Yu-Gi-Oh and The Alienation of Fans and Newcomers

Travis Lionel
Jul 21, 2017 · 4 min read

Yu-Gi-Oh is a huge multimedia franchise with manga series, anime adaptions, films, video games, toys, and much more. Though the quality of the various ventures within the series varies, there is no question that it is one of the most popular franchises in the new millennium. The franchise’s popularity is so great, that even a series that makes fun of it manages to be incredibly popular and well regarded. This is, of course, the LittleKuriboh classic, Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series. The trading card game, or TCG, even manages to compete with the game that it is based on, Magic: The Gathering, in many regions.

Despite this, it still manages to lose fans to other anime style TCG’s such as Force of Will and Cardfight!! Vanguard consistently, and occasionally switching to Magic: The Gathering or Hearthstone. One reason is the freshness of games like Force of Will and Vanguard. The youth of the game means that it has yet to be bogged down with years worth of unavailable cards, a fresh secondary market, and less to learn overall. That’s not the only reason duelists flock to other games. The biggest reason is how complicated Yu-Gi-Oh has become.

The latest mistake.

Part of the appeal of Yu-Gi-Oh when it first appealed on markets is the ability to be easily learned. By watching the show, one could learn most of the rules, with embellishment so that the drama was more, well, dramatic. Decks were small, usually being no more than forty cards. Since one could have no more than three copies of the same cards, less money was needed to obtain a play set. The game also lacked a separate resource system like its predecessors Pokemon and Magic. One didn’t need basic lands or energy cards in order to cast spells or activate abilities. The three major card types, Monster, Spell, and Trap, acted as both resources and utility. Bigger monsters usually just needed one to sacrifice, or tribute, one monster or two monsters in order to play it. Special summoning, including Fusion and Ritual, simply needed to follow instructions on the card. The smaller field size also meant one would not be overwhelmed when combat began with effects. Finally, decks were creative, as archetypes did not fully come into fruition as of yet. However, it seems Konami has forgotten what made the game fun and accessible in the first place, which is not surprising in the least bit.

The secondary market cards is far from stable. There is only a single meta game, so the lack of varying formats means cards do not maintain their value. Cards must constantly be banned and unbanned to accommodate for the new meta, meaning a card’s prices change with every new ban list. There’s no telling whether or not the game is cheap to get into any more.
One of the biggest points of contentions is the many ways that it is possible to summon monsters from the extra deck including Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum, with potentially more to come. The problem is that these various methods break the game each time a new one is released. The most notable one is Pendulum which allows a player to fill their entire field in a single turn as long as the cards are between two levels. They also take up their own space on the battlefield, thus increasing the size of the field. Finally, they act as both spells and monsters, which most cards don’t cross the line of. And, when a new form of summoning is announced, this form will receive very little support.
Not only this, the very existence of an extra deck can already be overwhelming to new players. Having to learn seven ways to summon a monster can become a fast way to push new potential players away from the game, and force older players to lock away their decks forever.
The most personal problem I find is the fact that decks build themselves. Archetypes put the player in a position where cards are explicitly designed with synergy in mind. Rather than the players discovering this synergy, they are told exactly which cards go together. If one likes dredge type decks, Fabled cards are all labeled so the player knows to grab as many as possible. This creates a predictable environment, moreso would already exist, when a player can look at the first card their opponent plays and predict their entire deck.

Oh no.

Yu-Gi-Oh is a potentially fun game. But, the simplicity that inspired children to pick it up and for adults to see it as a valid alternative to Magic is gone. It’s become very bloated and static. The lack of formats make the game feel stale for some. For those who want to play aggressively without the complicated summoning, they’ve moved on to Weiß Schwarz and Cardfight!! Vanguard. For those who like the complexity without the bloat, Magic: The Gathering, Force of Will, and Hearthstone all exist. With the oncoming of Link summoning, I can only imagine that the game will become needlessly complex. The extra monster zone is doing nothing to ease this as it completely alters 15+ years worth of rules. This is a mess of a game. Sleep tight.

The Blanket Fort

A place where everyone can pretend to stop being an adult, but with the freedom being an adult gives you. The Blanket Fort seeks to talk about animation, gaming, and general geek culture while at times tying together with politics and western society as a whole.

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Travis Lionel

Written by

A writer and journalist with a passion for nerd/geek culture and photography. Politically driven, he seeks to walk the line between politics and pop culture.

The Blanket Fort

A place where everyone can pretend to stop being an adult, but with the freedom being an adult gives you. The Blanket Fort seeks to talk about animation, gaming, and general geek culture while at times tying together with politics and western society as a whole.

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