This is the first time I'm hearing about this game but I have to say this is such a fantastic way to advertise it. This video doesn't feel super fabricated or super dishonest just to big up the game (like some other typical games you see in a lot of TH-cam ads do). This video is just Joseph's honest thoughts and they honestly do make this game sound super interesting!
This is not an advertisement tho, this channel is not actually affiliated with elestrals and this is not a sponsored video. I get the confusion the name of the channel does kinda feel like it would be the name of an official channel, but no it's just a bunch of people that like the game starting a channel about it.
@@lonk2902 oh! Thats even cooler then! I thought this was the official channel honestly but hearing that makes this even more exciting! Thank you for letting me know
I feel like Elestrals would have a much better time if it developed an online client that people could play on. It’s rough because that can get expensive but I feel like it would be a lot easier to convince players that already want to play the game over stores that don’t know if they want to even sell the product. A code system like pokemon tcg live or how chaotic was when it was around could make a pretty good incentive to buy the product too
The app is this in a pretty interesting way. It's completely free, with every card you can play, and it can mimic all the moves you can do in the physical game, BUT it's got the jank of a fanmade sim. This theoretically helps the game out a bit, since it acts as a free method of entry that pushes people to spend money as the flaws in it become more and more grating with repeated exposure.
We are working to improve our digital solution but as you said, it’s expensive. We are a new company and I find it myself (and Kickstarter) and I don’t have unlimited funds. Slow and steady!
@@aDrive love to hear it! I wish you the best of luck sir 🙏 Also if you’re looking for anymore developers I’m a software engineer and would love to help contribute to a project like this even if it’s just for free in my spare time
Very sensible take! The game is definitely competent - I've played most of the kickstarter TCGs and most of them are absolute dog water. Games with no interaction, games with absurdly broken cards, overly complex games, games that have nearly NO decisions to make, and games that ended up being scams. I think they're gonna have to upgrade from C tier fakemon designs if they want to build the IP though. There are so many designs in set 1 that don't really inspire any feelings. Elestrals is one of the few kickstarter games that actually has a player base and content creators though, so it will be interesting to see how they go from here. The bit about getting into LGSes seems so true.A good chunk of stores are probably very closed off right now because of all the cardboard gold rush, crypto bubble games from the past couple years.
I didn't want to say it because it feels mean but yeah C tier fakemon is a pretty fair description. As someone who played an excessive amount of random mobile game Pokemon-likes as a child I can definitely feel the similarities in my bones, and that is not a very favourable comparison. They are pretty plain and lacking in depth, definitely not the sorts of designs I look at and think "yup, that guy would be a pretty cool party member!"
I think one of my favortite part of elestrals is how wide a variety of decks there are with a 127ish card set 1. Theres some clear top decks but every offcial toruney has had 1 or 2 surprises deck wise show up in top cut which is super cool
It's the Persona 4 music in the background that caused that realization, right? That said, a Persona (or hell, a general MegaTen) card game would in fact, go hard AF
Now having a established ip is honestly what made me worried about from the beggining, every other famous cardgame has one, and i really Hope they make it, its too good to die in its larval state like this
I'll have you know, I was very much into the MTG IP before Time Spiral. Love me some classic Kamigawa lore. I own all the books for those sets and almost all the other pre Time Spiral novels as well, including the stories before they even decided exactly what a Planeswalker was.
Local card stores simply don't have that much room for adding more card games than they already are managing. Ask the locals where Battle Spirits asked for some schedule spots and were laughed out the door.
MY HERO ACADEMIA HAD A CARD GAME?! EXCUSE ME?! On a more serious note I do hope Elestrals takes off, more good card games to play is always a good thing
Yeah, and this year they’re expanding that IP “net” to include Yu Yu Hakusho (the Dark Tournament set releases this weekend), and Attack on Titan sets, with Cowboy Bebop, Trigun: Stampede, Critical Role, and Godzilla precons. It’s… interesting to see the game expand out after several years of just MHA, but I do worry about something being lost as it takes on so many properties in just one year.
aDrive really needs to do another sponsorship wave to get this product back up and running. I already drank the koolaid and love every bit of it but it’s not going to make it if regular players of the game have to pitch it to their local OTS.
Totally agree with the last point on in person play. The ONLY reason I went back to ygo in college was because I had friends to play with in paper, and the ONLY reason I’m not playing magic right now is because none of my friends play.
I'm *super* interested in Elestrials. A new card game with an original IP sounds like just what I'm looking for. I think it's biggest hurdle and something that locks me out of the game is getting going internationally. I don't live in the US, but if the game can appear in stores near me, it might just overtake Yu-Gi-Oh for my card game of choice. I'm not even joking. We only have OCG cards in a country that doesn't speak Japanese, so I can only play on Master Duel. Which is fine but I miss physical cards.
Small town game store owner here. I think one strong point was social media engagement. I’m not talking about advertising. I’m referring to specifically the X accounts for Elestrals and aDrive reaching out and engaging our shops to gauge interest! That is, to me anyways, a pretty big deal. So far the customer engagement is minimal, but I also think the lack of cost barriers, the phenomenal product, and the now 3 sets available since the release of this video all helped make a wave of SOME interest. Do I think this will be a big 3 game? No. At least not in the given environment. But as you pointed out, all it takes is a dedicated few to things like Weiss Schwartz to keep something like Elestrals (which definitely has legs and design space to work on!) available to the LGS’s that choose to engage with this product.
Is flesh and blood not a really good example of a card game that is quite recent with no ip thatvis doing quite well? I could be wrong but that game has no big ip past gemeric fantasy and somehow had at least a quite stable playerbase. (Haven't played it in a while so it could be dead. Just a interesting example of a card game.)
You are correct that it's a successful game without an existing IP and with it's IP still contained in the card game. FaB has a more distinct niche in the card game scene of having competitive, low variance gameplay and tournaments though. Most other FaB players I meet are drawn to that aspect from other games. Legend Stories Studio has made a game that's great at converting competitively driven players from other games vs IP driven games which are great at creating new card game players.
It's likeness to Pokemon and aDrive being both a huge youtuber and a marketing expert will surely push the game forward, and hopefully that will be enough that it can gain traction. What MBT mentioned about the game being amazing but having no attractive IP attached is what has happened to my favorite TCG (Battle Spirits) twice in the west, it has a great anime, and moderate success in Japan, but its western revival is certainly dwindling already. It has massive tournament prices, excellent card quality and design, and zero players.
I know yugioh Stans don't want to hear this but I think a large part of yugioh cards success is the ip. Yugioh has some of the most narrow gameplay that appeals to a much nicher audience thank it's success implies. 100% I wouldn't play yugioh without the themes or the fact that master duel is the best way to play any card game. Yugioh is probably my third favourite designed card game but it's the one I play the most. There is so much more to a TCG than just the gameplay, like it or not
12:49 The Universus (The My Hero Academia TCG) is rebooting with new card designs and reintroducing Universu's multiple IP origins (Lately, it seems like it was the My Hero Academia TCG).
The My Hero Academia game you're probably thinking of is actually a group of sets for a game called "UniVersus" (formerly "Universal Fighting System) that brands itself on the packaging like it's its own game until you read the rulebook. This is probably because they know so many people are afraid of set rotation, and UniVersus is literally an IP crossover like Weiss Schwarz except the IPs rotate out of Standard. Like, these MHA fans are buying cards and learning to play a game that will someday rotate out their entire reason for buying in. UniVersus looks mechanically cool and I've thought about learning it for years, but the set rotation and certain things about the ways comp play has been managed are too hard a sell for me.
I think having a game a la master duel would help a lot, also I would love to see influence from other mythologies other than greek like mayan based elestrals would be cool since frankly I don't love the designs or rather I don't find them more interesting than Yugioh/pokemon
I watch MBT all the time, which is how I stumbled on this video. With all the yugitubers that supported Elestrals, I spent a fair bit on the product. By the time I received it, the game basically fell off the face of the earth. This video sheds some light on it which is nice. By now I'm skeptical of even opening the boxes I bought. Don't even know how to play the game, or know where to look to learn how. I rather sell it all and not worry about it anymore to be perfectly honest.
Hey, i assure you we didn't fall off. I made the decision to change manufacturers and bring on a publisher, Admagic, who makes Cards against humanity. We wanted to improve our quality and set ourselves up for the long haul. We're about to officially launch in March and we've got products and sets lined up all year. Check out our 2024 Year of Elestrals Roadmap for more info! th-cam.com/video/3XJ-IbG4EQo/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Elestrals
The art reminds me of Skylanders and the Spyro games (which is all in the same world) and I’m pretty sure not a lot off ppl played that game but skylanders is pretty cool and I can get behind this card game!
Have never heard of this. Bandai games have been popular around me and their major tournaments have been doing well so they might not be as keen to drop those for this. Depending on the availability of starter decks it will also effect availability similar to Bandai games.
Does this game have an automated simulator? That would be the first thing to check out before even considering buying physical cards. Also, they need to print cards in a way people prefer to buy sealed product rather than buying singles. Basically, the opposite of Yu-Gi-Oh.
Creating an ip is very hard... but if i wanted to do it and i had a budget. I would do lore clips, and make some cool characters. League of legends got a lot of cinematic pngs with speeches abd that does well. And having some characters do interesting stuff ir talk creatively will prolly get people to love them... Hopefully
The lore is being worked on and will be released in chunks this year with the hopes\plans of a physical book late this year or early next year. I am also looking forward to the lore because it can help with story creation for authors or possibly TTRPG which is my pipe dream for expanded IP for Elestrals.
I know aDrive and the team is working hard on the lore part, and I cant wait for the Elestrals game that isnt card game based. I have high hopes for this franchise.
1 more thing I think Elestrals really needs is to polish up the digital game, automate it, and officially port it to PC. Getting a LGS on board is a multi-step process and a strong digital platform inspires confidence.
You are talking about a huge amount of money that Elestrals does not have at the moment. If someone could invest a couple million dollars into the company especially for the digital side than such things could happen quicker. At least Elestrals has the app and trying to help teach you how to play with it. The app is free and @aDrive plans on keeping it free forever unless it is cosmetic stuff. You will always have access to every card that is out and even a few coming with the next set.
If IP is the big issue, why not try for collabs? I think it'd be hilarious to see a Palworld colab. Sure it's a pokemon clone with possible AI mons, but it doesn't have a TCG and it at least has a audience
I haven’t heard of this game. Looks cool. As someone who likes gameplay above all else, i can’t stick with a card game if I think playing it is whack, but I understand why people play one piece I guess.
Won't be getting into this until I can grab the product off the shelf of my german store I play yugioh in. Also, the price needs to be right. A new game without (like MBT pointed out) an established IP mustn't ask for the same or more $$ than the big 3. 60-70% of what these ask for would be a fine starting point for sealed product. I won't mind the secondary market being where the money is though. Game sounds like fun but I won't be paying X amount of cash just to be met with Y amount of import tax fees. Checked the app like 6 weeks ago an the experience was miserable. Yeah, cards are free, but the app itself didn't support my phone (galaxy fold 4) on either the outer nor the inner screen. It also lacks a tutorial, is completely manual which I don't like and (most importantly for beginners) lacks a "play against ai/bot" feature.
Yes the my hero CCG is still going, We just finished our WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Tournament. The meta is fun, the gameplay is different. But yes the marketing leaves much to be desired ....
My biggest issue with it is just how bad most of the card art looks. Like it seriously looks like bad phone app artwork. I can't be the only one put off by this.
I know i'm kinda biased here considering I love the game a lot, but I can honestly say set 1 is just ok in terms of card art, but with what they've been leaking in terms of arts from later sets, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with where the art on the cards is going!
Maybe consider a cheap made Starter Kit to send to LGS to teach the game with the promise they'll advertise on social media. Then can start people seeing it more and can go into the business's to see and play it
I usually learn a game by going to the first red/aggro deck that's available. Where could I net deck a good one for elestrals that i could hope in and start winning will using my opponents cards I play against to learn the rest of the mechanics?
The MHA Game is still going, but it is going back to it's original name; Universus. Because it is once again opening up to multiple IPs. It's a great game that plays like no other game I've tried.
Dragon Ball Super is an incredibly good game it’s just super frustrating with a fuck ton of interaction points and knowing contextual plays is more important than curving out so it plays really differently than most “mana” based card games
I disagree with a few of these points. one of the main reasons why I've ignored this game for the most part is simply because the game that Elestrals is trying to push already exists in Goat Format yugioh. I kid you not, that this game pretty much plays exactly like 2005 yugioh. the gameplay is super slow and and the game pretty much comes down too who has the biggest number and how you use your traps to interact with your opponent and gain more advantage then them. i also doesn't help that, if your opponent also has a bigger monster than you, it becomes very hard to actually keep a body on the board. Now, this isn't a "bad" thing. and lot of people would enjoy this kind of slow and thoughtful gameplay. but for me, i do not find this kind of gameplay enjoyable. I prefer games that slowly Build up to fast pace gameplay, where interactions are plentiful, and everyone gets a a fair shot as pull off Explosive and powerful combos. Unfortunatly, Elestrals doesn't do that. every single turn of the game is exactly the same as the last turn. Summon a guy, ascend a guy, set some back row, attack, pass the turn. and while there are a few cool combos that you can do, for the most part, this is what the gameplay is like. the actual pace of the game does not increase at all and the game feels very limiting in terms of the things that you can do during a turn. the reason why i like Yu-Gi-Oh! is because of the games explosive nature. being able to build board states, both powerful and jank, and having the freedom to explore and do what ever i want in the game. magic the gathering also scratches an itch where the game slowly builds up to fast pace gameplay and explosive turns with the increase of mana which allows you to do more actions.
Hey, totally respect your take but I do disagree. The game is Deff not just cast/set pass. You can take a peek at some of the latest tournament gameplay and see some of nexus in action and it’s pretty dynamic. Don’t forget it’s only 1 set. When yugioh had 1 set there was no effects 😅. As we release our 2/3/4th set in the next 12 months you’ll see the game evolve into a more strategic and fast paced game that utilizes our spirit system in super cool ways! Hope you’ll give us another try!
@@aDrive right. and for the record, i am not calling this game bad. I respect what you guys are doing and you guys inspired me to start my own projects. What i am saying is that the game is currently in a spot that makes me uninterested in the game. perhaps maybe later on in the games development it will be. but not right now. i will def be keeping an eye on it though.
The distribution for this game has been awful, until i see it in store/locals shelves outside of the US it's not going to grow at all. You could design the best, the most fun card game ever made but if players have to struggle to get the cards what's the point?
We have been pre launch, that’s why it’s been so bad. We haven’t had product to sell really ever, just Kickstarter. I switched manufacturers after KS to improve our quality and that has set us back a bit but it’s all coming in the next few weeks!
In some cases yes, but there are certain cards that come in playsets just depending on the deck. The Elestrals official website have the entire card list to check out to make sure which one you would want to pick up!
thats one of those questions like "would the beatles be popular if they released today," they had so much influence on what came after you can't really conceive the rest of the genre without them. It's debatable we'd even have TCGs today to compare it to if MTG didn't come out when it did
Yugioh and Hearthstone/Shadowverse wouldn't exist without MTG. I'm certain Pokemon would have a card game but it would be drastically different without MTG as a major influence. Hell, the duel monsters chapters of the yugioh manga were heavily influenced by the rise of popularity of MTG in japan. Even in-universe duel monsters originates from america.
The design of the cards and their artwork does not look good enough to me, feels pretty cheap. In terms of new-ish card games Lorcana and One Piece seem like safer options to get into in terms of longevity.
Lorcana is good until Disney decides to pull the plug because Lorcana isn't making enough money off of it. Lorcana had issues with distribution earlier and I wonder if it got truly fixed.
This is the first thing im hearing about this game and tbh on apprehensive mostly for the same reasons as mbt you can have the best card game but if no one wants to play then who cares. Anacdotallly my lgc is packed with more gamers and more different games thrn ever. With magic having is issues rn (thanks hasbro) its arguably more popular then ever with at least one commander game being played at all times it seems + fnm, pokemon running torments for both kids and adults on different days. Yu-Gi-Oh being popular. Then the new kids lorcana and one piece have started weeklies too. Those games grabbed people with the ip but this one doesn't even have that. The lgs doesn't have the players or the space to support a new card game it feels like. What is this games reason to play its a good card game yeah there is a bunch of them alreay all the others have somthing magic its longevity and different ways to play, yugioh the nostalgia/ball to the walls combo, pokemon its simplistic card design makes getting into easy (plus come on it's pokemon), one peice and lorcarna both have the ip
MTG is effectively tied to Dungeons and Dragons. Its produced by the same company, has a lot of the se fantasy tropes and was originally developed as a companion game for DnD
It wasn’t developed to be a companion game it was just meant to be played in between the biggest game of that time + mtg is arguably bigger atp than dnd and I’d say has been bigger for a while but I wouldn’t say it’s tied to dnd in anyway
game looks cool, but I can not get over how much I don't like the art... will still give it a try, but I hope they make alt arts or change it up at some point
The game's art and visual direction are abysmal, it looks like mid Palworld fanart. New eyes glancing over it aren't going to take it seriously if it doesn't improve.
I really love this game, but the art really turns me off. Don't get me wrong, it's really well made, but just kinda stale. I'm really hoping the livin things up a bit.
It’s called a tribute 😅 I competed in yugioh as a kid and it’s a big inspiration, consider it an homage to PoG in our own way. Nothing wrong with that!
I will be honest. I forgot this game even existed. Not saying it is a bad game but it is quite forgettable. I do agree that Magic has gotten away without having an IP as there weren't many card games at the time. Yet Pokemon had the biggest IP and their card game didn't have the best take off until years down the line. The best way to get a card game on the rise is marketing. Like how do people purchase the cards? How much they are? Something to get kids involved in the game in an easy way. Magic is only huge because people in Canada play it a ton. In the US it is played but not as much as they play it in Canada. So depending where you market your cards also matter.
bro is coping HARD to say this will even come close to the big 3. maybe make it onto tcgplayer first and then we can consider that a remote possibility.
Really all I know about the cardgame is one of the people behind it is ADrive, and that does not give me good faith in the product. He's just another poketuber who the most well known thing about him is he bought a ton of mcdonalds pokemon packs then hard defended him doing so. Clearly viewing cards as just a product to make money without a care of how good or bad the product is and the IP only matters if it already exists. Otherwise it's just how much can I milk this certain thing and you better have no issues with it.
word in the street is thaty Adrive did use to be a yugioh player when he was younger. and so apart of me things adrive created this game to immortalize that part of his childhood into an actual game.
IMO Elesterals only thing going for it are the arts of there cards, everything else just seems so boring to me and uninteresting. i havent heard a thing about Elesterals since the hyped died down a while ago when it was revealed by Adrive and this video popped up on X since i follow MBT. This game needs a lot more work because its doomed to fail.
Thanks for having me on my Krackertugas!
Dang, that's how I should've introed my video where I double Krakatuga Eruptioned my opponent for game. Will remember for next time
Damn, he said it with the hard K 😰
This is the first time I'm hearing about this game but I have to say this is such a fantastic way to advertise it. This video doesn't feel super fabricated or super dishonest just to big up the game (like some other typical games you see in a lot of TH-cam ads do). This video is just Joseph's honest thoughts and they honestly do make this game sound super interesting!
This is not an advertisement tho, this channel is not actually affiliated with elestrals and this is not a sponsored video. I get the confusion the name of the channel does kinda feel like it would be the name of an official channel, but no it's just a bunch of people that like the game starting a channel about it.
@@lonk2902 oh! Thats even cooler then! I thought this was the official channel honestly but hearing that makes this even more exciting! Thank you for letting me know
1:29 pov mbt rubs you off under the table while filming
That's uh... Yeah that is exactly what's going on there.
I WANT TO LIVE!!!
,MY LIFE
THE CHOICE IS MINE AND I'VE MADE UP MY MIND
@iOh Oh so now youre okay with applebees again. Centrist.
MBT's think pieces are always great to watch. Great video 🙌🏾
the goat himself pksparkxx
I feel like Elestrals would have a much better time if it developed an online client that people could play on. It’s rough because that can get expensive but I feel like it would be a lot easier to convince players that already want to play the game over stores that don’t know if they want to even sell the product. A code system like pokemon tcg live or how chaotic was when it was around could make a pretty good incentive to buy the product too
The app is this in a pretty interesting way. It's completely free, with every card you can play, and it can mimic all the moves you can do in the physical game, BUT it's got the jank of a fanmade sim. This theoretically helps the game out a bit, since it acts as a free method of entry that pushes people to spend money as the flaws in it become more and more grating with repeated exposure.
@@theglitch5386 how can I find the app?
We are working to improve our digital solution but as you said, it’s expensive. We are a new company and I find it myself (and Kickstarter) and I don’t have unlimited funds. Slow and steady!
@@aDrive love to hear it! I wish you the best of luck sir 🙏 Also if you’re looking for anymore developers I’m a software engineer and would love to help contribute to a project like this even if it’s just for free in my spare time
I'm glad to hear it! I can add myself to a list of excited on-lookers very much looking ahead to an online platform to try the game out.@@aDrive
Very sensible take! The game is definitely competent - I've played most of the kickstarter TCGs and most of them are absolute dog water. Games with no interaction, games with absurdly broken cards, overly complex games, games that have nearly NO decisions to make, and games that ended up being scams.
I think they're gonna have to upgrade from C tier fakemon designs if they want to build the IP though. There are so many designs in set 1 that don't really inspire any feelings. Elestrals is one of the few kickstarter games that actually has a player base and content creators though, so it will be interesting to see how they go from here.
The bit about getting into LGSes seems so true.A good chunk of stores are probably very closed off right now because of all the cardboard gold rush, crypto bubble games from the past couple years.
We’ve got even better designs coming for sure, our art team has improved a lot!
I didn't want to say it because it feels mean but yeah C tier fakemon is a pretty fair description.
As someone who played an excessive amount of random mobile game Pokemon-likes as a child I can definitely feel the similarities in my bones, and that is not a very favourable comparison.
They are pretty plain and lacking in depth, definitely not the sorts of designs I look at and think "yup, that guy would be a pretty cool party member!"
I think one of my favortite part of elestrals is how wide a variety of decks there are with a 127ish card set 1. Theres some clear top decks but every offcial toruney has had 1 or 2 surprises deck wise show up in top cut which is super cool
This was a really interesting video, would love to see more videos like this from time to time
I liked your take on these topics and hope that you guys continue these discussion videos more because they are really insight full!
This video made me realize two things.
- Elestrals still exist
- A Persona card game would go hard AF.
It's the Persona 4 music in the background that caused that realization, right? That said, a Persona (or hell, a general MegaTen) card game would in fact, go hard AF
One of the reasons why I never purchased a sterols in the first place was because it just seems to derivative
As a person whos thinking about making a card game. I hope they succeed
Thank you!
Now having a established ip is honestly what made me worried about from the beggining, every other famous cardgame has one, and i really Hope they make it, its too good to die in its larval state like this
Gonna be tough with lorcana/OP/Digimon/Yugioh/Pokemon/MTG, when nobody knows this IP or is sold in big box.
Very good insight. I agree, if Elestrals can get an IP going, they'll definitely get a foothold. This was a great vid MBT!
This video would be good to make bread to. Going on my bread baking playlist
I'll have you know, I was very much into the MTG IP before Time Spiral. Love me some classic Kamigawa lore. I own all the books for those sets and almost all the other pre Time Spiral novels as well, including the stories before they even decided exactly what a Planeswalker was.
Local card stores simply don't have that much room for adding more card games than they already are managing.
Ask the locals where Battle Spirits asked for some schedule spots and were laughed out the door.
FORCE OF WILL MENTIONED
MY HERO ACADEMIA HAD A CARD GAME?! EXCUSE ME?!
On a more serious note I do hope Elestrals takes off, more good card games to play is always a good thing
Yeah, and this year they’re expanding that IP “net” to include Yu Yu Hakusho (the Dark Tournament set releases this weekend), and Attack on Titan sets, with Cowboy Bebop, Trigun: Stampede, Critical Role, and Godzilla precons. It’s… interesting to see the game expand out after several years of just MHA, but I do worry about something being lost as it takes on so many properties in just one year.
aDrive really needs to do another sponsorship wave to get this product back up and running. I already drank the koolaid and love every bit of it but it’s not going to make it if regular players of the game have to pitch it to their local OTS.
I don't give a shit about elestrals, but I do like watching the vids you make on this
Totally agree with the last point on in person play. The ONLY reason I went back to ygo in college was because I had friends to play with in paper, and the ONLY reason I’m not playing magic right now is because none of my friends play.
I'm *super* interested in Elestrials. A new card game with an original IP sounds like just what I'm looking for. I think it's biggest hurdle and something that locks me out of the game is getting going internationally. I don't live in the US, but if the game can appear in stores near me, it might just overtake Yu-Gi-Oh for my card game of choice. I'm not even joking. We only have OCG cards in a country that doesn't speak Japanese, so I can only play on Master Duel. Which is fine but I miss physical cards.
Small town game store owner here.
I think one strong point was social media engagement. I’m not talking about advertising. I’m referring to specifically the X accounts for Elestrals and aDrive reaching out and engaging our shops to gauge interest! That is, to me anyways, a pretty big deal.
So far the customer engagement is minimal, but I also think the lack of cost barriers, the phenomenal product, and the now 3 sets available since the release of this video all helped make a wave of SOME interest. Do I think this will be a big 3 game? No. At least not in the given environment.
But as you pointed out, all it takes is a dedicated few to things like Weiss Schwartz to keep something like Elestrals (which definitely has legs and design space to work on!) available to the LGS’s that choose to engage with this product.
Is flesh and blood not a really good example of a card game that is quite recent with no ip thatvis doing quite well? I could be wrong but that game has no big ip past gemeric fantasy and somehow had at least a quite stable playerbase. (Haven't played it in a while so it could be dead. Just a interesting example of a card game.)
You are correct that it's a successful game without an existing IP and with it's IP still contained in the card game. FaB has a more distinct niche in the card game scene of having competitive, low variance gameplay and tournaments though. Most other FaB players I meet are drawn to that aspect from other games. Legend Stories Studio has made a game that's great at converting competitively driven players from other games vs IP driven games which are great at creating new card game players.
Good video lads. Made me actually want to check out the game. I'll check out the other videos and see if this game is for me.
Amazing video, loved to hear all your thoughts and opinions! And Astrabitt is in fact, too OP :') sadge
It's likeness to Pokemon and aDrive being both a huge youtuber and a marketing expert will surely push the game forward, and hopefully that will be enough that it can gain traction. What MBT mentioned about the game being amazing but having no attractive IP attached is what has happened to my favorite TCG (Battle Spirits) twice in the west, it has a great anime, and moderate success in Japan, but its western revival is certainly dwindling already. It has massive tournament prices, excellent card quality and design, and zero players.
Great Video and observations!
I know yugioh Stans don't want to hear this but I think a large part of yugioh cards success is the ip. Yugioh has some of the most narrow gameplay that appeals to a much nicher audience thank it's success implies. 100% I wouldn't play yugioh without the themes or the fact that master duel is the best way to play any card game. Yugioh is probably my third favourite designed card game but it's the one I play the most. There is so much more to a TCG than just the gameplay, like it or not
12:49 The Universus (The My Hero Academia TCG) is rebooting with new card designs and reintroducing Universu's multiple IP origins (Lately, it seems like it was the My Hero Academia TCG).
The My Hero Academia game you're probably thinking of is actually a group of sets for a game called "UniVersus" (formerly "Universal Fighting System) that brands itself on the packaging like it's its own game until you read the rulebook. This is probably because they know so many people are afraid of set rotation, and UniVersus is literally an IP crossover like Weiss Schwarz except the IPs rotate out of Standard.
Like, these MHA fans are buying cards and learning to play a game that will someday rotate out their entire reason for buying in. UniVersus looks mechanically cool and I've thought about learning it for years, but the set rotation and certain things about the ways comp play has been managed are too hard a sell for me.
Bro, you have no idea how much I want this to get added to TCGplayer
Just here to gas up the MBT content.
When we getting Synchro Krakertuga support?
I think having a game a la master duel would help a lot, also I would love to see influence from other mythologies other than greek like mayan based elestrals would be cool since frankly I don't love the designs or rather I don't find them more interesting than Yugioh/pokemon
It’s out on Kickstarter right now! Elestrals Clash
I watch MBT all the time, which is how I stumbled on this video. With all the yugitubers that supported Elestrals, I spent a fair bit on the product. By the time I received it, the game basically fell off the face of the earth. This video sheds some light on it which is nice. By now I'm skeptical of even opening the boxes I bought. Don't even know how to play the game, or know where to look to learn how. I rather sell it all and not worry about it anymore to be perfectly honest.
Hey, i assure you we didn't fall off. I made the decision to change manufacturers and bring on a publisher, Admagic, who makes Cards against humanity. We wanted to improve our quality and set ourselves up for the long haul. We're about to officially launch in March and we've got products and sets lined up all year. Check out our 2024 Year of Elestrals Roadmap for more info! th-cam.com/video/3XJ-IbG4EQo/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Elestrals
The art reminds me of Skylanders and the Spyro games (which is all in the same world) and I’m pretty sure not a lot off ppl played that game but skylanders is pretty cool and I can get behind this card game!
Hope you give us a shot!
Have never heard of this. Bandai games have been popular around me and their major tournaments have been doing well so they might not be as keen to drop those for this. Depending on the availability of starter decks it will also effect availability similar to Bandai games.
Does this game have an automated simulator? That would be the first thing to check out before even considering buying physical cards. Also, they need to print cards in a way people prefer to buy sealed product rather than buying singles. Basically, the opposite of Yu-Gi-Oh.
We have a mobile app that’s totally free but it’s not automated, still manual. We are working on this though!
The Hero Academia game has ended support, as Bandai has the IP now and will be including it in their Union Arena TCG.
Amazing video great info
Creating an ip is very hard... but if i wanted to do it and i had a budget. I would do lore clips, and make some cool characters.
League of legends got a lot of cinematic pngs with speeches abd that does well. And having some characters do interesting stuff ir talk creatively will prolly get people to love them...
Hopefully
The lore is being worked on and will be released in chunks this year with the hopes\plans of a physical book late this year or early next year. I am also looking forward to the lore because it can help with story creation for authors or possibly TTRPG which is my pipe dream for expanded IP for Elestrals.
8:10 but thats about to change!
I know aDrive and the team is working hard on the lore part, and I cant wait for the Elestrals game that isnt card game based. I have high hopes for this franchise.
1 more thing I think Elestrals really needs is to polish up the digital game, automate it, and officially port it to PC. Getting a LGS on board is a multi-step process and a strong digital platform inspires confidence.
You are talking about a huge amount of money that Elestrals does not have at the moment. If someone could invest a couple million dollars into the company especially for the digital side than such things could happen quicker. At least Elestrals has the app and trying to help teach you how to play with it. The app is free and @aDrive plans on keeping it free forever unless it is cosmetic stuff. You will always have access to every card that is out and even a few coming with the next set.
If IP is the big issue, why not try for collabs?
I think it'd be hilarious to see a Palworld colab. Sure it's a pokemon clone with possible AI mons, but it doesn't have a TCG and it at least has a audience
I haven’t heard of this game. Looks cool. As someone who likes gameplay above all else, i can’t stick with a card game if I think playing it is whack, but I understand why people play one piece I guess.
Hope you’ll give Elestrals a chance!
Speaking of bringing more players to the game: I think they should provide print and play decks.
Won't be getting into this until I can grab the product off the shelf of my german store I play yugioh in.
Also, the price needs to be right. A new game without (like MBT pointed out) an established IP mustn't ask for the same or more $$ than the big 3. 60-70% of what these ask for would be a fine starting point for sealed product. I won't mind the secondary market being where the money is though.
Game sounds like fun but I won't be paying X amount of cash just to be met with Y amount of import tax fees.
Checked the app like 6 weeks ago an the experience was miserable. Yeah, cards are free, but the app itself didn't support my phone (galaxy fold 4) on either the outer nor the inner screen. It also lacks a tutorial, is completely manual which I don't like and (most importantly for beginners) lacks a "play against ai/bot" feature.
Tutorial part 1 just got added in the newest update! We are working on improving the experience. Thanks for giving us a try!
Yes the my hero CCG is still going, We just finished our WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Tournament. The meta is fun, the gameplay is different. But yes the marketing leaves much to be desired ....
My biggest issue with it is just how bad most of the card art looks. Like it seriously looks like bad phone app artwork. I can't be the only one put off by this.
I know i'm kinda biased here considering I love the game a lot, but I can honestly say set 1 is just ok in terms of card art, but with what they've been leaking in terms of arts from later sets, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with where the art on the cards is going!
Maybe consider a cheap made Starter Kit to send to LGS to teach the game with the promise they'll advertise on social media. Then can start people seeing it more and can go into the business's to see and play it
A new card game just sounds so hard to get going. It’s so hard to just buy cards for a game you can barely find someone to play with, if at all.
I usually learn a game by going to the first red/aggro deck that's available. Where could I net deck a good one for elestrals that i could hope in and start winning will using my opponents cards I play against to learn the rest of the mechanics?
Theres some tournament winning earth profiles on this channel that are pretty aggro if you're looking for a good starting point
You could also look into 5atk deck, its jsut a drop 1 drop bodies and swing in over and over again
The MHA Game is still going, but it is going back to it's original name; Universus.
Because it is once again opening up to multiple IPs. It's a great game that plays like no other game I've tried.
Thoughts on Monster Club?
Game looks pretty interesting
God this game is so cool and I want it to be playable at my LGS pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease
Dragon Ball Super is an incredibly good game it’s just super frustrating with a fuck ton of interaction points and knowing contextual plays is more important than curving out so it plays really differently than most “mana” based card games
it needs a digital version,not nessessarily an online pvp one, but a way to pot the game in peoples pokets and on youtube/twitch
It’s on Kickstarter right now! Elestrals Clash!
@@Pod207 i saw it
Elestrals is great. Definitely can make up the big 5. Mtg pokemon yugioh one piece and elestrals. That’s a great big 5!!!
I disagree with a few of these points. one of the main reasons why I've ignored this game for the most part is simply because the game that Elestrals is trying to push already exists in Goat Format yugioh. I kid you not, that this game pretty much plays exactly like 2005 yugioh. the gameplay is super slow and and the game pretty much comes down too who has the biggest number and how you use your traps to interact with your opponent and gain more advantage then them. i also doesn't help that, if your opponent also has a bigger monster than you, it becomes very hard to actually keep a body on the board. Now, this isn't a "bad" thing. and lot of people would enjoy this kind of slow and thoughtful gameplay. but for me, i do not find this kind of gameplay enjoyable. I prefer games that slowly Build up to fast pace gameplay, where interactions are plentiful, and everyone gets a a fair shot as pull off Explosive and powerful combos.
Unfortunatly, Elestrals doesn't do that. every single turn of the game is exactly the same as the last turn. Summon a guy, ascend a guy, set some back row, attack, pass the turn. and while there are a few cool combos that you can do, for the most part, this is what the gameplay is like. the actual pace of the game does not increase at all and the game feels very limiting in terms of the things that you can do during a turn.
the reason why i like Yu-Gi-Oh! is because of the games explosive nature. being able to build board states, both powerful and jank, and having the freedom to explore and do what ever i want in the game.
magic the gathering also scratches an itch where the game slowly builds up to fast pace gameplay and explosive turns with the increase of mana which allows you to do more actions.
Hey, totally respect your take but I do disagree. The game is Deff not just cast/set pass. You can take a peek at some of the latest tournament gameplay and see some of nexus in action and it’s pretty dynamic. Don’t forget it’s only 1 set. When yugioh had 1 set there was no effects 😅. As we release our 2/3/4th set in the next 12 months you’ll see the game evolve into a more strategic and fast paced game that utilizes our spirit system in super cool ways! Hope you’ll give us another try!
@@aDrive right. and for the record, i am not calling this game bad. I respect what you guys are doing and you guys inspired me to start my own projects. What i am saying is that the game is currently in a spot that makes me uninterested in the game. perhaps maybe later on in the games development it will be. but not right now. i will def be keeping an eye on it though.
Not to be funny next pay checks I'm buying 2 of each starter deck and two booster boxes one to pull and one to keep sealed
How do we pick up cards and play?
The distribution for this game has been awful, until i see it in store/locals shelves outside of the US it's not going to grow at all.
You could design the best, the most fun card game ever made but if players have to struggle to get the cards what's the point?
We have been pre launch, that’s why it’s been so bad. We haven’t had product to sell really ever, just Kickstarter. I switched manufacturers after KS to improve our quality and that has set us back a bit but it’s all coming in the next few weeks!
Sounds like a fun game! The cutesy-only designs are a huge drawback for me though. I like my TCG edgelords
People dont play weiss swartz you collect them for the art... cute Gura card BTW.
I am suprised, thought it just died after getting no fanbase. Well who knows where it will get to.
Do you have to buy multiple of one starter deck to get playsets??
In some cases yes, but there are certain cards that come in playsets just depending on the deck. The Elestrals official website have the entire card list to check out to make sure which one you would want to pick up!
i know you said theyre trying hard to build the IP but the game looks pretty bad ngl, its not appealing at all, and i love pokemon
I actually wonder if MTG would totally flop if it came out today.
thats one of those questions like "would the beatles be popular if they released today," they had so much influence on what came after you can't really conceive the rest of the genre without them. It's debatable we'd even have TCGs today to compare it to if MTG didn't come out when it did
Yugioh and Hearthstone/Shadowverse wouldn't exist without MTG. I'm certain Pokemon would have a card game but it would be drastically different without MTG as a major influence. Hell, the duel monsters chapters of the yugioh manga were heavily influenced by the rise of popularity of MTG in japan. Even in-universe duel monsters originates from america.
My only question is, are these cards going to the moon?
Big 3? No, never lol
this won't last it'll join the grave with the rest.
This aged very poorly
It SEEMs like a real mbt video... but somethings weird
The design of the cards and their artwork does not look good enough to me, feels pretty cheap. In terms of new-ish card games Lorcana and One Piece seem like safer options to get into in terms of longevity.
Lorcana is good until Disney decides to pull the plug because Lorcana isn't making enough money off of it. Lorcana had issues with distribution earlier and I wonder if it got truly fixed.
This is the first thing im hearing about this game and tbh on apprehensive mostly for the same reasons as mbt you can have the best card game but if no one wants to play then who cares. Anacdotallly my lgc is packed with more gamers and more different games thrn ever. With magic having is issues rn (thanks hasbro) its arguably more popular then ever with at least one commander game being played at all times it seems + fnm, pokemon running torments for both kids and adults on different days. Yu-Gi-Oh being popular. Then the new kids lorcana and one piece have started weeklies too. Those games grabbed people with the ip but this one doesn't even have that. The lgs doesn't have the players or the space to support a new card game it feels like. What is this games reason to play its a good card game yeah there is a bunch of them alreay all the others have somthing magic its longevity and different ways to play, yugioh the nostalgia/ball to the walls combo, pokemon its simplistic card design makes getting into easy (plus come on it's pokemon), one peice and lorcarna both have the ip
wtf is elestrals
Big 3 is just uncrackable. People need to stop the cap.
MHA TCG MENTIONED!!! we are still alive and we are finally free from the clutches of mha
Man just continues to ignore Vanguard’s existence
As all people should
As someone that plays the MHA card game, I resent that. We have weekly events and the game has a 10+ year history.
MTG is effectively tied to Dungeons and Dragons. Its produced by the same company, has a lot of the se fantasy tropes and was originally developed as a companion game for DnD
It wasn’t developed to be a companion game it was just meant to be played in between the biggest game of that time + mtg is arguably bigger atp than dnd and I’d say has been bigger for a while but I wouldn’t say it’s tied to dnd in anyway
game looks cool, but I can not get over how much I don't like the art... will still give it a try, but I hope they make alt arts or change it up at some point
We’ve got some great new art coming, we’ve definitely stepped it up in this dept!
Hey thats my dude o.o
Howe Glens
Any store that took MetaZoo serious and bought ton of product is just set of to fail. That game was atrocious
The game's art and visual direction are abysmal, it looks like mid Palworld fanart. New eyes glancing over it aren't going to take it seriously if it doesn't improve.
See but now it’s gotta compete with Grand Archive
IP ?
Okay, but Metazoo looked like a disaster to me the literal first day I looked into it, and this game does not, so it has that going for it.
I really love this game, but the art really turns me off. Don't get me wrong, it's really well made, but just kinda stale. I'm really hoping the livin things up a bit.
Nectar of the gods it’s just pot of greed. Draw to cards and the art is of a chalice? People notice this things.
It’s called a tribute 😅
I competed in yugioh as a kid and it’s a big inspiration, consider it an homage to PoG in our own way. Nothing wrong with that!
Hey I know this guy
I will be honest. I forgot this game even existed. Not saying it is a bad game but it is quite forgettable. I do agree that Magic has gotten away without having an IP as there weren't many card games at the time. Yet Pokemon had the biggest IP and their card game didn't have the best take off until years down the line.
The best way to get a card game on the rise is marketing. Like how do people purchase the cards? How much they are? Something to get kids involved in the game in an easy way. Magic is only huge because people in Canada play it a ton. In the US it is played but not as much as they play it in Canada. So depending where you market your cards also matter.
bro is coping HARD to say this will even come close to the big 3. maybe make it onto tcgplayer first and then we can consider that a remote possibility.
Really all I know about the cardgame is one of the people behind it is ADrive, and that does not give me good faith in the product. He's just another poketuber who the most well known thing about him is he bought a ton of mcdonalds pokemon packs then hard defended him doing so. Clearly viewing cards as just a product to make money without a care of how good or bad the product is and the IP only matters if it already exists. Otherwise it's just how much can I milk this certain thing and you better have no issues with it.
word in the street is thaty Adrive did use to be a yugioh player when he was younger. and so apart of me things adrive created this game to immortalize that part of his childhood into an actual game.
IMO Elesterals only thing going for it are the arts of there cards, everything else just seems so boring to me and uninteresting. i havent heard a thing about Elesterals since the hyped died down a while ago when it was revealed by Adrive and this video popped up on X since i follow MBT. This game needs a lot more work because its doomed to fail.