@@TheTestTable1 Wait what's insane about it? Imagine if Magic worked like this. Other than a Mountain, what does mono red have on page 1? They want Monastery Swiftspear against control and Shock against mono-green, so what do they pick? Also, how do combo decks get around their opponents' ability to play whatever they want without playing a patient and controlly game?
The reason it is “insane” (though I don’t agree with the RUclipsr on why it is insane), is that it removes randomization from the game. RNG is extremely important a games longevity. The other issue is tournaments. Imagine having to resleeve in a binder your deck. After. Every. Single. Game. It could easily take 5-10 minutes each time, especially since you have to remember the card ordering. It would be absurdly tedious in any competitive format.
There is no reason why you would have to put your spellbook in the same order before every match. In fact, it would be more fun if you could reorder your deck between rounds. Again, page 1 is mountain/swiftspear against control and mountain/shock against aggro. You get the benefits of randomization (the game plays out differently every time) with none of the drawbacks (screwed on resources just because the RNG hates you). Just because most current TCG's require randomization doesn't mean every single TCG forever must also care about randomization.
I haven't played the card game much, but the series itself is THE BEST battle shonen out there, at least the manga is (the anime sadly is a pretty bad adaptation, that, among other issues, totally diverges from the manga's plot after a while): To briefly give some background, It's a partner-battle royale series, sort of like Shaman King or Fate, where 100 demon kids get partnered up with humans who can use their spellbooks to allow the demons to use spells, and if the book is burnt, they return to the demon world, the last one standing is crowned king. "Demon" implies something sinister, but most of them are basically just kids, rather then your typical Shonen teen, and that + the partnered premise sets up for a lot of character growth: Gash (Zatch in the dub) is a naïve 6 year old who teaches Kiyo to open up to others and be optimistic, while Kiyo is a jaded teen that grounds Gash and forces him to mature and think about what being a king means, for example. In turn it does power of friendship stuff better then any other shonen i've seen, and that, great comedy, and Yotsuba style slice of life chapters to have a fun lighthearted vibe, and then contrasts that vs brutal emotional gut punches (the premise requires every character "die"), with the light helping the dark hit harder, and the dark helping the light feel genuine and earned instead of corny. It handles that contrast at least as good as One Piece. Even unlocking new spells is tied to moments of character growth, with that specific growth fitting the new spell (spell names also have their own language), and each character's set of abilities is unique and allows for tactical fights, especially as Spells doing specific things forces strategic use without contriving stuff; and each has a mana cost so even weaker spells stay useful. Most fights are also TEAM battles where not just the humans get involved, but multiple demon-human pairs are working together to combine their powerset. Finally, it's got some incredible 2 page spreads and art; avoids the issues most other shonen have where they get worse over time due to increasingly bloated pacing, the power escalation getting too crazy to where it barely feels like the same series, and due top abandoning side characters: Gash/Zatch only ever gets tighter pacing, the powers only go super crazy right at the climax for fun, and the entire cast feels well utlized till the very end. The one flaw the series has is, inversely, it starts off sort of weaker then some other shonen, as initially there's not enough spells for tactics in fights and it has a villain of the week format and only switches to full arcs later, but it's still good/fun early on, and only ever gets better. If people are interested, the best place to read it is on Mangadex (it includes the end of volume bonuses, Gaiden Chapter, and Gash Cafes chapters other sites exclude, either worked into the normal chapters or listed under Kazenban specials/Kazenban Special book), using the "NEW fan translation" made by Zatch Bell Makai. It's an ongoing new translation that's not done yet, but Mangadex will automatically switch you over to older translations once you get past where Makai is at. If people are interested but are really die-hard anime fans over manga readers, you can, I guess, watch the anime through episode 139 and then switch to chapter 212, which is when they diverge, but I really highly, highly recommend the manga over the anime even from the start: It's not a good adaptation even before they diverge aside from a few select fights and the song sequences, and it exacerbates the early content being sort of slow. Binging the manga is really a better experience... but if it's between the anime or not consuming it at all, well, the former is better then nothing.
I JUST find my zatchbell card like 3 months ago in my grandmas garage...i just need to see if they are spellbooks or not because it seems like a bunch of random cards
I know I keep asking about this over various videos haha, but what's your guys audio editing look like? Do you guys have any bleed over from one person's mic to the other? I bought some DJI 2s and I end up twice as loud as my friend and it make editing the audio a nightmare. I basically have to cut every line and remove the other mic.
I vaguely remember this show. Couldn't get into it because of the designs. I remember humans used spell books to cast spells to aid in battles, so it is kinda neat the game replicates that.
I'd think something like the binders are 2x2s to add sufficient complexity. You can flip one page forward OR back or just choose not to at the start of your turn. Some cards would be played and go back to the binder and others would be immediately exhausted. There would be a mandatory number of "life cards" (that can themselves have effects, just something to make tracking score obvious). The main win-con of the game would be to take out all of your opponent's life cards. It'd be inherently massively consistent because the binder format means no shuffling but that could make for interesting deck building. Cards could have effects that let you flip to different pages of your book in a fixed number or disrupt opponent's combos by forcing them to flip, etc. as well as cards that would be sort of like trap cards that would hide in the binder until relevant. Basically the main design thrust of the game is "figure out how to make something interesting, except with no deck shuffling and semi-fixed hand sizes." The main interesting gameplay aspect you get out of the spellbook is being able to try and design around a "no shuffling" game and also being able to determine hand positions (like you don't have games where a card can target "the leftmost card in the hand" because people will shift around the cards in their hands but in a spellbook with fixed slots you could do stuff like that). Also a major part of the game you'd need to figure out would be how it might work for competitive play or even that it might make repeat games with friends difficult, since no shuffling makes a best of 3 hard to balance, due to how either the subsequent games would be too similar to the first or side decking, if possible, would be too powerful. I suppose you COULD try and make it a slightly more chunky game designed around best of 1. Or maybe the life cards would be more vital than just being life trackers and they would have their positions randomized (i.e. you leave slots in your deck open for life cards and at the start of the game you shuffle the life cards and then place them in those slots)? It's a really interesting concept but something that seems a nightmare to design as a constructed game that would survive past a year or two.
I personally play a Zeno/Ponygon spellbook. The deck makes your opponent have to turn the pages in their book essentially a burn deck but will also force opposing Mamodo into a damaged state for easy kills. The deck building is highly complex but once you get it down, the game is crazy deep, especially if you have the other 12 sets never released outside of Japan. My only complaint is that you can't sleeve your cards and have them in your spellbook. The book won't close if sleeved. Big sad.
Man I loved this game so much when it was out. If the tournament arrangements were done better, the game would have thrived. Toysrus only tournaments sucked
I thought something felt a little bit off while you 2 were playing, I don't know what other mamodo were in each deck but it definitely seemed like the board should have had more than just 1 on. I think it would be great if you 2 tried it again knowing that you can have more than one and knowing that some mamodo are more supportive so the gameplay is more interactive and then just put an addendum in the comments of how much better it feels with the more interactive gameplay of actually having defense spells to counter the offensive spells and knowing that you can specifically attack the mamodo instead of always going for the spellbook to clear the way for ezier spellbook access. the game definitely does not look that complex but if most certainly should have had a bit more action than was shown. I think a rule that would make it more fun is to reduce how many page flips you get at the beginning of the 0-2 without being able to choose 2 2 turns in a row but being able to use all spells in the spellbook from previous pages but when the spellbook is damage you actually discard all spells from the spellbook on the pages that you were forced to pass. It would give more complexity, variety, and just strategy overall.
I like that they tried to innovate and the spellbook seems like a cool idea but it's just not quite there. idk maybe with some expansions or something this could be more enjoyable
The card game is a little stilted in its rules but it gets a lot of points for originality and lore accuracy, and it was my gateway into my first ever online forum, one of my favorite manga of all time, and even my understanding that there were more card games out there than Pokemon & Yu-Gi-Oh. I've wanted a translation of the GBA game based on the CCG forever but I don't think it'll happen. HIGHLY recommend the manga, give it a read.
Quick little ruling nitpick, pretty sure you don't discard spells from the spellbook after you use them. Theres some event cards that actually let you use spells from previous pages so you're supposed to leave them in the book because of stuff like that.
It would be interesting to watch you guys do a video where you take the worst games you've played(1 each) and try to add homebrew changes to make them better.
@@TheTestTable1 The anime does fine for the first part of the series, but it mangles the end of the thrid arc and doesn;t adapt the fourth. If you're really lazy watch the anime until around ep 135 or so skipping the filler arc then finish with the manga.
"Huh, Connor is opening with Kanchome. What a strange choice, he kinda sucks in the series. Maybe it will have a set up kind of playstyle where it will build up strategic advantages towards the end." *Curb your Enthusiasm starts playing.* Kanchome sucks in the TCG as well
I'll give it to the designers that they really did try to do something different with this game.
Cooked a lil too hard
@@TheTestTable1they burnt it!
Dude i have such fond memories of playing this game as a kid with my cousin.i still have my black spellbook
That's awesome
I love the spellbook mechanic. Surprised that I've never seen any other games let you stack your deck
Maybe cause it's insane lol
@@TheTestTable1 Wait what's insane about it? Imagine if Magic worked like this. Other than a Mountain, what does mono red have on page 1? They want Monastery Swiftspear against control and Shock against mono-green, so what do they pick? Also, how do combo decks get around their opponents' ability to play whatever they want without playing a patient and controlly game?
The reason it is “insane” (though I don’t agree with the RUclipsr on why it is insane), is that it removes randomization from the game.
RNG is extremely important a games longevity.
The other issue is tournaments. Imagine having to resleeve in a binder your deck. After. Every. Single. Game.
It could easily take 5-10 minutes each time, especially since you have to remember the card ordering.
It would be absurdly tedious in any competitive format.
@@freddykrueger8076 preach brother
There is no reason why you would have to put your spellbook in the same order before every match. In fact, it would be more fun if you could reorder your deck between rounds. Again, page 1 is mountain/swiftspear against control and mountain/shock against aggro. You get the benefits of randomization (the game plays out differently every time) with none of the drawbacks (screwed on resources just because the RNG hates you).
Just because most current TCG's require randomization doesn't mean every single TCG forever must also care about randomization.
Great episode guys! Have these decks sealed and watching you guys open and play it got the edge off. Thank you!
Glad to help!
I haven't played the card game much, but the series itself is THE BEST battle shonen out there, at least the manga is (the anime sadly is a pretty bad adaptation, that, among other issues, totally diverges from the manga's plot after a while): To briefly give some background, It's a partner-battle royale series, sort of like Shaman King or Fate, where 100 demon kids get partnered up with humans who can use their spellbooks to allow the demons to use spells, and if the book is burnt, they return to the demon world, the last one standing is crowned king.
"Demon" implies something sinister, but most of them are basically just kids, rather then your typical Shonen teen, and that + the partnered premise sets up for a lot of character growth: Gash (Zatch in the dub) is a naïve 6 year old who teaches Kiyo to open up to others and be optimistic, while Kiyo is a jaded teen that grounds Gash and forces him to mature and think about what being a king means, for example.
In turn it does power of friendship stuff better then any other shonen i've seen, and that, great comedy, and Yotsuba style slice of life chapters to have a fun lighthearted vibe, and then contrasts that vs brutal emotional gut punches (the premise requires every character "die"), with the light helping the dark hit harder, and the dark helping the light feel genuine and earned instead of corny. It handles that contrast at least as good as One Piece.
Even unlocking new spells is tied to moments of character growth, with that specific growth fitting the new spell (spell names also have their own language), and each character's set of abilities is unique and allows for tactical fights, especially as Spells doing specific things forces strategic use without contriving stuff; and each has a mana cost so even weaker spells stay useful. Most fights are also TEAM battles where not just the humans get involved, but multiple demon-human pairs are working together to combine their powerset.
Finally, it's got some incredible 2 page spreads and art; avoids the issues most other shonen have where they get worse over time due to increasingly bloated pacing, the power escalation getting too crazy to where it barely feels like the same series, and due top abandoning side characters: Gash/Zatch only ever gets tighter pacing, the powers only go super crazy right at the climax for fun, and the entire cast feels well utlized till the very end.
The one flaw the series has is, inversely, it starts off sort of weaker then some other shonen, as initially there's not enough spells for tactics in fights and it has a villain of the week format and only switches to full arcs later, but it's still good/fun early on, and only ever gets better.
If people are interested, the best place to read it is on Mangadex (it includes the end of volume bonuses, Gaiden Chapter, and Gash Cafes chapters other sites exclude, either worked into the normal chapters or listed under Kazenban specials/Kazenban Special book), using the "NEW fan translation" made by Zatch Bell Makai. It's an ongoing new translation that's not done yet, but Mangadex will automatically switch you over to older translations once you get past where Makai is at.
If people are interested but are really die-hard anime fans over manga readers, you can, I guess, watch the anime through episode 139 and then switch to chapter 212, which is when they diverge, but I really highly, highly recommend the manga over the anime even from the start: It's not a good adaptation even before they diverge aside from a few select fights and the song sequences, and it exacerbates the early content being sort of slow. Binging the manga is really a better experience... but if it's between the anime or not consuming it at all, well, the former is better then nothing.
I will definitely check it out!
Thank you, Thomas
We love Thomas
I JUST find my zatchbell card like 3 months ago in my grandmas garage...i just need to see if they are spellbooks or not because it seems like a bunch of random cards
You can build one!
I know I keep asking about this over various videos haha, but what's your guys audio editing look like? Do you guys have any bleed over from one person's mic to the other? I bought some DJI 2s and I end up twice as loud as my friend and it make editing the audio a nightmare. I basically have to cut every line and remove the other mic.
Hit me up on Twitter and I'll explain in a little more detail
"Oh man, you got peanut butter on the mat" heard that in a chris griffin voice
Oh my god
😂
Zatch bell is an amazing anime, I wish they made a soul eater card game as well.
I've heard good things!
Ah yeah! We playing Zatch Bell boys!
I genuinely miss the anime.
I never watched it
@@TheTestTable1 Aight, time to watch it!
I vaguely remember this show. Couldn't get into it because of the designs.
I remember humans used spell books to cast spells to aid in battles, so it is kinda neat the game replicates that.
It is neat, it's just a little over cooked imo
Never got to play this but I had both of these decks!
It's aight
I would love to see someone make a version of this game thats less clunky that uses bigger binders
The big binders were fun
I love the binders! Ngl
I'd think something like the binders are 2x2s to add sufficient complexity. You can flip one page forward OR back or just choose not to at the start of your turn. Some cards would be played and go back to the binder and others would be immediately exhausted. There would be a mandatory number of "life cards" (that can themselves have effects, just something to make tracking score obvious). The main win-con of the game would be to take out all of your opponent's life cards.
It'd be inherently massively consistent because the binder format means no shuffling but that could make for interesting deck building. Cards could have effects that let you flip to different pages of your book in a fixed number or disrupt opponent's combos by forcing them to flip, etc. as well as cards that would be sort of like trap cards that would hide in the binder until relevant.
Basically the main design thrust of the game is "figure out how to make something interesting, except with no deck shuffling and semi-fixed hand sizes." The main interesting gameplay aspect you get out of the spellbook is being able to try and design around a "no shuffling" game and also being able to determine hand positions (like you don't have games where a card can target "the leftmost card in the hand" because people will shift around the cards in their hands but in a spellbook with fixed slots you could do stuff like that).
Also a major part of the game you'd need to figure out would be how it might work for competitive play or even that it might make repeat games with friends difficult, since no shuffling makes a best of 3 hard to balance, due to how either the subsequent games would be too similar to the first or side decking, if possible, would be too powerful. I suppose you COULD try and make it a slightly more chunky game designed around best of 1.
Or maybe the life cards would be more vital than just being life trackers and they would have their positions randomized (i.e. you leave slots in your deck open for life cards and at the start of the game you shuffle the life cards and then place them in those slots)?
It's a really interesting concept but something that seems a nightmare to design as a constructed game that would survive past a year or two.
thanks Thomas!
Our boy!
Good video keep up the good work
Will do!
I personally play a Zeno/Ponygon spellbook. The deck makes your opponent have to turn the pages in their book essentially a burn deck but will also force opposing Mamodo into a damaged state for easy kills. The deck building is highly complex but once you get it down, the game is crazy deep, especially if you have the other 12 sets never released outside of Japan. My only complaint is that you can't sleeve your cards and have them in your spellbook. The book won't close if sleeved. Big sad.
IS there a discord server with people playing it with those added sets? I'd love to give this a shot.
@Treblebeatgames yes. I keep trying to give you the link but it keeps removing the comment
If you google Zatch Bell Discord, a reddit post will pop up that says New Public Zatch Bell Discord Server. That post has a link to it
Very big sad
@@Treblebeatgames There is! You can find it on my channel page. :)
I owned both decks as a kid and never played the game just like the show lol.
I was excited to see it actually played
You should pick them up!
Man I loved this game so much when it was out. If the tournament arrangements were done better, the game would have thrived. Toysrus only tournaments sucked
Good ol Toys R Us
Bro, I kept seeing commercials about tournaments for my areas malls but none of them had any of them scheduled
Thank you Thomas
Thanks Thomas
There is a pretty cool gameboy advance version of this TCG. You need some guide (all in japanese) but when you learns it's a fun game.
You know how Connor feels about Japan...
Carl, give Connor his own coin!!!
I was saaad😢
Never
I thought something felt a little bit off while you 2 were playing, I don't know what other mamodo were in each deck but it definitely seemed like the board should have had more than just 1 on.
I think it would be great if you 2 tried it again knowing that you can have more than one and knowing that some mamodo are more supportive so the gameplay is more interactive and then just put an addendum in the comments of how much better it feels with the more interactive gameplay of actually having defense spells to counter the offensive spells and knowing that you can specifically attack the mamodo instead of always going for the spellbook to clear the way for ezier spellbook access.
the game definitely does not look that complex but if most certainly should have had a bit more action than was shown.
I think a rule that would make it more fun is to reduce how many page flips you get at the beginning of the 0-2 without being able to choose 2 2 turns in a row but being able to use all spells in the spellbook from previous pages but when the spellbook is damage you actually discard all spells from the spellbook on the pages that you were forced to pass. It would give more complexity, variety, and just strategy overall.
Yeah, I don't think we were doing it justice, tbh
I like that they tried to innovate and the spellbook seems like a cool idea but it's just not quite there. idk maybe with some expansions or something this could be more enjoyable
Yeah, like how do I stop my opponent from just cheating lol
I SAW WIXOSS ITS SUCH A GOOD GAME
It looks... interesting?
@TheTestTable1 it's duel masters with Pokemon evolution
Love this series, sad the game is so convoluted. I bought literal bricks on these cards for $5 a pop in Akihabara.
Keep in mind we were playing it way wrong lol
Isnt... isnt his name Brago? Like with a B.
Yes, I'm just stupid
@@TheTestTable1 no shade. I was starting to question if ive been wrong this entire time
The card game is a little stilted in its rules but it gets a lot of points for originality and lore accuracy, and it was my gateway into my first ever online forum, one of my favorite manga of all time, and even my understanding that there were more card games out there than Pokemon & Yu-Gi-Oh. I've wanted a translation of the GBA game based on the CCG forever but I don't think it'll happen. HIGHLY recommend the manga, give it a read.
People say it's really good, I'm definitely gonna check it out
Quick little ruling nitpick, pretty sure you don't discard spells from the spellbook after you use them. Theres some event cards that actually let you use spells from previous pages so you're supposed to leave them in the book because of stuff like that.
You also can't have an event card as the last card of the spellbook
Oopsie
Lol oops
It would be interesting to watch you guys do a video where you take the worst games you've played(1 each) and try to add homebrew changes to make them better.
👀👀👀👀
@@TheTestTable1 CharDeeMacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo... Danger!Danger! High Voltage!(When we touch, when we kiss)
they cooked a little too hard with this game but i'm still glad they made it. thanks for playing it boys!
Yo! Wassup Thomas!
Thoooomassssss
waiting patiently for u guys to try star wars unlimited
We will eventually
I wouldve loved to play this. It just needs some work is all.
Agreed, I think they cooked a little to hard
its just clunky, doesnt help that deck building is a bit strange. its one of my favorites, also a really good anime
I've heard the anime is good
@@TheTestTable1Both anime and manga are good. There's a sequel manga still in production right now too
Y'all should name the music you put in the background
Dude! Let's GOOOOOOOOO
Indeed
Anyone watching this who hasn't read the manga, go read the manga! Anyone who has read the manga, go read the sequel!
Can I watch the anime instead? Am lazy
@@TheTestTable1 The anime does fine for the first part of the series, but it mangles the end of the thrid arc and doesn;t adapt the fourth. If you're really lazy watch the anime until around ep 135 or so skipping the filler arc then finish with the manga.
Thomas!!!!
WE LOVE THOMAS
Hating on the spell book is a big L.
NUH UH
What cute fellers
Gawrsh
Keep up the good work mates. ❤
We will
You two always look so stoned lol and i am totally here for it.
But...but we aren't lol
I'm late today I didn't get a notification anyways video eight asking for Redakai.
There's my man
Do the Zach Brapps TCG next :O. Unclear as to what 9000 points actually does here? Or why it in turn means 2...or what 2 means
So basically the cards deal damage equal to what they say on the bottom right corner of the card
"Huh, Connor is opening with Kanchome. What a strange choice, he kinda sucks in the series. Maybe it will have a set up kind of playstyle where it will build up strategic advantages towards the end."
*Curb your Enthusiasm starts playing.*
Kanchome sucks in the TCG as well
Nope he's just dumb lol
i just hope you know that you werent following the rules of the game....
We're very aware
way to ruin it by not using the real books.
Way to hate fun
Awwwwwwww man, I almost bought this one.... and I am SO GLAD I didn't. Honestly this game just.... really wasn't for me.
It's interesting, for sure
Video seven asking for Warlord.
Thank you Thomas
We ♥️ Thomas