I think Gold Rare is a nice balance between shiny and reserved. I can't lie though, some of those more ridiculous rarities do look nice in my collection binder - the new Quarter Century rares in particular completely dazzle me.
The manga certainly did. The OCG first released in Japan in 1999, the manga had been getting published weekly since '96.
I'm a complete Yugiboomer when it comes to these things. It's not meta in the slightest, but I enjoy the Dark Magician deck I've built to play with. It's gotten me up to Gold 4 in a couple days, I'm pretty confident about at least hitting Platinum before I suspect I'll stop making forward progress. But at least I'm having fun with it... when I'm not getting hit with Maxx "C". That card can go straight to the Shadow Realm as far as I'm concerned.
The percentage-based rolls were inspired by Call of Cthulhu, which was the most popular RPG in Japan at the time (D&D has only more recently overtaken it in popularity). I actually prefer CoC's d100 percentage rolls over d20 stuff, so seeing it in play in the manga was so cool. A solo game with that kind of system would be pretty interesting - hell, I just might have to try something like that for my own game. I'm not entirely sure how it would work, but you've given me some food for thought.
I agree about enjoying the variety of games seen in the early manga. A core memory of mine from way back in 2002 was being a little kid picking up volume 3 of the manga -- first time I had ever held manga in my hands before -- and seeing things like Yugi and Mokuba playing Capsule Monster Chess, or the digital pet chapter where they're basically playing with Tamagotchi. And who can forget the criminally underused Dungeon Dice Monsters? That was a really cool concept for a board game.
Personally, my favorite part of the early manga is the Monster World arc introducing Bakura. Those chapters were the inspiration that pushed me to start working on my own tabletop RPG, something I'm still toying with to this day. To say that Takahashi's work was influential on myself and my interests and values would be an understatement.
Rereading the OG Series
So I've been rereading the original series (bought the first three of these 3-in-1 volumes so far) and thought I'd start a discussion around it. There's so much that could be talked about and I don't even know where to begin.
I don't think it's any surprise that the two chapters that introduced Seto Kaiba and Duel Monsters (Magic & Wizards as it's actually referred to at this point in the series) were so popular with readers at the time. "The Cards With Teeth (Part 1)" was the ninth chapter of the series and it has three major things going for it that I think helped really set it apart from what came before.
-It's the first chapter of the series to actually revolve around a game. All the other chapters up to this point featured Shadow Games that were loosely tied into whatever was happening, but those Shadow Games were always set up by Yami Yugi as a response to circumstances. The games were befitting of the people he was playing against, but they didn't exist outside the context of being Shadow Games. This chapter first introduces a game that's considered an established property and widely-played (at least in America at this time) game, shows off a bit of how the game is played, and then flips that game on its head by turning it into a Shadow Game at the very end and for all of Part 2.
-Talk about an evolution of art style. Probably the most detailed piece of art up to this point in the series for any non-human thing was the scorpion seen in chapter 8, "The Poison Man." But when the monsters come to life in this particular Shadow Game, they're so detailed compared to everything else that they stand out visually and feel otherworldly.
-Seto Kaiba was probably the most interesting one-off antagonist up to that point in the series because he already had the potential to be a great foil to Yami Yugi. Both are master game players in their own right, but Seto's arrogance and his willingness to cheat to stay on top plays perfectly opposite to the calm, cool confidence of Yami Yugi and his ability to work through a situation without resorting to cheating (even if some of the Shadow Games before this point are probably aren't fair to the other person, like Ms. Chono from chapter 7 "The Face of Truth" who isn't even aware she's playing a Shadow Game).
I'll be back for more manga discussion as I continue through the series. What are your thoughts? If you love the OG series but haven't read the manga... what are you doing, bud? Go out and read it, you're missing out.
Sure! I've gotta run to the post office before I do much else (sold my first card online today!) but once I'm home I can write something up.
I'd like to add that the OCG formats its card text with bullet points which the TCG could easily adapt. Would make understanding the different effects of a single card a bit easier. But I also agree that the game could really benefit from keywords like MtG or Hearthstone.
Both. Both is good.
It certainly makes for a great icebreaker among Yugioh friends :D
I've been going through the manga again recently (I read the first seven volumes about two years ago but took a hiatus from the series, now I'm re-reading those volumes and then I'm gonna go from there to read the rest of the series). I know most people here are probably here because of the card game, but I'd happily talk about the OG story.
Oh hey, deja-vu. I'm the guy that made the original "Favorite card" post, cool to see I've started a trend.
My top favorite card hasn't changed from before (gold rare Dark Magician with the classic YSD art) but if I had to pick a favorite card that I've acquired since then it would be the Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon I recently bought.
I hear you there! Some of the OG monster designs were just so cool. I've been opening packs of LOB lately and I'm still getting excited over cards like Silver Fang and The 13th Grave.
Favorite card?
Hey everyone, first time poster here. What's your favorite card in your collection? Could be something powerful or could be something that you're just nostalgic or sentimental for. I think my favorite card in my collection is this Gold Rare DM with the classic Yugi Starter Deck art. It's just the right amount of flash for me without being over-the-top, and I like the gold border around Dark Magician.