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Post Hilariously Broken Cards of any TCG

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It's been many years since I picked up a Yu-Gi-Oh card, but here's what popped into my mind instantly when I read the thread title.

Fortunately that card has been banned for years, as has Sangan.

To clarify, unlike Duel Monsters, one of Magic's major formats, Standard, rotates. That is to say, only recently released cards are legal. The New Elder Dragons are relevant now, but it's hard to say if that will still be the case by the end of October, when the next Standard rotation occurs.

Yeah, I know how Magics block system works. I did play it for a while, but I could never get into it as much as I did with Yugioh. It's a completely differently paced game that just didn't mesh with me. Same reason I can't get into Hearthstone.
 
Hearthstone is the only card game I'm familiar with and seems to be underrepresented in here so I will post some cards that used to be OP and some ones that are widely considered to still be.



This combo was widely considered busted as fuck, as against Hunter people were afraid to play minions, which against hunter is a death sentence. Buzzard was changed to a 5 mana 3/2, effectively killing it forever (thank fuck) and UTH was changed to a 3 mana card, which everyone still uses.



You can have a max of 10 mana (save certain situations) in Hearthstone. Leeroy is a legendary, you can only have 1 copy of him in your deck. The Miracle Rogue deck would commonly play Leeroy, Shadowstep Leeroy, then play Leeroy again, then Shadowstep him AGAIN for 18 damage and still have two mana left for a hero power or Eviscerate. This was obviously bullshit, so Leeroy was increased to 5 mana so the combo didn't work anymore.



Probably the most despised card in the game for a long time before it was nerfed to gain just 1 attack, a good opening hand using Deathrattles pretty much won you the game, which is extremely frustrating.

What cards are still broken?



Mad Scientist costs 2 mana. Paladin secrets cost 1, which is still great value. Hunter secrets cost 2, which is insane value. Mage secrets cost 3, which is fucking stupid as hell value. This guy has been a problem for over a year now.



This card can instantly win you the game from a pure diceroll, which is stupid. There is NOTHING more frustrating then losing to a lucky Unstable Portal which gave the opponent the exact card they needed to win.



AKA Dr. Balanced, this is widely considered to be the strongest card in Hearthstone now and is so strong it has changed the meta around itself and the only reliable neutral card counter, Big Game Hunter, which some consider to also be OP because every decks runs it and any minion above 7 attack is now dead.



On first glance it didn't appear that strong, but it soon became pretty obvious that that 1-4 damage could turn the game around completely.The little 1-1 suicide itself into a 5 health minion, then killing it with the 4 damage from the deathrattle became one of the most annoying things to see in the game.

I didn't play for awhile but pretty much always play control warrior. Came back recently to see what good cards were added with the expansion and LOL'd at Dr. Boom. Immediately added him.
 
I think Yugioh is in a good place right now. I'd say the only staple-status card avaiable in the current pool is Solemn Warning, which makes for tons of varierty in builds and techs.

This guy was my jam back in the day though (been banned for years):

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Won many a game with him in my Perfect Circle Monarch deck.
 
The cards are like a mish mash of terrible design ideas. The weird use of brackets, the tiny paragraphs of text, the dull background with the raised bezel that's exactly the same color, the terrible artwork. Why are the attack and health huge numbers for no reason. 800! 2000! Just make that shit 8 and 20 if it's always gonna end in zeros.

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I think this card is broken in Netrunner. I think they had intended to make the influence be less than 15 (like maybe 13) but actually gave it bonus influence by accident.

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They really tried to balance this out with newer cards as they went, though.
 
She was banned back when I used to play actually, but I did enjoy using her for the short time she was available.

Sangan was still around though, not surprised that he got the axe, too.
I really like how they made a storyline out of his banning.

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This card depicts the events after "Sangan" boarded the bus in "Mistake", where it realizes it mistakenly boarded the bus headed for the "Forbidden Realms" where it will become banned. "Sangan" became banned in March 2013, five months before the release of this card.
 
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Now there are few cards that can call themselves a win condition all on their own but Emrakul is 100% a win condition by itself. A free turn means you basically get to go instantly after which could mean 15 free damage, and force your opponent to discard 6 cards from their deck.

When polymorph decks that ran this abomination where the flavor of the month some seriously dumb shit was bound to happen. You'd literally only run 4 Emrakuls in your deck.
For reference this is polymorph.

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Things would get silly
That's wishful thinking :-P
Emrakul will destroy 6 permanents that are already on the playfield, and they are removed before you declare blockers.
If this combo goes off turn 4, you win.
Also, Emrakul lead to the banning of this card:
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If you have 4 posts the first 4 rounds, you win in turn 5. Well, the kill comes turn 6 but it doesn't matter. No counter.
Here is a whole page, dedicated to bring Emrakul into play early ;-)
http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/manifesting-emrakul/

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So dumb. Especially in combo druid decks. They really need to change this card. Trigger at start of turn, a battlecry or triggered once end of turn. Probably just battlecry. As it is if you cant kill him its GGPO.
So dumb. Especially in combo druid decks. They really need to change this card. Trigger at start of turn, a battlecry or triggered once end of turn. Probably just battlecry. As it is if you cant kill him its GGPO.
Dude, nooooo.
Combo Druid is weak.
Turn 6 in handlock is where it is at.
Explanation: In handlock your draw a ton of cards because of Mountain Giants, which are 8/8 creatures that cost less for each card in hand. Or Twilight Drake, which gains +1 health for each card in hand. So turn 4, you can play an 8/8 creature or at least a 4/8 creature. And because your ability is to draw a card by paying 2 mana and 2 life once a round, you simply draw for the first 3 turns, most of the time.
So often Thaurissan comes out, for 6 mana with 5/5 and instantly gives back 7-8 mana in discounts on the cards in your hand. Yeah, effectively it costs negative mana. And if it survives a turn, it does the same thing again. I have seen Thaurissan give back over 20 mana in extreme cases.
Handlock is already the most brutal deck in my opinion because of it's base mechanic of "just draw cards for discounts and added value" which in return gives you a huge hand which means you are so likely to have the answers you want. Thanks to Thaurissan, this can become pure ridiculousness.
Oh, and did I forget the Molten Giants, 8/8s that become cheaper the more damage you have taken? When you are down to 10 out of 30 health, the cost 0 mana.
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Also, Handlock has so many brutal creatures and ways to pay for them it basically overloads the removal capabilities of any other deck. Have fun :-P
 
This card can instantly win you the game from a pure diceroll, which is stupid. There is NOTHING more frustrating then losing to a lucky Unstable Portal which gave the opponent the exact card they needed to win.

Unstable Portal may feel bad to lose against but it is not a broken card. It is completely fair and has no business being listed next to every other card you mentioned. People complain when it turns into Dr. Boom or Loatheb or whatever but it can just as easily turn into something weak and do basically nothing. You just remember the losses more.
 
This makes me want to play MTG...

Is the version on Steam any good?

Duels of the Planeswalkers is good. I recommend going with 2014 edition instead of 2015, since the former has prebuilt decks instead of making you build your own out of a pool of cards, and is apparently generally better put together.

They are also releasing a new product called Magic Duels soon, replacing Duels of the Planeswalkers, which seems like it could be good for beginners too. They're making it more closely resemble Hearthstone in that product.
 
Duels of the Planeswalkers is good. I recommend going with 2014 edition instead of 2015, since the former has prebuilt decks instead of making you build your own out of a pool of cards, and is apparently generally better put together.

They are also releasing a new product called Magic Duels soon, replacing Duels of the Planeswalkers, which seems like it could be good for beginners too. They're making it more closely resemble Hearthstone in that product.

Thanks!

I used to collect and play MTG back up until Vision set (I think) came out? Or somewhere right after Mirage set. Loved it, just didn't have any friends that shared my sentiment, so I sold all my cards years ago.
 
Thanks!

I used to collect and play MTG back up until Vision set (I think) came out? Or somewhere right after Mirage set. Loved it, just didn't have any friends that shared my sentiment, so I sold all my cards years ago.
Well, there is also MTGO (online client) if you want the real thing.
 
All this talk about Jars and no one brings up the most notorious one!

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Able to stall the game, reset bad board states, and synergize with banishment.

As a Magic player as well, it's a shame to see people always bash ygo because reasons.
 
As a Magic player as well, it's a shame to see people always bash ygo because reasons.

I think that all CCGs that lack a resource system are fundamentally broken. The fact that Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon had both Raigeki and Dark Hole, at the same "cost"(ie, none!) was proof from the beginning that the game needed a resource system.
 
I had it in my deck. It's hard to summon it. It's not broken at all. It's a risk-reward mechanism.

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The entirety of goat control revolves around this thing
All this talk about Jars and no one brings up the most notorious one!

340


Able to stall the game, reset bad board states, and synergize with banishment.

As a Magic player as well, it's a shame to see people always bash ygo because reasons.
Fiber Jar is probably the most fitting card in this thread, which is saying something given that the jars were always "troll the fuck out of whatever loser sorry enough to trigger it".
that's a lot of text.

TLDR: the game is now decided by a deathmatch battle, but if you have the right monster in your deck you can prevent your opponent from getting to their monster making you the winner.
 
I'm glad I found this thread today; I don't think I have it in me to invest in TCG anymore even though back when I played YGO, I was a high school student using a min. wage part time job to feed the hobby.

Either way, I dug up my old deck. There were a handful of OP cards back then. Can't imagine what's considered OP now.

I hope y'all don't mind me sharing this picture. Forgive the beat up coffee table (cat) and crappy quality, pls.


Out of curiosity...how difficult is MTG or YGO to get into these days?
 
Out of curiosity...how difficult is MTG or YGO to get into these days?

They've been offering a lot of beginner products for Magic, such as Duels of the Planeswalkers and the upcoming Magic Duels, as I mentioned above. DotP 2014 has prebuilt decks and allows you to fight AI opponents. They've also taken great efforts to make the card game easier for beginners, though Standard right now has fairly complex mechanics (such as morph returning).
 
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I don't remember if soul charge was already posted.

Less so played in the current format because most of the best decks either can't really use it (qliphort (are pendulums), nekroz (can't be specialed except by ritual)), or the life point cost is too excessive in case they fall into a well timed torrential tribute or Ring of Destruction (which is back, but now heavily nerfed for those concerned), but this thing is a one card blowout if you time it right. Some believe this is what allowed infernity, which had their counter trap limited, one of their primary revival cards limited, and a bunch of other nonsense and is years old, to win worlds last year.

It is currently legal at 1. For frame of reference to those unfamiliar with yugioh, the maximum number of monsters you can have on the field is 5, so inherently you can only summon 5 cards with it, but it would cost you over half your life.
The cards are like a mish mash of terrible design ideas. The weird use of brackets, the tiny paragraphs of text, the dull background with the raised bezel that's exactly the same color, the terrible artwork. Why are the attack and health huge numbers for no reason. 800! 2000! Just make that shit 8 and 20 if it's always gonna end in zeros.
1. I think it helps visually separate it from most other TCGs which copy magic's system
2. Not infrequently, there are cards that end in 50 which give a leg up on the attack bracket right before it (yugioh monsters are fragile so you kill something or don't).
3. Halving attack is a typical effect, and calculating it would be difficult if it was single digit and odd.
\Out of curiosity...how difficult is MTG or YGO to get into these days?
Fairly easy to get into yugioh, can't speak for magic. There's currently a good variety in casual decks, including some nostalgia throwbacks coming (both red eyes and black luster/gaia decks have good, viable cards now), so you can play mostly how you want. Most of the current starter products aren't that great though, and it seems they're skipping out on (or discontinuing) the battle pack this year, so you might need to ask someone who knows how to play.
 
They've been offering a lot of beginner products for Magic, such as Duels of the Planeswalkers and the upcoming Magic Duels, as I mentioned above. DotP 2014 has prebuilt decks and allows you to fight AI opponents. They've also taken great efforts to make the card game easier for beginners, though Standard right now has fairly complex mechanics (such as morph returning).

You know, starting out digitally is probably the better way to go. Thanks. :)

Fairly easy to get into yugioh, can't speak for magic. There's currently a good variety in casual decks, including some nostalgia throwbacks coming (both red eyes and black luster/gaia decks have good, viable cards now), so you can play mostly how you want. Most of the current starter products aren't that great though, and it seems they're skipping out on (or discontinuing) the battle pack this year, so you might need to ask someone who knows how to play.

Admittedly, I'm sort of interested in both but I'll definitely be a little more conservative on how much money I put into either for the time being. I know someone who still plays YGO, so I'll probably hit her up for advice. Thanks.
 
I have this Jace in my blue deck:

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I also have this funny card in my white deck:

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These cards aren't broken as they work only a fraction of the time, but I like the artwork and the responses I get from my friends when they do work.
 
I also have this funny card in my white deck:

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These cards aren't broken as they work only a fraction of the time, but I like the artwork and the responses I get from my friends when they do work.

You play Iona with this:

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using this

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Tooth and Nail is one of my favorite cards ever printed and I love entwine.
 
Speaking of infuriating, overpowered cards for control/lockdown decks:

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Unfortunately, my only copy of this card is heavily, heavily played. There's a reason for that, I guess.
 
It's still the only viable option. I don't play much anymore, but it is somewhat stable now.

I'm the opposite, I only splurge for the big cubes and drafts. Don't have the time/money anymore though :(

I played Pauper cause I didnt and still dont have the money.
 
Hearthstone is the only card game I'm familiar with and seems to be underrepresented in here so I will post some cards that used to be OP and some ones that are widely considered to still be.

This combo was widely considered busted as fuck, as against Hunter people were afraid to play minions, which against hunter is a death sentence. Buzzard was changed to a 5 mana 3/2, effectively killing it forever (thank fuck) and UTH was changed to a 3 mana card, which everyone still uses.

The best part? The Starving Buzzard you linked was already nerfed from being a 2/2 to a 2/1; that nerf occurred in late 2013.

 
Out of curiosity...how difficult is MTG or YGO to get into these days?

The nature of Standard (no more than 8 sets at its maximum size) makes it easy to jump back in, especially in the fall with the rotation. There is also tournament coverage of live events pretty much every weekend on Twitxh, mainly of SCG Opens and official Grand Prix events, and tons of articles posted daily on websites like StarcityGames, Channelfireball, and DailyMTG. It's Litterally never been easier to get into MTG.

In that vein... Are there any good sites for YGO articles? TCGPlayer seems to have a site, but with little content
 
I think this card is broken in Netrunner. I think they had intended to make the influence be less than 15 (like maybe 13) but actually gave it bonus influence by accident.

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They really tried to balance this out with newer cards as they went, though.

That's not

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Joke aside, I don't think NEH is broken. I'm having a hard time thinking of an actually broken card in Netrunner, to be honest. It's definitely good, there's no argument there. I don't think the influence is what makes NEH strong so much as it's an NBN identity and has AstroScript, Jackson Howard, Midseason Replacements and whatnot in faction.

For an explanation on Andromeda, she's been the go to Criminal identity for a long while because, when you mulligan your hand at the start of a game, you get to mulligan all nine of those cards. It helps to ensure you get what you need in your starting hand which makes her decks more consistent than the competition. Also, she has a starting link which is free money on traces (I believe the average runner identity has 0 link so the extra cred gives her an built-in econ advantage, though it's marginal).

Honestly, I'd expect people to post Replicating Perfection as the biggest offending identity in the game:

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It eats through the runner's turn action by forcing them to run your centrals before they can deal with the advanced agendas, sundews, handsome man campaigns or whatever else is ticking off in your remotes. Centrals are primary targets in the game no matter the opponent so you're going to naturally protect them anyway.

And, much like NEH, it just gets more painful because the cards in faction make the prospect even more infuriating (The Future Perfect you have to play a guessing game to try and score if you access, Caprice forces you to play a guessing game in order to access cards to affect them, Snares are means).

On the other hand, none of this is actually really broken. It's just much stronger than some of the other options, I believe.
 
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