Is Yugioh (the TCG) worth the money?

[NoshpalStefan]

I've been thinking into starting playing Yugioh again. I have an ideal deck in mind and I've been playing incredibly with it on DN, and all in all only one problem exists:

 

It costs a lot.

 

I know this is something familiar for Yugioh, and to be honest in US it doesn't cost too much, but because I live in Europe, it just costs double of that.

 

So, my question is simple: is it worth it?

 

I have always loved playing Yugioh on DN, and I do admittedly have the money to buy the deck, but I'm at a crossroads: I could spend all my money on a good Yugioh deck; or, on another hand, I could buy some video games, go enjoy myself at the movies, have a decent launch, and so on and so forth.

 

So, what do you guys think? Do you think Yugioh is worth the money more than other pleasures.

 

So far, for myself I'd say no, mostly because I'm leaving Europe in about a year (going to Canada for college) and I just don't myself particularly believe that spending double the money is worth not waiting the one year period, especially with all the ban lists that might alter the deck and / or extra deck in that time. But, I do appreciate everyone's opinion. Especially because I have two days to decide before my friend leaves to buy the cards (My game shop doesn't sell individual cards, so only a friend that goes to a different country can buy the individual cards).

 

I would extremely appreciate the help.

[Zazubat]

I have been thinking the same. I would love to spend my money on it, but the problem is, I got nobody to play with in my area (I live in the countryside). I would rather want the same things as you mention, video games, food, other stuff. Now, I do know that a lot of people sell their cards for a way higher profit then when they first bought it. It's of course a lot of work, you need to find the right people who would buy it, and such. It's not something I have done, since again, I don't live in a place where it's worth buying, as I would also want to actually play, so yeah.

[ihop]

Only spend the money if you have regular, decent-size tournaments in your area, but if you do it's definitely worth it. Tournaments are massive fun and allow you to meet new people and have a good time. Also if you're a decent trader etc. you can actually make most of the money back and start making profit if there are enough idiots at your locals.

[hexcalibrate]

luckily my locals are a 20-40 minuet bus journey away from my house, it's held every fortnight on Sunday and although I haven't been able to go for a month I am still well known there, and it's pretty much the only sociable thing I do and it's my only hobby.

 

if I didn't spend money on this game I would have nothing else, as pathetic as it is it's still worth it for me

[NoshpalStefan]

Well that's the thing, again, I live in a very small country (which, I really hate to say this, is the s***hole of the world) and not only do we not have decently sized tournaments, but rather the smallest someone could imagine. Our prizes are the 9 cards from one booster pack. The thing is, I have been playing at the locals for 7 years, and then I quit for a year and something but I was thinking about coming back, but the locals are definitely not worthy of being called locals, we have at most 8-10 people coming there.

 

As for people willing to buy cards, I wouldn't lean on that bet - I had to sell all my previous cards for 200 Euros / 250 dollars because no one would offer higher (note that all my previous cards included 2 Maxx C from the original edition / secret rare, a full Six Samurai deck with all the synchros, A gold rare BLS, and a lot of other ridiculously expensive cards). So, the reason I have doubts about starting again is that - barely anyone plays, we have crappy rewards, and no one wants to trade / buy properly. Moving to Canada would definitely get me back in the game - but that's a year away. Thus, I supposed spending the money on other things / other ways to enjoy myself would be more proper than Yugioh.

 

Now that I've fully elaborated upon the situation, you guys can help me whilst knowing the full scope of the deal at hand.

 

Edit: Also, Blue Nitro, I completely understand what you mean, again I played the game for 7 years at my locals and was a regular customer, so the people there know me and it used to be my only sociable activity (I rather didn't go out with friends at night or anything like that), so yes, I understand where you're coming from, but it's still a debatable issue for me since my locals really only has 8 people coming ther now of which 4 are little kids that only talk to each other, so it's lost most of its sociable magic for me.

[ポケモン—Red]

For Collecting and bragging rights.

Fuck yes.

For the TCG, hellz naw.

[NoshpalStefan]

Guys, can you please reply? I'm not forcing you, but I am in urging due to the fact that I only have about a day and a half to decide.

[Steve The Bug]

The value of the cards can't really be determined objectively outside their value to sell or the value of the paper.  The value of the paper is negligible; if you are buying cards for the paper or packaging you are wasting money.  Next onto the value of selling cards.  It is possible to turn a profit by scaling packs or using the age old strategy of buy low, sell high.  If you are good at this, well maybe in that case it's worth it.

 

However, looking at your post it seems you are not talking about doing either of these.  You want to know if it's worth buying cards to play with them.  Here is the problem with that: the value of playing yugioh is different to everyone.  Someone who prefers MTG will tell you yugioh cards are not worth.  Personally I think they are worth it just for the fun of opening packs and enjoying the thrill of finding a secret.  People can offer arguments and explain why they think it is worth it but no one will be able to tell you if it's worth it for you.

[NoshpalStefan]

Once again, I played at locals for 7 years - I understand the thrill and excitement of an opened pack. But position yourself in my situation.

1) The deck you want to play that costs 200 dollars on the internet would cost you 400 here because you can't get it from U.S. / Canada;

2) You're going to U.S. / Canada in a year's time where there might be card shops nearby, but you can't be sure;

3) You can either spend the double the money you would there, or you could actually enjoy yourself with food, movies, games, etc.

As aforementioned, I can't sell the cards for a high profit here - I barely did half the profit the previous time I began to sell. It's all about the game. But, I'm starting to think that the game simply isn't worth double the money.

 

I know I seem resolved as to what action to do, but I would appreciate others's thoughts on what I should do considering my circumstances.

[Steve The Bug]

Sounds like you want to wait.  Saying "actually enjoy myself" tells me you aren't sure if you will like the YGO cards.  Just wait until you get to the USA.

[NoshpalStefan]

Actually, I'm going to love the cards. I've been playing them on DN for a lot of time and have loved those duels. My resolve is simple: I'm alone for three weeks and all in all I have about 500 Dollars (money from my parents and things I have saved up), and the reason why I don't want to waste four fifths of those money is rather obvious.

Just saying that for the same extra 200 dolars I can have much greater enjoyments, such as going out, watching movies, so on and forth. I would love to buy the cards. Just don't see why leaving myself with less than enough money to buy something that is twice less expensive for a year's time wait.

[Azuh]

Just keep playing DN, until you go to Canada, then you can start collecting. Your obvious priorities are there and that's what you should focus on.

[VictorSempra]

Actually, I'm going to love the cards. I've been playing them on DN for a lot of time and have loved those duels. My resolve is simple: I'm alone for three weeks and all in all I have about 500 Dollars (money from my parents and things I have saved up), and the reason why I don't want to waste four fifths of those money is rather obvious.

Just saying that for the same extra 200 dolars I can have much greater enjoyments, such as going out, watching movies, so on and forth. I would love to buy the cards. Just don't see why leaving myself with less than enough money to buy something that is twice less expensive for a year's time wait.

Say goodbye to your wallet. Yugioh gets extremely expensive real quick.

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

A competitive Meta Deck costs $1000.

 

Meta deck gets hit next format because of lulbanlist and something else becomes Meta.

 

Your old Meta Deck is now worthless against the new Meta, six months later.

 

Congratulations, you just wasted $1000.

 

YGO is one of the only TCGs where a rapidly expanding Meta outclasses everything in the six months that preceded it. Think about it; MTG has lots of Decks that function well in different types of "banlist plays", and CF!!V regularly gives old Archetypes new support (at least, the last time I checked) so that everything is balanced and on the same level. 

[NoshpalStefan]

I understand that the case with meta decks is like that. But this isn't a meta deck. It's a deck that might become meta, but is currently on the back-list of any banning.

 

My problem, as stated, is not that it will get hit in the next 6 months or so - rather that, for the money I spend on a non-meta deck here, I could spend on a meta deck in Canada in a year's time. That's why I am so forced into my resolve, because it lacks any logic of anything else.

 

FYI, the deck is Lavals.

[Catterjune]

*reads title*

No

*reads the rest of the message*

Honestly, if my choice was a 400 dollar box of cards that may become obsolete in 6 months or like... an iPod or new shoes or food, I wouldn't be picking the cards. But again, we don't know your financial situation, what other payments you have, what your income is, how frequently you use these items, etc etc.

[Just Crouton]

Meta decks are $1000

 

Meta decks get hit by the September banlist, making them suck, then are destroyed completely in March to push you to spend another $1000 on the current deck.

 

Undermeta decks cost less, don't (always) get hit by the banlist, but autolose to meta decks, so the only way to win is to play meta, which cost $1000.

 

Yugioh isn't worth a cent.

 

Save your money.

 

Donate to public television. They put out quality entertainment during pledge drives.

[Toffee.]

Undermeta decks cost less-

Actually, undermeta costs A LOT less.
I mean, cards in the Main Deck are usually the easiest to get due to being really inexpensive, but if your deck is Extra Deck-centric, then depending on what deck you actually play, that is where most of your money might end up going.

[Mysty]

A competitive Meta Deck costs $1000.

 

Meta deck gets hit next format because of lulbanlist and something else becomes Meta.

 

Your old Meta Deck is now worthless against the new Meta, six months later.

 

Congratulations, you just wasted $1000.

 

YGO is one of the only TCGs where a rapidly expanding Meta outclasses everything in the six months that preceded it. Think about it; MTG has lots of Decks that function well in different types of "banlist plays", and CF!!V regularly gives old Archetypes new support (at least, the last time I checked) so that everything is balanced and on the same level. 

Q4T. Everything Arin has said is accurate in terms of MtG, and I'm going to expand on it.

Unfortunately, yugioh's biggest problem is that its only format (a 'nonrotating format') is itself a rotating format with the power creep, so you pretty much are spending $1000 every 6 months (or $2000/year) to be competitive (and that's just for the deck - you have to account for tournament fees as well, which is likely a lot if you want to offset your total losses by winning tournaments).

MtG has two three big nonrotating formats (Legacy, EDH, and Modern - Vintage isn't played much anymore) which, if you build a decent deck (which can cost a lot of money depending on how many colors it is), it's likely yours FOREVER (unless a card gets banned). Even if you do have to change decks, you maybe have to completely change your deck a total of two or three times at most - sometimes you can make minor modifications to power up your deck based on new cards or adjust for some cards getting banned, but those are generally small prices. A competitive legacy or EDH deck will cost you maybe $1000, $2000 at the highest, and you have that deck for many years as opposed to just 1. But note that Legacy is loaded with all sorts of combos, but they're all much more balanced than what you're able to do in yugioh.
A competitive modern deck will probably cost you $400-$600, $800 at the highest, and the banlist can sometimes be a little volatile, but if you get a low-key enough or just want a casual deck, it's likely yours forever. Of course, competitive modern has the issue of being a turn behind Legacy in combos (the banlist is intentionally designed that way).
Standard is the main rotation format, and according to my research, in most standards, that is usually at least 1 competitive build in the $400-$800 range (unless everything is cheaper, in that case, even better). Even if you change your deck every time the format rotates (and that isn't always completely necessary, since the first set of each block is in Standard for 2 years), that's still only probably $800/year. And even after cards rotate out of Standard, some of the cards have salvage-value in the idea of being useful in Modern, EDH, or even Legacy - you just gotta fine the right people to trade to.

Monetarily, Yugioh isn't worth it. It might be worth it to get a casual deck and play for the nostalgia (I'm basically in that phase of playing the game now), but MtG is a much better route for competitive play.

[NoshpalStefan]

Thank you for all the answers guys, in the end I decided not to buy them because I just found that it isn't worth buying them here, perhaps in Canada once I graduate HS and go there, but not for doubly the price here.

 

As for MtG, I used to play that as well, and I did indeed notice that, unlike Yugioh, not only does the deck most likely remains yours forever, it also takes a lot more skill to play it (not meaning that I don't like Yugioh, it's just getting really old with the yearly switch of decks).

 

Nonetheless, the deck I wanted to play (Lavals) has an extremely inexpensive Main Deck (besides from Gold Sarcophagus that might get hit due to E-drags and maybe Lavalval Cannon) which ultimately results in about 75 $ for it in U.S., but 75 Euros where I am. The extra deck, however, costs well over 150 $ / 150 Euros considering that it also has Quasar, which somehow got to 50 $ / Euros over time, as well as having some necessary synchros and Xyzs that also get expensive. So, that's why I decided that it's not worth it. It will also be probable that they hit Gold Sarco sometime in the next year and, what do you know, the deck loses 1/4th of the Engine. So, yeah. For now, it isn't worth it. I just decided to go out and enjoy myself at the movies and with friends and buy myself some nice clothes for a change.

 

Someone may lock this if necessary and / or it may get archived or something. Unless the question is unresolved for others, in which case, the post must go on.

[Sixty]

All trading card games sorta suffer from costing a pretty penny to get the best cards. I've moved on from YGO to MTG years ago and it's still a financial burden if you want the good stuff.

[NoshpalStefan]

Perhaps, but it's surely somewhat less expensive than the rotationary yugioh meta price.

[Mysty]

All trading card games sorta suffer from costing a pretty penny to get the best cards. I've moved on from YGO to MTG years ago and it's still a financial burden if you want the good stuff.

Certainly, but rare is it in MtG that a card hits $100 - usually they reach at most $50. Yugioh has at least one $100 card almost every set recently, and many close contenders.
And given my post earlier, MtG costs about a 1/4 as much as Yugioh.
Are nonvirtual card games financial burdens? Absolutely. But the question wasn't if card games are financial burdens - it's if the real-life yugioh TCG is a burden worth its money, which, compared to Magic financially, it isn't worth it.

[The Hounds Of Anubis]

This is actually a very interesting topic and it's one that always confuses me as to why so many players invest so much in yugioh and how some admire those that are big names at YCSs.

Put simply, investing in yugioh is completely and utterly stupid if you're purely aiming to do well at a YCS. If you have a significant number of more local tournaments with good prize payout then by all means invest away. The problem with a good yugioh deck is that they cost hundreds of dollars in almost every case. (Exceptions do exist, such as Dark Worlds and I believe Gadgets, but those are exceptions and not the rule (also they're not "tier 1" decks.)) The problem with the price of decks - and even individual cards - is that large-scale tournaments like a YCS have abysmal payout. Seriously. A YCS 1st place prize is equivalent to a few hundred dollars, if that. It's also not actual cash, so you're stuck with a fixed prize (I believe it's a games console but I haven't paid attention to yugioh in a long time). The problem with this is that even getting good doesn't let you even break even with your failed attempts that come beforehand. Yugioh is a rich kid's game, but without the rewards, pretty much.

Also, yugioh decks get bad very quickly, sometimes even after only a month. Then their value deteriorates and you have to build a new deck from scratch, and the only cards that carry over are the cheap staples.

The part that confuses me, is that people buy these decks, travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to these tournaments, then don't even get their money's worth out of it.

Personally, I'd go with a game where the playerbase doesn't think all of their cards are worth solid chunks of gold. (This is why I play Magic, where the playerbase thinks only some of their cards are worth solid chunks of gold :) )

[ihop]

large-scale tournaments like a YCS have abysmal payout. Seriously. A YCS 1st place prize is equivalent to a few hundred dollars, if that. It's also not actual cash, so you're stuck with a fixed prize (I believe it's a games console but I haven't paid attention to yugioh in a long time). The problem with this is that even getting good doesn't let you even break even with your failed attempts that come beforehand. Yugioh is a rich kid's game, but without the rewards, pretty much.

 

Not entirely true, between the Laptop, a paid trip, the prize card and a few mats you'll easily be clearing $1000+ 

 

But the chances of you winning are next to none especially if you've just bought a deck to play at a YCS. What you say is right, if there's a regular locals that you enjoy going to it's worth it but not just for one big event.