The Yu-Gi-Oh! Thread

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Kriptini

Vyemm Raider
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What is Yu-Gi-Oh?

If you don't know what Yu-Gi-Oh! is, you probably aren't a millennial and don't have kids. Yu-Gi-Oh! is a trading card game made in the late 90's that started off as a terrible Japanese MTG ripoff but quickly developed into its own highly competitive card game. It is the second most popular TCG in the world, right behind MTG and in front of Pokemon TCG. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, two duelists battle each other with a variety of monsters, spells, and trap cards in order to achieve victory over their opponent.

Yu-Gi-Oh! also has an anime series that has been running since the late 90's and a manga series that has been running since even before then. There have been five Yu-Gi-Oh! shows so far with each show comprised of over 100 episodes.

Why Should I Play Yu-Gi-Oh?

The thing that separates Yu-Gi-Oh! from most other card games is the lack of a strict resource system. In MTG and Hearthstone, you are limited by your amount of mana and once you have expended your mana for that turn, you're done. Yu-Gi-Oh! on the other hand does not have any kind of resource system; you can more or less keep playing cards as long as you have cards. This opens up potential for long and complex combos that you won't see in other card games, making games between players much more fast-paced and exciting than other card games while still promoting a large element of strategy.

Pros and Cons of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Pros:
  • If you like combo decks, Yu-Gi-Oh! has the most complex and rewarding combo-based decks of any popular TCG. Many decks can search (or tutor) many cards in their deck and summon an impressive board of powerful monsters on their first turn.
  • Instead of being locked to certain "colors" like in MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh! uses archetypes, which are groups of cards that can be as small as 5 cards or as large as 30 cards. If there is an archetype you really like, you can play a pure version of it, or you can find a bunch of archetypes that work well together and hybridize them to make some godly OP mutant deck that no one has ever thought of.
  • No format rotation, frequent reprints, and guaranteed rare cards in every pack keep the game affordable. Certain meta decks can cost as low as $60.
  • Anime artwork.
Cons:
  • To play Yu-Gi-Oh! at a competitive level, you basically have to learn the card game's language, known as PSCT (Problem-Solving Card Text). Yu-Gi-Oh! does not have a glossary of terms like in MTG, so it's not uncommon to find a paragraph of effect text on a card. You also need to learn how certain grammatical notations (such as including a colon versus a semicolon in card text) can change interactions between cards, and even then, some cards are not consistent with the game's own language. This can make for a very steep learning curve when getting into competitive.
  • Prize support is garbage. There are no official Konami Yu-Gi-Oh! events with cash prizes. When you make the top cut at large events, you are awarded booster packs and sometimes additional prizes depending on how big the event was. World Championship and Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) top cut winners receive "prize cards," special cards that do not have any other distribution. Collectors tend to purchase these cards for anywhere from $500 - $2,000, depending on how rare the card is, but nobody plays Yu-Gi-Oh! to make money, they play it for fun (or due to a crippling addiction).
  • Random banlists. Konami gives zero warning regarding when they're going to drop a new banlist. Usually they happen every 4-5 months, but rarely there can be "emergency banlists" that break this cycle. When a banlist drops, it usually goes into effect within 4-5 days. It is entirely possible that you can pick up a meta deck during "banlist season" to have it made unplayable the next day.
  • Anime artwork.
Anyways, doubt that anyone on this board plays but figured I'd make the post just in case anyone does, has kids that does, or wants to get into it. I don't think it's a better-designed card game than MTG but it definitely plays unique to all the other popular TCGs and in spite of its obvious and glaring flaws I do really enjoy it.
 

McQueen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
3,115
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Of all the game days at my local comic shop, Yu-Gi-Oh is definitely the stinkiest. It's absolutely putrid.
 
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a_skeleton_02

<Banned>
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I've been playing card games for over 11 years, Won multiple magic PTQs and been to a few pro tours.

Yu-Gi-Oh is trash.

The main pros of Yu-Gi-Oh is that it's cheaper than Magic and easier.

I used to run a table at events for years and the yu-gi-oh community is disgusting. They will steal anything and everything not bolted down and they will rob each other blind, One year at Gencon I watched one kid clock another kid with brass knuckles at an event then drop it off to a nearby kid and run away.

From a dealer perspective it's great because they will steal from each other and sell it to me at the table for 20% the cost.

I'd have kids come buy a card for $10 in the morning and sell it back to me for $2 later in the day so he can buy some french fries.

With the exception of maybe Pokemon Yu-Gi-Oh is the most simplistic game out there you have almost no interaction after your set up and go through your motions.

I'm friends with one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh players in the United States and he has such a disdain for the community that he only goes to win giant cards and promos and sell them for cash. He just got back from Canada the other day from a tournament.

If you have money and half a brain you'll instantly find out yugs is shallow and the community is trash. If you are a low IQ ape with zero cash so you're constantly have to "add onto your deck you'll do just fine.

Also, Konami the company who runs it has it's head up it's ass. In Japan Yu-gi-Oh is considered a "fun" game so they print fucking BUSTED ass cards every year that when they get to the states and into the hands of competitive players they have to ban them. Also the secondary market makes you want to pull your hair out because they reprint EVERYTHING. I know every single magic card I own will hold it's value but i've seen yugioh cards go from $100+ to $3 because they reprint it.

That's probably fine for casuals but for people who invested in the card when it was expensive it's a punch in the dick.

In closing, If you are on this forums you are definitely not the target demographic for Yugioh maybe world star.

Magic costs more but they have a wide depth of formats from ultra casual peasant (commons only) to Vintage (decks cost more than my house)

If you want an easy card game play Pokemon if you want a real card game play Magic, If you want your shit stolen by some 13 year old shit smelling thug play Yu-Gi-Oh
 

Kriptini

Vyemm Raider
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3,527
The main pros of Yu-Gi-Oh is that it's cheaper than Magic and easier.

It's definitely cheaper but I wouldn't say it's easier. "Easier" is very difficult to define. It's definitely not easier to learn than Magic.

I used to run a table at events for years and the yu-gi-oh community is disgusting. They will steal anything and everything not bolted down and they will rob each other blind, One year at Gencon I watched one kid clock another kid with brass knuckles at an event then drop it off to a nearby kid and run away.

I mean yeah we have a proportionally higher percentage of dindus than other card games but if you're smart and watch your shit you'll be fine.

With the exception of maybe Pokemon Yu-Gi-Oh is the most simplistic game out there you have almost no interaction after your set up and go through your motions.

This is just false. There are some decks that attempt to floodgate or hard control the opponent but the meta has not seen first turn setups with almost no interaction for the turns afterwards in years. There was a short time in Summer 2013 and a short time in early 2015 when the meta was like that but aside from that, it hasn't been true.

If you have money and half a brain you'll instantly find out yugs is shallow and the community is trash. If you are a low IQ ape with zero cash so you're constantly have to "add onto your deck you'll do just fine.

I mean I get it, you don't like the game, but a lot of this just isn't true. Yu-Gi-Oh is hardly shallow, interactions between cards get very complicated and combo chains can be long and dynamic. There are always "helmet" decks but there are more decks that take skill to pilot effectively. Again, community isn't the best but every community has their flaws. MTG players are some of the snobbiest people I know.

Also, Konami the company who runs it has it's head up it's ass.

This is true.

In Japan Yu-gi-Oh is considered a "fun" game so they print fucking BUSTED ass cards every year that when they get to the states and into the hands of competitive players they have to ban them.

Not exactly. There's two banlists: OCG (Asia) and TCG (NA and Europe), and players from both regions like to play the game different ways. OCG usually prefers control decks and NA/Europe generally prefer combo decks, and the banlists reflect this. There is significant power creep in the game but aside from emergency banlists (which have only happened once in recent history), the two regions have pretty different metas and different banlists as a result.

Also the secondary market makes you want to pull your hair out because they reprint EVERYTHING. I know every single magic card I own will hold it's value but i've seen yugioh cards go from $100+ to $3 because they reprint it.

Yeah but counterpoint: fuck the secondary market, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on cardboard.
 

Sumdain x

Trakanon Raider
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i went by the lgs to pick up a board game and noticed an entire subsection of yugioh players that were "thugged out" is that normal? the owner said some kid got stabbed like a month ago and they have a "no opening booster packs in the parking lot" rule.
 

Kriptini

Vyemm Raider
3,622
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i went by the lgs to pick up a board game and noticed an entire subsection of yugioh players that were "thugged out" is that normal? the owner said some kid got stabbed like a month ago and they have a "no opening booster packs in the parking lot" rule.

I think it depends on where you go and especially on the policies of the store. A lot of stores have a "no selling cards to other players" rule (and sometimes even a "no trading cards to other players" rule) which makes people want to conduct their sales and trades outside the store. If it's in a bad neighborhood, this can probably lead to stuff getting jacked. There are more dindus that play Yu-Gi-Oh than MTG, but that doesn't mean every community is bad. I've been to several different stores in East and South LA (even one in the heart of Compton) and have yet to find a community that's so bad they will steal from each other in the parking lot. Most of the stealing that happens is at events because tournament organizers are too cheap to hire actual security.