Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Brilliant Stars, Charizard, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

How Many Pokémon TCG Packs It Took To Get Rainbow Charizard VSTAR

Too often, Pokémon TCG influencers will rush to make a sweeping statement about a new set's pull rates. It's going to be interesting to see how the latest set, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, is seen because it has a special Trainer Gallery subset consisting of Character Cards, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black and Gold VMAXes that can be pulled in the Reverse Holo slot. This increases the number of pulls that one can expect to get in a Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars opening. In the interest of dispelling the idea that we can establish pull rates so early in a set's existence, I'm here with Pull Rate Quest, a series at Bleeding Cool where I open Pokémon TCG sets to show that you win some… and you lose some. I love the idea that openings like this can help show people what to expect in a set, but remember… a lot of it comes down to the luck of the draw. Today, I'll conclude this series to discuss exactly how long it took me to pull one of the set's chase cards, the Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare, from a Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars.

I'll cut to the chase. It took me a whopping ten booster boxes to pull a Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare. I opened a box sent for review by The Pokémon Company and then, with every new Pokémon TCG set release, I purchase a case, which includes six booster boxes. In all of that? No Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare. It took three additional boxes to finally pull this coveted card… but there's a twist here.

I opened the eleventh box. In that box? I pulled another Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare.

This, finally, makes my ultimate point with Pull Rate Quest. Pull rates are largely random. You're likely to get seven Ultra Rares or above in almost every Pokémon TCG booster box, yes. You're likely to get a better opening than normal sets with a Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars booster box because the Trainer Gallery adds more hits to your box, yes. However, the spread of those hits is completely random. What I didn't get in my first ten boxes, which is a ridiculous number of boxes that I wouldn't be able to swing if I didn't write about this hobby for a living, I ended up pulling twice in a row with my next two. Those could've easily been my first two boxes if the shop employee had selected a different case to pull products from, which could have given me or any collector the false impression that this card is easy to pull. Even after the boxes I've opened, there are still a good deal of cards that I don't have. Charizard Alternate Art? No dice. However, the Lumineon V Full Art? I didn't pull that, either. The Mimikyu VMAX? It took me longer to pull than both Rainbow Charizards.

So let the takeaway here be that the Pokémon TCG experience is individualized. Don't let talk of good rates or bad rates talk you into or out of opening a booster box. Open with hope in your heart and the intention to have fun, and you'll likely have a great time with Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars.

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