Pokemon Center's Latest TCG Drop Was Officially A Disaster

The Bots Officially Won Pokemon Center's Delta Reign TCG Drop Published Oct 1, 2026, 3:57 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Last night, the Pokemon Center dropped its Delta Reign Pokemon TCG products. Collectors had the opportunity to pre-order Elite Trainer Boxes, Booster Boxes, and Booster Bundles from the upcoming Rayquaza-focused set. An opportunity was all that many had, though, with complaints flooding social media that the products sold out within an hour, and bots had scooped up most of them. This led to last night's drop being branded "the worst Pokemon Center TCG drop in history." The Pokemon Center's Delta Reign TCG Drop Was An Absolute Nightmare Last year, every Pokemon Center drop was a nightmare. I covered Prismatic Evolutions, Journey Together, Destined Rivals, Black Bolt, and White Flare closely, all of which saw the majority of collectors leave empty-handed. Things improved a lot after that, however. Despite the TCG remaining more popular than ever, The Pokemon Company implemented a range of measures and anti-bot technologies to ensure as many fans as possible saw success. It all crumbled last night, though. No sooner did the drop go live than products began to sell out, and complaints surfaced on social media. Reports suggest it took around an hour for the items to sell out, and collectors voiced their discontent. "That was probably the worst Pokemon Center TCG drop in history," said Pikaccino in a post liked almost 1,000 times. Many echoed that sentiment, like Tens, who said, "First one [Pokemon Center drop] I actively participated in and holy boy... that was dogsh*t." Not long after the Delta Reign stock sold out, the reason for the difficulties became clear. Multiple botting accounts shared their haul, and despite the one-per-person limit, orders were seen containing as many as 28 Elite Trainer Boxes. These botters were confident their orders wouldn't be canceled, which only made those who missed out more frustrated. Delta Reign was always going to be a popular set, so there was some expectation that this would be a tricky drop, but the level of disappointment is something we haven't seen in a while. The expansion is based on Japan's Storm Emeralda, and features one of the best cards of one of the TCG's current golden children: Rayquaza. As has so often been the case recently, products have made their way to the secondary market. The Elite Trainer Boxes, which have an RRP of $59.99, are already comfortably selling for over $250, and bundles of all three products have hit as much as $560. With the 30th Anniversary expansion hitting unprecedented highs and a Rayquaza set set to follow, the TCG's popularity will only keep growing. TheGamer has reached out to The Pokemon Company for comment. Franchise Pokemon Original Release Date October 20, 1996 Player Count 2 Age Recommendation 6+ Length per Game Variable Franchise Name Pokemon