Let’s face it, if you’ve spent any time cracking packs from Surging Sparks or Prismatic Evolutions, you’ve probably sworn off ever trusting pull rates again. Well, before you start throwing your money at a slot machine, I have some good news for you: Journey Together might just be the redemption arc you’ve been waiting for.
Pull Rates That Won’t Break Your Heart (Too Much)
First off, let’s talk about the pull rates in Journey Together. If you’ve been down this road before, you might be a little cautious. But buckle up, because here’s the tea: the rates in this set are better than any non-Special Pokémon set released in 2024, though, spoiler alert, they’re still not as generous as the first three sets of 2023 (yes, those sets are still sitting on their thrones, taunting us).
Illustration Rares: Slightly More Common
Let’s get into the specifics, shall we? Journey Together has bumped up the odds for Illustration Rares (IRs). In plain English: these beauties are a little easier to pull, so you won’t have to sell your soul to the card gods just to get one. In fact, Journey Together packs have an IR pull rate of about 1 in 12, compared to the 1 in 13 rate in Surging Sparks.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Set | Illustration Rare Pull Rate (Upper Limit) |
|---|---|
| Journey Together | 9.09% |
| Surging Sparks | 8.23% |
Yep, you read that right. Journey Together delivers slightly better odds for those sweet, sweet IRs. It’s like they heard our collective cries and decided to be nice.
Double Rares: Getting Twice as Lucky
If you love getting two hits in one pack (because who doesn’t?), the Double Rare (DR) pull rate in Journey Together is even more generous. Packs from this set will yield a DR roughly 1 in 5 times, whereas Surging Sparks had a 1 in 6 chance.
| Set | Double Rare Pull Rate (Upper Limit) |
|---|---|
| Journey Together | 21.14% |
| Surging Sparks | 17.74% |
That’s a huge increase! You’ve got way better odds of getting a Double Rare, which basically means you can pack your binder with less stress. Plus, your wallet might appreciate that.
Special Illustration Rares: Not So Different (But Still Fine)
While we’re on the topic of rarities, you might be wondering: What about Special Illustration Rares (SIRs)? Are we seeing any major improvements here? Well… kinda, but not really. The rates in Journey Together are practically identical to Surging Sparks. That means the scarcity of SIRs is still there, but with only six SIR cards in the whole set (compared to 11 in Surging Sparks), you’re actually twice as likely to pull a specific SIR from Journey Together.
| Set | Special Illustration Rare Pull Rate (Upper Limit) |
|---|---|
| Journey Together | 1.38% |
| Surging Sparks | 1.37% |
So, you might not get an immediate shiny rainbow-colored card, but at least it won’t feel like pulling teeth to get one.
Smaller Sets = More Hits
Here’s the real kicker: Journey Together has only 190 different cards in it. That’s 62 fewer than Surging Sparks, meaning each card will pop up more often. Translation? You’ll collect cards faster, with less frustration. Want that Clefairy ex or Pikachu ex? Good news: you’ll be pulling them more often than their counterparts in Surging Sparks.
Take a look at the market prices for these gems:
- Lillie’s Clefairy ex: $236.76
- Pikachu ex: $413.29
The fact that you’ll encounter Clefairy ex more frequently is a win for your wallet (and your binder). With fewer cards to pull, your set completion journey just got a lot less stressful. Go ahead, start collecting. You’ve earned it.
I opened two ETB’s and, two booster bundles…
I did get a illustration rare. N’s Reshiram, not too shabby. I opened about 100 packs of surging, and I haven’t gotten any big hits.