Start playing the Digimon TCG!
The Digimon Trading Card Game (TCG) is a card game which is built around the Digimon (Digital Monsters) IP from Bandai. Maybe this is something you already might know or not, but there has been a Digimon TCG before it was released back in 1999. However like many other TCG’s, the game died a slow death and was discontinued in 2005 and only few know how the game was played. Keeping a TCG alive for long enough to get popular is quite a challenge. In 2020 Bandai introduced a new Digimon TCG to the West which was already playable earlier in Japan, this is what you might now know as the Digimon TCG you're looking for.
However as any other game to get started with, you’re looking for answers on how to get started. Look no further! We’ll help you out!
We can walk you through all the rules of the game and how to play it, however Bandai has a website themselves that explains a little bit of the game. It even contains a manual that walks you through the core basics of the game. Instead of us teaching you the game, we’ll give you some useful sources to dive into and learn how the game is played.
The first thing you want to look at are the Digimon TCG official sources. Digital Gate Open might be a great hub for certain information, decks and tournament results, however we encourage you to look at the official website first which contains some really useful information. The official Bandai Digimon TCG website has a quick read on: How to get started and a Digimon TCG game manual. Official Bandai Digimon TCG Twitter accounts are frequently updated with upcoming new booster sets, starter decks, promo’s and much more. The Japanese Twitter account gives you an early preview of what the English version of the game can expect.
While the official Bandai Digimon TCG website might contain the core information of the game and very useful information, this however doesn’t let you experience the game. So we recommend you to try out the official Digimon TCG Card Game Tutorial on the Google Play and Apple App Store. The app walks you through the core basics of the game and you’ll even be able to play a few matches. Keep in mind this is just a simple tutorial app and doesn’t contain all the cards of the game and neither gives you the opportunity to play against other people or AI.
To get a better understanding and feeling of the game in general and see people experience it, I would suggest you head over to YouTube and look up some really cool gameplay videos. There are many YouTubers that also play the Digimon TCG. These videos have most of the time commentary which gives you insights into how people come up with certain plays. On the other side, it also gives you a good example of how an actual match is played and how cool the game can be. Keep in mind, people that play the game do also make mistakes. This however happens to everyone, so keep an eye open and try to spot some while enjoying.
Before you want to buy anything, you could also find a local game store where the Digimon TCG products are sold and people play the game. If you’ve got difficulties finding a local game store for the Digimon TCG, another possibility would be checking the Bandai TCG+ website which contains a list of upcoming events that might be held at local stores in your area. When events are organized, most of the time they have connections with players as well. A TCG is best experienced when you see people actually playing the game. Outside of events, ask them if they could introduce you to the game. They might be friendly enough to invite you to a Digimon match and let you experience it for the first time.
Whenever you’ve learned and seen enough of the game or even played a match yourself, it’s time to dive deeper into the game. However before you do, it’s good to inform you about a few things before spending any money. There are a few things involved with TCG’s which you might like or not, and at Digital Gate Open we feel that we need to inform new players about it as well.
When you start playing a tcg, you need to remember that it’s an ever changing and evolving game. Despite board games that are a one time buy product, a tcg will see a lot of new cards being printed and sold over time. Therefore the amount of cards available will grow and grow as if there is no ending to it. This means it’s almost impossible to own all cards available, you’ll encounter moments where it’s even impossible for you to get certain cards you want. These could be cards that are exclusive to certain areas in the world, event bound or really hard to get as your local game store wouldn’t sell them.
Besides the amount of cards printed, the card effects themselves are also getting stronger over time, this is called power creep. Power creep is a way to have people buy new products over time to stay competitive with the game and be able to beat others. However it’s always possible to beat anyone with any decks as there is a lot of luck and skill involved, but eventually you want to buy the newest cards. As you can see, to play at a competitive level you’ll need to invest quite a bit of money on every new booster set and sometimes even buy starter decks to get access to certain new cards. But playing on a competitive level is a choice you can make for yourself. You could enjoy the game with anyone on any level with any cards you own, it’s up to you how much you want to be involved in the game.
There is also an aspect of the game which no player has control over. These are errata, restricted or even banned cards. The company behind the Digimon TCG (Bandai) can decide at every moment that something in the Digimon TCG will change. An errata is where text, effects or any mistake on a card needs to be corrected, this is a pretty definitive change which every player should follow and know. Restrictions are where Bandai choose to restrict cards from being played, this could mean that your favorite cards which you play at 4 copies could be restricted to 2 or even 1. At last we have banned cards, which means that the card can’t be played at all. So keep in mind that your favorite deck could be hit by an errata, restriction or even a ban. These changes can sometimes be tough to digest, especially when you’ve invested a lot in certain decks and cards. Even more when new rules are applied just before a big event you planned to play at.
So keep in mind, enjoy the game and think about how much you want to invest into it. Be aware that at any moment things can change for the better and for worse. Sometimes they can be in your favor, sometimes totally destroy what you’ve had in your mind. Also the power creep is something you need to get used to, because changing the power of cards is meant to trigger people to buy new products. Keep your head cool, nothing is set in stone and at all times remember: “Play the game for fun!”
Starter decks are a good first introduction to the game when it comes to collecting cards and getting your first deck ready. They’re cheap compared to booster boxes, are widely available and many different game stores sell these. However it is important to know that starter decks are meant to introduce you to the game and not always built to perform really well in the current meta. They are far from perfect, but can be of great value to get started building a deck and by surprise even perform better than expected. To see what starter decks are available right now, head over to the starter deck page!
Check out the Starter Decks
While starter decks might be the first thing you want to look at, sometimes there isn’t a starter deck that might fit your game style or just isn’t as appealing as you would want. This is where we start looking at booster sets. Everyone once in a while a new set of the game is released which contains all kinds of new cards. These booster sets contain 24 booster packs of which each pack contains 12 cards. While this might look attractive at first, you have to keep in mind that these are more expensive than starter decks. While there are 288 cards inside a single box, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to build complete decks with it, most of the time you even won’t. However, the amount of cards in a booster box gives you a really nice start into playing any deck of that booster set, you just need to complete it with singles. Besides that, a booster box also contains guaranteed alt art cards or even more! To check out what booster sets are available, head over to the booster packs section!
Check out all Booster Packs
No matter if you choose to go with starter decks or booster packs, at the end you’re probably missing some ‘must have’ cards to complete your deck. This is where singles come into play! At first you could bring your cards to a local game store with a Digimon TCG community and see if anyone wants to trade with you. When you bought a starter deck, I wouldn’t recommend trading away any cards as some are quite crucial for your starter deck. However if you bought a booster box, you could easily trade cards for others to complete the deck you’re wanting to build.
While it sounds easy to get your hands on singles, it can also be a huge challenge. In most places it might be that there is no local game store or a Digimon TCG community and this is where the internet comes into play. Like any other product, you can buy your starter decks or booster packs online, but this also counts for singles. There are a few very good websites that are a must go to. To give you a good start on your journey searching for them, we’ve got a few websites ready for you to visit. Don’t forget to search for a local game store near, they might also have a website section for singles.
Collecting cards is pretty simple, however building a deck out of these cards that makes sense and is consistent, that’s quite a challenge! To be able to build a deck, you’ll need to understand why they are included in the set. This could be by reading through all cards and seeing where they strengthen each other and find out to which archetype they belong to. However when you just start with the game, it’s hard to know which cards are played best in certain decks and which singles you need to look for. Therefore I would encourage you to look on the internet for Digimon TCG deck profiles. On our website we cover every single set and have deck profiles available that could give you a quick start into the game. Check out our decks section, choose the set you’re looking for and see what’s available.
Find some cool decks