Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: chilling reign, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Pokemon Trading Card Game

Pull Rate Quest: Opening Pokémon TCG: Chilling Reign Packs Part 4

Too often, Pokémon TCG influencers will rush to make a sweeping statement about a new set's pull rates. Battle Styles, for instance, is said to have a terrible pull rate. Personally, I've had rough boxes of Battle Styles, but I've also had multiple boxes with two Full Arts, a Secret Rare, and a total of fourteen white codes. It seems to be very much a crapshoot. In the interest of dispelling the idea that we can establish pull rates so early in a set's existence, I'm here to kick off Pull Rate Quest, a new 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. Let's open a third booster box of Chilling Reign and see what we can get in this installment of Pull Rate Quest.

Continuing from my haul from Brother's Grim, I opened another booster box. You can check out the recaps of the first two boxes that I opened here and here to compare the pull rates.

While the first two Chilling Reign boxes I opened were among the best booster boxes I've ever cracked — and I open way too many — this third one was much less of a win. I found this one to be slightly below standard, which is mostly due to the amount of holo rares that I pulled. When opening a Pokémon TCG booster box, you want to pull as few holo rares as possible so the slots filled with a holo or better will yield more Pokémon V, VMAXes, and Full Arts. Generally what I would consider a good box is either of the following combinations: a Secret Rare and a Full Art, or two Full Arts. Sometimes, you get much better, like with my previous box which had two Full Arts and a Secret Rare.

One thing to note here which I spoke about in the last opening is that Pokémon VMAX seems harder to pull in Chilling Reign than in previous Sword & Shield era sets. I have come to expect at least two Pokémon VMAX cards per box, but that has not been the case for any of my Chilling Reign booster boxes. I've pulled more Full Arts total than VMAXes from Chilling Reign.

The box broke down like this. I ended up with fifteen white code cards, which means that that pack will yield a holo or better in the rare slot. The white code pulls consisted of:

• 10 Holo Rares
• 3 Pokémon V
• 1 Pokémon VMAX
• 1 Full Art Pokémon V
• 0 Alternate Art Pokémon V
• 0 Full Art Trainer
• 0 Rainbow Rare
• 0 Gold Secret Rare

That isn't the spread you want when opening a Pokémon TCG booster box, but it's certainly not the worst I've opened. This furthers the point that I set out to make with this series is that it's very difficult if not impossible to glean a pull rate despite how many boxes you open. My first box was among the best I've ever opened, these second was right up there as well… and this one as middle-of-the-road to a bit subpar. Overall, Chilling Reign still rewards greatly when looking at what I've pulled so far, but this goes to show that you cannot just a set by one (or three) boxes.

BEST PULLS OF THE OPENING:

• Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX Full Art
• Blaziken VMAX

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