Children's Card Games!

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Hello fellow escapist-ers(?)

Let's have a discussion about childhood nostalgia, in the likeness of CCGs!

So recently I was going through some of my old crap when I came across a shoebox filled with some of my old Yu Gi Oh cards, and goddamnit now I'm getting back into the damned game. Most of my cool, rare cards have either been lost, stolen, or traded away over the years, and now I want to collect a bunch of the old cards I'm missing (Thank christ for the internet). Upon browsing some, I discovered about a year ago or so they released a special thing that came with all of the god cards and the first six booster packs that came out, I was pretty intrigued, until I saw most places were asking sixty bucks for it. But I was wondering around a grocery store today, and I saw it in their card game section, and it was only 25 bucks, so my childhood getting the better of me, I decided to buy it- and... wow...

I was rather disappointed in it. I was informed prior that the cards were reprints, but it seems like they changed a whole lot about the game. The cards feel different, look kind of different, and hell, they even smell different (Don't judge me, I did weird things as a child) I made the mistake of opening all of the booster packs, and probably scrubbed off a lot of the sets value in the process, and it wasn't even all that fulfilling with the cards being so... weird. But alas, that hasn't killed my spirits. I've seen a few people selling the god cards, which I didn't care that much about anyway, for a bit more than what I bought the set for, so maybe I can get my money back.

But anyway, Has the game changed or have I just gone crazy?

Another thing, Does anyone know where to get the more classic Yu Gi Oh stuff? Any good websites that sell old cards, singles, boosters, starter decks, or otherwise? I'd really like to get one of those old starter decks just for the hell of it, but I'm not sure what websites to trust and whatnot.

And a final note (And TL;DR, kind of)- Any other children's card game collectors out there? Yu Gi Oh, Pokémon, (I'm not sure if I should include Magic the Gathering on this list, seeing as how that kind of presents itself in a more mature fashion), miniature games, etc.? Do you have any fun experiences of nostalgia you want to share?

 

[Timotei]

Apples to Apples is probably one of my favorite card games from my childhood. Reason being it's a game that never grows old since it plays different depending on who the person with the green card is. It's less a game about rules and more about knowing who you're playing with. Not to mention some of the arguments that start over card choices can get pretty funny.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I'm an MTG guy myself. While it was fun, I quickly learned that it requires a serious cash and time investment to become competitive, and even more to stay that way as more sets are introduced and power creep sets in. Yu Gi Oh is much the same way, and one thing I find it has over MTG is faster pacing (no need to stuff 1/3 of your deck with land). Sealed Gold Coffer is the one that is constantly held up as a card that makes it a rich man's game, and it will never stop being useful.

No matter which game, I dislike the FTK/OTK decks. One thing I have noticed which I hope that a Yu Gi Oh veteran can properly explain to me is the value of XYZ monsters. Before they came out, you had Synchro Monsters whose benefit were they could be summoned from the 'extra' deck without the one-summon-per turn limit and they were all generally quite powerful (Stardust Dragon being the most cited example, having good protection against destruction effects and more besides), with the drawback being you required a specific type of monster card called a Tuner (but most Tuners had some kind of special effect that let it be special summoned from your hand or graveyard) involved in the tribute.

Now you have the XYZ cards that are similar to Synchros, except they do not require a Tuner, commonly require 2, 3, or even 4 monsters all the same level to be tributed, can use their abilities equal to the number tributed for them, and are generally far less powerful than Synchros. Why would you ever use XYZ when you have Synchros? Big summons like these are always risky to do in that games with destruction effects so readily available (Fissure, Smashing Ground, Hammer Shot, Lightning Vortex, Mirror Force, Sakuretsu Armour, Torrential Tribute, all the Trap Holes, etc...), but to me Synchros sound so much easier to summon than XYZ.

Now there's something more recent called Pendulum Summoning which I don't quite get, but everyone says it's overpowered.

While I haven't got the time or money to play either much now, I am still interested in the gaming theory enough to try my hand at creating my own, including designs for a Pirates of Carribean CCG (yes I know VS did that already but like all the games with that system it's horribly generic; mine actually involves hunting for hidden treasures).

 

[Gaijinko]

I played the hell out of Yu gi oh when i was younger and spent hours crafting decks and just mucking around it was fun. Still got all my old cards, Egyptian gods etc etc but now I am heavily into kaijudo. Its such a pity it hasn't been released in Europe yet and I have to import everything, makes playing the game quite hard with others, but still its my poison of choice at the moment.

 

[Ivailo Todorov]

I'm an MTG guy myself. While it was fun, I quickly learned that it requires a serious cash and time investment to become competitive, and even more to stay that way as more sets are introduced and power creep sets in. Yu Gi Oh is much the same way, and one thing I find it has over MTG is faster pacing (no need to stuff 1/3 of your deck with land). Sealed Gold Coffer is the one that is constantly held up as a card that makes it a rich man's game, and it will never stop being useful.

No matter which game, I dislike the FTK/OTK decks. One thing I have noticed which I hope that a Yu Gi Oh veteran can properly explain to me is the value of XYZ monsters. Before they came out, you had Synchro Monsters whose benefit were they could be summoned from the 'extra' deck without the one-summon-per turn limit and they were all generally quite powerful (Stardust Dragon being the most cited example, having good protection against destruction effects and more besides), with the drawback being you required a specific type of monster card called a Tuner (but most Tuners had some kind of special effect that let it be special summoned from your hand or graveyard) involved in the tribute.

Now you have the XYZ cards that are similar to Synchros, except they do not require a Tuner, commonly require 2, 3, or even 4 monsters all the same level to be tributed, can use their abilities equal to the number tributed for them, and are generally far less powerful than Synchros. Why would you ever use XYZ when you have Synchros? Big summons like these are always risky to do in that games with destruction effects so readily available (Fissue, Smashing Ground, Hammer Shot, Lightning Vortex, Mirror Force, all the Trap Holes, etc...), but to me Synchros sound so much easier to summon than XYZ.

Now there's something more recent called Pendulum Summoning which I don't quite get, but everyone says it's overpowered.

While I haven't got the time or money to play either much now, I am still interested in the gaming theory enough to try my hand at creating my own, including designs for a Pirates of Carribean CCG (yes I know VS did that already but like all the games with that system it's horribly generic; mine actually involves hunting for hidden treasures).

XYZ monsters are really powerful mostly because they can be made in the worst of situations and turn a game around.There are XYZ cards lvl 4 that are one of the best cards in the game.Excition Knight is lvl 4 and can destroy EVERYTHING on the field except himself 2 TIMES.Number 101 is basicly a:HA I summoned my strongest monster that my deck has to offer,your move scrub.Ok Number 101,say goodbye to your monster.

Also Pendulum summons are overpowered because you can summon as many monsters from your hand and then still have the 1 normal summon available.

OT:If you just want to play the game,you can just download DevPro.It's a nifty online YGO game which is constantly updated and best of all has every card in the game,did I mention they are also scripted.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Apples to Apples is probably one of my favorite card games from my childhood. Reason being it's a game that never grows old since it plays different depending on who the person with the green card is. It's less a game about rules and more about knowing who you're playing with. Not to mention some of the arguments that start over card choices can get pretty funny.

If you haven't heard of it, I recommend you check out Cards Against Humanity. It is a sick and twisted version of Apples to Apples.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Interestingly, I have been getting back into Yu-Gi-Oh as well, I looked at my sisters collection and a friend and I play it every-time he comes over, we can't remember the many specific finer points of the rules, but we play mostly correctly and I am quite good at organising decks.

I really wanna find more players! I want more card games! Preferably on Motorcycles.

I am also planning on ordering a physical set of Cards Against Humanity, wonderful light-hearted fun for all the family! Especially kids!

The new rules are especially convoluted. There is a group at my school that's really into the newer yugioh stuff, and I'm quite at a loss with all of it.

When I played it as a kid with my friends, none of us knew what the hell we were doing, but we still had fun.

 

[balladbird]

When the anime boom hit, and for a period of time a series couldn't be licensed without having a CCG in its likeness created, I played the heck out of all of them. I was in high school at the time, but I distinctly remember happy times with MtG and Yugioh (which I loved), Yu Yu Hakusho and DBZ (which I liked), or Inu Yasha and Fullmetal Alchemist (which were boring as sin, but I loved the FMA's anime enough to keep collecting regardless. XD Oh, and Shaman King and Naruto, though Naruto was basically just a variation on the remake of the rules for the DBZ card game.

Good times!

 

[Deathmageddon]

My sister and her scumbag bf were into Yu-Gi-Oh for a bit a while back, getting to dust off my massive collection and thrash them around was really fun. Magic. F-ing. Cylinder. All day, every day. She'd attack me for like 10000 or greater and I'd just flip that and win without ever having dealt damage.

Also, Magic because Magic. 13+, beaches.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

XYZ monsters are really powerful mostly because they can be made in the worst of situations and turn a game around.There are XYZ cards lvl 4 that are one of the best cards in the game.Excition Knight is lvl 4 and can destroy EVERYTHING on the field except himself 2 TIMES.Number 101 is basicly a:HA I summoned my strongest monster that my deck has to offer,your move scrub.Ok Number 101,say goodbye to your monster.

Also Pendulum summons are overpowered because you can summon as many monsters from your hand and then still have the 1 normal summon available.

OT:If you just want to play the game,you can just download DevPro.It's a nifty online YGO game which is constantly updated and best of all has every card in the game,did I mention they are also scripted.

Thanks, hadn't seen Evilsworn Extinction Knight yet. I'd definitely use that over Demise, King of Armageddon, but I would consider Number 101 to be inferior to the earlier Destiny Hero Blood-D (also comes with a built in Skill Drain that only affects your opponent, easier to summon, gains ATK from the equipped monster).

I was mainly going off Pojo's Cards of the Day feature, which has a lot of XYZs with rather crappy effects even if they didn't require ridiculous things like 4 Level 5 (und precisely five!) Monsters tributed, or 3 Level 7s (hard enough just keeping 1 Level 7 alive in a competitive game).

 

[Leemaster777]

Yugioh is definitely a different beast today than it was back in the day. The rules are definitely starting to get convoluted (still not as bad as Magic, IMO), but frankly, it's FAR more balanced than it was back in the day.

Haven't played in a bit, but my personal deck of choice are Ojamas. Those fugly bastards have won me countless games.

 

[Saltyk]

My sister and her scumbag bf were into Yu-Gi-Oh for a bit a while back, getting to dust off my massive collection and thrash them around was really fun. Magic. F-ing. Cylinder. All day, every day. She'd attack me for like 10000 or greater and I'd just flip that and win without ever having dealt damage.

Also, Magic because Magic. 13+, beaches.

This is actually one of the reasons I like Yugi-Oh over Magic.

Magic is fun and a great game, but I feel like it's a slower game and you can just make a cursory look at the field most of the time and know who is winning. It's very difficult to make a come back, though it can be done. Hell, I've made some game winning moves in one turn, though it took three or four to set it up.

Yugi-Oh can be turned around with one card. One card can win the game for you. I've come back from 100 life points (when my opponent had 8000) because I drew Jinzo. I've beaten a Five Headed God Dragon with Dimension Wall. I played my cards wisely and activated Nightmare Wheel to hit Great Shogun Shien on my opponent's turn, another on Grandmaster of the Six Samurai on my turn, and when he eventually was forced to attack with a Nisashi (which had a good 6000 Attack) hit Magic Cylinder for the win. I've won games I thought I was going to lose so many times, it's not even funny.

 

[Euryalus]

I am also planning on ordering a physical set of Cards Against Humanity, wonderful light-hearted fun for all the family! Especially kids!

Picks Haiku black card

*selects 10 cards*

Spoiler

1.) Poor life choices

2.) A snapping turtle biting the tip of your penis

3.) My sex life

Fun for the whole family

OT: When I was little, I played tons of war and egyptian rat screw. Good times.

I collected pokemon cards but never really played the game proper. We just made up our own rules.

 

[FPLOON]

I still have my old Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards alongside still watching both dubbed series every damn week...

Yu-Gi-Oh has changed A LOT since the old Yami/Yugi days... Now, you have number cards, overlay units, and "barians"... And, apparently, number cards can only be destroyed by other number cards? Fuck it! I'm sticking to my Tag Force 4 copy that I only seem to play whenever I head on over to this one dude's place because we still live in the nostalgic past known as Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds! CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES!!!

Anyway, I lack the moneyz to try to find some of the more classic cards so that I can rebuild my own deck... and only use it to battle the friend I mentioned earlier... unless they're going to be a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament at the anime convention I'm going to next weekend... (Oh! Maybe I can get together with my convention friends and just fuck around with Apples to Apples like the last two times we did it!!)

 

[Deathmageddon]

My sister and her scumbag bf were into Yu-Gi-Oh for a bit a while back, getting to dust off my massive collection and thrash them around was really fun. Magic. F-ing. Cylinder. All day, every day. She'd attack me for like 10000 or greater and I'd just flip that and win without ever having dealt damage.

Also, Magic because Magic. 13+, beaches.

This is actually one of the reasons I like Yugi-Oh over Magic.

Magic is fun and a great game, but I feel like it's a slower game and you can just make a cursory look at the field most of the time and know who is winning. It's very difficult to make a come back, though it can be done. Hell, I've made some game winning moves in one turn, though it took three or four to set it up.

Yugi-Oh can be turned around with one card. One card can win the game for you. I've come back from 100 life points (when my opponent had 8000) because I drew Jinzo. I've beaten a Five Headed God Dragon with Dimension Wall. I played my cards wisely and activated Nightmare Wheel to hit Great Shogun Shien on my opponent's turn, another on Grandmaster of the Six Samurai on my turn, and when he eventually was forced to attack with a Nisashi (which had a good 6000 Attack) hit Magic Cylinder for the win. I've won games I thought I was going to lose so many times, it's not even funny.

I've won Magic games faster than anyone could finish one in YuGiOh lol, and I'm not sure that luck prevailing over skill all the time is a good thing. But whatever, they're both fun and that's all that matters.

 

[Drizzitdude]

But anyway, Has the game changed or have I just gone crazy?

I got back into yugioh a few years back when I found my old cards as well. You should see my binder, it is rather terrifying to think some one could like blue-eyes white dragon enough to have that many of them. But when it comes to the game let me break down what has changed over the years.

*Synchro summons are a thing: By combining a regular monster with a "tuner" monster you can special summon "synchro" monsters, these monsters are white in color and usually have an effect when they hit the field but are relatively balanced.

*XYZ summons are a thing: Technically pronounced "exceed" summons, these monsters are black in color and are created by combining any two monsters of the same level to create a xyz monster of that level. These cards are extremely powerful for how easy they are to get out, have high attack values, strong abilities and have a "rank" instead of a level, this makes cards like level limit, gravity bind or burden of the mighty have NO effect on them. Widely considered necessary in every deck.

*Pendulum summoning is happening now: Pendulum summoning is a new mechanic being introduced into the game shortly, it requires you to have two "pendulum" monsters that go into their own special zone on opposite ends of the field, when this occurs you summon can a different "Pendulum" type monster and any amount of regular monsters between those to monsters level ranges. So if you have a level 1 pendulum on one side, a level 8 on the other, then you can freely special summon any amount of levels 2-7 from your hand instantly. Or something like that...

If your looking for a great site to try out decks and keep up with ban lists and such try this http://www.duelingnetwork.com/

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I remember making my own TCG at one point, with about 100 cards, hand-coloured and all that. No idea where it is now, and mechanics were naturally a bit simplistic seeing as I was 10. Also making replicas of actual Pokemon cards that I couldn't find and then expecting to be let play with them.

 

[Mahorfeus]

I've been an on-again, off-again Yu-Gi-Oh! player for almost a decade now. It's still probably my favorite TCG, especially since a lot of the old cards I owned from back then are still perfectly useable. Some of them are even meta-relevant, especially the staples. It can be hard to catch up to the new mechanics (Xyz took me a while to get a grasp on), but it's pretty damned fun. I generally play online using DevPro, or at my local comic shop.

MTG was also pretty fun, but it was just too damned hard for me to keep up with. I liked the game's mechanics, especially how some cards weren't shy about have utterly broken effects (new Ajani's ultimate gives you 100 life). But honestly, I just don't like how the rotation for Standard works. I spent a lot of money on Innistrad cards, but chances are, I will never get to use them again. There are other formats, sure, but none that my comic shop really uses. I do love me some EDH (still putting together my rat-themed deck) though. At least for that format, there is little in the way of an actual meta.

 

[GeneralFungi]

MTG was also pretty fun, but it was just too damned hard for me to keep up with. I liked the game's mechanics, especially how some cards weren't shy about have utterly broken effects (new Ajani's ultimate gives you 100 life). But honestly, I just don't like how the rotation for Standard works. I spent a lot of money on Innistrad cards, but chances are, I will never get to use them again. There are other formats, sure, but none that my comic shop really uses. I do love me some EDH (still putting together my rat-themed deck) though. At least for that format, there is little in the way of an actual meta.

I recommend trying out commander if you don't like the idea of your older cards becoming useless. It's a pretty popular game mode from what I gather and just about anything is legal. It's also more of a casual and silly game type. I still buy cards that are out of standard because I have a group of friends I play with casually for the sake of fun. Recently I've been dipping into Innistrad Zombies, particularly blue/black and milling. I have a friend who always gets sour when I beat his decks with it.