Welcome to Booster Thursday: The Rivals 2!

New to Booster Thursday? Let me tell you all about it!

Put simply, we use Pokémon TCG booster packs to choose 6 targets, and then we go shiny-hunting. Every shiny is worth 1 point, the 6 targets chosen from the boosters are worth 2 points (for the first of each target caught), alphas are worth 2 points, and the Critical Hit Bonus is worth 4 points.

Throughout January 2026, two teams will go head-to-head in a shiny-hunting competition to see who can earn the most points. The winning team gets to choose which Pokémon I have to hunt first in next month's Booster Thursday competition, AND choose which trading cards we open!

But if you don't sign up to a team straightaway, don't worry - anyone can join in! Booster Thursday is all about coming together to hunt some shinies, so viewers can submit to either team! Maybe you want to support The Game, or maybe The Nut earns your favour? 

Signups for the teams will be open until 23:59 UTC on 28th December 2025, with the teams announced live during my stream on Monday 29th December 2025. To sign up, please head to my Discord and follow the instructions in the Announcements channel.

If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to reach out, join my Discord or catch me on stream!

See you in January for some booster-based shiny hunting!

Discord link: https://discord.gg/qvVN757eV2

Twitch Channel: https://twitch.tv/solarscyther

So, Booster Thursday works like this:

• At the start of stream, I open 2 Pokémon TCG booster packs

• We play 'Guess the Energy' whilst opening the packs - guess the Energy card correctly, and you win a point (or 2 points if it's a Holo energy)! If more than one person guesses the same energy correctly, you all get the same amount of points.

• Chat chooses 6 targets from the Pokémon found in the opened packs, to be our Double Points targets during the stream

• We also open a Critical Hit Bonus Japanese pack, with up to 5 Pokémon to choose from. We run a poll, and whichever wins will be the Critical Hit Bonus for the stream - this target is worth 4 points

• We then go shiny hunting. Every shiny caught during the stream is worth 1 point (this includes PCG), the first of each Double Points target is worth 2 points, and the Critical Hit Bonus is 4 points. Shiny Alphas are also 2 points. A shiny Alpha that's also the first catch of a target, will stack!

• The hunt begins as soon as the Double Points targets have been posted in the Discord (usually around 20:30 GMT). You can then hunt until 23:59 GMT on the following Friday, and please submit photos/screenshots of your catches by 23:59 GMT on the Friday after stream on Shiny Dex⁠. Screenshots MUST include one of the summary screen, and one of the date caught screen. Clips can be sent instead, but must include the encounter and the capture.

• For each monthly finale, points values are doubled. So each shiny is worth 2 points, alphas are 4 points etc.
• Turbo settings are not permitted to make use of AFK methods, but they can be used if you need them for accessibility reasons.
• The 'stairs' method for Zone 3 in Legends ZA is not allowed for this event, but bench & fly-resetting is fine.
• Evolved Pokémon are completely acceptable, but two screenshots of the caught Pokémon and one of the evolved form (with the Nature screen) are needed. For example if Scizor was a target, you can catch a Scyther and evolve it, but you must send two screenshots of Scyther and one of Scizor.