Duel Masters vs. Yugioh(not a biased opinion!) - Gotenkz1025

Article 1 - Yugioh vs. Duel Masters (vs. Magic??)

NOTE - I wrote this tip awhile back for a YGO forum that I frequent.
Some opinions may seem to favor YGO, which is probably true, seeing
as how I had not started to play Duel Masters when I first wrote this.
I am now a fan of this game, as the update in the second-to-last paragraph
tells you.

 Hello, and welcome to my first article on this site. As many
of you have heard(and if you haven't, you've been living under a rock),
a new TCG has hit the scene that goes by the name of Duel Masters.
Here is a short description of the anime:

Shobu Kirifuda loves to play the special trading-card game Duel
Masters. For many, Duel Masters is just a fun game, but for others it
is much more: A few elite players can actually bring the card
creatures to life. Doing so requires passion and discipline, as well
as a type of martial art, Kaijudo, the art of battling with giant
monsters, which helps develop and strengthen this ability.

Shobu is a good and passionate duelist but has yet to learn his true
potential. He quickly discovers that he can tap into the power of an
alternate dimension where creatures and the magic in the game actually
exist. Shobu learns that, like his father before him, he possesses
the power to be a Kaijudo master. As Shobu continues to search for
his missing father, who has vanished into the card dimension, he gains
notoriety and skill as a duelist and is often guided by memories of
his father. What appears to be an ordinary game becomes a very real
battle for Shobu. This power brings him in contact with others who
share this ability  some good and some evil.

Now, upon first reading this, you'll probably think that this is some
cheap rip-off of the Yugioh anime. A card game where the monsters come
to life? Been there, done that. But upon further looking, you'll see
that this is actually nothing like Yugioh. There are no "heart of the
cards"(though this Kaijudo sounds alot like it, eh?). Sure, Mr. Shobu
here is a spikey-haired protagonist that loves to play the game of
Duel Masters. Sure, Duel Masters sounds alot like Duel Monsters(though
this isn't the official name of the game for Yugioh). And sure, if you
look at the gameplay mechanics, you'll first think of Magic: The Gathering.
But it is alot different from this game, too.

You start off with five shields, all of which your opponent has to hit
with his/her monsters, and then he/she has to hit you with his/her monster
one last time in order to win the duel(battle? I don't know). This
consists of using Mana in order to summon monsters(which have summoning
sickness..again, a cheap rip-off of Magic?) I've never played this
game, but when I first look at it, it DOES look like Magic, only with
pretty monsters and really high attacks(9000? wtf?). I think this is
a really big reason why most people will be driven away from this game,
because of the bad rep it gets from most Yugioh and Magic vets, saying
that this game is trying to cash in on their older, better games.

I recently looked at the spoiler on Pojo's website for the first spoiler
of the Duel Masters TCG, and the set-up of the card does seem familiar..
here is an example, the first card in the set:

S1/S10 (Super Rare)
Hanusa, Radiance Elemental
Card Type: Creature
Creature Type: Angel Command
Color: Light
Summon Cost: 7
Power: 9500
Mana Value: 1
Double Breaker (When this creature attacks it can break 2 of your opponent's
shields.)

All of these attributes look alot like Magic more than Yugioh, but
I don't have much of a say in what looks like what because I've never
played this game. Alot of people give this game a first glance and never
look at it again, dubbing it a Magic or Yugioh rip-off. My opinion is
to give it some time, as it's only one set old. Don't you remember
how everyone looked down on Yugioh because it looked like a Magic rip-off
as well? Look how popular this game has become. Who knows, give it a
couple of sets, there may be some promise in this game. On the other
hand, there could be no promise in it's future, and it may just die
out in a few months(Yu-Yu-Hakusho, anyone? I've never seen ANYONE play
this game). If you're into card games, give it a try, it may show some
promise. My final opinion is to not judge a card game by it's looks.
You can't really say much about it until you've really experienced it
first-hand.

UPDATE!! - I have started to play this game since I first started writing
the artice, and it is indeed all that I hoped plus more. You don't have
any staples in the game, so it adds to the versitality. Also, you don't
have just 1-2 types of deck, whether it is control/beatdown or chaos(YGO)
or anything like that, so it adds to the excitement. Not to mention that
when you buy packs, there isn't just 1-2 good cards out of a pack. Nearly
every card you get can be proven useful, and if you get a Super rare or
anything, you get another rare! That's very good. This game is DEFINATELY
recommended if you want to get away from the same old tourney decks in YGO.

Thank you for taking time out to read this! It's not the best of articles,
but hopefully as I continue, there may be some improvements. Also, any
ideas of a next article would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! - Gotenkz1025

email - chop_suey25@yahoo.com
AIM - Gotenkz1025