In Patriot Games at Sheffield we have a pretty decent comunity of Weiss, we meet on Tuesdays and looks like more people will join us with the release of Frieren ^^
Local spot that has all the anime games doesnt have Union Arena, a bunch of us were there during off hours getting Weiss its kinda poppin rn ?? Games been around for so long they will adapt. So hype for Freiren
honestly, all three series are so equally fragmented that I don't think any of them are going to cannibalize the other any time soon. The nearest one is probably the sliver of sets that are common on both UA and Weiss, but UA still has their shonen series, while Weiss still rules in overall other categories. OP TCG tho is very very big and has already overtaken both already in JP, but its demographic is much much wider in the first place due to the IP. We'll see with the actual "winners" in the long term.
That's a very bold video title! I think One Piece and Weiss have settled in their identity. OP is a more widespread and fits a "typical" card game shell like pokemon or YuGiOh with their playability and tournament structure, while Weiss feels like a great collectors piece. Idk how to play Weiss and the only people I know who do play vanguard or digimon instead. A glance at UA in Japan, or now in the US it seems like they're wanting to strike a balance between playing and collecting. The SR and * rarities look amazing but they're constantly pushing the tournament promos on socials, omitted some bleach cards from set 1 for balance and have been experimenting with the banlist in Japan. The game's also quite simple to play and is very flavourful. I think UA will sit very comfortably as a generally known-but-niche game like Universus, FinalFantasy (personal favourite) and to some extent Digimon. You don't need to be the top 3 to be a successful game. General people and fans will own a few cards/sets they like, some communities will be tight-knit and stay active whereas others will fizzle and that's fine, it's not set in stone and will be quite locally driven for engagement. Being in these communities feels a bit like an uphill battle because everybody talks doom and gloom with every set someone prays on the downfall, but in reality at a local level the games are doing fine, active members are really engaged and events are really fun - if a bit smaller. Some of UA's choices are odd like Gon's 3* not having the signature, or the lack of an EU release (I'm begging for it seeing the US have their product) but we're only in set 1. I'm looking really forward to getting my friends to play and open product together if we can ever get any 😅😅
I would say the only reason UA even has a prayer is that Bushi has dropped the ball so bad with Weiss in store play. I learned how to play UA the other day and wasn't really impressed. The regular cards didn't look that great. The mechanics also were if you start to lose you need a a random sequence of events to save you. It's the new hotness right now but not sure how long that will last.
Atleast at my local LGS they are out of bleach UA and have 1 box left for HxH so I’d say it’s selling fairly well, not like one piece did day 1 but thats one piece I’d say wait till JJK and see if the hype takes off or not to get a feel of UA has some staying power, I’m a big fan of HxH so I bought a few boxes regardless if it’s successful just to collect them
The promos are better. The store support is better. Union Arena has a great shot if they can get past these first couple of sets. They have been fixing the sets which is super nice because in jp they were duds. Weiss could learn alot from this.
at least here in australia there is no "big three" no one plays union arena no one plays weiss .. hell before like 3 or 4 years ago i didn't even know weiss was a thing because maybe 10 stores in the whole of Australia even really carries it and nothing mainstream ... i have to travel 4 or 5 hours by car to get to my nearest store that sells it let alone has events where i know like 30 stores in the same area that sell/stock and run one piece events .... hell I've been to like 10 regionals of one piece and never heard of any for weiss
Dragon Ball Super Masters is the BEST designed game by far. Plays like magic the gathering and duel masters. Amazing mechanics, complex strategy, and deck building. Its the chess of japanese tcgs. I knew battlespirits would fail day 1. i have a few OP decks but the game is too simple / luck based. Digimon has unique mechanics. WS I only liked 3 IP lol. Union Arena looks boring but I’ll get 1 IP I like. Gundam is on the way, and Bandai will release 10 more new tcgs next year. My top anime games 1. DB Masters 2. mtG in Japanese 3. Digimon
union arena needs to change how they do their cards because the basic version of the cards are so low effort screen grabs and i bet most collectors will stear clear off it
Yeah they’re absolutely awful. I’m trying to force myself to like the game so much, but it’s hard for me to get behind a game that is so lazy when their community has been very vocal about not wanting these screen grabs
In Patriot Games at Sheffield we have a pretty decent comunity of Weiss, we meet on Tuesdays and looks like more people will join us with the release of Frieren ^^
Ah that’s awesome, I love to hear it 😁
Local spot that has all the anime games doesnt have Union Arena, a bunch of us were there during off hours getting Weiss its kinda poppin rn ?? Games been around for so long they will adapt. So hype for Freiren
Great video as always Mike, love your perspective.
Ah thanks man, always appericate you watching and commenting!
honestly, all three series are so equally fragmented that I don't think any of them are going to cannibalize the other any time soon. The nearest one is probably the sliver of sets that are common on both UA and Weiss, but UA still has their shonen series, while Weiss still rules in overall other categories. OP TCG tho is very very big and has already overtaken both already in JP, but its demographic is much much wider in the first place due to the IP.
We'll see with the actual "winners" in the long term.
That's a very bold video title!
I think One Piece and Weiss have settled in their identity. OP is a more widespread and fits a "typical" card game shell like pokemon or YuGiOh with their playability and tournament structure, while Weiss feels like a great collectors piece. Idk how to play Weiss and the only people I know who do play vanguard or digimon instead.
A glance at UA in Japan, or now in the US it seems like they're wanting to strike a balance between playing and collecting. The SR and * rarities look amazing but they're constantly pushing the tournament promos on socials, omitted some bleach cards from set 1 for balance and have been experimenting with the banlist in Japan. The game's also quite simple to play and is very flavourful.
I think UA will sit very comfortably as a generally known-but-niche game like Universus, FinalFantasy (personal favourite) and to some extent Digimon. You don't need to be the top 3 to be a successful game. General people and fans will own a few cards/sets they like, some communities will be tight-knit and stay active whereas others will fizzle and that's fine, it's not set in stone and will be quite locally driven for engagement. Being in these communities feels a bit like an uphill battle because everybody talks doom and gloom with every set someone prays on the downfall, but in reality at a local level the games are doing fine, active members are really engaged and events are really fun - if a bit smaller.
Some of UA's choices are odd like Gon's 3* not having the signature, or the lack of an EU release (I'm begging for it seeing the US have their product) but we're only in set 1. I'm looking really forward to getting my friends to play and open product together if we can ever get any 😅😅
I would say the only reason UA even has a prayer is that Bushi has dropped the ball so bad with Weiss in store play. I learned how to play UA the other day and wasn't really impressed. The regular cards didn't look that great. The mechanics also were if you start to lose you need a a random sequence of events to save you. It's the new hotness right now but not sure how long that will last.
Atleast at my local LGS they are out of bleach UA and have 1 box left for HxH so I’d say it’s selling fairly well, not like one piece did day 1 but thats one piece I’d say wait till JJK and see if the hype takes off or not to get a feel of UA has some staying power, I’m a big fan of HxH so I bought a few boxes regardless if it’s successful just to collect them
The promos are better. The store support is better. Union Arena has a great shot if they can get past these first couple of sets. They have been fixing the sets which is super nice because in jp they were duds. Weiss could learn alot from this.
at least here in australia there is no "big three" no one plays union arena no one plays weiss .. hell before like 3 or 4 years ago i didn't even know weiss was a thing because maybe 10 stores in the whole of Australia even really carries it and nothing mainstream ... i have to travel 4 or 5 hours by car to get to my nearest store that sells it let alone has events where i know like 30 stores in the same area that sell/stock and run one piece events .... hell I've been to like 10 regionals of one piece and never heard of any for weiss
Sadly all 3 I can't find at retail one piece I wish had some play in my area if you got cards no tournament
Gundam comes out of nowhere and will win. lol jk theyll all do fine
haha imagine
IP power = profit kek
Probably Weiss because of the degeneracy of the TCG/gaming community.
The management of One Piece is too bad.Union arena is enough for recreation.
Dragon Ball Super Masters is the BEST designed game by far. Plays like magic the gathering and duel masters. Amazing mechanics, complex strategy, and deck building. Its the chess of japanese tcgs. I knew battlespirits would fail day 1. i have a few OP decks but the game is too simple / luck based. Digimon has unique mechanics. WS I only liked 3 IP lol. Union Arena looks boring but I’ll get 1 IP I like. Gundam is on the way, and Bandai will release 10 more new tcgs next year. My top anime games 1. DB Masters 2. mtG in Japanese 3. Digimon
union arena needs to change how they do their cards because the basic version of the cards are so low effort screen grabs and i bet most collectors will stear clear off it
Yeah they’re absolutely awful. I’m trying to force myself to like the game so much, but it’s hard for me to get behind a game that is so lazy when their community has been very vocal about not wanting these screen grabs