Basic Differences Between the TCG and OCG

It's Mario...

I'll be completely blunt while writing this: Japan has more cards than us. This is common knowledge for most players and those very same players are probably very upset about this.

Fortunately Konami decided approximately 15 sets ago to release TCG exclusives that the OCG will not have right away with the release of the exact same set. The OCG has to wait a while before these cards arrive. It increases fairness a slight amount considering the OCG has been doing this to the TCG since the beginning of the game... Some of these TCG exclusives are excellent like Reborn Tengu, Gravekeeper's Recruiter, XX-Saber Darksoul and Tour Guide from the Underworld. However Konami mixed them with cards that are terrible and possibly take up the higher rarity spots that other cards rightfully deserve such as Mara of the Nordic Alfar (an ultra/ultimate rare) and Vampire Dragon (a secret rare...). I personally would be extremely pissed if I pulled Vampire Dragon as my secret rare in a box...

The TCG also started to slowly release OCG exclusives in the last 10 cards of every set. This also started approximately 15 sets ago. Unfortunately most of these cards destroyed players in the OCG before the TCG received them. Some of these special cards include Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, Elemental Hero Gaia, Dark Simorgh, Archlord Kritstya, Scrap Orthros and Elemental Hero Nova Master (released in Generation Force). I strongly believe this is an injustice to TCG players. Most TCG players analyze the top OCG decks for their own strategies and possible structures for decklists. This robs TCG players of the chance to be completely unique and to start something huge since the OCG probably thought of it first. As a sidenote, I try to utilize tech cards and strategies that both the TCG and OCG have not topped big tournaments with for the sake of being unique and satisfying.

It's stupid in my opinion that the OCG releases its sets and structure decks a few months before the TCG does. It's allowing decks in the OCG to top their tournaments and the TCG can't top with the same type of deck because it's missing cards. Look at this decklist for example.

17 Monster


3x Yellow Gadget 「イエロー・ガジェット」

3x Gigantes 「ギガンテス」

3x Green Gadget 「グリーン・ガジェット」

2x Breaker the Magical Warrior 「魔導戦士　ブレイカー」

3x Red Gadget 「レッド・ガジェット」

3x Effect Veiler 「エフェクト・ヴェーラー」



9 Magic

3x Pot of Greederosity 「強欲で謙虚な壺」

1x Monster Reborn 「死者蘇生」

1x Pot of Avarice 「貪欲な壺」

1x Dark Hole 「ブラック・ホール」

2x Mystical Space Typhoon 「サイクロン」

1x Book of Moon 「月の書」



14 Trap

1x Torrential Tribute 「激流葬」

2x Dimensional Prison 「次元幽閉」

1x Mirror Force 「聖なるバリア－ミラーフォース－」

2x Bottomless Trap Hole 「奈落の落とし穴」

3x Ultimate Offering 「血の代償」

2x Solemn Warning 「神の警告」

1x Solemn Judgment 「神の宣告」

2x Seven Tools of the Bandit 「盗賊の七つ道具」



Side

2x D.D. Crow 「Ｄ．Ｄ．クロウ」

3x Puppet Plant 「パペット・プラント」

3x Cyber Dragon 「サイバー・ドラゴン」

2x Nobleman of Crossout 「抹殺の使徒」

2x Dimensional Fissure 「次元の裂け目」

1x Royal Oppression 「王宮の弾圧」

2x Xing Zhen Hu 「心鎮壷」



Extra

1x Chimeratech Fortress Dragon 「キメラテック・フォートレス・ドラゴン」

1x Ally of Justice Catastor 「Ａ・Ｏ・Ｊ　カタストル」

1x Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary 「氷結界の龍　ブリューナク」

1x Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Boundary 「氷結界の龍　トリシューラ」

1x Mist Wurm 「ミスト・ウォーム」

2x Gemknight Parl 「ジェムナイト・パール」

1x Eviritua Mellowgeist 「イビリチュア・メロウガイスト」

3x Inverz Roach 「インヴェルズ・ローチ」

1x Vairon Disigma 「ヴァイロン・ディシグマ」

2x No. 39, Aspiring King Hope 「Ｎｏ．３９　希望皇ホープ」

1x Protector of the Founders, Tyrus 「始祖の守護者ティラス」

This is a deck that just won a huge tournament in Japan. The main deck is playable in the TCG. However it will not compete as strongly because the extra deck is only missing 10 exceed monsters... The TCG and the OCG should carry the same release dates for all cards so this doesn't happen; it's unfair to us TCG players. Furthermore the OCG experiments with cards and hit both banlists since they are almost always equal between the TCG and OCG. The most recent example is Konami pinning Archlord Kristya to 2 before the TCG had a chance to play 3 in the tier 1 Agent deck.
 
Here's the final general thing the OCG has done. The OCG has made extremely great cards easy to access. Examples of this include common Dark Armed Dragon, Pot of Duality, Solemn Warning and Archlord Kristya. It is extremely unfair to the TCG that the OCG have simple access to the best of the cards of the game even though they have more cards.
 
In conclusion I believe the OCG and TCG are ridiculously unbalanced. It makes me upset that I can't use some of the strategies the OCG can simply because I don't have the cards. Hopefully Konami will realize what they are doing before it catches up with them.