks to the player whose Wonder Pick you joined. This gesture costs nothing and grants them a small reward, so there’s no reason to skip it. You can redeem your gratitude rewards by tapping the present icon on your
Pokémon TCG Pocket
dashboard.
It’s important to note that the rarer the cards, the pricier the Wonder Pick. This can help indicate which options are likely worth your effort. Any Wonder Pick that costs a single unit of Wonder Stamina likely contains just common cards—those you can easily find in Booster Packs.
Keep in mind that you can earn Rewind Watches through missions and leveling up, which allows you to revive an expired Wonder Pick. Therefore, if you don’t find anything appealing at the moment, you can browse the expired options if you have some Rewind Watches. However, since Rewind Watches are rarer than Wonder Hourglasses, it’s advisable to save them for a must-have card.
If you have friends in
Pokémon TCG Pocket
, their Wonder Picks will be prioritized at the top of your Wonder Pick page and vice versa. If you prefer to opt-out of Wonder Picks entirely, so your cards do not become options for others, you can do so in settings. However, since you gain rewards, it’s advisable to keep participating.
Many Pokémon card enthusiasts, myself included, enjoy **collecting cards in different languages**. While it may not be immediately clear, Pokémon TCG Pocket does offer a way to do this through Wonder Picks. Simply tap the three lines in the bottom right corner of the app, go into settings by selecting “Other,” then “Settings.” Scroll down to find the language option, allowing you to switch to your preferred language.
Note that this will change the entire app’s language, but navigation remains straightforward due to the layout and icons. Allow the app some time to refresh completely, and you should be able to access Wonder Picks and view cards in various languages. When switching back to your original language, your cards will retain the language they were in when collected, helping you create a diverse Pokémon TCG Pocket collection.
Video Credit: YouTube/Spragels Pocket
