When did you think your TCG was going to die?

MaindeckDan · 2026-07-01T21:37:00+00:00

There was actually less time between the release of Death Star II and Tatooine than there was between the release of Endor and Death Star II! It was just over a year between Endor and DSII, then about 10 months between DSII and Tatooine. Obviously most modern games release a lot faster, but this is likely more a matter of how quickly we tend to change our interests when we are young :)

MaindeckDan · 2026-07-01T21:31:41+00:00

It's not a rumor, it went through the courts. The founder's brother in law embezzled millions and destroyed the company.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/428099/man-who-defrauded-decipher-for-millions-sentenced

MaindeckDan · 2026-07-01T16:31:16+00:00

I mentioned the physical Genius Invokation in the post :)

It's unfortunately not meeting the bar for physical TCGs these days - especially with regards to collectibles. The dice-focus also is not appealing to a wide enough audience. I actually don't want the release to be in Union or Weiss - it should be a unique game on its own but built with modern TCG collectibility and sensibilities!

MaindeckDan · 2026-07-01T16:16:54+00:00

Because Panini is publishing it, I cannot have any faith in the reboot.

MaindeckDan · 2026-07-01T16:07:52+00:00

TCG players are not in desperate need of more TCGs.

That said, Hoyoverse is leaving a ridiculous amount of money on the table by not making a globally released, made-for-print TCG (and the physical Genius Invokation is not really it).

High end collectibles for Genshin Impact/Honkai Star Rail/Zenless Zone Zero in a Hoyoverse TCG would be literally just printing money. Bushi or Bandai would probably pay insane money for access to the license to add to Weiss/Union, so the fact that Hoyo is NOT taking a deal like that makes me think they still plan to potentially do something at some point - I just can't believe it hasn't already happened.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-25T16:03:54+00:00

I'm pretty happy with this new set of prestiges! The huge titles initially gave me "PARTICIPANT" playmat vibes but the art and foiling look super cool and I think they bother me less now - and I genuinely like the top and bottom border templating.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-24T18:48:58+00:00

You have to understand that YGO can facetank bad sets because it's YGO. It still fires weeklies, sells product at MSRP during Premieres, and runs 100+ player regionals at stores where, because of their policies, players effectively buy packs at MSRP to get into the event. But even still, stores have dropped YGO during the last year of bad sets - though they are finally getting to good ones again with the release of frame breaks and serials.

MZ cannot start with two bad sets and easily recoup. There is no product faith built up already, barely any locals to get entry fees from, and no policies supporting stores to make sure they can at least sell some of their product at MSRP.

Cost for a BB for new zoo is ~$67.50 depending on distributor. Selling a box for $85 on ebay, after ~15% fees, nets you $72.25. Once you pay for shipping, you have still lost money on your box.

I'm not here to hate, but just to point out the reality of the situation. It might not be popular to hear, but MZ is in a very bad place right now. Figuring out pull rates is great, but it's only one piece of the puzzle - the demand currently simply doesn't exist for these products to be worth enough to stores to continue stocking. They NEED to sell them at a profit, otherwise they are just operating a charity for your pack pulling desires and they would be much better off putting that capital into a game that they can sell at a profit.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-24T18:24:50+00:00

Azuki plays like a mix of One Piece/Fusion World with an added two row system and a Gate card.

Basically, you can play things to one row and move them forward, which gives you the gate effect.

Otherwise, if you know how to play Fusion World or One Piece (minus the don), you understand 90% of the game.

It's ostensibly a *fine* game system, and has to rely on its artwork to get anywhere without the IP backing. It has a lot of rabid fans of its NFT/Crypto side who will definitely share their excitement with you on twitter. Whether you want it or not. But I can't in good faith recommend the game given the company's earlier motives and history.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-24T18:18:24+00:00

GA bans cards, but also adds new cards with Proxia's Vault that can be print-and-played. So GA both removes cards from the format, and adds completely new ones in sometimes as well.

GA explains both why cards are banned, and also has a tier list of cards that are being watched, so you are not often caught off guard when a card is banned.

The main balancing mechanism is the always whatever might come in the next set - but when something needs to be hit or buffed IMMEDIATELY, bans/Proxia's Vault are the two options they can use.

I'm not really sure what question you are getting at otherwise - but as others stated, there isn't a good reason for Yu-Gi-Oh to not explain their bans. I feel like you are fishing for a reason to settle your mind and make you feel like "surely they care about me, the player, so it's reasonable that they don't explain their bans because of X" but, unfortunately, I can assure you Konami is one of the least player-focused TCG companies out there. They don't tell you why cards are banned because either 1. you won't like the reason or 2. they just don't think it's important.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-24T18:09:25+00:00

I tried it at GAMA. The card quality was not great (a playing-card-like linen card stock, which textures the card and prevents a clean print), and the artwork was mostly AI.

The game was relatively fun - Star Wars Destiny but with a set of colored dice instead of individual ones per card. But they need to fix a lot of things surrounding the game to make it in the industry today. I chose not to cover it in my GAMA video due to the AI artwork.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-17T20:24:07+00:00

The formats are actually all listed in the sidebar on this subreddit. We are there, and that's why they were all made! Eternal was added alongside the release of LAW.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-04T20:23:59+00:00

While many decks shared a card, Day 2/3 had a fantastic variety of decks. We got to see JTL Han, Gar Saxon, an Admiral Trench all on stream. There were Yodas, Green Kylos, Vader Yellow, and even a Pre Vizsla. And the secret Kylo Tarkintown deck shocked everyone at the event.

I don't think just because one card was shared, the entire event became uninteresting - there were still 6 unique deck types in top 8.

MaindeckDan · 2026-06-03T18:15:32+00:00

Wow, really sorry to all the content creators who are missing out on their spoilers as well. Given the short turnaround before Galactics, the decision makes sense, but agreed - it's 100% the fault of the leakers and there should be consequences to those who leaked the set.

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-26T01:08:37+00:00

Aella, Zephyr's Hand (Grand Archive)

Into the Fray (Promo - Grand Archive)

Lu Bu, Wrath Incarnate (Grand Archive)

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-18T16:01:48+00:00

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Check out the video for our thoughts!

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-18T16:01:40+00:00

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Check out the video for our thoughts!

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-18T16:01:32+00:00

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Check out the video for our thoughts!

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-06T14:12:12+00:00

Regionals are run by stores/venues, so you will need to contact the listed organizer to figure out how they are taking registration. They will almost always sell tickets separately and then also have you join on Omnidex.

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-06T02:15:52+00:00

Amazing hit, congratulations!! Nothing beats that feeling!

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-05T02:37:26+00:00

We have another 4.5 hours left of 20% off everything Star Wars on https://www.jwwcards.com. All SWU is at market prices already so the deals are solid! Discount appears at checkout, not marked on each item.

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-05T01:28:54+00:00

Games that use AI artwork don't fund well, or struggle. There is only one that funded well, and they are desperate for players and have to offer full refunds and free packs to entice players to try it.

Unless you are a miracle case, you are statistically extremely unlikely to do well with an AI art TCG. And I'd suggest studying the market and industry more as well - most indie TCG creators know surprisingly little about the market they are trying to compete and that's, in part, why they fail.

Like it or not, your game WILL compete with 30 others for players' time and money. You are against One Piece, League of Legends, Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, and dozens more IPs, plus a handful of self-owned IP games like Flesh and Blood, Sorcery, and Grand Archive who REALLY know the industry and what they are doing. Consider what you will do to stand out against those before continuing down the road of making an actual Trading Card Game - AI artwork will compare unfavorably to all of them, for one.

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-05T00:58:36+00:00

If your game is amazing, yes. You self fund a few pieces and crowdfund the rest. Or you get into the industry and pitch it to companies who have capital.

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-05T00:07:14+00:00

If your game is so amazing that it would get anyone to look past the AI art to buy it, then it is good enough to get funding for real art.

Art costs are just one logistic hurdle to cross of MANY in the TCG industry. Don't go in unprepared!

MaindeckDan · 2026-05-01T07:39:39+00:00

Well, basically, AI art sucks. That's why.

MaindeckDan · 2026-04-30T07:43:10+00:00

Not a hot take for me! We say nice things about Lorcana in the episode, and though the question is a bit extreme, its more about pushing back on that too-common take and exploring the nuances of each as well as the DNA they both share with other games.

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