_Definitely NOT making this video because I'm afraid of the big 30, haha..._

The best way I heard it said was yugioh was a kids card game back when we were kids but The target group essentially stayed centered around the same group of people, the game aged with us.

Middle school teacher here. I host a Yu-Gi-Oh! Club at the school I teach at that’s been going on for about 6 years strong. My students range from 11-14 years old, usually joining their 6th grade year and staying all the way to the end of their 8th grade year (First year: Slifer Red, Second year: Ra Yellow, and Third year: Obelisk Blue). I love providing a safe space for my students to come in twice a week to play, trade, and talk Yu-Gi-Oh! My favorite part though, has to be watching them progress as Duelists. Seeing them know nothing about the game to building/playing proficient decks is a feeling that is second to none. I even had one Obelisk Blue student top a regional and get his invite! I hope my club continues to bring in new players so the community can continue to grow 😊

To be fair, I've NEVER seen Yugioh as a children's game, I've always seen it as a teen to adults game.

My problem is that most YGO players I've met only care about the Meta and not just playing the game.

When we were kids, the internet or buying singles was not as readily available. Yes, you use to be able to buy singles from the magazines and what not, but it was not as common unless you were lucky enough to actually have a card shop near you, so gambling and buying packs was a legitimate way of getting cards. As for the demographic, Konami has put zero effort in obtaining new customers. Outside of the Master Duel hype, which I believe was more promoted by streamers hopping on a fad, Konami has practically done nothing to recruit new players. Sure, we had the failure of a starter box, but putting product on the shelf that people are already not looking at cannot be considered recruitment. They need a new show or something of the sorts to attract people.

My own place in the demographics: I'm a 36 year old woman who didn't watch the anime. I tried watching it fairly recently but I couldn't get into it. Played magic, pokemon and heartstone before and got initially interested in the game due to you guy's collabs with the professor. I got a paper deck but I only play master duel because I don't have anyone to play paper with xD I don't spend much, part is that I have a low income job (childcare) and part because I have another even more expensive hobby in warhammer. So I just have a traptrix deck built from 3x structure and a trio of dragon decks from one of those 3 decks in one boxes. I've spent like 10 USD on master duel to finish up my traptrix deck there as well.

The way Pokémon TCG handles younger players is fantastic, - They do different leagues based on age, - They encourage people to come to events, teaching other people, bring friends along through awards - Pokémon isn't too combo heavy or relies on triggers so kids can play at their own pace, - The game is pretty simple even with the new mechanics where while Yu-gi-oh can easily overwhelmed people - Most kids normally prefer Pokémon due to it having more of a animalistic designs aka being cute or cool where newer yugioh focused more on humanoid designs which are normally for anime fan which are older.

I work in public schools and I've seen upper elementary and middle school play Duel Links and Master Duel on phones. It seems like it's "easier" or appealin' for them to play on digital with their friends than play paper

Personally I'm just chilling out with my crew in the (high)schoolyard

To me, best thing that happened to Yugioh was masterduel. Made it easy to jump back to the game and rage at the comfort of my own sofa. Its quite affordable to play and visually appealing

On the topic of "getting what you get" out of packs, it's just not working. The cards just don't work if you don't get their in-archetype supports. They simply do not work by themselves, and people at locals are often playing competent decks. You simply need to buy singles or the alternative is hundreds of packs.

I was introduced to Yugioh back in 1st grade in 2001. It was the 100th day of school, and our teacher told us to bring in 100 of something we collect or enjoy. But it needs to be small enough to bring in, so some people brought photos of their stuff or a small portion. But this kid Ian brought in 100 yugioh cards, and he laid them out on the teachers table and i was in aw. I never played or touched a TCG game. But i was intrigued. Cards like Dark Magician and Red Moon Baby caught my eye. He explained what this game was to me, where to find cards, and what to look out for. And i was hooked since. I was into the game deep, made hardcore strong decks, and followed the metas through Beckett all throughout the 2000's. I even remember convincing my dad to somehow agree to buying a full set of Exodia pieces from a listing in a said Beckett magazine, which he ultimately never did.(That butthole, but they were around $200 lol) - Now im married and with someone who grew up with the same things i did, Yugioh included. And we play it every night. I never stopped playing and following it, and reintroducing the game to my wife several years and explaining all the new mechanics and card gimmicks was intimidating to her at first. But she grew to love the modern version of Yugioh. The real damn shame is how exclusive Konami makes this game. It's expensive as all hell and considering this game is mostly played by people my age, they know how the booster pack/box game works with your pull chances. And it's rare for me to see Yugioh cards in casual stores. But thankfully digital outlets and digital games exist for kids to try online.

Semi-unrelated and long comment ahead. I'm in my early 20's, and I wanted to get back into Yugioh because I finally have a job that allows me to save some disposable income. I get to the only card shop near me that I know for a fact sells products and holds events for Yugioh. I pick up a couple singles and booster packs, and then I ask them if I could order a few playsets from them, and they tell me that they will stop having anything Yugioh by the end of the month because of sales. My best guess is what you mentioned about how sets are made in a way that makes players prefer singles over sealed. Guess I'll stick to Master Duel for the time being. Maybe I'll pick up some of their remaining stuff for collecting and drafting purposes, or even consider playing another tcg in paper play over there. Personally, I never intended to spend too much on building meta decks; I only wanted to mess around with budget or rogue options to try at locals and maybe meet new people that are into the game. Sorry for the long comment. I only wanted to share my experience.

I’d have to say that age bracket has the most money while still being into the card game. That’s the Goldilock zone if you think about it.

31 year-old duelist here. I think we actually have two big problems: a new player problem and a player retention problem. I love this game. I still play this game. But I find myself gravitating toward alternate formats (GOAT and Edison), Speed Duel, and Master Duel more than the actual TCG. I have many friends (about a dozen) both in America and Japan who used to play YGO - many at the competitive level - and no longer play at all. From what they tell me it really just comes down to the game feeling unfun to play. These are duelists who were better players than me - and they find it unfun. I think the game just has become not so much too complicated, but too tedious. I don’t mind losing and I actually prefer the depth of the modern game to older formats. But what I don’t like is feeling like so many duels rely on “drawing the out” or devolve into locking your opponent out with negates and floodgates. It’s never fun to lose, but one thing my competitive friends have told me is that they don’t actually enjoy winning either because it doesn’t feel like you outplayed your opponent in many games - you just were able to hand trap them to death or hand multiple negates or floodgates. And I’m somewhat inclined to agree. I think Konami could easily just create a viable alternate format that is still modern and follows a separate banlist. I don’t think the speed duel model is viable because it’s too far behind and not as exciting - plus you have to buy separate product that isn’t viable in the main format. If we can’t keep players that already enjoy the franchise, then what hope do we have of appealing to new players? Millennials/Gen Z are always going to be the main demographic of Yugioh because we have an emotional connection to it. You don’t put up with the abuse from Konami if you don’t have some sort of emotional tie to Yugioh. But because of the complexity and lack of a good master duel anime series…it makes it difficult to capture the imagination of kids like Yugioh did for us. Maybe that’s just not something that can be replicated and it was a moment in time and the game is just going to sort of survive off our gen. I don’t know. But I think if Konami brought back the original anime cast and updated their decks and perhaps launched a format that was similar, but less high octane to master duel format, we might be able to appeal to more people.

Age 19, I feel very worried due to the “aging population problem” of yugioh, only 5-6 teenagers at the yugioh place I go to.

It's not just YGO. Most TCGs across the board are seeing the same thing. There's a video by Tomoharu Saito where he talks about the average ages for player bases for dozens of TCGs just based on his observations (in Japan), and the majority of them average in their late 20s or early 30s. I think most people these days, including kids/teens, generally see card games as "too complicated" for them so they're reluctant to get in. Besides Pokemon, the only TCG in Japan that seems to actually be attracting kids is Mushi Jingi, largely because the game is priced dirt cheap at MSRP, and ofc in the US all we really have is Pokemon.

Hey Paul, I've been subscribed since 2016, but this is my first time commenting on one of your videos. I'm 27 years old and started playing Yu-Gi-Oh in 2nd grade (I'm definitely your key demographic). I very casually play GOAT and Edison format, so I hardly spend any money on the game. I also don't play at locals for a few reasons: my deck wouldn't last a turn, I value community and player interaction more than winning, and let's be honest, the card shop can be stinky when tournaments are going on. I had a great time going to locals when I was in high school though. Even then, the main demographic was older than me, with most players being around 18-30. There were a few kids and teenagers, but we were the anomaly. Also, kids/teenagers aren't really respected in these communities because either we don't have good decks, valuable trades, money to spend on the game, or understand the game less (Hot take: even Edison format can be complicated). I saw this in my local Pokémon TCG community too, so it's not just Yu-Gi-Oh. But back to the question; how much am I willing to spend on Yu-Gi-Oh? I've never liked spending money on expensive cards or valuable rarities. I've always played budget decks and never had a problem with it. I would be willing to spend money on a playmat or two, but I find Yu-Gi-Oh playmat designs to be boring and lacking a bit of uniqueness. Luckily, Master Duel is free and a way for casual players like me to scratch the Yu-Gi-Oh itch without having to spend a lot of money or time. I'd say what stops me the most from spending more is just the lack of wanting to play newer Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm not trying to say caveman Yu-Gi-Oh good, new bad. I just don't enjoy it, but I respect that most players really like that kind of play. I mostly play with my girlfriend, and she only enjoys old school Yu-Gi-Oh. Even GOAT format is challenging for her, so there's no way she would enjoy newer Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning, but she did enjoy Pokémon more than Yu-Gi-Oh. Pokémon's rules are much more straight forward and little room for play error. She also dislikes having to analyze every novel of card text in each Yu-Gi-Oh. Great content as always. Keep it up. Thanks.

Staring down my 40th bday this year lmao. 😅😂

Im 22. Grew up 100% on Yugioh. Ny locals had a 13 year old coming regularly last year. Majority of my locals and the ones in my area is majority post-18 but pre-26. Im honestly pretty happy

I’m not sure how it is in the TCG, but in the OCG(Japan), you can answer a survey for Konami which asks questions that figure out demographics and a get a free pack. Let’s them figure out this stuff easy

I think card shops are a hard sample to judge. I regularly go to Pokémon tournaments at card stores, and even then, it’s very rare to see someone who isn’t an adult. Regionals and larger tournaments are different, but I do think local card stores (at least in my experience) are heavily weighed towards older players. However, Yu-Gi-Oh! no longer has the playground audience like Pokémon still does. I think Yu-Gi-Oh! has lost its grip on the multimedia aspect that drew us in when we were kids. For example, how many of us watched the anime first? Here in the UK, The BBC and Pokémon Company are doing massive pushes for the new anime being on BBC iPlayer. I’m 32 and got into Yu-Gi-Oh! back at school. I’ve always been casual - I got back into the game during COVID and I don’t think I’ve bought a single core set booster pack. I’ll buy a tin once a year, or a structure deck and some singles. I mainly collect now because I have no-one to play with lol. My youngest brother plays Pokémon competitively, but always looks at Yu-Gi-Oh! with scorn (he thinks the card names are embarrassing lol).

I'm 32 and i honestly moved on from Yugioh to Pokémon because of card pricing and tournament prizing. I've been into Yugioh since 2002 and came back in 2017. Honestly, what drove me away from the game isn't the game itself, but is the economy and traveling.

yugioh cards are cool but the problem is they short print cards and want everyone to pay top dollar for something they like, Konami would have a bigger audience like Pokemon if they just printed more

I’m 33, going on 34 this year. I’m pretty casual. I will go to regionals usually always and my locals when I can. For me I’m not one to care to play super competitive. I’m pretty paycheck to paycheck, so my ability to shell out for current top decks isn’t particularly feasible. But that’s not to say I dont take my main deck in and get some w’s lol. I’m a HERO main and will always play it. So THANKFULLY cause of that, it curbs the need of a lot of current stuff minus utility cards. Last regionals I placed 127 or something out of 490. I had two ties which would’ve bumped me up wayy more if I didn’t tie. So I’m very content with where I am with YGO as a whole. Another cool thing of not needing to spend an arm and a leg for current meta related cards is I can enjoy sealed products a little more too. It’s always fun just collecting.

Was just chatting with a buddy about the demographics of games aimed at "kids". Pokemon, Minecraft, Yu-gi-oh, even Fortnite, all played by adults more than children and we reasoned that it has much to do with playing games our entire lives and never growing out of them. Including the ones I mentioned and many more. The larger point about Yu-gi-oh as a starter game is spot on. It's not the easiest, imho in part because of games with "resource"-based systems being quicker to grasp. Play whatever you can whenever you can! takes some getting used to. Also, current metas being intimidating. Just some thoughts. Edit: Buy packs for fun, not need. Also spot on.

Shipping prices are a huge hurdle to buying singles for me

I'm 26 and only recently got back into ygo. Was playing OP TCG but got bored and I'm loving ygo. I've been playing about a year now??

I'm gonna be playing Goat format until I'm 70

26 going on 27, Yu-Gi-Oh! fanatic since it came stateside in '02 and have mostly stuck with it since. Grew up addicted to the anime & manga, playing the video games, and - being an only child - getting way more cards than I honestly should have lol. Fell off for a little bit during the late 5D's era, got way into the meta during early ZEXAL, but quit cold turkey and haven't played competitively since 2012. Nowadays I'm pretty much exclusively into collecting cards for fun, playing the old video games & watching/reading the animanga, and occasionally building a fun petdeck for collection's sake here and there. YGO, like any other expensive hobby, really isn't fun when you're blowing all of your disposable income on it, let alone money as a whole. I've gone through periods of varying intensity in which the cards have consumed the vast majority of my fun budget and it just wasn't very fun. Most recently, I found myself enjoying YGO a *LOT* more when I spent $20 on a very badly-wanted copy of Mystic Piper to complete my playset, and put the remaining $180 from a $200 fun budget toward a very badly-*needed* new laptop. Everything in moderation.

Most of the people i see playing Yugioh are between 18 and 35, most commonly in their 20's. Being able to actually afford the cards is a big reason why mainly adults seem to be playing. I spend about 50-100$ a month on this game and you just can't do that as a kid unless you have a rich family. But at the same time Yugioh isn't really marketed towards kids anymore. The days of Yugioh on Saturday morning cartoons are over and it seems that Konami is leaning heavily into appealing to their already established player base instead of retaking their spot with Pokemon as an entry level "children's card game". So it's partly Konami's fault for not marketing towards kids anymore, but also just a product of this game's age and the kids who used to be the demographic have all grown up and are still playing.

I just turned 22 and I was always a little bit into yugioh but never really learned how to play it till late 2022. I grew up watching GX and I loved the game, but I was really young, so I didn't understand much of what was happening. I used to play with my friends with fake cards, but they were all in English and I am from Portugal, so we made effects up. I sporadically played some old yugioh games like Duel Academy for GBA... but then years went by until I got duel links in 2017. I played it for a few months, but I fell out of love for yugioh. Until 2022, when I decided to reinstall Duel Links and I finally understood most concepts about the game, understood the meta, what makes a deck good or not... Now I buy physical cards for collection or to make decks that I enjoy but are not necessarily competitive, like Dracoslayers or Satellarknights. In order for me to enjoy playing this game, I have to like the deck itself, enjoy the playstyle, the art... and I don't get the appeal of playing meta honestly. Although I would love to olay competitively, at locals, but with my rogue decks. For more context: I started working very recently, so I can't spend much but when I do it's mostly for collection. I have been trying to get some friends who are the same age as me into the game, without much success, besides 1 friend.

I'm 38 and got into Yu-Gi-Oh during the pandemic. I've only ever played in person (with cards) with my gf and most of the time I just play master duel online with random people. I love the game, love how fast it is compared to MTG and pkmn. My only gripe is I have all the options for building decks but have no idea where to start so I just stick with the same structure deck I got in physical and online.

Almost 36. Been playing since SDY and SDK. I’ve hoped in and out of the game over the years, competed at some high level events, SJC Houston in 2008 and YCS Ft Worth in 2019. I buy the cards I want, much to the frustration of my wife, but it’s a big part of my life. I even found a way to make TCGs my career.

I'm 26, almost 27. I'm financially able to cover buying the full snake-eye deck easily without any worries, even though I probably shouldn't. I don't like these prices but I understand that if I want to compete I have to pay for what I need. Personally, I would rather play the play and not the wallet, but that's not always how it works out.😊

Got into this game as a teenager. Only every played duel links and master duel, eventually when that came out. My TCG decks are super casual and easy throwaway cuz those are what I found fun. Turning 22 this year, and the price issue has always drove me away from caring about the game too much. These days I refuse to get into competition because the prices and game itself hold me back.

I love you guys. Dealing with a lot of mental health issues and you all always cheer me up when I’m down. It’s hard not to give in to wanting to give up but as long as I have 1 life point left I’ll always believe in the heart of the cards hahaha no but seriously life’s been way to stressful and this channel and the community in general are truly a blessing

Nice vídeo! I will be 33 this year and I don’t have anyone to play with where I live. I never played competitively (never will) and I enjoy playing casual/goat format. Rewatching the Yugioh series on Netflix lol. My brother used to play with me (he will be 29 this year) but we don’t have that much time anymore. I have bought only a few cards because of nostalgia lately but not trying to build more decks. If anything trying to sell some and keep the ones really like (just so I don’t have to purchase them again if nostalgia hits again lol). In terms of budget… I really can’t see myself expending more than $100 per year in the hobby. I have many responsibilities and with no one to play, it is difficult to see reasons to buy more cards.

I got into the game in '04, approaching 30 now. My play nowadays is probably the most budget I've ever been, mostly because of car payments, limited time to play, splitting my game budget between ygo and magic, and the good fortune of most of the decks I want to play being super budget. Calarium and Spright Blue were the only cards ive wanted in years with a more than $5 price tag.

Of my local stores that even stock Yugioh, most of the crowd were in their 20s. The younger kids either played Pokémon or Magic. It seems like Lorcana might be getting popular too. I'm in my 40s, and aged beyond the target demographic when the game and show released. Mostly just collect or open packs now and then.

33 years young. I just got back into Yu-Gi-Oh last year thanks to Master Duel and watching Team APS (thanks guys). The last time I had played until recently was during the 5D's era. I've built a couple decks (Dinos and Melffys) so my girlfriend and I can play together. I'm not interested in playing the meta. I just want to play Master Duel and open packs so my girlfriend and I can build fun decks together.

For me, I was always into the game went to locals and very old upper deck leagues back in the day with my uncles but I'm 26 now, stopped for a long time. But with a lot of disposable income, I honestly do what I used to do back when I was younger which is buy a booster box or two and build a deck with friends and run it. Very similar to the rare hunter series. I am not fully inclined to run meta decks but I will splurge on the decks I love like Evil Hero, Plunder/Labyrinth and Traptrix.

29, and outside of video games I'm not spending any money. All the friends I played with stopped playing when link summoning was introduced. So I play masterduel and occasionally I still play legacy of the duelist on switch. When those older games come to switch, I'll play those too.

I'm in my mid-30s and I just got back into Yu-Gi-Oh after falling off around the time Battle City ended (it's been a while). I don't play competitively, so I get to just have fun opening packs whenever I see them at Walmart or Target. Occasionally I buy off Amazon or my local card shop. Honestly, half of my newfound fandom is due to TeamAPS. I love the content on here and all you guys are great. Wish you even more success. 🤘

Agree with a lot of the points made here and that growing yugioh’s audience for a younger demographic is important. Another issue I’ve personally seen is getting peers of mine interested in the game. Would love to share the game with friends but I find it hard to introduce to them in a way that interests them. Would love to hear any experience you have with this

I've only been to one local tournament to watch my friend play and everyone in there was at least mid 20 or early 30 like myself. Their was only 1 kid who was still in high school in the tournament so he really stood out

I’m 32 years old, nice channel btw. Would’ve been interesting for you to speak on race as well, I feel like growing up, a lot of kids who grew up in the inner city (Spanish and black) played the game and it sucks to see how much the prices have skyrocketed. I remember back in 04 you could get a meta deck by mostly trading , buying some singles here and there and some tins/boosters and a $20 starter deck. Now it’s like you need to rich just to be competitive.

I’ve turned 40 last month (jeez), and I bought a Speed Duel box set yesterday. That’s my first Yu-Gi-Oh purchase ever, and I’ve never played MTG or Pokémon. What attracts me to Yu-Gi-Oh is what may deter some people: I kinda like that it’s not the easiest to get into, that you gotta put in some effort to get to grips with it. While some of the more unelegant game design elements, like the big walls of small font text, are really incomprehensible to me, part of it is also really charming. To me it’s a sign that despite it being imperfect, there must be something of real value underneath, given that so many people still love the game and support it with such devotion.

Problem I see Being someone that got into it back in 02-03, the anime drove the card buying and it played like chess. I can't keep up with how it's played today and that pushes younger kids out, cause I was like 10-11, I couldn't imagine trying to play today at that age.

I was about 5 or 6 when LOB dropped at my local shopping mart in my small town. I was so excited to get cards from the show; I got the Kaiba and Yugi starters soon after. I had tons of cards, but no one to play with...and the game wasn't very "intuitive" for a kid like me. Now I'm 31 and after getting into Master Duel, I have bought a fair bit of singles and I love playing

So, I am 32 as of writing this and when i was in middle school; when I feel Yugioh took off as a TCg in general, getting packs was exciting because you were getting new cards and back then archetype weren't a thing. Now I've asked younger kids why they haven't gotten into a TCg and their responses are almost the same but it's split into a few different things. The first response I got was "It's too complicated and I don't want to learn a new game that might take up my whole time learning." The second response I get pretty often is "That's a nerds game; I'm no nerd". And then those responses go deeper into more detail. My first ever Yugioh card was "Witty Phantom", I loved getting cards because I was FINALLY a part of something that was ultimately bigger than me. Then when I moved schools I tried to find the same crowd but it wasn't really a thing and I dropped the game for a while then picked it back up when the evolution decks were released and oh boy was I happy about that, because my brother wanted to get into it; then I finally had a dueling partner. I think the reason most of the games demographic is an older crowd is because the game has evolved to a point where it's far too complicated for smaller kids to get into and I find that a problem in today's age BECAUSE kids can get their parent's to buy packs/decks/singles to make decks but they don't want that kind of commitment. Hopefully Konami will understand that at some point and change the viewpoint in the coming years.

I'm now 33 and have been a fan of Yugioh since 6th grade when I got a Kaiba and Yugi starter deck after finding the anime. I then played with my small group of friends until around 2009, only getting cards for my birthday and Christmas. Mainly tins and structure decks. Master Duel brought me back and I have been buying the large gem pack each month + discounted bundles. I also started collecting again and will be going to the Raleigh YCS for my first IRL event ever. I've been allowing myself to put $100 into cardboard to build my collection. Hopefully it'll be enough in April!

Im 31, i played a lot as a kid. Started playing again like a year ago. Game changed A LOT and is incredibly difficult but insanely fun. Your approach to the game helped a lot.

I'm 26, I started playing in elementary school, then dropped it for a while, then picked up some videogames later on, then dropped it again, then picked up duel links sporadically since it released, then master duel and I play also play it sporadically, I never really played the physical game since I didn't have anyone to play it with, but the videogames kept my interest over the years.

started watching ygo in 5th grade. my cousin gave me a few cards. played the video games. then went on to online simulators. its been a long time.

This is all true. Yugioh started out somewhat simple when i was 9 years old, but now I'm 30, and the game is very complex. The game is very tough for newcomers because there is a ton to learn, and to be competitive, you need to purchase the most expensive cards, which are priced ridiculously high for cardboard pictures. I played yugioh as a kid but as I aged into high school and college level, I became very involved in athletics and sorta put yugioh on the shelf. Things eventually slowed down in life for me, and I suffered a sports injury that affects my lifestyle, so I picked up my deck of yugioh cards and went to a locals and got obliterated. The game is wild, and I had to do a ton of studying and purchasing to be somewhat competitive at the locals. Konami came out with this new 2 player starter deck that you guys reviewed in a video, and that seemed like a fail. The game is fun but only for us in the age group that you mentioned because of the ties we have towards it from our childhood. I don't think there will be too many new players and once we age, the game will age to nonexistence, which is sad.

2:01, this is pretty accurate, although I've only gotten into the game within the last couple of months in my late teens, back when I was younger even in like 2008 - 2017 no one I knew personally or in my classes ever spoke about it or played it

I'm 35 Houston TX area I was and have also been a Yu-Gi-Oh appreciator more than a player but now with Duel Links I'm in it more than I ever been enjoying and learning all the archetypes and characters. Which made me watch all 3 days of the UDS stream this past weekend... Just like any sport or game Yu-Gi-Oh is an equalizer...if you are good enough with your strategy you are good enough bottom line.

I've been playing ever since I saw the show, probably 9yo. Currently 29, turning 30 this year, I make enough money to comfortably buy anything my playtesting proves useful and I feel that I'll always play this game and acquire/collect the cards and merchandise, like, I'm hooked, I love this game and the cards I play it with, but it kills me when I see how much it costs to get into it. I wish it was cheaper and more accessible, especially for younger people and people with less disposable income. I've taken to building as many cool decks as I can so that I have something fun and interesting for someone to play if they are interested enough to play, at least that way my friends can play decks that they otherwise would need a simulator or a lot of money to play. Great video Paul

You touched on a very relevant point; I too feel that for a lot of players at a young age the barrier of entry was too high due to lack of accessible capital. A decate later, a lot of these individuals now have jobs and disposable income; hence why the majority of players are in the 30+ bracket. Unfortunately, today's game still suffers from this same barrier of entry (and has even gotten a lot higher when comparing to the past 2 decades). Factor in how much more complex the game as become and that's another barrier new players have to get through. It is nice that there have been more entry level products being made but it still does not allow the player to remotely engage in the competitive scene.

Perhaps the future projects from Konami Animation will have the same effect as the old anime, and get kids into the card game.

26, and I got into Yugioh on the advent of the 25 anniversary (that never seems to end) Just in time foe the Traptrix structure. It took me nearly a year to get used to how the game is played + all odds the summoning types, and I still can't wrap my head around missing the timing. I've given up on that one. This game is far more mature and complex from an interaction standpoint than 6+ on the box.

I tried to teach my nephew yugioh, but I made a lot of error on my part. Like I tried to keep it in the GOAT-Edison kind of format and I needed to keep it more casual. A lot more casual. And cards like Dogoran the text is just overwhelming. And I knew how I got into yugioh, the video games really helped and it was with decks like frog monarchs. And I think that's the biggest challenge with introducing yugioh to new people. It's the keeping it casual and simple when the game is competitive and has complex interactions despite it's simplicity.

I think a big thing is that makes it tricky for younger people to get into is that it can be hard to find the cards. I can't speak for everyone, but my usual stores that carry trading cards have Pokemon and Magic, but don't carry anything Yugioh. Not the card shops, not Target, not Walmart, not Gamestop. I *have* to go to Amazon or TCGplayer if I wanna buy cards. Now that's not a huge deal to me, I don't mind buying that way. But to a kid or teen that might not have a credit card, the game is just straight up unavailable to them. And that's setting aside that the game is hard to learn.

It would be interesting to see the Master Duel demographic compared to TCG and OCG demographic.

I'm 42 now and haven't played or bought any packs for almost 20 years. I saw a clip from Ruxin34 and remembered I had purchased hundreds of boxes from 2001 to around 2007 (I think). Sorting out my collection now and found a 1st edition of LOB Dark Magician in a rip-up starter box, luckily it was in a sleeve ( thank you Mom & Dad for not throwing anything away). The only way to get the kids into it more is for my gen etc to introduce it to them. Want to get back into the game and collect again but have no idea where to start. Should be able to figure that out soon enough I guess.

I am 43 and I started playing it 2 months ago.

Been playing this game since i was like 6-7, probably younger, and im 22 now. I'd love to start buying cards again but theyre just too expensive so i just stick to master duel for the most part. My mom has been pretty supportive of my hobbies and yugioh being one of them ive never really been sure how to explain the deck/card price issue to her but i think this addresses it pretty well since it has changed drastically over the years

In regards of kids, there is one very important thing to understand is that even with the internet, the information they have access to is very limited. While YGO surely has a "no kids problem", even games like Pokemon are VERY localized in the sense that kids usually pick up stuff from a store like Walmart, or anything similar (even a Toys' Shop) but they have no idea about clubs and such to exist to begin with. All these hobby stores selling cards but not providing a space to actually play is another discussion that could very much be interesting, but even more so how ordering stuff due to the internet is easy and they do not even think about the possibility to check out anything like an LGS. One thing that certainly is NOT true since post-covid is that TCGs are dying. Far from it, due to quarantine people are craving for IRL activities, and tabletops and board games are on the rise alongside of card games. It's just that people has to understand that more than 90% of the people do not crave for what an LGS even has to offer due to not wanting to be competitive or not fully understanding the advantages of such a place. If someone's in an LGS, they already have some competition or tournament-entry in their mind, people rarely go to such places anymore to just trade or randomly play, practice etc., especially in games where there are multiple formats. TCGs became a tool for friends to hang out, which is awesome for both the games and these groups, but it surely is bothersome for the competitive scene and/or LGS to stay alive. P.S. Also there is another discussion that I didn't comment upon, and this is specifically only true in YGO and that's how women like me are frowned upon, labeled as "impatient" and sometimes even stupid, being extremely discouraging at best to almost borderline having some creepy behavior at worst, making so that many of us will NOT want to join such community and especially an LGS. I used to attend an LGS for another game and I remember so well that the YGO community there has been like the most problematic easily, full of "no deodorant" people and even people who were threatening the LGS workers to the point some of us had to be banned.

Yugiboomer here. Haven't followed the game in any real sense for over 15 years, but still somehow have opinions on it. Honestly, Yu-Gi-Oh! has never really been a "children's card game." The series has a darker aesthetic that appeals more to teens or young adults, but I could see some older cards actually being pretty scary for younger kids. And the rules were/are extremely complex. Having grown up with TCGs, prominently YGO, Magic, and Base/Neo/ADV Pokemon, game mechanics almost feel like a second language, but trying to enter with little-to-no knowledge would seem extremely daunting. Excellent video, and happy early birthday. Cheers.

I started the game when I was around 15 during toss format, really got me out of my shell before covid. I lost many times, but got did I love how cool it was

I've been loosely following the meta since 2017 and have been interested several times in picking up the game but wasn't able to due to lacking disposable income. It's only now that I've been working for a couple of years (I'm 24, almost 25) that I'm able to get into the game. The cost of entry was pretty high, too, it was at least a couple hundred to get a deck core and enough staples, and I think that barrier of entry is probably at least partially a factor in why younger teenagers and kids aren't getting into the game as much (though the reprints in stuff like Rarity Collection have been good at helping that).

I'm early 20's, started learning about Yughioh in the middle of 2023 and have been playing with my friend exclusively since. I come from Pokemon TCG and the stark difference in the rarity and pricing structure did push me away. Thankfully, I do have the ability to soak up the cost of expensive cards, but I simply don't do it since i'm not attending any sanctioned events at the moment. But even then, I do find way more joy in opening sealed product than guaranteering "THE card" from each set. Maybe a discussion topic for a future video, but I believe newer players should either be less ashamed or made more aware of proxying. Such a genuinely simple solution to getting someone equipped with an actual deck for nearly no money. Even as someone who can affort it, there is no way i'm waiting on a T&T or TCGplayer order just to test out a deck I saw in Joshua Schmidt's stream. I'm taking you up on your word Paul, I'll be going to Japan next week and experiencing what the OCG is like, and just card game culture in general. Thanks for all the content, I love discussion that takes more things into account than just "card expensive", keep it up!

I'm 31 I got into yugioh when it first came out before the og starter decks. Attended a local pretty regularly thanks to my Saint of a mother. Eventually I fell off, but picked it back up at age 28 when my oldest son showed a interest in learning the game cause his friends played. Now 3 years later. we have played in multiple tournaments and have aquired a plethora of decks and cards. I'm teaching my younger son slowly. My oldest son and I got my best friend into playing too and we get together once a month or so and duel it out and plan yugioh trips cause our closest locals is 45 mins away. I'm really trying hard to establish a tournament closer to our small town, because several kids and teens play on my area but have no way to play "offically" which also be part of our new player problem. Kids and teens want to play this game but a majority don't have a way to get to a place to meet other like minded people

Sorry for the rant; started this as a short comment but ended up writing a whole essay: When I tried to return to the game, I’ve checked out master duel, locals and regionals and even followed a lot of ycs matches online. And tbh, modern combo decks and cards just ruined it for me and now I just stuck to collecting the cards for the sake of nostalgia (and maybe to get some value out of it one day but who knows). To me nowadays, apart from one or two balanced archetypes, all the rest of the cards are just all broken cards with no soul anymore. People add monsters to their decks just for the sake of their effects. And even the normal monsters they add, they do so that they can link or synchro or xyz or wtvr-summon another monster.. again, you guessed it, for its effect. Now yugioh can just remove all monsters from the game and replace them with spells and traps and you’d still have the exact same dynamic you have today with modern yugioh. Which wasn’t the case before where every card type has its reason and diversifying your deck had its justifications which automatically added the fun in the game. Now every card is a search card, every card is a negate card, every deck is an otk deck and it’s not about play strategy anymore. It now only (or let’s say mainly - because you still have that 0.001% draw-luck involved) evolves around deck building. And of course, once you have a deck-building based game, it automatically starts to become a pay to win game and that’s it. And this is exactly why we started having these even more ridiculous new decks; because the only way to keep a pay-to-win game playable, is to produce even more powerful cards for people to buy and play with. And that’s literally the only dynamic you see nowadays. The only thing that kept yugioh enjoyable lately was speed duel. But even that is going into oblivion nowadays 🤷🏻‍♂️

37. Still playing.

I'm 51 here and going strong with YuGiOh. Got back into the game in 2020 and have been loving/hating the way the game is now. LOL I definitely have the money now to buy all the cards I couldn't before when I was one broke dude. Now I have several decks and can afford them with a little saving here and there. Since I do play more for fun, when I see cards going for $100+ and I need 3, I just wait and play something else I enjoy until the price starts to drop. That mortgage needs to come first after all.

I'm 32 and I got into Yu-Gi-Oh probably when I was around 9 or 10 years old, I got out of Yu-Gi-Oh right after I graduated high school. Then I got back into it in 2018. I also play magic the gathering and past couple of years I've noticed that these Yu-Gi-Oh card prices are getting up there with magic the gathering card prices and that's just the tip of the iceberg, that's not going into archetypes and strategies.

The yugioh tv show was simply never as popular as the original show was in the early 2000s. A lot of us grew up with good memories of it as kids and still play it. Other generations don’t have that connection

I turn 30 at the end of July and started playing a little before SPYRAL format… only reason I got into playing was because I was collecting a bunch of cards and buying boxes then a friend of mine messaged me saying we should try playing… since then we’ve been grinding it out every now and then. Fast forward to today and I’m literally playing Snake-Eye Fire Kings

Very smart insights about the aging player base!

Very good video, this happened to old online video games like MMOs etc. as well. The demographic aged and the devs turn to milking the adults with disposable income.

I'm 56. I started playing 15 years ago to be an active part of my son's hobby. He's now 24 and we both still play somewhat competitively.

I barely play yugioh irl, but I like to keep my eyes out for what's going on in it and play other TCGs. I think your point about the ages of players and disposable income is a good one and part of why there's such an increased price on TCG singles across the board.

Just passed 30. I've thought about maybe spending something on Master Duel, but not paper products with the absurd meta.

I'm 25 with a full time job. I live within walking distance of 2 Locals that are like 25 blocks apart from each other with 1 being an OTS and the other not being an OTS. I mostly will spend money or trade for cards that I absolutely need for a deck, though I mostly just play budget variants of decks. I play Branded, Purrely Spright, Pend Magicians, and Fire King Tri-Brigade. I'm thinking about building Chimera now since I have all the Branded cards, and also with the Chimera cards having gone down in price.

I can't buy cards if it's not from packs, I'm addicted to the gacha.

I'm in my early 20's and considered myself a budget player, I don't tend to buy cards over $7 dollars unless it's like the last card I need to complete an Archetype collection. I also keep a lot of bulk and open packs over buying singles because my goal is to get at least 3 copies of every card a normal person can get, and so I don't buy the new biggest cards or the best decks because I know they will be reprinted some day. It has been annoying for me knowing that if I just gave up on the collecting part I might be able to save up for the top decks, but sometimes those decks don't seem fun to play once their run is done, like Tearlameant, their time is up (hopefully) and as a for fun deck they don't seem that fun since it's just a fusion deck meant to go into general good stuff and not much in archetype for them that hasn't been banned. And my current deck is actually Vanquish Soul because I pulled 2 QCR's from AGOV and traded them for all the Vanquish Soul cards I was missing, and I do kinda wish I could play Snake-Eyes but I don't have Bonfires or wanted posters

Just turned 36 in January. Been playing at locals/seriously collecting since 2017, the game itself since the very 1st series came to the US. I try to watch videos of sets and buy boxes I see a lot of cards I want to add to my collection. I play at local/regionals frequently to collect/play/have fun.

Yugioh especially has a problem with overpriced staples. Like Magic definitely has the same issues but I don't see new cards hitting 120 for magic. And magic's staples are already way too high

I assumed tournament numbers increased because it’s just more well known and easier to sign up for than back in the day. The internet was still trendy and niche in the early to mid 2000’s, so looking up the tourneys wasn’t as prevalent as now.

I was in my early 20's when Yugioh came out in the states . Was my break from MtG that lasted 8 yr. I keep to a budget usually buy packs and tins. Not out for the newest decks right away. Can wait for the reprints especially since I also play online so get practice with and against the new decks. A lot of the younger players I know of are playing because they have a older family member that already play or did. No new cartoon or any mass media I think hurts recruitment of younger players. Another problem from my point of view is you need more places to play. I live in a fairly populated area have 7 card shops in a 20 mile radius but only 2 sell Yugioh products and only 1 holds events.

I'm 27. I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! when I was a young teenager. In the past I've spent nearly $20 on a single card, but nowadays I probably wouldn't spend over a dollar. I consider myself a casual player and haven't actually played the game in years but enjoy the deckbuilding process. Most cards are reprinted at a more affordable price over time and I am in no rush to get the cards I want.

Totally agree on the disposable income part. My card buying ramped way up after I got an advanced degree. I don’t want to pay anything over $40 for any card still, but I will if I have to in order to either make my deck or complete a collection. It’s definitely not ideal. I think you’re on to something. Yugioh is skating by on the newly-increased earning potential of the same kids who liked it when they were young.

I started playing and watching yugioh for the first time since elementary at 19, started being able to finally afford to actually buy the cards I want at 25 this year

Im at the verge of 21 and i cant afford meta decks so ive been picking up cards worth quarters to play casually with my cousins and just got my nephews the 2player starter set which i then started giving them good trades for the bad anime cards

Reality is that youth cares mostly about digital entertainment nowadays. Especially youth that has hobbies centered around anime and games. They're not going to play the actual TCG with their friends. In terms of digital YGO your options are Master Duel and Duel Links, which both have significant limitations. These games simply do not capture young new players, and so the demographic gets no new blood. This is why we are left with the demographic that has been playing YGO since the late 90s / early 2000s. If we want new YGO players and stop the demographic from rapidly aging, we need to actually provide a better digital experience in a way that can also transition to a real world experience. Also card prices need to drop massively. I looked at buying a decent Swordsoul Tenyi deck recently, which hasn't been remotely meta for a while now, and it's still like $100-150. That is an absurd price for what I would consider a very solid entry level deck into locals, and is well out of the price range for the average kid. Comparing this to my $40 Crusadia deck from a few years ago, which was actually a very solid deck, the prices are just ridiculous.

Paul idk if you could make a video about this but it’s the topic of why can’t meta decks be cheap or Konami make a structure deck that could let’s say cost 30 or 40 dollars that has everything main, extra, and side deck that is a product where it’s all a player needs to start going and playing at a tournament

My problem with buying sealed product is that archetypes will be split between two packs, or even between six, i want to buy stuff, but i dont have the time to keep up with what is coming out next. I do get structure decks sometimes because i know i will get a fully playful deck, even if it is bad. Other than that i have been really discouraged with pulls, like i got one of the two(?) packs rescue ace came out in and i was like wow a new deck, but i didn't have even half the deck, it isn't about pulling secrets and rarer cards, but about not being able to grab and play. Honestly half the cards you pull are not usable when you buy them not because they are bad, but because they have no home. I am 25 and am very well off financially, i only play with actual cards when with friends after we can go through bulk bins to build dreadful yet fun decks.