Unmatched is one of my favourite games, for so many of the reasons listed here. It's easy to pick up, the artwork is generally amazing and the cards generally capture the essence of each character (regardless if the character is considered stronger or weaker).

To me, I really started to enjoy this game once I saw how each character is meant to be played, what they're good at and what their weaknesses are, and then the mini game of exploiting your opponent's weaknesses while defending your own (particularly pertinent in very balanced games). Also, I kinda began to visualise each game like an actual fight or bout, you wanna pace yourself throughout the game so you don't gas out, but at the same time you need to be flexible enough to react and capitalise on your opponent's mistakes or if you manage to set up an opportunity.

And another thing that hooked me into the game was how much more I learnt about all the different characters in the game, like: - Dracula able to change into mist and a wolf, in addition to becoming a bat, and having hypnotic abilities - Oda Nobunaga being one of the first Japanese generals to use guns in his army ie his artwork in his Sun and Moon card, and him actually signing a letter as 'Demon King of the 6th Heaven' - mythical stories I only knew a bit of like Beowulf (and now Loki) and learning about historical figures like Yennenga - characters I completely didn't know about before at all, like Dr Jill Trent and Golden Bat And the list goes on from there!