Addressing One of the Biggest Problems with YU-GI-OH!: Powercreep
I love Yu-Gi-Oh!. I just want to preface this entire post with that statement. I grew up on the game and have been trying to get back into it for a few months now. I had a blast at the Team YCS Las Vegas in February and even got to meet a Superbowl Champion! However, I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few weeks, and I think there are some problems we should be talking about and hope that Konami finds a solution. Today, the problem I want to address is powercreep. Now, I know that I’m not the only one who knows this is a problem. Paul from Team APS shared a wonderful video a couple of weeks ago (at the bottom of the article) talking about this, Alex Cimo has talked about it as well, it’s something we all know is there, and we even all acknowledge that while powercreep is inevitable, Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the worst offenders. I want to share some of my thoughts on the problem as well as what I think is one of the best solutions out there, and I want to hear if you have any thoughts as to how you would address the issue.
First, what is powercreep? Powercreep is the idea and actualization that newer cards or items in a game are stronger/better than previous options. This is inevitable as better cards will keep players coming back to buy more cards. Powercreep is not inherently evil either. Heck, could you imagine playing Yu-Gi-Oh! using only cards as strong as what we got in Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon? That would be awful. The problem that everyone is talking about is that we’re seeing too much powercreep these days.
Powercreep has become such a thing that Trap Cards are essentially obsolete. As more and more hand traps are created, players will use fewer actual Trap Cards. Why use something that you have to set and wait on when you can just keep it in your hand and not have to wait at all? Powercreep has also gone and created ridiculous cards and combos. There are so many cards based on negating something now that it’s ridiculous. The game is becoming more about who gets to go first and less about actually playing the game. Don’t believe me? Sam from TeamSamuraiX1 recently shared a video showing a card combo valid with the release of Eternity Code that destroys your opponent’s entire hand in turn one, effectively locking them out of the game.
That’s not the only instance though. I remember watching another recent video from TeamSamuraiX1 where he set up his board to have nine cards that can negate other cards. This once again effectively locks your opponent out on turn one. The most frustrating part is that when you talk to people about it, they simply say, “That’s why you need to run X in your deck.” Basically, if you don’t run the staple 3+ cards (at three each, so I hope your deck didn’t need those nine slots for anything else) in your deck or you’re not lucky enough to draw them in your first turn, you’re screwed.
So, how do I think we can deal with powercreep? Well, I think we have to learn from other TCGs and CCGs. Other popular card games like Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone, and Pokémon TCG have it so that only the more recent sets can be used in play. This puts the cards in a rotation-like format where they’re only usable for a set amount of time. Powercreep is still a thing, but it doesn’t have to be as drastic since you don’t have to make the new cards stronger than every card ever released. You just have to make it better than the ones in the current rotation. Heck, they don’t even make the cards stronger or better necessarily. I love the Rikka cards from Secret Slayers, but they’re not great in the meta game.
The introduction of a more rotation-based meta for tournaments would probably create the need for a core set of some kind that includes key cards like Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon that still get support and are widely used in the current meta, but honestly, Konami reprints some of these cards so much that they’ve basically already created a core set of cards. Of course, we could just not have a core set and let some of these decks fade off into casual play.
I know some people will think that I’m just being whiny, and maybe I am, but I also know that powercreep is keeping some people from picking up the game for the first time or returning to the game. Never mind the people who get discouraged because they go second and actually don’t get to play a card with the new combos out there.
What do you think about powercreep in Yu-Gi-Oh!? Do you have thoughts of how to deal with powercreep?