The Most Surprising Trading Card Games

Written by Ross Gilbert, images supplied by Noble Knight Games

Fire Emblem

Intelligent Systems

Despite starting life as a very Japanese video game series that struggled in the west, Fire Emblem has become one of Nintendo’s premier franchises. It might surprise you then to learn that there was a TCG released in 2015, alongside Fire Emblem Fates, a video game that sold over 3 million copies. Despite the TCG releasing 22 expansions over five and a half years the game was officially cancelled in late-2020. It never saw an English-language release and, given that it’s been gone for nearly four years now, we can safely assume it never will. Of all the games on this list, this one hurts me the most.

 

The Simpsons Trading Card Game 

Wizards of the Coast

The Simpsons holds the title for the longest-running animated TV show at 35 seasons and given that the franchise has crossed–over into every other market, the existence of a Simpsons TCG should not come as a surprise. What IS a surprise however is that the game lasted exactly one set before Wizards of the Coast withdrew support. The game was built around five stars (Bart, Homer, Mr. Burns, Lisa and Krusty) with all but Krusty also getting a starter deck. The game played differently from other TCGs in that you played characters to complete scenes. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of this one, it was released in 2003.

 

WCW Nitro 

Wizards of the Coast

WWE might be the big name in Wrestling but back in 2000 we had WCW as a real contender, for one more year anyway until WWE bought them. Wizards of the Coast were continuing their franchised TCG whirlwind, and that’s how we ended up with an actual TCG based on the number 2 wrestling promotion at the time. The decision to use photographs rather than new art in TCGs is rarely well-received and that was the case here as cards looked rather uninspiring next to games like Pokémon and Magic: the Gathering (also made by WOTC at the time). Another short-lived game it did actually receive a second expansion; WCW Nitro: Hardcore, which is more than we can say for The Simpsons TCG...

 

Dream Order 

Bushiroad

The newest game on the list, and I would wager the one that nobody reading this would ever guess, Dream Order is a TGC based around the Japanese Baseball league, Nippon Professional Baseball. Unusually, it launched with 12 starter decks (if you’re new to TCGs, anything more than four is a LOT) with each deck giving you access to one of the 12 NPB teams. One fantastic innovation however has been releasing each expansion as a double set, one for the Pacific League (featuring those six teams) and one for the Central League (featuring the other six). This makes it easier to collect all of my beloved Yokohama DeNA Baystars. Two expansions were released with a full line-up of traditional TCG accessories and events at Japanese baseball games, and this seems like a game that could really have legs.

No, it’s not getting an English release. Obviously.

 

Harry Potter Trading Card Game 

Wizards of the Coast

Another no-brainer for getting a TCG at some point, Harry Potter did indeed get a card game of its very own way back in August 2001. Four more expansions would be released before the game was cancelled in 2003. Cards featured all the Harry Potter staples such as Lessons, Spells, Creatures and Characters and the aim was to deck your opponent out (such that they had 0 cards in their deck). 

It’s at this point in the list that you might be noticing that back in the early 2000s Wizards of the Coast were experimenting with a lot of new TCGs, based on very strong licenses, none of which were able to stick. In fact, of all the new games back then, Harry Potter, with a full five sets, did the best by some margin. It lives on in fan made expansions online. 

 

Tekken 7 

Bandai

Another more recent entry, and I am cheating a little here, is Tekken 7. The reason I’m cheating is that Tekken 7 is not a self-contained TCG but instead an expansion of the Japanese version of the Union Arena card game based on the 7^th main entry of the popular fighting video game. 

Like Weiss Schwarz (and also Build Divide if anyone’s heard of that one) Union Arena is a game that uses different licenses for almost every set but the use of Tekken 7 was surprising as the set was released in October 2023, just three months before Tekken 8 video game would release on home consoles. This game did use some video game screenshots but also mixed that with some fantastic new art for a very impressive expansion.

Union Arena is getting a western release in October, but with Tekken 8 long released I don’t think the Tekken 7 expansion will be coming to these shores.

 

Killer Instinct 

Topps

Sticking with the theme of fighting games as TCGs, the lesser-known Killer Instinct franchise got a TCG release way back in 1996. It was made by Topps but given that it predates the Japanese release of the Pokémon TCG by four months it actually represents Nintendo’s first experiment with TCGs. Marred by artwork that was just low-res screenshots of the game it was unfortunately another short-lived TCG and also the most difficult game on this list to track down packs of. Believe me, I’ve tried!

 

X-Men Trading Card Game

Wizards of the Coast

The X-Men are one of the most popular super hero groups in the world and this is not the only TCG featuring them, but back in 2000, Wizards of the Coast released a TCG to coincide with the popular movies, featuring characters from the movie and art that reminded us all of the movies. Another short-lived game that never received a second set, although one was planned. Promo cards were distributed at movie theatres and in magazines (see the next entry) and the game was set up in a way many on this list were not, it was just never meant to be.

 

Neopets Trading Card Game

Wizards of the Coast

Neopets was the internet’s age Tamagotchi. It was a virtual pet website where you personalised your pets, took care of them, and taught them to… fight? Well, it made sense at the time. In 2003 Wizards of the Coast turned it into a trading card game aimed at a younger audience, and it did well – well, when you compare it to earlier entries anyway. The suggestion was that Wizards of the Coast lost interest, failing to publicise the last few set releases until it ended entirely in 2006 and was barely mentioned again. 

Early noughties are calling though, as Upper Deck have just released the Neopets Battledome TCG.

 

Top Deck Magazine

Wizards of the Coast

Not a TCG per se but I have to finish this list with a nod to the excellent Top Deck magazine. Given the number of TCGs released by WOTC in the early 2000s it’s perhaps not surprising that they actually made their own magazine to share all the information you need. They even included booster packs and exclusive promo cards which was awesome at the time but does make them rather expensive to track down in 2024! Originally published in December 1999 it unfortunately only lasted until issue 15 in 2001.