Hey everyone.  Recently in my hometown there have been a lot of debates over
why Magic is better than Pokemon or why Pokemon is better than Magic, so I
thought I would try and compare the two.

Pokemon
# of expansions-9 (Base, Jungle, Fossil, Rocket, Gym 1, Gym 2, Neo1, Neo2,
Southern Islands, and the Promos, which aren't sets but are included in the
card count anyway)
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# of cards-864
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Competitve tounaments-yes
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Non-competitve activities-yes (League is no longer DCI sanctioned)
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Banned cards-yes (as of Sept. 1st it will be Rocket On format and no Sneasel)
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world events-yes
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Largest set-132 cards

Magic
# of sets-37 (Apocolypse, Plainshift, Invasion, Prophecy, Nemesis, Mercadian
Masques, Urza's Destiny, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Saga, Exodus, Stronghold,
Tempest, Weatherlight, Visions, Mirage, Alliances, Ice Age, Homelands, Fallen
Empires, The Dark, Legends, Antiquities, Arabian Nights, Seventh Edition,
Classic, Fifth Edition, Fourth Edition, Revised Edition, Alpha, Beta, Portal,
Portal Second Age, Portal 3 Kingdoms, Unglued, Chronicles,Vanguard, Battle
Royale, Beatdown)
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# of cards-roughly 7,853
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Competitve tournaments-yes
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Non-competitve activities-no (all Magic tournaments and activities are DCI
santioned)
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Banned cards-yes
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World events-yes
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Largest set-440 cards
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At first it would appear that Magic outweighs Pokemon in everything.  Maybe
because it does.  Many many many more cards, bigger expansions, more players,
more sets.  The only thing Magic doesn't have that Pokemon does is
non-competitive events.  And that's what (IMHO) makes Pokemon better.  When
you play Magic, you play to WIN.  Magic is 100% competitive attitude.  There
is no play for fun once in a while.  You're either in it, or your not.
      With Pokemon, you can play competitively and earn points, or you can
play for fun.  Pokemon is FUN.  Magic doesn't have the fun element that
Pokemon does.  In Pokemon, you lose, it's no big deal.  In Magic, if you
lose, your rating could get floored.
      Another thing.  Magic is more complex.  It takes much more strategy
and thinking.  Almost anyone can play Pokemon and have it mastered in 2-3
years.  With Magic, you are dedicated to it full-time, and it takes years
upon years to master.  You spend hundreeds of hours, thousands of games, and
thousands of opponents to become the best you can.
      Magic also has more strategies.  There are 8,000 cards in Magic.  
There aren't even 1,000 in Pokemon.  There are literally millions of
strategies in Pokemon.  If my card count is exact, which it definitely is
not, then there are around 61,000,000 different combos.  Don't ask me how I
got that, I don't remember anymore.
      So which is better?  On one hand Magic has more to it.  More thinking,
more playing, more cards, more sets, more-you get the idea.  On the other
hand, Pokemon has more fun, and that's what makes it better.  You can play
Pokemon and still have a good time even if you don't win a single game that
day.  In my opinion they are both about equal, with Pokemon dominating
because it has a higher fun rating.

Questions, comments, corrections, hate mail, cuss-outs, advice, or anything
else EXCEPT viruses, send to
Metronome574@aol.com

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