Well I finally picked up Pokemon (as of creating my previous thread here), and I must say I'm impressed. What I thought was going to be a dumb and boring card game has turned out to be a fantastic diversion from the ever-so-serious Magic the Gathering.
However, as I was waltzing out of the store with my new Pokemon deck, I nearly tripped over a box on the floor to the side, entitled Legend of the Five Rings.
I'd heard about this before, but I'd never given it a shot, so I picked it up on a whim and decided to have at it with some friends.
Well... sweet Jesus. What a find! I've never been so enthralled by a card game in my life (this includes my first Magic the Gathering encounter so, so long ago). It's a complex and engrossing game of feudal, fantastical japanese clans. This is a CCG at its finest, and apparently it has a pretty substantial player base with a handful of tournaments each month at numerous game shops nearby. I'm completely hooked, and I can't recommend it enough.
Then, I was prompted to make this thread. What are some of your favorite CCG/TCG games to play other than Magic the Gathering, which I'm assuming we all enjoy here to some degree (if you're on this forum in the first place).
L5R has been around since 1995. It's cool to see a fellow game like Magic to be around for so long with a dedicated fan-base, albeit smaller.
I've played several card games besides Magic, but I would have to say it's Pokemon. I loved the game back in the day, and I recently picked it back up to great joy.
Yu-Gi-Oh is ridiculously dumb: almost all the decks are the 70-80% of the same cards. If it wants to stay alive, it needs to be overhauled, if the damage isn't already too great. (I don't keep up with the game, but when I last checked, and heard chatter in the card shops)
I played VS system for awhile, then Superman came out. I went to a prerelease and opened a foil Bizzaro which was very difficult to read. It was in Bizzaro English or whatever, it was reflected like in a mirror. So I asked the TO what Bizzaro actually did.
Rob Dougherty was actually the TO for this tournament, and I think he had something to do with designing the game. So I walked up to Rob, showed him Bizzaro and asked what it did. He looked at it, looked at me and then said "I don't know figure it out."
I just didn't care enough, and just stopped playing.
Oh that CCG about hacking was cool too unfortunately it died off real quick. The Spoils is also a very nice version of Magic that fixes problems Magic has and makes the game a bit more complicated.
I've played quite a few CCGs over the years. I don't actively play any of them any more (including Magic) but here are some I remember well...
Highlander: This was the first CCG I got into after quitting Magic the first time around back in 1998. The game is wholly unsuitable for multiplayer but provides a really interesting 2-player experience. I know it was recently revived by another games company but I haven't tried the 2nd edition, mostly due to lack of players in the area.
Doomtown: Based on the Deadlands RPG environment. Designed as a multiplayer experience from the bottom up. Lots of fun with the capability to do some very different strategies, but unlike my brief experience with the Star Wars CCG, there's still a lot of interaction between players even if they picked completely different ways to go about winning the game.
Lord of the Rings (Decipher): Really enjoyed the first three years of this where the releases were coinciding with the movies. Strictly a two-player experience but had some very tense gameplay, especially when it's your fellowship's turn and a single miscalculation could very easily turn into a game loss. Decipher restructured the game after the third year and I kind of lost interest.
Dragon Dice: Yes, a collectible dice game. Used to really be into this one too, but the games had a tendency to drag on much longer than they should have, and the learning curve is pretty steep if you're using Magic as there are so many options for spells based on the colors of your magic users, as well as racial spells. Was originally published by TSR, but has since been picked up by a company called SFR and is still being actively supported (they had a booth at GenCon this year).
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I've played quite a few CCGs over the years. I don't actively play any of them any more (including Magic) but here are some I remember well...
Highlander: This was the first CCG I got into after quitting Magic the first time around back in 1998. The game is wholly unsuitable for multiplayer but provides a really interesting 2-player experience. I know it was recently revived by another games company but I haven't tried the 2nd edition, mostly due to lack of players in the area.
Doomtown: Based on the Deadlands RPG environment. Designed as a multiplayer experience from the bottom up. Lots of fun with the capability to do some very different strategies, but unlike my brief experience with the Star Wars CCG, there's still a lot of interaction between players even if they picked completely different ways to go about winning the game.
Lord of the Rings (Decipher): Really enjoyed the first three years of this where the releases were coinciding with the movies. Strictly a two-player experience but had some very tense gameplay, especially when it's your fellowship's turn and a single miscalculation could very easily turn into a game loss. Decipher restructured the game after the third year and I kind of lost interest.
Dragon Dice: Yes, a collectible dice game. Used to really be into this one too, but the games had a tendency to drag on much longer than they should have, and the learning curve is pretty steep if you're using Magic as there are so many options for spells based on the colors of your magic users, as well as racial spells. Was originally published by TSR, but has since been picked up by a company called SFR and is still being actively supported (they had a booth at GenCon this year).
A collectible dice game sounds... pretty cool. I've never heard of it, and I've never seen anyone play it, which doesn't sound too promising.
Out of those, I still love them all except Pokemon and Yugioh. So many great games die. L5R and The Spoils are still alive, but no one wants to play them in my area even though I love them infinitely more than MTG. Heck, Duel Masters, The Spoils and Hecatomb are all just flat out better versions of Magic.
I'd also like to try a lot of other games like Vampire, LBS, 7th Sea, Wars, Berserk, Warlord and WoW. Also would really like AEG to release Phase already. It's hard to get people to play anything other than Magic though, even if it's dead and sells for $10 a booster box. People don't even want to try out FFG's LCG like Game of Thrones, Call of Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer Invasion.
I've also enjoyed several CMGs, such as Mage Knight, Dreamblade and Monsterpocalypse. Man, Dreamblade was amazing. Considering trying out Horrorclix even though it is dead as well.
Out of those, I still love them all except Pokemon and Yugioh. So many great games die. L5R and The Spoils are still alive, but no one wants to play them in my area even though I love them infinitely more than MTG. Heck, Duel Masters, The Spoils and Hecatomb are all just flat out better versions of Magic.
I'd also like to try a lot of other games like Vampire, LBS, 7th Sea, Wars, Berserk, Warlord and WoW. Also would really like AEG to release Phase already. It's hard to get people to play anything other than Magic though, even if it's dead and sells for $10 a booster box. People don't even want to try out FFG's LCG like Game of Thrones, Call of Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer Invasion.
I've also enjoyed several CMGs, such as Mage Knight, Dreamblade and Monsterpocalypse. Man, Dreamblade was amazing. Considering trying out Horrorclix even though it is dead as well.
I've never heard of The Spoils, but I looked it up -- I think I've overlooked an absolute gem. Why do you say that this game is much better than Magic the Gathering? (I'm currently looking for a replacement as I type).
I'm all for getting my local gaming community together to embrace a game that I love and enjoy (or at least, attempt to get them to embrace it). Dragon Dice and The Spoils both look fascinating.
I've never heard of The Spoils, but I looked it up -- I think I've overlooked an absolute gem. Why do you say that this game is much better than Magic the Gathering? (I'm currently looking for a replacement as I type).
I'm all for getting my local gaming community together to embrace a game that I love and enjoy (or at least, attempt to get them to embrace it). Dragon Dice and The Spoils both look fascinating.
The Spoils was originally designed by a group of pro Magic players for the specific purpose of being a better game than Magic.
I love how humourous and non-serious the fluff is. I love how mana screw is mostly fixed (Any card can be played face down for colourless resources and you can pay to play more than one resource a turn) and late game top decking is non-existent. (You can always pay to draw cards) I love how clear the game is about costs and abilities.
It's an enjoyable game and I suggest at least giving it a try with the two-player starter or a couple of precons.
The Spoils was originally designed by a group of pro Magic players for the specific purpose of being a better game than Magic.
I love how humourous and non-serious the fluff is. I love how mana screw is mostly fixed (Any card can be played face down for colourless resources and you can pay to play more than one resource a turn) and late game top decking is non-existent. (You can always pay to draw cards) I love how clear the game is about costs and abilities.
It's an enjoyable game and I suggest at least giving it a try with the two-player starter or a couple of precons.
After watching The Definitive Tutorial on YouTube, my interest in this game has infinitely increased. Thank you so much for the post/recommendation!
A collectible dice game sounds... pretty cool. I've never heard of it, and I've never seen anyone play it, which doesn't sound too promising.
I was actually part of a group of 8-12 people who played it religiously back in the late '90s. Boosters from those sets are still available at some places on-line and at conventions; there are also some web sites that traffic in individual dice, one of which is coincidentally run by the president of SFR. (He was running the web site well before SFR bought the license).
Under the old rules it can be a "game of inches" where neither side can gain much ground, which can cause games to drag out. I don't know if the new rules have fixed that issue; I got rid of most of my dice quite some time ago.
However, as I was waltzing out of the store with my new Pokemon deck, I nearly tripped over a box on the floor to the side, entitled Legend of the Five Rings.
I'd heard about this before, but I'd never given it a shot, so I picked it up on a whim and decided to have at it with some friends.
Well... sweet Jesus. What a find! I've never been so enthralled by a card game in my life (this includes my first Magic the Gathering encounter so, so long ago). It's a complex and engrossing game of feudal, fantastical japanese clans. This is a CCG at its finest, and apparently it has a pretty substantial player base with a handful of tournaments each month at numerous game shops nearby. I'm completely hooked, and I can't recommend it enough.
Then, I was prompted to make this thread. What are some of your favorite CCG/TCG games to play other than Magic the Gathering, which I'm assuming we all enjoy here to some degree (if you're on this forum in the first place).
standard
BU control
BG infect
modern:
mill
edh:
devour for power
Shizuko ramp
I've played several card games besides Magic, but I would have to say it's Pokemon. I loved the game back in the day, and I recently picked it back up to great joy.
Yu-Gi-Oh is ridiculously dumb: almost all the decks are the 70-80% of the same cards. If it wants to stay alive, it needs to be overhauled, if the damage isn't already too great. (I don't keep up with the game, but when I last checked, and heard chatter in the card shops)
ex-Moderator
Legacy love.
standard
BU control
BG infect
modern:
mill
edh:
devour for power
Shizuko ramp
Rob Dougherty was actually the TO for this tournament, and I think he had something to do with designing the game. So I walked up to Rob, showed him Bizzaro and asked what it did. He looked at it, looked at me and then said "I don't know figure it out."
I just didn't care enough, and just stopped playing.
Collectible dice games?
L5R
7th Seas
Pokemon
Duel Masters
WoW TCG
Jyhad aka (Vampire the Masquerade the CCG)
Warlords
Some of these are better then others Jyhad is probably the best group game I have ever played that is based on a CCG.
The game is decent as a 1v1 game but start getting some massive free for all and it becomes awesome.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
standard
BU control
BG infect
modern:
mill
edh:
devour for power
Shizuko ramp
Ah Netrunner, yeah it was a shame it died off. That and the Battletech CCG
EDH: Xenagos, God of Revels.
Highlander: This was the first CCG I got into after quitting Magic the first time around back in 1998. The game is wholly unsuitable for multiplayer but provides a really interesting 2-player experience. I know it was recently revived by another games company but I haven't tried the 2nd edition, mostly due to lack of players in the area.
Doomtown: Based on the Deadlands RPG environment. Designed as a multiplayer experience from the bottom up. Lots of fun with the capability to do some very different strategies, but unlike my brief experience with the Star Wars CCG, there's still a lot of interaction between players even if they picked completely different ways to go about winning the game.
Lord of the Rings (Decipher): Really enjoyed the first three years of this where the releases were coinciding with the movies. Strictly a two-player experience but had some very tense gameplay, especially when it's your fellowship's turn and a single miscalculation could very easily turn into a game loss. Decipher restructured the game after the third year and I kind of lost interest.
Dragon Dice: Yes, a collectible dice game. Used to really be into this one too, but the games had a tendency to drag on much longer than they should have, and the learning curve is pretty steep if you're using Magic as there are so many options for spells based on the colors of your magic users, as well as racial spells. Was originally published by TSR, but has since been picked up by a company called SFR and is still being actively supported (they had a booth at GenCon this year).
That may be true for some of the games you listed, but Pokemon and WoW TCG are still doing exceptionally well.
A collectible dice game sounds... pretty cool. I've never heard of it, and I've never seen anyone play it, which doesn't sound too promising.
I've played:
-Pokemon
-Yugioh
-Magi Nation Duel
-Duel Masters
-Hecatomb
-L5R
-The Spoils
Out of those, I still love them all except Pokemon and Yugioh. So many great games die. L5R and The Spoils are still alive, but no one wants to play them in my area even though I love them infinitely more than MTG. Heck, Duel Masters, The Spoils and Hecatomb are all just flat out better versions of Magic.
I'd also like to try a lot of other games like Vampire, LBS, 7th Sea, Wars, Berserk, Warlord and WoW. Also would really like AEG to release Phase already. It's hard to get people to play anything other than Magic though, even if it's dead and sells for $10 a booster box. People don't even want to try out FFG's LCG like Game of Thrones, Call of Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer Invasion.
I've also enjoyed several CMGs, such as Mage Knight, Dreamblade and Monsterpocalypse. Man, Dreamblade was amazing. Considering trying out Horrorclix even though it is dead as well.
I've never heard of The Spoils, but I looked it up -- I think I've overlooked an absolute gem. Why do you say that this game is much better than Magic the Gathering? (I'm currently looking for a replacement as I type).
I'm all for getting my local gaming community together to embrace a game that I love and enjoy (or at least, attempt to get them to embrace it). Dragon Dice and The Spoils both look fascinating.
The Spoils was originally designed by a group of pro Magic players for the specific purpose of being a better game than Magic.
I love how humourous and non-serious the fluff is. I love how mana screw is mostly fixed (Any card can be played face down for colourless resources and you can pay to play more than one resource a turn) and late game top decking is non-existent. (You can always pay to draw cards) I love how clear the game is about costs and abilities.
It's an enjoyable game and I suggest at least giving it a try with the two-player starter or a couple of precons.
After watching The Definitive Tutorial on YouTube, my interest in this game has infinitely increased. Thank you so much for the post/recommendation!
I was actually part of a group of 8-12 people who played it religiously back in the late '90s. Boosters from those sets are still available at some places on-line and at conventions; there are also some web sites that traffic in individual dice, one of which is coincidentally run by the president of SFR. (He was running the web site well before SFR bought the license).
Under the old rules it can be a "game of inches" where neither side can gain much ground, which can cause games to drag out. I don't know if the new rules have fixed that issue; I got rid of most of my dice quite some time ago.