Just Thinking About Card Games

It's probably most accurate to say that I'm a lapsed Magic player. There are still content creators I follow, but It's been a long time since I've actually played a game or touched my cards except to clear my desk off. How much is circumstance and how much is the game? I don't know. I went through a long stretch where anhedonia robbed me of my energy to keep up with hobbies and then financial circumstance made getting back in not an option. It would take a pretty decent investment to get back into Modern and Pioneer. And if I'm honest, I don't really want to play Commander with randos.

I've always felt that Commander is a terrible way to play Magic, but it's the best way for you and all your friends to be in the same game.

And while it's somewhat easy to say that it wasn't going to effect me anyway, I'm a little disturbed by my utter lack of a reaction to the Commander banning drama. I don't really want to let more hobbies go, but if I don't feel anything...

I'm putting at least a little effort into fighting my depression to get out and try to link up with other games in the meantime. So, taking stock of other card games in my life...

Netrunner

Purely on principles, I want Null Signal to keep doing what they're doing. The fan driven, non-profit, print-and-play friendly game is the type of thing that I want to see existing in the world. My initial encounters with Netrunner were not great, mostly just hearing stories from someone who was proud of disrupting tournaments with stalling play patterns, which created a real negative impression for me. But the idea of the asymmetric game is appealing and I hope I can link up with my city's groups to hang out and learn more. At the very least since it's just buying the LCG-style releases off of Drive Thru Cards then Netrunner is the easiest game to get into.

Lorcana

I don't really like Lorcana. I'm not a Disney Adult so having Michael Mouse on a card does not do it for me. I got some Lorcana stuff because my friend group was playing, but I really wasn't wild about the game. I did not really like how non-interactive the game felt and how there was almost no way to block someone from winning. Card games can have situations where someone is obvious to win. You draw, and realize nothing you do will stop your opponent from killing you next turn. But being unable to block quests and having limited options to interact (e.g. “Destroy Target Creature” is a three mana effect in Magic but a five mana one in Lorcana) means it becomes obvious from much further away that someone will win.

Also, as many problems that Commander Magic has, multiplayer Lorcana was worse in my eyes. Interacting just becomes a bad idea, don't stop racing to the win. And the kingmaker scenarios felt worse. It's easier to believe in Magic that the kingmaker is still in it, or that something will stop a player from winning. In Lorcana the kingmaker is someone at like 2 Lore and deciding which person at 19 Lore gets to win.

I won't say never, but I'll say that I haven't been convinced and I don't think I would seek it out.

Altered

I am kind of a sucker for novelty in the card game space. I've played Magic for long enough that things which break from that mold get automatic interest from me. And Altered does that for sure. I'd like to link up with my local community to play more and get a better handle on the game. The back-and-forth play pattern and the different ways to store cards seems like an interesting puzzle to work with. Characters being able to be re-used, the Reserve acting as an alternate hand for card advantage purposes, the accelerated start with each player starting at three mana available. Although it's just as vulnerable to being solved, taking the Keyforge/Solforge sort of approach to producing cards with slight variations seems interesting. And the deckbuilding restrictions to where half your deck will be made up for commons to put a limit on filling your deck with rares.

Primal

Primal is another one I fell off of but don't in hindsight really hate. It might have some balance issues, I remember Necro being as strong as I worried it would be, but haven't exactly kept up with tournaments. There's a 5K coming up that I'm not sure I'll be prepared to play in, but I'd like to try to hang out again with the community.

The dual-resource system in Primal really had my interest. Placing cards in your Essence as part of a hand cost play something, then using those same cards in your Essence to pay for Ability cards. There was a tension to the game that I appreciated, both players building up and keeping an eye on the other until that tension breaks as players are firing off counter strategies and ability cards. And the time-restricting system in general over resource-restricting. The limiting factor on Characters and Strategies is the number of turns you've completed, not your once-per-turn resources. It's a blunt answer to dealing with the issues of ramp but I appreciate it for having an answer.

Gundam Card Game

It isn't out yet but I mean... I have Lorcana stuff and I don't even care about Didney. I have NFL Five product sitting in my closet because of making Good Decisions for a Good Cause and I was the only one out of my friends who actually wanted to learn how to play after seeing it at the Hunter Burton Memorial Open. You want to learn how to play the Megaman NT Warrior Trading Card Game? I've got a storage box full of that on my shelf because someone emptied their storage and sold big lots for thirty bucks. I can buy stuff for a property I like. I can enjoy things, I tell myself in a hesitant tone.

Anyway while the Gundam game isn't particularly groundbreaking it does avoid some of the pitfalls that turned me off of Lorcana since there are effects you can use on your opponent's turn and more ways to deal with their things. And I mean depending on the cards I end up using I could just bring one of those big padded cases along and plop down a gunpla on my playmat over the card.

Hopefully they're able to use their inroads from Digimon and One Piece to get the Gundam card game decently available and established.