I Wanted to Love Deluxe Pack Ex, But It's Just Pack Filler

I need to confess something. Back in September 2025, right before Pokemon TCG Pocket dropped the Deluxe Pack ex set, I wrote a whole article praising the game for finally giving lapsed players like me a generous catch-up mechanic. Guaranteed four-diamond or better in every pack? Sign me up. That article never went live. Why? Because the Deluxe Pack ex set turned out to be a bloated, confusing, and oddly demoralizing mess. Even now, in 2026, my in-game collection still side-eyes me every time I scroll past it.

I thought Deluxe Pack ex would be the perfect shortcut. Need an old ex card? Boom, every pack has one. Want a fancy alternate art reprint? Boom, chase away. Instead, the set is stuffed with nearly 400 cards — roughly double the size of the next biggest set — and a huge chunk of that is pure filler. The parallel foil set alone doubles the number of one- and two-diamond commons. That is not a catch-up mechanic. That is a landfill with booster wrapping.

The Numbers Are Not on Your Side

Let's look at the math. The set includes 75 four-diamond cards plus another 30 diamond cards. If you're hoping for one specific four-diamond ex, your odds are around one percent. For comparison, the published pull rate for a four-diamond card in a normal set is 1.6 percent. So if you need a particular ex, you are literally better off opening the original booster pack instead of the special catch-up set. That is wild.

The Separate Dex Decision Is Baffling

As if the bloated card pool wasn't enough, the developers decided to shove every Deluxe pack card into its own separate dex. Let that sink in. You can pull an ex you've been missing from an older set, feel that little dopamine hit, and then realize it does not count toward your old collection at all. It says Deluxe Pack ex on the tin, and that is where it lives forever. I opened a card I had been chasing for weeks, got excited for exactly three seconds, and then my collection screen basically told me, 'Nice try, buddy.'

That decision alone makes the set useless for completionists. The entire pitch was catch up, but the game refuses to let you catch up in the places that actually matter. It's like being handed a hundred-dollar gift card that only works in a store you don't shop at.

Who Is This Set Even For?

Let's break it down.

• New and returning players: ❌ You get fewer cards per pack than a normal set, and the odds of pulling something actually useful for your collection are terrible. You would be better off opening old packs.

• Completionists: ❌ The separate dex means those cool reprints don't finish your older sets. Prepare to cry.

• Whales and big spenders: ❌ This is the most expensive set to complete, limited-time only, and it contains zero mechanically unique cards. Even the biggest spenders I know tapped out.

• Me: 💀 A tired trainer who just wanted one specific ex and got ten copies of a card nobody uses.

Did They Do This On Purpose?

Part of me wonders if this was a deliberate palate cleanser before a big new base set. Release a bloated, low-stakes expansion so everyone feels relieved when the next proper set arrives. If that was the plan, it backfired spectacularly. I was genuinely excited to grind Deluxe packs, finish some old collections, and chase a few alternate arts. Within a few days, I was completely over it. My excitement curdled into irritation, and my pack-opening ritual started feeling like a chore.

Here in 2026, the Deluxe Pack ex set stands as a cautionary tale. A guaranteed ex in every pack should feel amazing. But when you wrap that guarantee in a 400-card behemoth, lock the cards away in a separate dex, and offer no mechanically unique chase cards, you don't create generosity. You create a chore with better lighting.

I still play Pokemon TCG Pocket. I still open packs. But the next time the game promises a revolutionary catch-up mechanic, I will wait for the actual numbers before writing a single word of praise. Fool me once, Deluxe Pack ex. Fool me once.

As detailed in reporting from HowLongToBeat, player frustration with Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Deluxe Pack ex starts to make sense when you view “catch-up” not as generosity but as time-cost: bloated pools, parallel foils, and a separate dex can turn what should be quick collection progress into an extended grind with little meaningful completion payoff. When the path to a specific four-diamond pull is effectively a long-shot, the real tax becomes hours spent opening, sorting, and managing duplicates—exactly the kind of engagement that feels more like maintenance than excitement.