MTG Salvation

This topic is not for discussing whether which card game is better or worse.

The thing is... There is member in my MtG community who claims that the amount of Yu-Gi-Oh! players in the US exceeds those who are playing Magic the Gathering. He said that he read it from a Yu-Gi-Oh! forum somewhere, and he couldn't find the source to actually support his claim.

So... I don't really believe him. However, I couldn't really find the specific information regarding this issue, which mean that I shouldn't be persistent in believing what I would like to be the fact either.

Can anyone help me on this?

I mean... Is it really possible that there are actually more people playing Yu-Gi-Oh! in the US, where Magic the Gathering is originated?

Wasn't Pokemon a more popular card game than MTG during its peak? Games like Pokemon and Yugioh may beat Magic at the height of their popularity but MTG will always be the overall winner.

I can see that since Yu-gi-oh is geared toward a younger audience, and has a lot more advertisement going for it, that it may have more but it's pretty hard to tell without actual statistics.

Quote from "~_Angel[us »

_~;4024963']This topic is not for discussing whether which card game is better or worse.

The thing is... There is member in my MtG community who claims that the amount of Yu-Gi-Oh! players in the US exceeds those who are playing Magic the Gathering. He said that he read it from a Yu-Gi-Oh! forum somewhere, and he couldn't find the source to actually support his claim.

So... I don't really believe him. However, I couldn't really find the specific information regarding this issue, which mean that I shouldn't be persistent in believing what I would like to be the fact either.

Can anyone help me on this?

I mean... Is it really possible that there are actually more people playing Yu-Gi-Oh! in the US, where Magic the Gathering is originated?

wouldnt surprise me one bit

take this into consideration:

1) Yu-gi is targeted at a younger audience
2) it's cheaper and more accessible
3) Its not overly complicated like magic and the card base is much smaller

i think that should be a pretty good indicator as to why it's more popular than magic.

However, i think the natural progression is from Yu-gi to magic , as kids mature. Well for those who are still looking to retain a ccg hobby as they get older.

Also have to remember that MTG does not the best form of Advertising, its own cartoon. That drives sells a ton. Even if they cheat like mad in it.lol

Quote from Shinny Shinny

wouldnt surprise me one bit

take this into consideration:

1) Yu-gi is targeted at a younger audience
2) it's cheaper and more accessible
3) Its not overly complicated like magic and the card base is much smaller

i think that should be a pretty good indicator as to why it's more popular than magic.

However, i think the natural progression is from Yu-gi to magic , as kids mature. Well for those who are still looking to retain a ccg hobby as they get older.

What?

It is much more expensive than Magic. I'm not even talking about singles; the packs cost more and come with less cards.

Also, the card base is gigantic; they have been printing cards for about 10 years and none of them rotate out EVER. The only time a card can't be played is if it is banned or restricted.

You forgot the fact that there's a TV show of Yu Gi Oh, which brings it most of it's popularity.

Quote from Alpha Werewolf

You forgot the fact that there's a TV show of Yu Gi Oh, which brings it most of it's popularity.

I know that there's such a thing. Actually, I used to read the comic until it started to get funny with all the Egyptian Pharaoh stuffs.

The thing is... I don't live in the US, so I don't really know the situation over there. The only thing I can recall about the issue is my experience as an exchange student, which lasted only a year. I haven't seen anything Yugi-related during my time at the States, but that was long ago.

I do know quite a bunch of people who play MtG though, and I was in a very small town.

Quote from We Are Legion

What?

It is much more expensive than Magic. I'm not even talking about singles; the packs cost more and come with less cards.

Also, the card base is gigantic; they have been printing cards for about 10 years and none of them rotate out EVER. The only time a card can't be played is if it is banned or restricted.

agreed.
yu-gi-oh is ridiculously expensive, I dont know how little kids afford it. you get 9 cards a pack last time I checked and they have rarities going from rare to superultramegaomgwtfbbqshinyrare cards that range anywhere from $5-$50.
you could build an entire magic deck off of the money spent on one yugioh card.

Hard to say if its more popular in just the US though. if it was a worldwide perspective I would think magic would win.

Are there any sales statistics for these kinds of things?
I would think that Yugioh is fading in popularity, as the fad is no longer as 'new' as it once was. (Just as with Pokemon)
The only 'stat' I could find was Diamond has sales charts reported to them by comic book shops, and ARB booster boxes were the top item in May, and I don't believe Yugioh was anywhere to be seen.

I don't think Yugioh is more popular at all.

I agree I would have a very hard time believing it is more popular,...maybe at its peak but definately not now. I would say since Ravnica magic has been increasing its player base as well, but it is hard to say with out hard numbers.

Each of the other card games has a point of introduction, its peak, then it falls. Yu-Gi-Oh is no exception.

As I've been hearing lately, is that Yu-Gi-Oh is dying or dead. I'm guessing something happened? Well, I guess it had a good run of, what?, about 7-8 years.

Magic, is going on 16 years soon and still has a strong fan base. Heck, I still participate in tournaments with 10-20 people bi-weekly.

Well in the Netherlands it totally isn't. Pokemon cards are even more populair here.

Quote from Alpha Werewolf

You forgot the fact that there's a TV show of Yu Gi Oh, which brings it most of it's popularity.

Yugioh!, the anime, is pretty much dead. It died the day it moved to cable television. I'm sure a lot of kids have access to Cartoon Network, but past the original series, there just hasn't been the same response as in the original. One easy way to tell is simply by merchandising. We don't see many Yugioh! products, other than cards, featuring Jaden or Yosei. There aren't many toys featuring them or their monsters. Many of the toys still in production still stick Yugi on their box. There's no extensive clothing line. A lot of it is all missing.

~~~

The people who are playing the Yugioh! card game now are not playing it because of the anime (at least not as much as before). The anime fad has died out. As Pokemon has proven, many of these TCGs don't need the anime to anchor anything. For Yugioh!, it was always about the card game first and the anime second... as hard as it is to believe with all the crappy rules and broken cards.

I'm not sure which is more popular. There's definitely still more enthusiasm for Yugioh! in the United States but I wouldn't be shocked if Magic was the greater seller (domestically and internationally). The Yugioh! audience is much younger than that of the Magic audience and have less money to spend on the game.

Whether you may or may not have noticed, all the expensive money cards proving Yugioh!'s popularity gear toward the secondary market. The amount of people buying boosters may not be actually that great. This might even make more sense because the lack of people opening boosters keeps a low supply of high demand cards. This would keep prices for individual cards up.

Also consider, the older audience Magic attracts may also have less time to spend playing at the card store so Magic players may not be as apparent. So Yugioh! seems more popular when finding someone to play. Magic players also seem to buy more cards per purchase. Kids need to refuel on their allowance so they often buy several packs at a time. Magic players can be scary and buy an entire box at the beginning of the set and never buy a booster from the expansion again. This may explain why Yugioh! individual boosters are more widespread. Buying boxes is done more frequently on the internet.

Overall, measuring popularity depends on what you use as the indicator. Domestically, using the secondary market, Yugioh! is more popular than Magic. Domestically, measuring actual sales, I wouldn't be as certain. Internationally, Magic definitely has a lot more appeal.

I played Yu-Gi-Oh when I was in elementary school...it was decent then....now, it seems ridiculous....(of course that was when I got into MTG)
Magic is a much more complex/thought-provoking game.

Well, there is a regular Yu-Gi-Oh sealed tournament that sometimes falls on the same day as set releases. While the centralized magic prerelease draws several hundred players and has a bigger buzz the store relase only draws about twelve.

I'd estimate that there are 50 people playing Yu-Gi-Oh at everyone of these sealed tournies. As they use twice as many rows of tables as our weekly FNM's.

I don't know much about the tournament...if it's a release for them or if its drawing people from all over the metro area or if its just a regular sealed tournament.

I don't think yugioh and pokemon ever were more popular, or sold more, I remember when scrye was around they would have the top 10 card games and this was around the time yugioh was 3-4 sets into its release and was pretty big, magic will always be the best, don't argue my dogmatic approach

at the store that i work at Yu-gi-oh and magic are about even in pack sales and torny attendance. However Yu-gi-oh is more expensive per card and Konomi/UD comes out with a new Product every 2 weeks or so. There is a constant stream of mony comming in from that that puts them above magic

avg cost of a card (price per pack / # of cards)
Magic: $0.26
Yu-gi-oh: $0.40 to $1.00(gold series)

More people playing Yu-Gi-Oh is a good thing for Magic. It's like MTG on training wheels. Eventually many of the players will grow up and graduate to MTG.

Once people get older they get over yugioh or pokemon and choose to play MtG if they are still interested in TCG's.

Domestically, in the US, yugioh might be more popular I'm not sure but in the end yugioh will probably be gone and MtG will still be going strong I'm guessing. Internationally, yugioh loses to Magic I'm pretty sure of that since magic has all these packs in different languages and the fact that MtG has huge tournaments in Europe and not just in the US.

Yeah and on the secondary market for yugioh might beat magic but that's because no cards ever rotate out of tournament play and in MTG vintage and legacy are not the most popular formats.

Alot of people play Yugioh but I think overall Magic is the more popular game because its designed to be a game for pretty much anybody and is targeted for a much more diverse age group. Yugioh is a very expensive card game as well with certain cards that go for 200 plus easy(And mind you you have to have this card to be competitive). Heres the money lineup for my last Yugioh deck

120
120
60
60
60
70
70
70
30
30
30
35

and a bunch of cards that are worth anywhere from 5-25. The deck was worth 800 bucks easy. You could get the 5cb and Faerie deck foiled for that much(Or start working on getting power). And this is only so you can be competitive at the game.

Quote from Juan007

More people playing Yu-Gi-Oh is a good thing for Magic. It's like MTG on training wheels. Eventually many of the players will grow up and graduate to MTG.

you see this kind of statement really makes MTG players look bad in diplomatic relations with players of the worlds other Trading Card Games. I am sorry, but just because you feel that your game is "more mature" does not mean that it in fact actually is. You are still playing a game where you invest hundreds (if not thousands if you play Vintage) of dollars on cardboard. Now while your game may have a bigger rule book than many other trading card games, and have a more developed professional circuit than most other trading card games... that does not give you the right to belittle other trading card games. Cause you know what? To the entirety of the rest of the world that does not play trading card games, those of us who do play trading card games, are ALL immature people who play childish games... regardless of the game it happens to be.

On Topic: I will say, that I do not believe Yu-Gi-Oh is going to die out anytime soon. It might dwindle a bit. However at the current time it is only experiencing a bit of a set back due to the fact that Konami has kind of prevented Upper Deck from being involved in the selling of cards here in the United States. Until Konami stabilizes stuff here in the U.S. I do not think that we will be seeing much in the way of major Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments. However that does not mean that things will NOT stabilize.

Quote from Shinny Shinny

wouldnt surprise me one bit

take this into consideration:

1) Yu-gi is targeted at a younger audience
2) it's cheaper and more accessible
3) Its not overly complicated like magic and the card base is much smaller

i think that should be a pretty good indicator as to why it's more popular than magic.

However, i think the natural progression is from Yu-gi to magic , as kids mature. Well for those who are still looking to retain a ccg hobby as they get older.

Your 2 and 3 are not true. Yugioh's secondary market is ridiculous because cards don't rotate out so it's like Vintage except they ban their more powerful cards instead of restricting them which I why I stopped playing it. Also booster packs cost more money than a magic one and have half of the cards.