The Pokémon Trading Card Game‘s Pokémon GO collaboration is introducing a brand new Ditto Pokémon card, but its peeling feature has left some collectors questioning the mechanic. After originally being teased in 2021 with the Pokémon GO Professor Willow TCG card, the Pokémon GO TCG set was finally announced to be launching on July 1. The special Sword and Shield set will include a VSTAR Mewtwo, Radiant Charizard, and now a new peeling Ditto card.
The Pokémon Company announced the new Ditto Pokémon card in a blog post on May 20th. In a promotional video, the Nintendo developer demonstrated that the Ditto cards have sticker-made artwork. While the special cards look normal on the surface, a tiny Ditto stamp in the bottom left corner hints that players can peel the artwork off to reveal a holographic Ditto Pokémon card hiding underneath.
While the new Pokémon TCG mechanic is really unique, the sticker-designed Pokémon card also raises many questions. Immediately after it was announced, players began to debate what the Pokémon GO Ditto peeling card mechanic’s impact would have on the TCG. Below is a breakdown of the pros and cons of the Pokémon TCG’s Ditto peeling cards.
Ditto Peeling Pokémon Cards Are Exciting For Collectors
Ditto’s new peeling mechanic is incredibly innovative and is an exciting gimmick the Pokémon TCG has been missing for years. While the Sword & Shield era saw the release of the V, VMAX, VSTAR, and Radiant mechanics, none of them are as unique as the new Ditto cards. Players being able to physically alter the card is an engaging mechanic that the series really hasn’t seen since the debut of the Happy Birthday, Pikachu card in 2000. The Black Star Promo contained a blank space next to the card’s title, so players could fill their own names in.
Similar to Pokémon GO, TCG collectors will get to search for Ditto and all of its disguises in the Niantic collaboration set. The new mechanic’s exciting peeling feature has the potential to impact the July expansion the same way valuable Charizard Pokémon Cards have in previous TCG releases. Collectors are going to go to great lengths to try to hunt down every Ditto card in the set due to their unique design. Hours after the Pokemon Company revealed the new Ditto cards, TCG collectors were already taking to social media sites to debate whether it would be more valuable to keep the Ditto cards peeled or unpeeled. Regardless, the new mechanic has quickly made the Pokémon GO TCG set one of the most anticipated releases among Pokémon fans.
Pokémon TCG’s Ditto Peel Mechanic Might Be Frustrating
Not everyone was excited about the peeling Ditto cards after they were announced, as some Pokémon TCG collectors raised concerns about the possibility of counterfeit products. Ever since the TCG launched in North America in 1998, scammers have been trying to trick collectors with fake cards. One of the main techniques used to create fraudulent Pokémon cards is sticker-based artwork similar to the new Ditto mechanic. Some fans worried that if the peeling Ditto cards are massively popular, the Pokémon TCG could continue the mechanic with future releases, which would mean a flood of counterfeits hitting the market to try to replicate the Ditto cards.
Another concern from Pokémon TCG fans is how the Ditto peeling mechanic will be implemented in the Pokémon GO TCG expansion. In the official release, the Pokémon Company stated “To find Ditto in the Pokémon GO set, look for other Pokémon that have a layer you can peel off to reveal the Transform Pokémon underneath!” Based on the wording, collectors interpreted this to mean that there will be Ditto versions of every card in the Sword & Shield TCG set. On Twitter, the new card even trended as Pokémon fans claimed they would be furious if they pulled a VSTAR Mewtwo or Radiant Charizard card only to realize that it’s a Ditto instead. Because it’s unclear if the mechanic will only have a smaller pool of cards that Ditto can be disguised as, some TCG fans fear that completing the entire set will be tedious due to the sticker gimmick.
The Peeling Ditto Cards Could Be A Game Changer For The Pokémon TCG
Although the Pokémon Sword & Shield Shining Fates TCG expansion recently featured the popular Shiny Ditto VMAX card, the new peeling mechanic could be the next big Pokémon card variant to shake up the entire game. While Ditto is limited by the Pokémon it can disguise itself as in Pokémon GO, the Kanto Pokémon can actually transform into any of the 905 Pokémon in the mainline Game Freak series. If the peeling mechanic is used outside of the Pokémon GO TCG set, any future Pokémon card expansion could have the rare Ditto card transforming into a different Pokémon.
Since there are theoretically 905 types of these rare Ditto cards that could be created, many Pokémon TCG collectors would be obsessed with keeping up a complete collection of the peeling cards. The mechanic could be the next Shiny Pokémon Card variant and would make all future expansions exciting to see which Pokémon would be next to get the peeling card treatment. If there ever ends up being Legendary Pokémon that Ditto hides as their stickers alone will probably be highly collectible.
Pokémon GO TCG Ditto Cards Could Be A Quality Control Nightmare
As exciting as it would be to see the new Ditto TCG mechanic applied to many other Pokemon cards, the peeling feature has the potential to be a mess. Because the sticker mechanic physically alters the artwork, TCG fans will want to keep both a peeled and unpeeled version of the same card, adding an extra layer of rarity to it. With players now having to collect two versions of the same card to truly complete their set, this could quickly become overwhelming if the Ditto disguise mechanic applies to every card in an expansion.
Following the Pokémon GO TCG announcement, many fans also voiced their concerns about the quality control of these cards. Recently, the Pokémon Brilliant Stars TCG expansion had many reports of severe printing errors. In the Pokemon TCG collectors world, a card even being a little off-center can drop its value by thousands of dollars. Because the peeling Ditto cards have a physical sticker that needs to peel off, the production for these could end up being a nightmare with many errors.
Regardless of the pros and cons, the new Pokémon GO TCG Ditto cards are innovative and unique. The engaging peeling mechanic will make the new Ditto cards a massive hit with both younger and veteran Pokemon fans. Even if the new Pokémon GO gimmick ends up being a one-time thing for the Niantic collaboration, they have sparked excitement in the Pokémon TCG that hasn’t been seen in years.