Wonder Pick Guide: How It Works and When to Use It

Wonder Pick lets you get a card from a booster pack that a friend or another player has already opened. According to the official Pokémon collecting and Wonder Pick guide, you are shown the cards from their pack, they are shuffled face down, and you choose one of the five. The opener does not lose anything: you receive your own copy of the card, not theirs.

Once you have used a particular Wonder Pick it disappears from your list, and unused picks expire after a while as new ones rotate in. That makes Wonder Pick a supplement to your daily packs rather than a replacement: it gives you extra chances at cards from packs you did not open yourself, paid for with a separate resource, Wonder Stamina.

Every card in a Wonder Pick has the same chance of being the one you get. Serebii’s Wonder Pick page describes it as “an equal 1 in 5 chance”. The cards are shuffled after you see them, so there is no position to remember and no way to improve your odds by picking a particular slot.

That simple rule is the key to picking well. Your chance of getting something useful is just the number of cards you want divided by five:

A pick with one rare card and four duplicates you already own is a one-in-five shot. A pick with four new cards for your collection, none of them rare, is far more likely to pay off. Count before you commit.

Wonder Stamina is shown as hearts. The official guide says it regenerates by one every 12 hours and that rarer cards in a selection make the pick cost more. The cost is set by the rarest card in the pick, not by the card you end up with. Serebii lists the costs as:

Because stamina regenerates at one heart every 12 hours, the real cost of a pick is time. A 1-heart pick costs half a day of regeneration; a 3-heart pick costs a day and a half; a 5-heart pick costs two and a half days.

This is where many players leak value. A pick that contains one Star-rarity card you want plus four commons you already own costs 3 hearts for a 20% chance. Over time, cheaper picks full of cards you actually need can add more to your collection. If you are unsure what rarity a card is, our rarity tiers guide explains the Diamond, Star and Crown tiers.

The official guide says Wonder Hourglasses, earned as mission rewards, reduce Wonder Stamina recovery time, and that you can also use Poké Gold, the premium currency. Serebii notes that each Wonder Hourglass takes an hour off the timer.

Because hourglasses are limited, it is worth treating them as a way to afford a specific pick you have already decided is worthwhile, not as something to spend the moment you have them. Keeping a few in reserve means you can respond when a good pick appears, especially during Wonder Pick events.

Wonder Picks rotate, so a good one can expire before you have the stamina for it. The official guide explains that an expired Wonder Pick can be restored by spending Wonder Stamina together with a Rewind Watch, and that Rewind Watches are earned by levelling up.

Since Rewind Watches are scarce, save them for the picks you most regret missing: ones where several of the five cards are new to you, or where a card you need for a set is included.

Wonder Pick events add two special kinds of pick. Serebii describes them as follows:

Because Chansey Picks last only 30 minutes, checking the game a few times a day during an event matters more than usual. Bonus Picks are free, so there is no reason to skip them.

After a Wonder Pick you can thank the player whose pack you picked from. The official guide says both the picker and the pack opener receive shop tickets when someone sends thanks after a Wonder Pick. It costs you nothing, and it gives the player whose pack you used something back, so it is worth doing every time.

Wonder Pick and trading solve different problems. Trading lets you choose exactly which card you get, but you need a partner with that card and you must give something up. The rules and costs are covered in how trading works in TCG Pocket. Wonder Pick costs you only stamina, but the card is random among five.

A practical way to split them:

Wonder Pick odds are fixed, but what counts as a good pick changes as your collection grows. Our collection checklist makes it quick to see which cards you are still missing, which is exactly what you need to count before you pick.

One. You choose one of five face-down cards, each with an equal 1-in-5 chance.

No. You see the five cards first, but they are shuffled face down before you choose, so every position has the same chance.

One heart every 12 hours, according to the official Pokémon guide. Wonder Hourglasses and Poké Gold can shorten the wait.

No. You receive your own copy; the player who opened the pack keeps theirs.