What are the best CCGs ever made?

I really don't know a lot about CCGs but the whole deckbuilding thing intrigues me. I've bought a bunch of old Magic cards and have a couple of Netrunner decks and some Decipher Star Wars cards. But what are the best CCGs? Living or dead doesn't matter to me. (Actually, I may prefer dead as that may make it cheaper to buy if it's still available somewhere.)

What are your favorite CCGs? What makes them your favorites?

Jyhad/Vampire: the Eternal Struggle - It's a fantastic multi-player game that deftly sidesteps some of the most common problems found in multi-player games. The theme is dark, machiavellian and bloody, but the three major winning strategies are very different: combat, politics and sneakiness. You only get victory points from eliminating the player currently sitting on your left, which literally creates a vicious circle every game. Experienced players can generally finish a five-player game in less than 2 hours.

Shadowfist - The other great multi-player CCG, but very different. Drawing inspiration from Hong Kong action movies, this is a fast-paced game of kicking butt and blowing things up. Fun, funny, and very tactical, though strategy is a bit samey... attack the weakest player on your turn, and maybe defend the weakest player when it isn't your turn. Game length is highly variable. A two-player game is usually a short beatdown of 20 minutes or so, but a six-player game could go on for three hours.

Netrunner - Asymmetrical, devious, intricate and innovative, this 2-player game should have been a hit. See the Barnes review for more details. My games typically took about 45 minutes, though more experienced players probably finish in 30 minutes.

Legend of the Burning Sands - Legend of the Five Rings is still semi-popular after 14 years, but it has always been a somewhat flawed CCG. Burning Sands fixed the problems and brought some better mechanics to the table, in an excellent Arabian Nights setting that had some ties to the L5R setting. Though playable multi-player, it really shined as a two-player game. Relatively fast, usually playable in about 30 minutes.

Middle Earth: the Wizards - This is the wargame of CCGs, in terms of dense, complex rules striving for maximum accuracy in simulation. The artwork is largely excellent, and the basic themes of The Lord of the Rings are all here: fellowship, corruption, sacrifice, and more. The game has an unusually strong geographic element, with every location in Middle Earth that you've ever heard of represented in the game in manner that emphasizes location. Expansions made it possible to play the bad guys, including the Nazgul and even the Balrog, though this caused some problems in the overall metagame. I suspect that some of the ideas found in MEQ were inspired by METW. Playable multi-player, but probably better as a 2-player game unless you have lots of spare time. I haven't played enough to be sure, but this might be at least an hour per player.

1. Lord of the Rings - it played more like a board game almost. i loved this game and loved the gaming community.

2. SWCCG - I loved it until Cloud City and then there were just too many rules. It was really unfriendly to new players which is sad. I loved this game even though I was terrible.

3. Magic - it started it all and I liked playing for a long time. Eventually it just caused fights all the time so enough was enough.

MtG: Yes it was the first and there were some flaws, but damn it was an original game concept and fun. I spent years playing this game and while I don't have any desire to play currently it still harbors a lot of fond memories.

Legend of the Five Rings: I played a lot of this once I burned out on Magic. The multiplyer battles were fun and I enjoyed how the combat system worked. I understand Legend of the Burning Sands was an improvement on L5R but that game came and went when I was out of the CCG scene.

Netrunner: I got into this after it was long OOP after I bought some started decks at a local bookstore. This game is one of the best examples of assymetric sides in game design. It sure isn't pretty to look at though.

-Will

MtG: The game is just good. Originally, there were some flaws, but recent sets of worked towards more balance. There is definitely asymmetry between the colors as they each play quite differently.

Illumaniti: New World Order. I think that this is a great mutiplayer CCG. There were only two expansions beyond the base set, so it isn't too hard to get a good mix of cards. There is a strong learning curve as it takes a little while for new players to get the hang of it.

Spellfire: I know Ken disagrees, but I think it is a good game. Still working on my review. Many of the expansions fix the problems found in the original release. However, the art is just recycled TSR art -- that is kind of disappointing.

Oh yeah, I not a CCG, but I have been enjoying Call of Cthulhu LCG quite a bit.

Magic the Gathering - I don't play anymore but it was a fun run while it lasted. I played from Unlimited until the set after Legends. Then I started playing again for a couple years after 1999.

The Decipher Star Wars game - I kind of liked how this one had a Star Wars feel to it.

A couple of military ones - I bought the cards but never got a chance to play. Wish I remembered what they were called.

Jyhad - I had a few cards but we never really got into it.

Here, I found THE definitive list on all the internets.


http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=300

I've tried a bunch, and my favorites are Doomtown and 7th Sea. Objectively, I think the games are fab, but I should note that my two favorite game themes are Ol' West & Pirates, so perhaps there is some bias there.

What do you all think of Vs.? It seems I can get a lot of 1st edition for cheap.

Dominion.

There is no "C" in "Dominion"

Kingdom Hearts, you can attack people with Bambi.

But seriously, I love Magic the most.


I tired some Game of Thrones recently and while it's still way too new to me to really tell, I was pretty impressed so far.

Star Wars CCG and Magic.

I'm really digging WARS TCG, too. It's mechanics are taken from Star Wars CCG and have been streamlined and improved a bit, but without the Star Wars license. It's pretty cool on its own though.

Magic

I can't take anyone seriously who even suggests that anything else eclipses Magic for the top spot here.

Other games that have had some impact and influence on the genre, and are worth note:
Yugioh(face down cards)
Wow tcg(heroes)
Mech Warrior(the library as life total mechanic was significant)
VRS(singular focus on competitive play, it ultimately failed but was interesting)