

If this iteration of Yu-Gi-Oh! is going to let players use all of the cards from day one, it should also present a degree of matchmaking choice, as the variety could lead to duels that cater to more types of players. Master Duel’s problem is that these edge-of-your-seat battles don’t happen often. It’s incredibly accessible for long-time TCG players, while being absurdly inaccessible for those new to the game or returning after a break. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel – with over 20 years of history and 10,000 cards – is both understanding and ignorant to the power creep problem. Monsters can deal direct damage to life points or other monsters (which have both an attack and defense stat) and spell/trap cards are used to activate lots of different effects to help the player win by reducing the opponent’s life points to zero.” Players draw monsters, spell and trap cards from a deck, and can place them on the field. Over the last two decades that card game has been made into multiple video games, received spin-off shows, and had its mechanics and card pool consistently added to. Originally a manga series containing the fictional card game, Yu-Gi-Oh! was then made into a physical trading card game and anime in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Power creep – where newer and stronger cards are introduced that make previous ones obsolete – is almost inevitable in trading card games.
