5 Best Trading Card Games Like Pokémon (2022)

Pokemon may be the most popular trading card game out there. But did you know other similar trading card games are just as fun, perhaps even more fun to play? 

Trading card games have become more popular in today’s modern age. Developers are starting to regard them as valuable like any other collectible item. But which games hold similar competitive, addictive and fun gameplay aspects as Pokemon? 

In this article, we’re ranking the five best trading card games like Pokemon (2022) for you to switch things up with, or better still, discover your next favorite trading card game to help pass the time. Let’s get started, shall we?

5. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a manga trading card game series that has been around for more than two decades now. Given its many years of development, newcomers may have a slow start learning the rules of the game. Further, the series doesn’t rotate its cards with each expansion. So there are possibly thousands of card combinations jammed up in over 20 years of evolution. Still, it’s a worthwhile digital card game to play where newcomers are free to catch up with a large online community of diehard players. 

Before you can compete with the world champs, you’ll first answer a series of questions about your experience. Then, you can choose to go through three tutorials or skip them altogether. Once you’re done, players will receive gems and in-game currency to buy card decks and accessories. And from here, it’s all free-form gameplay to learn at your own pace and compete against online players anytime you’d like.

As a plus, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel offers cross-platform gameplay to link your games across multiple platforms. So whenever you’re ready, feel free to jump on intense card duels of a vast range of monsters, spells, and traps owing to a two-decades-long legacy. Oh, and did we mention the game is also free-to-play?

4. KeyForge: Dark Tidings 

A more recent two-player game to check out is the KeyForge series which was first released in 2018. At its core, players race to forge keys with no two similar decks or battles. Players use cards for magic and to attack their enemies. They can use magic for good to protect or heal their side. Or they can use witches and demons to harm opponents. Similarly, you can use cards to wage war on opponents or purge other cards while damage is dealt by losing tokens.

The recent KeyForge: Dark Tidings is the fifth release, adding new decks, an underwater house (Unfathomable), and new mechanics. So players can now add abilities to certain cards while playing popularly known as the “changing tide.” 

Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh!, KeyForge implements rotations, so there’s less overwhelming need to learn all the rules. Additionally, Dark Tidings introduces the Evil Twin decks, which are evil copies of other decks from the game. These tweaks make for exciting gameplay and slightly different states or powers, so feel free to check it out; it’s certainly an engaging trading card game for new players to jump on.

3. Marvel Beginnings Volume 1

The Marvel Beginnings Volume 1 trading cards are one to look out for, especially for Marvel Comics diehard fans. In 2011, Marvel introduced a three-part Marvel Beginnings trading card game series. However, after releasing 540 cards, the series came to an abrupt end.  

In 2022 though, Marvel reignited the spark for comic trading card games with Upper Deck’s new Marvel Beginnings Volume 1. The game is the largest Marvel trading card game ever made and features 180 cards. It’s a special treat, too, because it revisits some of the unique and rare inspiration, sketches, clippings and autographs of the Marvel Universe dating back to 1939. For that much history delving back into more than 80 years ago, there’s certainly much to expect of the heroes and villains we’ve come to love and are consequently so damn excited for the comic trading card’s glorious return. 

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

More than three years after Spider-Man swung into a new dimension, Upper Deck came with 90 cards to look back at the film through various popular scenes. This trading card game is perfect for Marvel comic fans or young collectors. But even if you’re simply curious about competing games like Pokemon, you’ll likely love the film’s expansion into captivatingly curated comic trading cards. 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse offers a variety of Spider-Man variants, classic villains, and popular scenes from the film. In-game, players must work with up to four players to save the world and become the hero of the Spider-Verse. Overall, it’s a great game for newcomers to jump into, with the only caveat of having to put the game away when done. 

1. Magic: The Gathering – Streets of New Capenna

We saved the best for last. That's the current biggest card game worldwide. Magic: The Gathering is popularly known as the original grandad of all trading card games. Consequently, the game receives immense critical acclaim and commercial success for its dominance in the genre. 

Magic: The Gathering’s gameplay is simple – to select a deck of monsters, magic spells, and more, then get down and dirty in a dueling frenzy of summoning monsters and blocking attacks. You don’t need to be a master Jedi to play. However, you do need practice to take down any opponent that challenges you.  

With the Magic: The Gathering – Streets of New Capenna 92nd expansion set to release on April 29, 2022, players can expect a game inspired by modern urban gangster movies and 20th century organized crime. The game features five deadly crime families who control the city of New Capenna. Each one has their unique gameplay, special abilities and particular flavor. So, if you are looking for the best trading card games like Pokémon, then Magic: The Gathering will do it for you.

And that’s it for now. Do you agree with the top five best trading card games like Pokémon? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.

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