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Magic
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Baneful's Column How do you compare, the two most highly successful card
games, such Yu-Gi-Oh as Magic: The Gathering with each
other? Well, how do you not? To begin, MTG began in 1993 and
became the world's first official collectible card game
(CCG). Every single CCG out there owes thanks to it,
especially as most of them borrow it's mechanics. YGO came
out in 2002 but caught up to MTG quickly nonetheless. Aside
from Pokemon, no other card game has come close to their
level of success, so perhaps a contest between the two isn't
all that irrelevant. It's the Tupac Shakur vs. Notorious B.I.G. of card games.
Or, more precisely, it's the Coke vs Pepsi of card games.
Much like in a political campaign where the older politician
touts experience while the younger one touts fresh new
ideas, Magic: the Gathering has history and tradition to it.
YGO established itself as the new craze. In many ways their
marketing is different. YGO was a massive franchise that
used television as it's main source of promotion. There was
also lots of video games, merchandise, clothing and
accessories for it. YGO had the delicate middle ground as
it's media was moreso an extension of the card game than
it's card game being an extension of the media, like Pokemon.
Yes, MTG still had a market outside of the cards and
tournaments themselves, but not that much, as it relied on
word of mouth. This difference cemented what the two would
become and would represent. YGO emphasizes accessibility (a.k.a. you hear about it
and jump right in) whereas MTG emphasizes you taking
initiative and learning the mechanics in detail before you
join. YGO only has an easy-to-follow forbidden/limit list
and only 2 formats. MTG has multiple different formats
(including set rotations as one of the main ones), a
requirement that you must use lands (often they are
near-half your entire deck) and color restrictions. In YGO,
you can make a deck with monsters of all types; in MTG you
can't. Konami intended YGO to be a game where you can just
amass a bunch of cards, build a deck and duel immediately
without roadblocks. It may be a bad one, but you could still
do it. MTG makes you do more homework on the matter. There are key differences in mechanics. MTG is slow and
methodical, whereas YGO is fast-paced, sometimes insanely
imbalanced, but often explosive. YGO uses monsters as
damage-absorbing sponges whereas MTG lets you strategically
take damage to protect creatures which give you an advantage
in the long-run. MTG requires resources called mana, which
was excellent foresight compared to what YGO has become
today. YGO has become a game of attrition due to hand
advantage being able to fuel field advantage rather than the
two being at odds with each other. An overpowered card like Pot of Greed (Sign In Blood) in
MTG isn't that much of a because drawing those cards meant
you couldn't summon as much. Without the finer distinctions
(1 mana vs 2 or 3 mana), YGO has been forced to impose
punitive costs without smaller increments allowed. Tributing
two monsters is way too much, but tributing one might make
it a bit easy. The card Rising Energy is a good example. It
would have been an overpowered card without a discard, but
it's a horrible card with it. Lack of a meaningful cost
system has plagued YGO as cards have become more powerful. Needless to say, both games have carved out their niche.
It's been the perception (at least from what I've observed)
that MTG is a more mature sophisticated game, but YGO is the
insanely fun (and often immature) one. Perhaps this could
have something to do with the fan bases. The latter seems to
carry in more adults and YGO tends to carry more
adolescents. But that perhaps has changed over time as the
histories of the two have moved closer to each other. MTG
started earlier and has maintained it's success, constantly
getting an influx of more players. YGO started later but
exploded as a fad and national phenomenon for kids. After
the fad left, people who remained in love with it's
mechanics like me still stayed. The original players grew
into adults, new adults are learning to play YGO and kids
looking for fads these days are finding new things to do. So, who wins. By influence and prestige, Magic. By
cultural phenomenon and sales, Yu-Gi-Oh!. MTG as a card
game; YGO as a franchise. As for mechanics, that's purely up
to you. It's easy to be biased toward MTG because "well,
it's tradition..." but it also has strong balanced mechanics
that help it maintain it's success. YGO is less balanced for
sure, but some may find the chaotic and less stable nature
of it more fun for them. Also, we might want to look
at this 10 years from now. Don't get me wrong; YGO is quite
enduring. In 2005, I said the game will end for good very
soon. In 2010, I said the same thing. Now, I wouldn't be
surprised if it kept going until 2020 onward. CCG's are
quite young, being only 20 years old. They were invented
before high-speed internet and smart-phones, so who knows
whether they will adapt to technology or become a fad. But
if I had to predict, I would stay MTG has what it takes to
stay strong for the long run. There will be new challengers who go up against MTG and
may dominate for a little while, but how enduring they will
be or how consistent they will be is doubtful. CCG's are
competitive industry, and with two highly dominant games at
the top, it's hard to compete. Games like Cardfight Vanguard
have found their niche, so they're always hope. It may prove
more difficult for YGO to maintain it's relevance, let's say
if a television network cancels the show, but for now it's
too soon to predict long term trends. Let's just take it
day-by-day. Contact:
banefulscolumn@gmail.com
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