Games worth discovering

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live has reignited my love for card collecting

5K View2023-01-06

I’ve never felt particularly attracted to Pokémon cards as a kid. I always had some laying around in my room, and sometimes I might’ve even bought a few booster packs, but I never really got too deep into the trading card game. Most of the time, I played Yu-Gi-Oh! with friends and scavenged nearby toy stores for cards. I think the partial reason why I didn’t really have any interest in the game was that I didn’t know how to play it. In fact, now that I’m much older, I still don’t think I’ve met anyone that actually does.

Have I ever wanted to know how to play the trading card game? Not really. I mean, I was definitely somewhat slightly interested in learning the game. However, with other titles like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Vanguard, and Magic The Gathering out there, I didn’t really feel like trying something new when I’d already started playing something else. Plus, even when I didn’t play trading card games, I probably spent most of my time grinding away and losing my sanity in the process while playing Hearthstone or Legends of Runeterra.

At this point, I felt pretty sure about never playing Pokémon, so why did I suddenly have a change of heart? Card collecting. That sweet, addictive, and slightly regretful feeling of collecting cards, opening booster packs and being financially irresponsible. It actually all started when I began playing Yu-Gi-Oh! again last December. I started purchasing decks and playing against other people when I found an interest in collecting Pokémon cards. I thought to myself if I wanted to start pulling out million-dollar Charizards like Logan Paul, I probably should know a little more about the game first. Okay, that was a joke, I’m not spending thousands of dollars on Pokémon cards. However, I did want to pull a few decent cards from a couple of booster packs.

Since I couldn’t play the game with real people, mainly because I felt embarrassed to say I was a total noob, I searched for an online version of the game. This is where I found Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (I’m just going to call it Pokémon Live from now on). Pokémon Live taught me everything I needed to know and it was a pretty fun experience too. I have to say though, the game’s pretty buggy and one of the worst visually designed online card games I’ve played in my life. But that’s not the point.

Pokemon Live helped me learn how to play the trading card game and gave collecting cards much more significant value. I realized that with the knowledge I gained from learning to play, I could now use the cards I’d pull from booster packs and assemble a deck to battle against others. Instead of stashing them away in shoe boxes, I had a reason to collect cards, and not just the shiny, dazzling ones too.

(These are some of the cards I've recently pulled. I absolutely love cards that show trainers in them.)

Eventually, I started purchasing boosters packs, thanks to Pokemon Trading Card Game Live. One pack turned into two, and then three, and sooner than I knew it, I bought a booster box. I’m definitely not proud of the financial choices I make, but I got some pretty cool cards, knew how to play them, and had so, so much fun in the process, so I guess it was worth it in the end.

This is how Pokemon Trading Card Game Live reignited my love for card collecting and also proved that even someone like me, who was convinced I'd never play it in the first place, could learn the game and have a blast.

Mentioned games