My Saturday mornings as a child always went to Kids WB. They hadPokemon, after all; the second-biggest reason I found myself where I am today afterSonic the Hedgehogon the Sega Genesis. One day, my morning routine would be changed forever asYu-Gi-Ohentered the TV block’s morning lineup. Now, an important fact about me is that when I like something at the level ofYu-Gi-Oh,Pokemon, andSonic, I don’t just like it. I dive right in and enjoy practically everything it has to offer. This meant that trading cards became an easy gift for me, especially the old combo packs that combinedPokemon,Yu-Gi-Oh, andMagic: The Gathering.
I vividly remember those combo blister packages, especially the one Easter basket I got that was completely full of them. I also remember stashing theMagic: The Gatheringcards that I didn’t care for in a shoebox under my bed. I might have grown up withLord of the Rings-loving,Dungeons & Dragonsplayers as parents, butMagic: The Gatheringnever held my interest despite how much I was exposed to it as a child. I loved the art ofPokemoncards, butYu-Gi-Oh TCGbooster packs would be what I took from the trading card aisle as both a child and an adult. I really enjoyed how plenty of cards could fit into all sorts of decks, just like Yugi’s, until they didn’t anymore.
Yu-Gi-Oh’s Gradual Introduction of Archetypes Frustrated Me For Decades
The Days of Mix-and-Matching Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Ended Before My Eyes
As you might have guessed, I stuck with theYu-Gi-Oh TCGthrough its anime spin-offs, still picking up booster packs to play the same cards the characters in the shows did in my own way. Early on intoYu-Gi-Oh GX’s era, though, I noticed the effects of these cards changing. They mentioned needing cards of the same name, like “roids” or “blackwing,” to activate and combo off of each other. At the start, this was fine. I didn’t expect it to shape the entire game as the years went by, though.
Eventually, these effects would straight up require other cards with similar names on the field, or, in the case ofArc-V’s Pendulum Monsters, outright limit players to summoning only that archetype for specific needed effects. While this created great card synergy and served as a good limit for powerful effects, it took away one of the things that made me excited aboutYu-Gi-Ohin the first place.Yugi’s classic deckwas made of a bunch of mixed-and-matched fantasy monsters that didn’t have text tying them together, and they still worked well. I enjoyed making decks like that the most, and I felt like I couldn’t anymore.Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds' protagonist had a bit more of a makeshift deck, and I adored his Stardust Dragon, so I gravitated to his cards to cling to the feeling of having a deck I crafted myself.
Yu-Gi-Oh Finally Gave Me My Niche, But Then Everyone Went to Magic: The Gathering
While I enjoyed usingArc-V’s Performapals and Speedroids as the years went by, seeing text suggesting I needed more than one of an archetype in my deck with every new card I got in a pack would make me long for the old days. I did my best to find what I still liked about the game and tried to break these rules the best I could with a few craftier decks among a small, casualYu-Gi-Oh TCGgroup at my first job. It was refreshing to be around like-minded people, and I was happy to share my love for the game as it grew when theYu-Gi-Oh VRAINSanimebegan.
I Got My Dream Yu-Gi-Oh Deck As the Monkey’s Paw Curled
Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINSsits as my favoriteYGOanime for a number of reasons, but the way it added the Cyberse type to the game changed my relationship with it forever. The cards not only had a futuristic aesthetic that didn’t limit their monster designs, but theCyberse card typehad natural synergy with itself. My favorite character, Yusaku, didn’t have a deck that relied on an archetype - just Cyberse cards. Other cards in the show leaned more into their archetypes, like Salamangreats or Goukis, but even those left space to require other Cyberse cards to build decks with. I was in love with theYu-Gi-Oh TCGin a brand-new way, but the introduction ofVRAINSalso came with the Link format.
The day the Link format was unveiled for EnglishYu-Gi-Oh TCGplayers was a dark one among my tiny group. It originally limited Extra Deck summons that weren’t attached to Link Summoning so heavily that it broke many of my friends' decks. They weren’t happy, and they all made it very clear that they weren’t sure ifYGOwould hold their interest after that. The next thing I knew, only one other person regularly brought theirYu-Gi-Ohdeck besides me, and the rest hadMagic: The Gatheringdecksinstead.
Still, we enjoyed each other’s company, even as I awkwardly sat there while all of my friends playedMagic: The Gatheringamong themselves and I wondered why I wasn’t going home after working a shift that started at 6 AM. The enthusiasts were quick to insist that I get intoMagicwith them. They spoke about how much better it was than the card game I had loved since the early 2000s, some even going as far as making the (now laughable) statement thatMTGruleswere so much simpler. Considering how my love forYu-Gi-Ohwas just reignited, I didn’t want to.Magic: The Gatheringmay have had a presence in my life, but back then, it still didn’t grab me.
Magic: The Gathering’s Recent Releases Were a Trap Card Against Me
Magic: The Gathering Brought in an Element Yu-Gi-Oh Could Never Introduce
Magic: The Gathering- and life - eventually caused our small, formerlyYu-Gi-Ohgroup to dissipate. Years later, theFinal FantasyUniverses Beyond setcausedMagicto pop back on my radar. My two best friends were practically drooling over the cards, but we all agreed thatMTGwas a hobby we didn’t want to invest in at the time. Immediately after came a direct hit none of us could have predicted: theSonic the HedgehogSecret Lair set announcement.
The timing of theFinal Fantasycrossover set being followed by aSonicone felt likeMagic: The Gatheringgot tired of my disinterest and brought in the one thing that could get me to kneel. As mentioned before, I don’t just like things. I dive right in. After seeing how Wizards of the Coast carefully crafted theseSoniccards, to where they even brought in famous artists from theSonic the Hedgehogcomics to do beautiful illustrations for them, I knew I had no excuse and had to check the game out at that point. I got in touch with a fewMagic: The Gathering-playingfriends, asked them questions, and read up on the cards and the rules.
With every bit of information I learned about the game, one strong truth appeared.Magic: The Gatheringis built, and outright encourages, players to use all kinds of cards in tons of different ways. It doesn’t matter if it’s from 2011 or from the very first set in 1993; if it was legal within the format and rules, then it was fair game. Once I understood basicMagic: The Gatheringdeck structures, I went looking and found out that tons of my favoriteFinal Fantasycharacters could be in a deck where Sonic himself is the commander. Deck building was finally fun for me again.
It seems The Heart of the Cards agrees that I should be aMagic: The Gatheringplayer after all this time because I managed to secure mySonicSecret Lair set six minutes after they went live, somehow.
I’ve spent a generous 20 years being stubborn aboutYu-Gi-Ohand how much I enjoyed it, shrugging atMagic: The Gatheringthe entire time. It’s humbling to find out now thatMagicwas the exact card game that I wishedYu-Gi-Ohcould have been for the last several years. I made a promise to myself that if I managed to snag theSonicSecret Lair that I’d check out my local scene and make an effort to be a part of it. If I end up being the one annoyingSonicplayer in the entire card shop, then so be it. What’s important is that I’m having fun.
It’s a shame that I realized all this too late for the Easter basketMagic: The Gatheringcards to join in the fun. That shoebox was lost what feels like a lifetime ago. At least I can say that if anyone who bought meMagiccards over the years reads this, or if anyone from that tinyYu-Gi-Ohtable in the corner reads this, I’m very sorry. It turns out you guys were right about a lot of things the entire time.
