When I was a kid I loved Yugi-oh . I watched every episode of the anime, I had all the cards, I even played the stupid dice game that nobody remembers existed. My favorite card was Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon , the first secret rare I ever pulled from a pack. I cherished that card, I took it everywhere. When I was 8, a card shop owner offered me eight bucks for it. I had never been offered money for something of mine before, and the card shop owner reminded me of Yugi’s grandpa. I sold that card, and regretted it for years swearing revenge on the man’s soul like an anime villain.
Toons were always the weirdest archetype in Yugi-oh . Maximillion Pegasus, the original long-haired bad ass, used them in the show and they were amazing. These Disney-fied versions of classic duel monsters could attack opponents directly while mocking them with cartoonish zeal. Yugi could do nothing as his life points were stolen away by his own monsters turned toon-like Toon Summoned Skull and Toon Dark Magician Girl.
I was drawn to them, and tried to play them in the Yugi-oh card game with friends. Even with Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, the deck was awful. The cards had no synergy and couldn’t attack the turn they were summoned. Toon World could be easily destroyed, which would then destroy all the toons. They were a gimmick made for the anime, which always made me really sad.
In 2015, Konami released the first new toon cards since I was a child. I forgot Yugi-oh was still around, moving on to adult card games like Hearthstone and “how much money is left on my debit card?” My friend showed me Toon Briefcase and I became an eight year old again. It’s adorable and frightening at the same time, and the card effect destroyed an opponent’s monster, which isn’t even that bad.
Ten Toon cards, with Toon Dark Magician on the way, have come out since last year. They aren’t considered competitive like Performapals, but Toons never were. They were goofy and gimmicky, and now they have slightly more bite. Toon Kingdom is their field spell, which makes Toons untargetable and hard to kill. Toon Mask summons a Toon that’s the same level as an opponent’s monster, negating their summoning conditions.
Konami has been trying to appeal to the nostalgia of older players. Archetypes like Harpies and Red-Eyes have received new cards, reminding older players of their first Joey starter decks. I never thought I’d think about playing Yugi-oh again but I love Red-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Barrel Dragon and Toon Buster Blader.
Konami here’s a deal: You make me a replica of the Millennium Eye and I’ll play your game again.
