What are Pokemon God Packs? The "Holy Grail" Booster Packs Every Collector Dreams Of
We‘ve all had the fantasy – flipping open a fresh booster pack to find every card an ultra rare hit. As exhilarating as that sounds, the actual odds sit somewhere near winning the lottery. Yet the legend persists of these "god packs" – sealed sets containing only the rarest and most valuable pulls. I‘m here to provide the inside scoop on chasing the Pokémon TCG hobby‘s holy grail!
Understanding Pack Rates and Odds
First, let‘s examine regular booster pack pull rates. Out of 11 cards in a pack, you‘ll typically receive:
- 7 common cards
- 3 uncommon cards
- 1 rare card or better
Across an entire booster box, the guaranteed hits are as follows, according to Pokémon Support:
| Rarity | Copies per Box |
|---|---|
| Common | 252 |
| Uncommon | 108 |
| Rare | 36 |
| Ultra Rare | 7-9 |
| Secret Rare | 0-2 |
As you can see, finding one ultra rare or secret rare already defies the norms. Now imagine a pack where every single card hits that lofty designation…
Defining God Packs: When Probability Gets Smited
Enter god packs – booster packs containing exclusively ultra rare and secret rare cards. We‘re talking hyper rares, full arts, gold cards, rainbow rares – no common riff raff allowed! Instead of fixed pull rates, it‘s almost like a slot machine randomly spitting out top prizes with abandon.
In other words: a Pokemon collector‘s fever dream manifested.
Yet as impossible as they sound, god packs do exist out in the wild. Their origins extend back over two decades…
The History and Lore Behind God Packs
God packs first emerged within Magic: The Gathering, where ultra lucky players reported discovering packs loaded solely with rare cards. These fabled openings gave rise to the holy grail moniker of "god packs."
After fans began speculating if such mythical finds could occur in Pokémon TCG as well, lo and behold – a Japanese god pack surfaced in 2019. Contained within? A bonanza of alternate arts, gold cards and secret rares.
Additional god pack sightings continued to trickle out over the years, though always appearing randomly at infinitesimal odds. But that changed when The Pokémon Company took matters into their own hands…
Intentionally Packed God Packs Enter the Fray
Starting with 2021‘s Japanese VMAX Climax set, The Pokémon Company inserted "god packs" into booster boxes at set ratios. As verified by supply chain sources, the official insertion rate stood at 1 god pack per 10 booster boxes – or 1 out of 360 packs.
Each of these guaranteed god packs replaces common, uncommon and rare cards with character rares and other promo-style hits. So while not as lucrative as the organic ultra rare gold mines, the intentionally packed ones still outclass everything else in their respective sets.
This precedent continued with 2022‘s Lost Abyss, which contains god packs with 10 lost art cards, also at the 1-per-case ratio. So while wholly natural god packs didn‘t disappear, collectors now had a reliable side quest of sniping the planted ones!
Impacts on the Hobby: Streams, Views and Values
It didn‘t take long for god packs to send shockwaves throughout the community. Their allure as the pinnacle chase lit YouTube and Twitch ablaze. Top Pokétuber Leonhart blasted out a 2 million+ view video showcasing an authentic god pack packed with rainbows and alt arts.
Views and reactions like these spotlight the electric thrill of encountering these white whale packs. And despite demystifying god packs through guaranteed inserts, the hype train continues full steam.
On the finance side, the packs themselves also command premiums. A Lost Abyss god pack recently sold for $500, while a Tag Team god pack scored $300. Even sightings of naturally occurring ones prompt insane bidding wars.
Just How Rare Are We Talking Here?
Okay, let‘s crunch the numbers on organic god pack spawns. Remember the 1-in-360 ratio for intentionally packed ones? Well, for the natural phenomenon we need to dig deeper.
Odds of Pulling an Ultra Rare: Roughly 5% (or 1:20 packs)
Odds of 10 Consecutive Ultras: 0.0000000055%
Yeah…not great. We‘re talking 1 in 18 quintillion – AKA 18,000,000,000,000,000 !
Heck, your odds of getting struck by lightning (1 in 500,000) laughably trump even finding an intentional god pack. Face it: encountering one in the wild sits firmly in Powerball territory.
Yet we‘ve seen enough flukes to know that probability shields no one. Which is why the glimmer of hope persists. Open enough packs and Lady Luck just may smile upon you!
Final Thoughts on Pokémon‘s White Whales
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, god packs occupy rarefied air within hobby circles. They represent the fever dream, the unattainable made real. No other card opening provides such rapturous payoff; no other chase penetrates public consciousness quite like this. I‘d argue only pulling an Illustrator Pikachu compares.
Despite astronomical odds, the reports and reactions speak for themselves. God packs show zero signs of relinquishing their mythical status. Part lightning strike, part holy grail, forever etched into collector conscience. A card ripped from the grip of probability and digitized into legend.
