Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Magic or Pokemon?

T

Team_Joe_Captain

New Member
I used to play Magic the Gathering. I've played Pokemon for about a year now mand suddenly I felt I really want to go back to Magic. My Pokemon deck is nearly finished so I am thinking of going back to Magic after 2 months. I'm really confused whether I'll stay in Pokemon or transfer to Magic... Guys , what do you do in this situation?

p.s. I can't find any of my cards or my deck in Magic...
 
Depends on what you like more.

Personally, I never really liked the MTG feeling of "having to win", and I'll point directly to the lawyers that WOTC hires to argue against lawyers that the players hire to argue the rules. That's something I NEVER want to see happen for Pokemon. I like the laid-back feeling that this game has, along with its (admittedly somewhat meagar) prize structure.
 
Bullados: I don't know what you're talking about this "having to win," but I think some of the anti-MTG people on these boards have tried to convey MTG as some super-serious game where everyone is pressured to compete and win. Pokemon and Magic have the exact same types of player bases. They have fun relaxed "league-type" players and they have the competitive players who travel to all the tournament. Magic will probably give you more chances to play and more people to play with, as well as more money to win, but pokemon will probably be easier to win at, since there are much less players. Magic can cost more because there are more formats in which to buy cards from to play, but its usually easier getting the rarer cards than with pokemon (You'll always find someone willing to trade).

I think it boils down to what game you like to play more. What do you have more fun doing, and what game do you have the most friends in. Whatever the answer is, I'd go with.
 
What exactly is keeping you from playing both? They are both worth playing if you have the money and time for both. However, Bullados and Moss hit it on the head, if you have to choose, play the one that you have more fun with.
 
Of the two, I prefer Magic by a long shot. There's much more player interaction in Magic, really. When you cast a spell, you have to account for your opponent having responses, and in formats where combo/control aren't dominant, the attack step is a huge exercise in skill at times.

In Pokémon, you energy up your critters, play some trainers, swing, then the next player does the same, et cetera. It's fun, don't get me wrong, and there are dozens of nuances, but the whole feel is just more detached than anything else. In Magic, you do all sorts of things on your opponent's turn, and you have to worry about them doing the same to you. I dunno, it's just my preference for player interaction.
 
I don't know, I kinda quit yugioh because I didn't like being messed with on my turn. But nothing is too difficult for GLIGARMAN!
 
*adds tally mark to 'Magic or Pokemon?' thread count*

That's 83. (Since I've been about, that's counting WizPoG as well.)

So play a little of both. They're games. They're for fun. Play whatever tickles your fancy at that particular point in time.
 
Last edited:
Yeah , I quitted Yu Gi Oh bcause of the expensive booster packs which drained all my cash. But I have to admit that Yu Gi Oh and Magic have a more exciting battle than Pokemon. You can counter even if it's your enemies turn. The thing I liked about Pokemon is the cute atwork ( not childish) and the friendly user interface. Magic has the best artwork of all TCGs out there.
 
Yeah, you can't really go wrong with Magic art; its realistic, creative, interesting. But with Pokémon, there are random 5 year old concoctions in the art boxes sometimes and that really feels like a waste. Not that all Magic art is great, but I don't often find myself feeling cheated on quality.

And the interaction is the best in Magic. Pokémon is fun, but it's like playing checkers: you can only respond to what the other person did on your turn, and vice versa. But with Magic, you can play while your opponent is in the middle of his turn if you want. Always having that edge of trying to get into your opponent's head is what makes Magic really great. And it's templating is so perfected, you won't often find yourself staring at walls of black ink in your cards' text boxes. Everything flows pretty smoothly--they have keywords!

For a smoother, more interactive game, choose Magic. For a change of pace, play Pokémon.
 
Still in magic I feel there can often times be a lot of turns where the move is obvious, less planning ahead, and more luck. Pokemon DOES have its flippy formats (cough babies) and its topdeck formats (cough WOTC's worlds), however there are quite a few formats with the right mix of non-flippy cards and card drawing to make a really nice metagame. Like the one we have right now ;) I think magic can have a lot of luck in manascrews, etc. Also, despite a few shinning stars (Kai, Finkel), the game seems to be random in that there aren't many people with more than 1 PT win. There is a healthy base of pokemon players who have won multiple major events, and/or placed very high in multiple major events.

True, there isn't much player interaction, however there is less importance on deckbuilding as a) you get a sideboard, and b) with the limited draw you'll often times never see most of your deck. Plus metagaming can be HUGE as the decks quite literally have weaknesses.

Ask fulop for his opinions on MTG vs. Poke ;)
 
You've played both. You must have some idea which you prefer. Why are you considering going back to Magic at all?

I play both. I'd argue for playing both. In fact, I play three games, these two and Versus. So far I haven't seen any need to drop one game in order to play the other, but if there are reasons in your case (give examples if so), then really, whichever you have the fondest memories of. Standard Magic hasn't admittedly been all that much fun of late, but a week or two ago WotC took the main culprit outside and beat him up. Come Monday morning, Magic will be back to it's good old self. I can't comment on the Pokémon metagame. I haven't played an actual game for several years.

Ultimately what matters is your own circumstances and your own opinions. We really can't help, other than explain our own.
 
the game seems to be random in that there aren't many people with more than 1 PT win.
Click to expand...

More players means that it's harder for any one person to win multiple events.

Although, I will say that playing my old Control Haymaker deck (don't ask, just smile and nod and run away) is just as fun as playing my Ankh Sligh deck. The latter is fun because I can do so much on my opponent's turn and have more play choices to make, but my Pokémon deck matches that by having more oppressive control elements and more efficient card drawing.
 
Moss Factor, the main reason to take Magic is because you can count on a significantly less presence of luck.Manascrew does happen, but you have to account for some players not knowing to include about 24 land in their decks. Of course this doesn't cancel out mana screw, but it definitely helps the newer player who wants to cram as much into 60--or more--slots.

But if you were to look at luck, it is far more daunting in Pokémon. There is a lot of flipping in Pokémon. In Magic, it is present just for the weird and wacky card (or two) for the set, but it Pokémon it is essential. In my entire Magic collection, I only have one card that asks me to flip a coin! Games can get messed up if you happened to not get enough land in Magic, but that isn't always the case; sometimes things go just fine. But in Pokémon, there is almost no avoiding coin flips, and they will always have the potential to "swing" games (create a huge upset via a cheap means; this was said of Legendary stuff before the new Legend Rule) . Including coin flips is almost like inviting manascrew: through sheer luck a game is reduced to the result of bad luck.

And then if you are facing a type disadvantage, there's no getting around it. Through the simple luck of you having a flame on your card and a water drop on his, you are hard pressed to win. Granted, Magic has protection and hosers, but those are usually for sideboards, not maindecks, or maybe a wacky maindeck. Type disadvantage can spell doom for a good deck, which really ruins the planning that went into the deck.

Flips, types, and hey, even energy screw, make for an overabundance of luck involved with Pokémon. Magic only has mana screw to contend with as its inherent luck factor. You have to invite other sources of luck into a Magic duel, but with Pokémon, it is safe to say that you have no choice.
 
Luck isn't just included in coin flipping. For starters, we have a really nice format right now in that there is a good balance of drawing and low amounts of coin flipping. There are very few times in a match where I am flipping a coin, and typically its all probability. There is luck in poker, a lot of luck, and yet you keep seeing the same players making final tables over and over. Sure MTG has a lot of players, but so does poker and there are many more repeat champions and winners year in year out. You've got your regular faces in MTG, but really only Kai has truely dominated the game.

Magic also has luck in the fact that you have little control over your deck. Pokemon players have fantastic control over their deck and tons of drawing cards at their disposal. MTG players are often forced to topdeck. Your opening draw and first 10 cards can VERY often deciede who wins the game. True, opening draws can go wrong in Pokemon, but you have many more saftey nets. I'll trade a few coinflips for total control over my deck and not needing to topdeck.
 
Whicker said:
What exactly is keeping you from playing both? They are both worth playing if you have the money and time for both. However, Bullados and Moss hit it on the head, if you have to choose, play the one that you have more fun with.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Take it from someone who does know. Ole Jordan right here, along with three other solid Pokemon players from the OK area, started playing last year or so. They too were posed with the same question, only it was YGO instead of Pokemon. in the end they all went with Pokemon =)

Moss factor also notes an important thing about THIS format. Sure Ne-on, by the time of Gencon, was a highly-balanced machine, but look at all the luck factors they had, including flips on babies, flips on focus band (GRRRRR), and several other things like...ahem, tyrogue. However, by now, there are far fewer flips to deal with. I'd say there are only three really annoying flip things in the current format:

-Dunsparce Sudden Flashing
-Pokemon Reversal
-Super Scoop Up

2/3 are used in Zapdos, which so far has not taken a single state championship in the 15+. Lucky Dunsparce flipping is the only thing left in this format that really decides game winners, and even that isn't NEARLY to the degree focus band, baby flipping in general, and tyrogue were at.

So, other than the draw engine and rare flip vcitories, I think there's more of a reason to play pokemon than other game because YOU have the most control of how well you do at tournaments out of any game, be it in the deck, or your own skill.
 
Last edited:
Moss Factor said:
Magic also has luck in the fact that you have little control over your deck.
Click to expand...

Sure you do. Some colours have more control than others in this regard (blue, obviously, being at the top), but every colour can manipulate their deck in some form. From fetchlands to card drawing spells to tutors, it's just not as readily-available as in Pokémon, where you can get a draw-seven for relatively free, and a draw-two for free, among countless other effects.
 
I do a lot of my playing on magic online. It is the BEST THING EVER!!!! If we had somthing like that for pokemon........I play both. Magic is a ton of fun and is very diffrent than pokemon in the fact that there is a ton of skill involved and more stratigys than I think will ever be discovered. The format has like 1650 cards or somthing like that. Pokemon is great and of course Im gonna have to win worlds but magic is fun too. The only problem I see with magic is money. Im gonna have to go get a job to pay for pokemon/magic/magic online and all the trips to compeat at all the big events. Still over all if you think prize support for pokemon is big try winning a major magic event. you could walk away with 60,000 or more!Not a bad chunk of change if you ask me!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top