My Saturday mornings as a child always went to Kids WB. They had Pokemon, after all; the second-biggest reason I found myself where I am today after Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis. One day, my morning routine would be changed forever as Yu-Gi-Oh entered the TV block's morning lineup. Now, an important fact about me is that when I like something at the level of Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and Sonic, I don't just like it. I dive right in and enjoy practically everything it has to offer. This meant that trading cards became an easy gift for me, especially the old combo packs that combined Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic: The Gathering.
I vividly remember those combo blister packages, especially the one Easter basket I got that was completely full of them. I also remember stashing the Magic: The Gathering cards that I didn't care for in a shoebox under my bed. I might have grown up with Lord of the Rings-loving, Dungeons & Dragons players as parents, but Magic: The Gathering never held my interest despite how much I was exposed to it as a child. I loved the art of Pokemon cards, but Yu-Gi-Oh TCG booster packs would be what I took from the trading card aisle as both a child and an adult. I really enjoyed how plenty of cards could fit into all sorts of decks, just like Yugi's, until they didn't anymore.
Magic: The Gathering's Sonic Cards Surprisingly Fit Like a Glove
Magic: The Gathering brings Sonic the Hedgehog to the battlefield with an upcoming Secret Lair drop, and it's impressive to how well the critters fit.
Yu-Gi-Oh's Gradual Introduction of Archetypes Frustrated Me For Decades
The Days of Mix-and-Matching Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Ended Before My Eyes
As you might have guessed, I stuck with the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG through its anime spin-offs, still picking up booster packs to play the same cards the characters in the shows did in my own way. Early on into Yu-Gi-Oh GX' s era, though, I noticed the effects of these cards changing. They mentioned needing cards of the same name, like "roids" or "blackwing," to activate and combo off of each other. At the start, this was fine. I didn't expect it to shape the entire game as the years went by, though.
Eventually, these effects would straight up require other cards with similar names on the field, or, in the case of Arc-V's Pendulum Monsters, outright limit players to summoning only that archetype for specific needed effects. While this created great card synergy and served as a good limit for powerful effects, it took away one of the things that made me excited about Yu-Gi-Oh in the first place. Yugi's classic deck was made of a bunch of mixed-and-matched fantasy monsters that didn't have text tying them together, and they still worked well. I enjoyed making decks like that the most, and I felt like I couldn't anymore. Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds' protagonist had a bit more of a makeshift deck, and I adored his Stardust Dragon, so I gravitated to his cards to cling to the feeling of having a deck I crafted myself.
Yu-Gi-Oh Finally Gave Me My Niche, But Then Everyone Went to Magic: The Gathering
While I enjoyed using Arc-V's Performapals and Speedroids as the years went by, seeing text suggesting I needed more than one of an archetype in my deck with every new card I got in a pack would make me long for the old days. I did my best to find what I still liked about the game and tried to break these rules the best I could with a few craftier decks among a small, casual Yu-Gi-Oh TCG group at my first job. It was refreshing to be around like-minded people, and I was happy to share my love for the game as it grew when the Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS anime began.
I Got My Dream Yu-Gi-Oh Deck As the Monkey's Paw Curled
Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS sits as my favorite YGO anime for a number of reasons, but the way it added the Cyberse type to the game changed my relationship with it forever. The cards not only had a futuristic aesthetic that didn't limit their monster designs, but the Cyberse card type had natural synergy with itself. My favorite character, Yusaku, didn't have a deck that relied on an archetype - just Cyberse cards. Other cards in the show leaned more into their archetypes, like Salamangreats or Goukis, but even those left space to require other Cyberse cards to build decks with. I was in love with the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG in a brand-new way, but the introduction of VRAINS also came with the Link format.
The day the Link format was unveiled for English Yu-Gi-Oh TCG players was a dark one among my tiny group. It originally limited Extra Deck summons that weren't attached to Link Summoning so heavily that it broke many of my friends' decks. They weren't happy, and they all made it very clear that they weren't sure if YGO would hold their interest after that. The next thing I knew, only one other person regularly brought their Yu-Gi-Oh deck besides me, and the rest had Magic: The Gathering decks instead.
Still, we enjoyed each other's company, even as I awkwardly sat there while all of my friends played Magic: The Gathering among themselves and I wondered why I wasn't going home after working a shift that started at 6 AM. The enthusiasts were quick to insist that I get into Magic with them. They spoke about how much better it was than the card game I had loved since the early 2000s, some even going as far as making the (now laughable) statement that MTG rules were so much simpler. Considering how my love for Yu-Gi-Oh was just reignited, I didn't want to. Magic: The Gathering may have had a presence in my life, but back then, it still didn't grab me.
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Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel is officially rolling out a major change to the card crafting system, focused around dismantling newly-banned cards.
Magic: The Gathering's Recent Releases Were a Trap Card Against Me
Magic: The Gathering Brought in an Element Yu-Gi-Oh Could Never Introduce
Magic: The Gathering - and life - eventually caused our small, formerly Yu-Gi-Oh group to dissipate. Years later, the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set caused Magic to pop back on my radar. My two best friends were practically drooling over the cards, but we all agreed that MTG was a hobby we didn't want to invest in at the time. Immediately after came a direct hit none of us could have predicted: the Sonic the Hedgehog Secret Lair set announcement.
The timing of the Final Fantasy crossover set being followed by a Sonic one felt like Magic: The Gathering got tired of my disinterest and brought in the one thing that could get me to kneel. As mentioned before, I don't just like things. I dive right in. After seeing how Wizards of the Coast carefully crafted these Sonic cards, to where they even brought in famous artists from the Sonic the Hedgehog comics to do beautiful illustrations for them, I knew I had no excuse and had to check the game out at that point. I got in touch with a few Magic: The Gathering-playing friends, asked them questions, and read up on the cards and the rules.
With every bit of information I learned about the game, one strong truth appeared. Magic: The Gathering is built, and outright encourages, players to use all kinds of cards in tons of different ways. It doesn't matter if it's from 2011 or from the very first set in 1993; if it was legal within the format and rules, then it was fair game. Once I understood basic Magic: The Gathering deck structures, I went looking and found out that tons of my favorite Final Fantasy characters could be in a deck where Sonic himself is the commander. Deck building was finally fun for me again.
It seems The Heart of the Cards agrees that I should be a Magic: The Gathering player after all this time because I managed to secure my Sonic Secret Lair set six minutes after they went live, somehow.
I've spent a generous 20 years being stubborn about Yu-Gi-Oh and how much I enjoyed it, shrugging at Magic: The Gathering the entire time. It's humbling to find out now that Magic was the exact card game that I wished Yu-Gi-Oh could have been for the last several years. I made a promise to myself that if I managed to snag the Sonic Secret Lair that I'd check out my local scene and make an effort to be a part of it. If I end up being the one annoying Sonic player in the entire card shop, then so be it. What's important is that I'm having fun.
It's a shame that I realized all this too late for the Easter basket Magic: The Gathering cards to join in the fun. That shoebox was lost what feels like a lifetime ago. At least I can say that if anyone who bought me Magic cards over the years reads this, or if anyone from that tiny Yu-Gi-Oh table in the corner reads this, I'm very sorry. It turns out you guys were right about a lot of things the entire time.
- Franchise
- Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Age Recommendation
- 13+