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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Star Wars Unlimited Quality Issues

I knew going into this set, though after I’d ordered my boxes, that there were quality issues with the set. Man vs Meeple did a play of the starter decks, droids vs clones, and the cards were miscut. I believe that it was more of a centering issue with that.

But this is really bad. I was talking about it with my wife last night. And the idea that something like this could happen made sense for her, it’s a mass production. But for me, it’s about the quality control and quality assurances that surprise me about it. Especially for a product that is doing well like Star Wars Unlimited.

I play Magic. And I buy some Pokemon cards and One Piece cards. Throughout my history of buying cards, I think I bought 20,000 cards or so. Figure about 13 cards a pack and well, that’s a lot of packs that I opened. I’ve never seen anything like this from any of them. And in fairness to Fantasy Flight, I own boxes from the previous two sets of Star Wars Unlimited. I found 0 issues with those. So it seems like someone wasn’t doing the job as well as they should have in terms of quality control for this set.

If you watch video #2, you hear me talk through an e-mail that I sent to Fantasy Flight on the issue. My hope is that they send me a replacement for that card or refund me the cost of the cards that I got damaged. I fully expect it won’t be the latter. So if they can compensate me with the showcase card, that is solid on their behalf. Plus I plan on selling the card to people who might be interested in collecting weird cards.

Upcoming Streams

Just a reminder on my streaming schedule. It’s not just all my Top 100 Games (of all time).

• Monday night, time varies, I play different small solo games, though I might be looking to start up a campaign again. And generally the streams do start between 8 and 8:30 PM central time.
• Wednesday at 9 PM central is going to continue my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition for another six weeks. After that expect this to be when I play my small games. Only 5 more weeks left of my Top 100 Games, then likely this will switch to smaller solo games and video games.
• Friday at 9 PM central my wife and I are streaming a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Join us for the adventure of Nina and Kaerok and see what choices we make.

The best way to know when we go live, though is to subscribe and click that notification bell. I can’t promise, and in fact it’s pretty unlikely, that I’ll have events to click on ahead of time. Though I do want to get better at it. I hope that you can join a stream and hop into the chat. And let me know what games in this list are your favorite or that you want to try.

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Initial Impressions on Shadows of the Galaxy

So, let’s talk a bit about Shadows of the Galaxy, the second set of Star Wars Unlimited that Fantasy Flight has put out. Because I like elements of it, but also don’t love other elements. And I know that my quibble is pretty minor. But I want to call it out.

Let’s start out with that quibble. Rightfully so, the first set is rebels versus empire. That is what people want, Darth Vader and Luke. And I like that a lot. But the second set, now, doesn’t continue that. I make mention that I got one more rebel card to use with my Leia and Han deck. And I wish that they’d built up those factions a bit more. Or given even just a few more nods to it in the set.

I get building multiple factions, and that is an element that I like. I love the new Bounty Hunter stuff and the bounty mechanism. So I think they were very smart with adding that in. It adds a very cool element to the game. But at the same time. It is a new faction with bounty hunters, smugglers, resistance, first order. All of them are new elements to the game which waters down the pool.

I assume that Fantasy Flight knows what they are doing. And with that assumption, I also assume that they will continue to flesh out those factions over the next few sets. It seems likely that they’d spend their time adding a bit new, but also revisiting what they’ve done before. If we get a new set two down the line with more rebels and empire, my concern is a moot point. And I think it will get there, but I hope it doesn’t take too long to revisit some of the iconic factions.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I play small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well. And I might do more deck construction with Star Wars Unlimited on Mondays as well or pack openings. Right now it’ll be more Slay the Spire.

On Wednesdays, I play solo campaign games. I plan on playing a campaign game coming up. Right now I’m torn between two games. Well, more than that if you watched through the end of the video. And that is more of The 7th Citadel. I plan to keep playing through The Drums of Desolation for a while so join me for that.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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What To Know About Star Wars Unlimited Twin Suns

Let’s talk about what is different tin this version of the game versus how a regular deck works. There are two main differences in the game. The second one, in particular makes it more like Commander. So deck building itself is going to be different.

The first difference is that instead of one leader you play with two leaders. You can see me debate who to set as my leaders at the beginning. It is possible to grab leaders of the same color or aspect, but that is going to limit your deck building. Sometimes, and I think as more sets are added, it might be valuable to do. But with that leader you then will be able to add in a base and get to a third color that you don’t need to pay extra for.

The commander like element is that you need a larger deck of cards, minimum fifty cards. And the cards, you can’t have duplicates. So only a single copy of a card. I need to tweak my deck to improve which cards I have in there, but it changes up deck building strategy. It is more random, so how can you counter the randomness to some extent is the question.

What It Feels Like It’s Missing

This format, I think, is going to be one of my favorites. It’s going to remind me of commander, but I don’t know, after now making two decks, that I feel it is there yet. I want to touch on what I feel like is missing. Because I think some people will jump into this format because they play commander. And then realize that some elements feel lacking in the game. And I think most of them are because it’s the first set.

Firstly, card draw or searching for cards is limited. I think I left one card in like that. I maybe should put in a tiny bit more. But when you only play with a single copy of a card, you might need or want to find it. You should build your deck to handle that you don’t come across it, but it’s harder than Magic the Gathering, because Star Wars Unlimited is so limited right now in it’s card base, to pull of combos. So I think for some they will miss that, even I miss that.

But to continue with combos, I think that the game is light on leaders. I don’t want more in the base set, I just want the second set which is coming soon. I put together a deck where Leia is the main one I care about as a leader. Han is fine, he provides some utility, but I want to look at see if Chewie might be better. Neither of them synergize that well with Leia though. So right now, it is tricky to build up really good synergy between leaders. As more come out, I know that will change, or I’m confident it will is a more correct statement.

Final Thoughts

Before I sign off on this format and give my full opinion, I need to play it. I think that there are elements that I like, and elements that will become better. Right now, I think it is going to be a bit more lucky. And I want to remember that as I play. My cost curve is probably slightly lower because of that. But I expect it to be fun to play this at Gen Con.

Have you played the Twins Suns format of Star Wars Unlimited? Do you like that format better than constructed decks or not? Or what is your favorite format?

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How To Build A Star Wars Unlimited Deck

Let’s quickly review how deck building works. I talk about it some as I sort cards at the beginning bug if you want the simple rundown it goes as follows.

Leader and Base

You start by selecting your leader and your base. Right now most bases are the same, and I expect that to be the case going forward. They have no power on them, but they have 30 health. The big thing, as you start building, is that your leader and your base are going to give you three different symbols. This can be two colors on the leader and a separate or repeat on the base.

Color and Cards

Those colors don’t determine what you need to put in the deck, but they do make it cheaper. So I built a deck with green, black, and blue. Any of those symbols on a card I add make it cost the listed amount, however, if I’d put in another color, I can, but for each symbol I don’t have, it costs two more. So I should say less cheaper and more there isn’t raised price on them.

Then, as you pick cards to add to the deck, you can have up to three of each card in there. You need a deck that is 50 cards. It is worth noting that neither your leader or you base count towards that total. And, it is worth noting that not all cards work the same way when having three in the deck. There are some cards with a symbol by the name, those are similar to legendary cards in Magic the Gathering. I might have three of them in my deck, but only one can be in play at a time. If I play a second, I need to destroy one of the two.

Cost

And that is really about it. The deck construction is very simple for Star Wars Unlimited. I am not sure on what a great cost curve is for a deck of cards. The starter decks are probably going to be what I base it off of for the most part. But, as I built this deck, I found that I had about 1/5 of the cards that were above 5 cost. Or it might have been at 5 or above.

I expect that is going to maybe be a little bit low. Just with how you play out resources, being that they are cards that you could play, and having a way to get more into play, it seems likely that I might want more higher cost cards. But we’ll see, I need to sleeve it up and give it a whirl to see what happens.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well. And I might do more deck construction with Star Wars Unlimited on Mondays as well.

On Wednesdays, I play solo campaign games. I plan on playing a campaign game coming up. Right now I’m torn between two games. Well, more than that if you watched through the end of the video. But 7th Citadel and Sleeping Gods – Distant Skies are right now at the top of my list. Which would you prefer to see?

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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