Well, this was one pony filled weekend. So I attended the Phoenix My Little Pony CCG pre-release this weekend and I am here to give you all some early impressions. First, I would like to give some context to my early impressions by sharing a little bit of my history with collectible card gaming. Since 1996 I have been playing competitive card games, touring from one end of this country to another. My primary games were those made by Decipher, Inc. which included Star Trek CCG, Lord of the Rings CCG and the best game ever: Star Wars CCG. While playing those games until 2005 when I retired, I took several first place in regional and local state events. I have at least tried out most of the major card games like Magic and Pokemon, but none of them really quite grabbed me the way the Decipher games did.
I have long since been retired, having become frustrated with the business model of the collectible card game and now play Fantasy Flight's Netrunner and Star Wars Living Card Games. Since the monthly expansion packs are fixed cards instead of random, I don't have to chase down rares which makes it a lot easier on the wallet. When I heard about the MLP card game, I was apprehensive because I didn't want to hunt down rare ponies and spend hundred of dollars buying boxes. But then I learned that the developers were former employees from the now defunct Decipher and that it shared similar mechanics from those old games I used to love so much. After much internal debate and deliberation, I decided to go to the pre-release to check out the game.
It was a very interesting experience to say the least. For one, this was the most open I have ever been about my love of the property. I have kept my feelings about the show completely to myself, often hiding my Funko ponies whenever someone comes by my place for a visit. But this weekend I decided to be open about MLP and ended up having a lot of fun because of it. The bronies were out in full force at the store, with rainbow colored hair and marshmallow ponies plastered on their t-shirts. They came in all shapes and sizes, but one thing they had in common was they were all super nice, even if they did wrinkle their noses at my declaration that Apple Jack is best pony. This was really the first time I have ever talked openly and length about the show. It was kind of cathartic. But enough about me, let's get to the game.
So upon entering, I received a cool hand bag that had one of two starters, two boosters, tokens, a play mat and a premium foil Rainbow Dash. I got the Rarity/Rainbow Dash starter and quickly traded it for the Twilight Sparkle/Apple Jack one instead. So the game is pretty cool, and actually has a pretty different feel from most other trading card games. The game is about using your mane character and her friends to solve problems. Overcoming problems and defeating troublemakers earn you points, and the first player to earn 15 points wins the game. Since both players commit characters to solving problems, it has a cool cooperative, yet competitive feel to it. It is a lot different than most other card games, like Magic, which are often very antagonistic. The game is a lot more chill, as each player is focused on solving a problem, as opposed to trying to smack each other into oblivion. There is a lot of interaction in the game, however, if both players are completing the same problem, you have a face off to determine who ultimately solves the problem and scores additional bonus points. You can also play trouble makers like Flim and Nightmare Moon to block your opponent from scoring on a problem until they are dealt with. It is very fast paced (each game lasts about 10-15 minutes), easy to learn and shows a lot of potential depth. I have been having a lot of fun with it so far and I am very curious as to what constructed play will be like.
My overall impressions of it are pretty positive, but I am not exactly sure if this is the one that will send me back down the rabbit hole. This isn't a knock against the games mechanics, which are very solid, I just got burned out on chasing rares and acquiring full play sets of cards. If you haven't played a collectible card game before, this is a good one to start with and it is made even better by the license. It was also nice opening packs and getting characters I actually cared about. Pulling a rare Spike and Twilight Sparkle made me pretty excited, which is something I haven't felt in opening packs since my old Star Wars CCG days. I would say to go and try out the two starters when they release on the 13th.
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These are two decks I have managed to make using my two starters and packs I won ( I placed 2nd). Of course I would make decks with best pony and second best pony.
Here is an example of a game in progress. Since there was no Fluttershy in the starters, she represented by being on my card sleeves.
Got a rare Spike, an Ultra Rare foil Twilight Sparkle (she is a beast) and the foil premium Rainbow Dash. Apparently the Rainbow Dash is ebaying for $75-100. People are crazy.
I purposefully didn't go over the rules in detail since this post is long enough as it is, and I wanted to share more about how it made me feel. If you want to learn the game, you can find the rules
here
