Why Pokémon TCG Pocket Flair Is Broken & Too Expensive

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Flair in allows players to add different effects to their cards, showing on both display boards and in battle. These can range from gold sparkles to light blue bubbles for Water-types or flame trails for Fire-types. While these cosmetics are a fun addition to the mobile game, the steep price of obtaining flair is limiting, especially for free-to-play players.

Since its release on October 30, 2024, has been a great success, though that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. The game’s Flair system highlights a growing issue – it’s astronomically expensive. This therefore may leave budget-conscious players struggling to enjoy the feature without spending real money.

In order for players to add these effects onto their cards, they need an abundance of two things – a currency called Shinedust and duplicate cards. Players can obtain Shinedust by completing missions and opening card packs. For example, to acquire the basic gold flair on Charmander, the player will need to exchange three duplicate cards and 50 Shinedust. This price can dramatically increase with rarer cards, with the Purple Bursts Flair for Mewtwo ex costing one duplicate and 18,000 Shinedust.

One card that's now available in the Pokémon TCG Pocket's Lapras Promo event offers players a quick and powerful new tactic in battles.

With both Shinedust and duplicates not easy to come by, there is a high barrier to entry. This trickle of resources can be frustrating for players that want to spruce up their deck with different aesthetic effects. Flair offers no competitive advantage in battles, limiting its appeal even further. In order for this to feel worth it, either the cost of adding these elements needs to go down, or Shinedust needs to be easier to obtain.Due to its cost, Flair feels like a missed opportunity that could have offered all players another level of freedom and excitement to collecting cards.

For free-to-play players, obtaining Flair for cards can feel both daunting and time-consuming due