TCG’s are a type of game, Trading Card Game, that a lot of people who play games look down on. I think it’s worth asking the question if they are worth playing. Because a lot of the reason why people look down on them are maybe not for the game but for other reasons. We’ll get into those reasons why people would avoid a TCG to start here. But are there good reasons to avoid these games?

What Is A TCG?

A TCG, trading card game, is a game, like any other. The difference is that TCG’s have randomized packs of cards, often with different rarities. You’ve likely heard of two main ones with Magic the Gathering and Pokemon. Now you can also buy pre-made decks for the sets that come out, often for these, but they are going to be more vanilla versus the cards you can get in packs.

These games also generally have another element in common besides the distribution method. And that is that you play with a deck of cards. As I mentioned, you can play with a pre-built deck of cards. These often come in starter boxes for these games. Or you can build your own. And that is where it starts to get into it for some people, but we’ll talk about it.

Why People Avoid a TCG

There are few main reasons that people avoid a TCG. And I think some of them is kind of valid. One is kind of ridiculous because it’s not about the game itself. It’s about the methodology in which game is released. These games are released in sets and some versions of how you play, mainly in tournaments, care about when the cards are from, and the better cards and rarer cards become very expensive for the best decks.

This reason is dumb because no one is making you play the game that way. You can play any of the games casually. And you don’t need the expensive cards for that. As long as your group has a mindset of how they want to play, these games can be reasonable.

Now, it is important to know yourself and your groups tendencies. Is someone going to go all in on the game? Then a TCG is going to be a massive money sink and you’ll get an imbalance in the play groups. So know that before you dive in, but that’s a person issue, not a reason to avoid the game.

Better Reasons

There are better reasons to avoid the game. Though, the player reason of resources and group experience balance is a very valid reason to avoid it. Though, I’ll remind everyone again that this is a player issue, not a game issue. So don’t blame Pokemon for releasing too many sets, you don’t need to keep up.

Another reason is that they tend to have take that elements to the game. In Magic the Gathering, the blue cards often counter what your opponent is going to do. So that confrontational and negative interaction space might not work for your group. Granted, there are some other TCG that are out there which might work better because they don’t have. They also tend to be fighting games where you are either attacking the other player(s) or their creatures/characters.

Deckbuilding is hard. Now, I think that this is a valid reason if you have a group that is into that. Even if the power levels and money being spent are very tame, if you run a pre-built deck versus a cheaply built deck that someone has built, it’s probably going to be weaker. But let’s talk about deckbuilding more later on.

Why You Should Still Play

Are there reasons to play these games? I think that a good TCG is still fun to play and there are certainly good reasons.

The first one I can think of is that they offer such a variety of play and experience for the players. Are the games generally all head to head or attack another player, yes. But how you do that can really be tailored to what you like in a game. And with that comes a level of creativity that you can build your deck with. Even if you don’t want to build a deck, almost all of the companies who make a TCG offer you decks that you can just buy to play.

And like I said, I wanted to talk about the deckbuilding aspect of the game. Yes, it is not going to be for everyone as I’ve mentioned before. But when you get into it, I think that it’s a great way to stretch yourself and grow your ability to think logically. You need to puzzle out a deck and determine what is going to make that deck work and what cards make a sense to put in there. Either cards that you buy or cards that you already own. And I think that’s a good skill in general for people to have in life. So this is a fun way to get it.

Also, there is a theme for everyone. You want to play sci-fi, superhero, fantasy, gothic, etc. You can do all of that, and that is just in Magic the Gathering. Other games often give you a more specific theme, but we’ll talk about that and maybe which ones you want to try.

Which One Should You Play?

So, let’s just jump into that. What games should you play? I think that there are a lot of good ones. But it’s all going to depend on who you are as a gamer. And, in the rare care, if you want to play solo/cooperatively.

Magic the Gathering

Magic the Gathering is a great one to jump into if you want a game with a ton of different themes in a single system. You want to play Marvel, you can do that. You want to play Lord of the Rings or Final Fantasy or Doctor Who, you can do that. Or if you just want to play in their own world that is certainly an option as well.

But beyond the theming, it’s one that has the best support for playing in almost any area. You are most apt to find people to play it with and who play at different levels or different types of Magic the Gathering. And that should be mentioned, Magic itself supports almost any way you want to play.

Magic the Gathering is also the one that has the biggest variety in how you can play. Decks are going to feel very different across the different colors and factions. The downside is that if you get into it, there is so much coming out it’s going to feel very overwhelming.

Pokemon

I think that Pokemon is a great game if you are going to play with a younger audience. The decks are simpler, and the video games and TV shows clearly market it to that broader audience. You will be able to teach the game to younger players faster because they don’t need to know as much and deck construction itself is going to be easier, though, it’s going to offer less variety.

And that’s kind of the downside. But this game does have another downside. And this is where the model of how these games are released does impact the game. Pokemon is highly collectible. And that means that it’s very hard to find with lots of scalpers in the space. So it’s not as cheap and easy to play as it should be if you just want to buy packs.

One Piece

One Piece is probably going to be the most niche theme of all the ones with just one theme that I talk about. But I think the game play itself is very welcoming in how it works. Yes, you do attack and everything, but it does what Pokemon does in that it gives you prize cards. These are just cards from your deck that are set aside randomly. But it means that you are knocking down your opponents boss.

The complexity of the game play is also more in line with Pokemon. Now, there is more going on, there are cards that interrupt what your opponent is doing. So there is more challenge there. But it does what the next two games do well which is you can’t always play everything, in Pokemon you kind of can, but you are always getting what you need to play more.

Star Wars: Unlimited

Now, if you like Star Wars, this is going to be the one to go with. But it’s also the one that I’d recommend the most. It’s that balance of interesting deck building and being able to lean into synergies, without diving all the way into the volume and complexity of Magic the Gathering.

In this game it also removes that one element of timing that you get in the One Piece TCG and Magic the Gathering. You don’t interrupt what your opponent is doing. In fact you take an action, which can be playing a card or activating an ability or attacking and then your opponent goes. No blocking, not turns taking a long time. This one balances that deckbuilding fun and then fast game play.

Lorcana

Finally is Lorcana which is for the Disney fans. This one is more complex than Pokemon, but not too complex, I’d say easier than One Piece or Star Wars Unlimited. For that reason it wasn’t for me, but it is for a lot of people and the theme is the most welcoming out of any of them. And an element I didn’t talk about, the communities for these games, this one is probably the most welcoming.

And some of that is because this is a game that kids are able to play, easily, though a lot of them aren’t that hard to play. But it’s also the least “violent” one. This one you are going for a goal instead of trying to knock down your opponents life/base/characters as much. Yes, that is still part of the game, but it’s not the whole game.

Do you play any of these, if so which is your favorite TCG?

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