By. BananaCrapshoot
Hello champions, today I wanted to do something a little different and give a sort of tier list of what I think are the best competitive card games this year. The areas I’ll be basing this list on are :
Fun - is the game fun to play
Learning curve - how hard or easy is the game to learn
Resource system - how does the gsme handle resource management for the gsme, how consistent/inconsistent is it
Uniqueness - is this game doing something fresh and unique or is it recycling of mechanics we have seen for years. Does it innovate on already proven and used mechanics?
Theme- does this game have a good theme, does everything flow together or is there “holes” or inconsistencies with the theme
Organized Play- what’s the OP scene like, does the gsme developer support players and LGS?
Community- how strong, welcoming, friendly or toxic are the communities around this game?
Mechanics- how does this game function
Balance - how is the meta game? Are there multiple viable decks, or one best deck?
Game modes- how many formats for this game exist? How varied are there? Do they add to the experience at all?
I’m going to weigh and balance each of these to the best of my ability to come up with a ranking as objectively as possible. Obviously this is my personal list so some bias will sneak in but I’m trying to be as objective as I can here. So I’m ranking them based on the criteria listed above then I’ll spend a few minutes talking about each of the games on the list. I’m also gonna boost links to how to play and gameplay videos for each game after my spiels. Let’s get going with the list:
10. Magic the Gathering
The Grandaddy of them all, MTG comes in at number 10 for me. Honestly I have only played it casually but there’s a few reasons it’s only number 10 for me. The primary win condition is reducing your opponents life to 0. It is fun enough and easy enough to learn. The mechanics are sound, but the resource system is terrible, getting Kanan screwed sucks as we all know it.
The theme is also hit or miss, especially lately with these other IP sets they bring in that don’t really make sense for some of them. Like this isn’t UFS. OP is fine, I think they really suffered to games like flesh and blood the last 2 years who are kind of the OP golden standard imo. And the community has some welcoming members but there’s a lot of toxic people in the magic community.
9. Kryptik TCG
Kryptik is a new game, fully playable on TTS, that finished Kickstarter not long ago. I do have some questions about the game, but overall is a solid game. You play as a citizen transported to Kryptik island, The goal is to defeat your opponents 11 year cards, of which they have 6, representing 66 years on the island, then hit the player one last time. They have built a whole world around this game and the mechanics flow with the theme of the world well.
The gameplay mechanics are solid but not completely Unique. They try to do some different things but I don’t think they realized they are using mechanics other games have done for years. The meta game is really well balanced and their OP plan is solid, it’s not Flesh and Blood level. But there’s enough there to excite the player base and LGS. The resource system is much better than magic.
8. Pokémon
Another one of the big three crack the list at number 8. Pokémon is what I would consider an entry level tcg. My 6 year old son was able to learn the mechanics easily and continues to whoop my butt weekly, when we play.
Pokemon is fun enough, you can tell it’s a late 90s designed game. The primary win condition is defeating 6 of your opponents Pokemon and obtaining prize cards. Was unique at the time due to its 1 on 1 monster battles and evolution mechanics. I’m not a huge fan of the energy system, like magic you can get mana locked and it’s easy to have all the energy you attached to a Pokémon get wiped out by an effect, which brings some NPE.
The theme is very much on point with what you’d expect from Pokémon, having the player act as a trainer in an intense battle against another trainer. I’m not deep in the competing scene for Pokémon but what decks my son and I have put together the game isn’t incredibly balanced, limited game play modes outside the constructed/draft/sealed trinity lower it for me.
It does have a strong organized play scene and there is a mobile app on the way to play on your phone or tablet. If you have young kids though I definitely recommend Pokémon as an intro tcg.
7. Ashes:Reborn
Next we have Ashes: Reborn, the first non tcg on our list. Ashes follows an expandable release model where (ideally) quarterly they would have new releases. It also uses a unique player driven production model, where after plaid hat games regained independence, came to agreement with Team Covenant. As long as there’s enough subscriptions to ashes:reborn through the TC website, Plaid Hat will continue to develop and support Ashes. Team covenant is then an exclusive retailer of any new product for a certain amount of time.
Ashes is an amazing game with beautiful artwork, compelling gameplay mechanics, and a decently balanced meta game. Primary win condition is reducing your opponents phoenixborn health to 0. The resource system is very unique. Each player has 10 dice they bring to the table, each type of magic has its own dice and symbols on the dice. Each round you roll your 10 dice and then you spend them on cards, abilities, and effects for the round. There is a “meditate” mechanic which allows you to discard cards from your hand, spell board, or top of deck to change dice sides to more powerful ones for better cards, abilities and effects.
Another plus point for me is the OP kits, while there isn’t a huge OP scene, the OP kits are available to purchase straight from plaid hat. I like this because it allows players in areas without access to LGS support for the game, to have access to the kits and the ability to run events in their own home for their own playgroup.
Game modes are limited with ashes, and one of its weaknesses is also its release model which I’ve touched on before. The quarterly releases have been stalled by Covid, this has made for some stale and “figured” out metas since the games relaunch. Also Team Covenant having exclusive retailer rights for months has really discouraged LGS from supporting the game. Slow releases and not having access to the newest content for months doesn’t give LGS incentive to support the game. I know this is true from first hand experience talking with multiple card shops around me.
Having said that it’s still one of the most mechanically sound and visually stunning card games available.
6. Dragon Ball Super card game
Now at number six, DBSCG. Based on the super popular long running anime series, dragon ball super card game came out strong in 2017. The game has so many product releases a year. Multiple base sets, expansion sets to support older archetypes, anniversary sets, gift boxes, starter and expert preconstructed decks with each base set.. etc… it’s a lot to keep up with.
The organized play scene is very strong and is supported by multiple “play tours” with strong local regional and national competitions.
The meta can be diverse at times but usually gets figured out and falls to 2-4 decks in a Rock Paper Scissors meta game. The primary win condition is dealing damage to your opponents leader 8 times
The theme is super strong and the cards do a good job reflecting the characters from the many series and movies. The theme can be broken at times since you can have multiple copies of the exact same card in play at a time. “Hey I’m gonna attack with my Goku, and again with another copy of the exact same goku, and again”
The immersion is slightly broken by that but it makes up for it in the mechanics. Dragon ball super is one of the most mechanically sound games you can find. You play as your “leader” a double sided card featuring one of the iconic members of the dragon ball roster. Your leader will have attack power and flipping mechanics, usually tied to life (you start at 8) where once you get to 4 or so life you flip, activate energy or draw cards and become a more powerful version of that character.
The resource mechanic is very good too, any card can be played upside down in your energy area. You exhaust cards to pay the energy costs of other cards, so any card in your deck can be a resource.
What made me decide to not pursue the game competitively anymore was the addition of “planes walkers” in dbs. They are called something else but function the same. For a game trying so hard to not be magic they get closer to magic as they go.
5. Runeslingers TCG (currently in Kickstarter, fully playable on tts)
This game may seem high on the list for some people since it’s currently in the last few days of Kickstarter, but let me say, I’m really loving runeslingers.
Runeslingers is a new tcg with some very fresh and unique mechanics. The way you win the game is to reduce your opponents runeslingers power to 0, they start at 5. You can do this a few ways, reducing their HP to 0 from 20 causes them to lose a power( they then reset their health to 20), milling your opponents 30’card deck and emptying it caused them to lose a power, at which point they reshuffle their discard pile into a new deck, the last way you can cause your opponent to lose power is to inflict 8 ailments onto them, during the ailment phase they will discard the ailments and lose a power.
There’s cards and effects to build toward any of these win conditions, with most decks utilizing 2 of the 3. This builds a lot of variety and lots of play lines into the game.
The ailment system is the most unique thing, cards can inflict ailments like Burn(take 2 damage when a burn is applied), weaken (void a card, banish basically), insanity (discard a random card and draw a card) curse (beginning of your turn lose a health for each curse on you) etc. there’s also bonus effects when you apply 4+ of the same ailment to someone, making runeslingers unable to activate abilities, blanking text boxes on certain card types, skipping your draw step, etc. the ailments greatly impact and affect the gameplay and it’s the most unique feature. You can nullify silent effects by playing Boons, boons are played on top of an ailment and nullify it’s effects until the boon is destroyed.
The resource system uses concentration, cards you play facedown from your hand and you can have a maximum of 6, when you sling a rune spell at your opponent you exhaust your concentration cards to generate light points to pay the costs of cards, you then play the card on top of one of your exposed concentrations, kind of like a spell slot. Trinkets are played the same way but stay on the board until they are destroyed.
I’ve been playing the game on tts and been loving it. I hope it picks up more traction here the least few days of the KS because it is fresh and unique and there’s something special here.
4. VS System 2PCG
Next up we have another expandable card game. Some of you might be familiar with the original VS system card game from the 2000s that was cancelled in 2010/2011. VS system 2PCG is the successor to that game and it launched in 2015. Abandoning the tcg release model Upper Deck opted for an expandable release model, releasing a new pack every month for 11 out of 12 months of the year. With once a year a release being non marvel. So far we have X-files, Buffy, Aliens, and Predator boxes released.
Vs system 2PCG is a marvel focused 2 player card game (2PCG) in which you play as a main character and have a deck full of supporting characters, plot twists, equipments and locations to defeat your opponents main character by inflicting enough wounds to KO their main character (usually 5 or 6).
I don’t think there’s a game that nails the theme of their game and cards more than vs system 2PCG. The OP scene is kind of lacking is is mainly community run events, with a few regionals happening in person and conventions. The community has grown but is still a smaller community and I think that’s due to the expandable nature of the game.
It’s fairly easy to learn but there’s a lot of nuance and it’s quite deep and takes time to master the game. The resource system is solid too. Any card may be played face down to your resource row and you can recruit characters equal to your total available recruit points each turn, then they have special location cards which can be played face up into your resource row and you flip them to generate their special resource type to pay for certain super powers, or plot twists.
If you are interested in learning the game I recommend buying the civil war battles box (200 cards) from 2021 that was designed for new players and picking up the thunderbolts and secret avengers packs (55 cards each) to flush out those teams, it’s the perfect jumping on point.
The game is also split into photographic and illustrated universes. The photograph sets use movie or tv still images and illustrated uses comic art. You can’t mix the 2 normally. And the next releases coming for VS system 2PCG are packs for photographic based on the marvel Disney+ shows.
For formats, instead of rotation upper deck switches formats quarterly. So certain sets come in and out of the offices format. This allows them to have diverse and fresh metas while limiting broken combos and NPE. They have multiple other game modes outside the constructed format. One interesting on is boss battles.
3. Flesh and Blood
Flesh and Blood has taken the world by storm. And I have to say I was skeptical initially even after buying product and playing locally. It seemed like an investment scheme even though LSS said it’s players first.
Well their recent announcement of changes coming to flesh and blood really reinforce that it’s players first. Combined print runs instead of alpha and unlimited prints should help secondary market costs for players. As well as initial availability. They are also working on a co-op campaign system for the game which is wild to me. All the changes announced I think are positive and even though I wasn’t initially hooked by the game I’m more excited for its future for players.
The games OP system is the gold standard right now. Events all the time, locals, regionals, national incites, nationals, and a pro tour circuit all happening and firing on all cylinders. Complete with player rankings.
You play as a hero with a weapon and armor pieces, you battle it out against your opponent using cards to deal damage to your opponent and using your armor pieces for effects or destroying them to block incoming damage, wearing you down over the course of the fight just like a fight in flesh and blood.
The resource system is unique to the game where you can pitch any card to generate resource points, and then at the end of the turn any cards pitched go to the bottom of the deck.
There’s a wide variety of archetypes and play styles and the game is just gonna get better as it goes. I have a few decks built but haven’t found the one that really hooked me yet. But it is a really really good game and the new classic battles set (2 player starter) is a great place to jump in.
The primary win condition is reducing your opponents health to 0 from 20 in blitz or 40 in classic constructed.
2. Digimon TCG
At number 2 we have the newest of the games here that are actually released. Global release of January 2021 Digimon tcg brings a lot of elements from Pokémon and the dragon ball super card game but blends and innovates on them and makes something truly special.
You play as a trainer battling your opponent with your digimon, digivolving them and attacking your opponents 5 security cards, then again for a final time hitting your opponent directly and winning the game.
The game also uses a unique resource mechanic I’ve seen once before from bandai in the chrono clash expandable game system. The Memory gauge. Starting and 0’and going to 10’on either side you pay memory to play cards moving the gauge closer to your opponents side of the gauge, once it gets passed the 1 on their side your turn is over and theirs begins. This creates interesting strategies because bigger digimon cost more to play or digivolve them, which gives your opponent more memory available to them to use on their turn.
The OP structure is their and the games been successful having locals, regionals and nationals already.
The theme is there, I was never a huge fan of the IP but this is a good ass card game and it hooked me instantly.
The meta is kind of stale currently with blue hybrids dominating the meta, hopefully that changes with BT-8 and dual colored cards ,which just released.
One thing I think digimon can suffer from is something dragon ball super suffers from (both bandai) and that’s the sheer amount of product releases. While some games don’t have enough releases bandai games seem to have too many can easily outpace all but the most diehard competitive players.
There’s plenty of good starter sets released to use as a jumping on point if you are interested.
1. Final Fantasy TCG
This is it, the best card game out right now. Final Fantasy TCG. Final Fantasy does a lot of things right. It’s super thematic, it’s fun to play, good resource system, good OP, great community, etc.
The primary win condition is to deal 7 points of damage to your opponent by attacking them directly. You play with a 50 card deck, 3 copies of any singular card in your deck. There’s uniqueness rules so unless otherwise stated only one copy of any named character can be in play at a time. Your deck consists of forwards (attackers) which are played to your front row, Backups (generate CP, or other effects), Simmons (instants/spells) and Creatures(played for certain effects, some can become forwards).
The resource system is crystal points (CP), each card requires X amount of CP to play. To pay for this you may discard a card of the same element type to generate 2 CP, or you may dull(exhaust) a backup to generate 1CP of its element. So you can play cards to generate resources or discard cards from hand, or a combination of both.
Mechanically this game is very sound, lots of archetypes and play styles. Mainly these are sorted by element type, but dual colored cards is having some bleed between the two. Lots of cool abilities, and thematically jeez they nail it. Your favorite character from your favorite FF title is here, including the mobile games, the art work varies by game title. So there’s not one cohesive art style but it works for the game really well as it’s true to the titles and characters.
The meta is diverse and there’s usually 3 or 4 good top tier decks each set release. There’s lots of formats and game modes that really make it Easy to jump in and play. They also have some great 2 player starter sets that are good enough to take to locals. They have one brilliant product that released recently, it’s a custom starter deck, so the starter comes in a 50 card brick that’s split between two element types, then there’s another 50 card brick in the box that’s split 25/25 of different element types so you can customize your starter deck by swapping those 25 cards of one element with another. The deck still functions well it just changes the decks gameplan! It’s a super awesome product and I can’t believe none of the other games I’ve played have done that before.
If you are interested in jumping into the final fantasy tcg I recommend buying the avalanche v shinra 2 player starter deck based on final fantasy 7 remake. The avalanche deck is the core cards for my favorite deck in the game currently, it’s just so much fun and it flows really well. I really can’t say enough good things about the game.
So that’s it! That’s my list of the best competitive card games for 2022. How many have you played? Are there any you are interested in trying out? Let me know in the comments. Hope you guys enjoyed this and be safe everyone!