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Help break a code.

Politoed666

Alright, so I lurk around here a fair amount. I read stuff plenty, LOL at the shit forum (trou de cul, is it?), and generally am impressed with what I see. Except for the assholes on here. I hate assholes. BTW, I don't post since I'm far too noobish to post. In any case, I've been particularly impressed with certain formulas etc. regarding the games that I assume have been devised by Smogon members. So, I was wondering if any Smogon members are up to a challenge. It has to do with the Pokémon TCG.

See, although I'm sure most of you have never so much as picked up a pack of the TCG, I think you can help me with this. TCG cards come in packs of 10 cards. There are 36 packs per box. Typically, there is one rare card in each pack. However, occasionally there is an uber rare card in the pack. They tend to be worth a lot of money and are often very, very good.

For the new set released, called "Rising Rivals," there is apparently a way to determine which packs from an unopened box contain these especially rare cards. The speculation began with a few YouTube videos, namely this one and this one. Watch them. So, the guy who posted the videos isn't talking, and neither are a few other selfish novices who claim to have cracked the code. Essentially, your job is to figure out how to determine which packs from an unopened box have the Lv.Xs, and tell me. BTW, it's been theorized that it has something to do with the serial number of the box.

So, have at it. Note that there's a monetary reward for the first person to figure out how to do it and tell me. Thanks.

--Adam
 
I know that for certain other card games you can stick packs in the freezer and packs with holographic cards in the will inflate.
Not sure if this applies to the pokemon tcg though.
 
even though you can't really offer a monetary reward lol, i reccommend card weighing. if you weigh an unopened box of tcg cards pack by pack, by sorting out the heavier cards you can find holos much much easier. most retail chains won't let you do this but if you live near a citizenowned shop they will probably let you do it. you can get a mini weigher really cheap, about $20 or less online.
 
Oh God my friends were talking about this today. All I'm going to be able to tell you is what I saw and what others can build off of. Also, I can only base this information on the two videos so the information very well may be invalid.

So, let's look at the first video you posted. Well, apparently, it has everything to do with the box because A) The box wasn't opened and B)He was able to tell without opening it that there were 2 lvl Xs, 1 Rotom, and 1 Pikachu. Now that he has it opened, there are 2 sides that 36 packs are placed in. He picks the left one up first and shows a Rotom and a lvl X. The Rotom is in the pack that is number 9 in the row of 18. The lvl X is located in the pack that is number 11 in the row of 18. That means that they are seperated by 1 pack. The row on the right is picked up second and shows a Pikachu, Rotom, and lvl X. Again, the Rotom and lvl X are located in the same order and in the same number pack as in the left side (Rotom in pack #9 and lvl X in pack #11). The Pikachu is located in pack #5 on the right side. It is peculiar that the Rotom and lvl X were both located in the same number packs on both sides in the box.

The second video you posted may give more information. Unlike the first video where the person was able to know which cards were in which packs almost instantly, this time, when he picks up the left row, the person takes his time (this may be extraneous but it might not). There is a Rotom and a lvl X on the left side again! Also, they are separated by 1 pack like last time. However, this row has the Rotom in pack #15 and the lvl X in pack # 17. Then, he picks up the row on the right. This has a Rotom, a lvl X, and a Pikachu (just like last time!!!). There is a Pikchu in pack #11, a Rotom in pack #15, and a lvl X in pack # 17. Again, the Pikachu is located on the right row and is separated from the Rotom by 3 packs.

Does this sound like a pattern? Something on the box gives away the position of these cards. They are in this order all the time. It is possible that not all boxes will hold this and only a few boxes with the same something on the box hold this pattern. Hope I helped!
 
There are always 2 'Lv. X'es, 2 Rotoms, and 1 Pikachu in each box in both videos. He opens the box, then states where they are; it's something on the inside of the box.
 
Wichu said:
There are always 2 'Lv. X'es, 2 Rotoms, and 1 Pikachu in each box in both videos. He opens the box, then states where they are; it's something on the inside of the box.
Click to expand...

Well if there are always 2 lvl Xs, 2 Rotoms, and a Pikachu in every box, then what is the point of trying to break this "code"? Also, it doesn't have to be on the inside; it could be anywhere.
 
Wobby said:
Well if there are always 2 lvl Xs, 2 Rotoms, and a Pikachu in every box, then what is the point of trying to break this "code"? Also, it doesn't have to be on the inside; it could be anywhere.
Click to expand...
yes but he doesn't state where they are until he opens the box, I'm guessing that what cards are in there can be found on the outside but thier positions are only on the inside, also he wasn't saying there were 2 lv x' 2 rotoms and a pikachu in every box, he said there was in every box in the videos
 
I appreciate the responses I've gotten so far! BTW, there are two Lv.Xs, two Rotoms, and one Pikachu in most Rising Rivals boxes, so there was no special skill there. It's open to debate whether what gives away the position of the uber rares is on the inside or outside of the box.
 
latios315 said:
yes but he doesn't state where they are until he opens the box, I'm guessing that what cards are in there can be found on the outside but thier positions are only on the inside, also he wasn't saying there were 2 lv x' 2 rotoms and a pikachu in every box, he said there was in every box in the videos
Click to expand...

Well, that doesn't mean anything. He can't have any way of knowing what the packs have if the box isn't open, so he can already know where they are before the box is open.

Basically, look around the outside and inside of multiple boxes and then record certain things that are unusual or different for each box. Then, if something matches the pattern of the packs, then that is where they are located.
 
Well, I've heard of some people getting two Pikachus, and only one Rotom card... The giveaway to this must be on the outside of the box. I'd say it's this: the way the box is designed, you can find out the art on the first few packs by looking at the sealed box from the side. In both cases shown, the front two arts are the same; they both have Houndoom on the left, and Leafeon on the right.

Alternatively, he could just have guessed that, and simply not uploaded the videos where he was wrong. He can't have done that with the predictions, though, as predicting the packs a rare card is in by luck would have a very low chance. Successfully doing it by luck twice would require a ton of money.
 
Hello, welcome to Smogon! Glad to see you did something with your first post instead of saying 'hi im new' or 'First Post First RMT'!

Not too sure about how'd you go about with the monetary reward, but I would go with moot's suggestion and weigh the cards. If they don't let you, I recommend buying a few boxes if you have the cash and looking for patterns.
 
i figure the point of cracking the code is so you dont have to buy boxes and just buy the singles and get the cards you want.
 
Yeah, basically. Say you know a shop which sells cards; all you need to do is wait until they get in a new box of them, then use this to pick out the ones with the good cards.

Alternatively, you could buy a box, take out the ones with the rares, then sell the rest to friends (my brother's considering this if we can crack the code).
 
Wichu said:
Yeah, basically. Say you know a shop which sells cards; all you need to do is wait until they get in a new box of them, then use this to pick out the ones with the good cards.

Alternatively, you could buy a box, take out the ones with the rares, then sell the rest to friends (my brother's considering this if we can crack the code).
Click to expand...
Some friend you would be at that point! In other news though this is very interesting and at a glance I cant pinpoint a pattern but with some more time looking at the cards/packs/boxes maybe you could. I would suggest buying a box and testing, no better way to learn than from experience!
 
Atlas said:
i figure the point of cracking the code is so you dont have to buy boxes and just buy the singles and get the cards you want.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that the only way to tell is on one of these boxes and not on each individual pack. Otherwise, the person in the video would be have looked at each pack in order to tell. So, I doubt that you will be able to tell on individual packs =/
 
Thorns said:
Hello, welcome to Smogon! Glad to see you did something with your first post instead of saying 'hi im new' or 'First Post First RMT'!

Not too sure about how'd you go about with the monetary reward, but I would go with moot's suggestion and weigh the cards. If they don't let you, I recommend buying a few boxes if you have the cash and looking for patterns.
Click to expand...

Thanks much! Monetary reward = PayPal, BTW. :D
 
Just saying that if you want to break this code you will need to get a hold of an actual shipment box, as if there is a code, the individual boxes will be in some order within the shipment box. Otherwise, you will just be shooting darts saying "Oh! This pattern fits THESE boxes" but one more box will throw everything off unless you know the order of the boxes.
 
It's not worth it, unless you have a reliable way of selling off the remaining boosters. the Level X cards and Rotoms and Pikachus don't seem to go for that high of a price (about 5 dollars each?), and booster boxes are like 60~90 dollars... I don't honestly see why you would do this unless you own the card store or something (and the chances are if rumors spread around you're doing this no one will buy your boosters). The profit seems marginal.
 
I know with the naruto TCG, there is a slight (or huge in one particular case) color difference between packs. But because there are a different chance of rarity with pokemon than naruto (Usually 10 super rare in naruto 3 lvl X in pokemon) I dont know if it will be at all a help..
 
Tangerine said:
It's not worth it, unless you have a reliable way of selling off the remaining boosters. the Level X cards and Rotoms and Pikachus don't seem to go for that high of a price (about 5 dollars each?), and booster boxes are like 60~90 dollars... I don't honestly see why you would do this unless you own the card store or something (and the chances are if rumors spread around you're doing this no one will buy your boosters). The profit seems marginal.
Click to expand...

Felt like replying to this...
• Rotoms = about $7 each
• Pikachus = about $7 each
• Lv.Xs = about $10 or $20 for the lesser ones, and $30 or $40 for Flygon, Luxray, or Gallade...

And yes, we do have a reliable way of selling off the rest of the packs. Often, most of the value of the box is in the Lv.Xs.
 
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