History Main / CCGImportanceDissonance

** The series' main villain of many years, Yawgmoth, also couldn't get a card printed depicting him because he was so powerful that a large group of old-style planeswalkers (mages powerful enough that they could create their own planes of existence if they wanted to—new-style planeswalkers are ''substantially'' weaker) armed with soul-powered nukes could only barely defeat him after hitting him with a weapon forged from Urza's thousands of years of planning and an impressive XanatosGambit on Urza's part. Several cards depicting aspects of Yawgmoth have been printed over the years, including [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/ud/75.jpg Yawgmoth's Bargain]] and [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/us/171.jpg Yawgmoth's Will]], which are well into GameBreaker territory. Given that WordOfGod states Yawgmoth is DeaderThanDead, it's unlikely the game's most iconic villain will ever be rendered in card form.

*** At the time, there was a FanNickname (that saw great play in a number of magazines such as {{Pojo}}) for this type of card, named for Hitmonlee (who was essentially a prototype version of the Scyther discussed above). That nickname? [[BadassNickname Haymaker.]]

** A [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221103 Dragon Engine]] is supposed to be a titanic siege weapon, Mishra's great weapons in the Brothers War. [[http://magiccards.info/aq/en/14.html Its printed version]] can be easily destroyed by two [[http://magiccards.info/po2/en/63.html Bear Cubs]].

*** At the very least, they've errata'd his card into being a soldier, which lets a truly large number of other cards give him bonuses he didn't get before the errata. It's still a pretty bad card though. He also has [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/wl/136.jpg a different card]] printed before the above one. Although it's not a legendary creature, it's still meant to depict him.
** A [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221103 Dragon Engine]] is supposed to be a titanic siege weapon, Mishra's great weapons in the Brothers War. In the game it's an low damage not particularly impressive or cost effective creature that can inefficiently improve its damage.

*** It is worth noting here that Yawgmoth DID get a card, albeit unprinted, and in another game entirely. Yawgmoth, Fleshless Father, would've been a God card in ''Hecatomb''. It's pretty much a permanent Yawgmoth's Will, with the added bonus of milling three cards from every player.
** They are however representing the current BigBad, [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/fvd/10.jpg Nicol]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/cfx/120.jpg Bolas]], a bit more often in cards.
*** WordOfGod, however, states that Bolas is only this way because he has but a tiny, tiny fraction of his once-full power left. In his time, Bolas was on Serra's and Urza's level of power, meaning he was one of the most powerful OLD-SCHOOL Planeswalkers.

* ''[[MagicTheGathering Magic: The Gathering's]]'' ''Onslaught'' block gave us Akroma, Angel of Wrath, and Phage the Untouchable. In the books, these two ladies of war nearly tore their country apart in an epic war of escalation. In the game, Akroma is a perennially popular finisher in any deck that can support her. Phage isn't. Hilariously, in a vacuum, Akroma's card utterly smashes Phage's.
** This also happens in the Time Spiral block, where Phage's alter ego is the central character in the third book, but does not appear in card form, but Akroma gets THREE cards, and never mentioned.
*** Although that was probably because Phage's alter ego was a planeswalker at that point, and they didn't start making planeswalker cards until the next block.
**** Phage's alter ego ''did'' get a [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/ju/93.jpg card]] printed.
***** Wrong alter ego. It went Jeska - Phage - (uncarded Planeswalker). Plus, that card is just a flashback.
** This trope is literally the reason planeswalker cards exist at all. The devs basically said, "You know, it's really stupid that once a character gets important enough we can't print them on cards anymore."
*** Though when you get down to it, only a few planeswalkers (Tezzeret, Jace's second card, Elspeth's first card, Garruk, and maybe one or two others) are what you'd call "powerful." All of them will have a profound impact on the game if left alone, but some, such as Jace's first card, are laughably weak under most conditions.
** The real reason Akroma got three cards in Time Spiral block is because she won a 65-way March Madness-style online poll for most popular legendary creature of all time. Even so, Phage's card is by no means forgettable; when she damages your opponent, your opponent dies instantly. She never got much tournament support on account of being AwesomeButImpractical, but many casual players still love her.

** The Rise of the Eldrazi block gave us the Eldrazi titans, basically a bunch of [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] which ''several'' new-style planeswalkers working together couldn't defeat. Two of the three aren't very spectacular in card form, and while the third, [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/roe/4.jpg Emrakul]], is ridiculously expensive (at 15 mana, it's one of the highest-mana-cost cards ever printed period), but once in play somehow (such as by casting [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/us/96.jpg certain]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/us/218.jpg other]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/ts/201.jpg cards]] which can "cheat" it into play), it will end the game damn near instantly.
*** The Eldrazi were, however, [[SealedEvilInACAn locked away for several centuries]] by three old-style planeswalkers and Ugin, the "spirit dragon". Based on this, it's safe to say the Eldrazi are what old-style planeswalkers would look like if ever printed in card form.

*** It is worth noting here that Yawgmoth DID get a card, albeit unprinted, and in another game entirely. Yawgmoth, Fleshless Father, would've been a God card in {{Hecatomb}}. It's pretty much a permanent Yawgmoth's Will, with the added bonus of milling three cards from every player.
*** They are however representing the current BigBad, [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/fvd/10.jpg Nicol]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/cfx/120.jpg Bolas]], a bit more often in cards.
**** WordOfGod, however, states that Bolas is only this way because he has but a tiny, tiny fraction of his once-full power left. In his time, Bolas was on Serra's and Urza's level of power, meaning he was one of the most powerful OLD-SCHOOL Planeswalkers.

* ''HeroClix'' has produced very many figures in various combinations of usefulness. Contrary to PopularityPower though, quite a few A tier heroes aren't as powerful as you'd hope, while a few B and C list heroes are pretty darn powerful and useful. Examples are first generation Controller, a no-name villain who starts out super strong, but rather than get weak when damaged gains mind control, and Fire Lord, a minor herald of Galactus who was super powerful and insanely cheap to play.

** Monster Reborn returned due to the banning of both Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted, both of which have their recursion exploits. (Particularly the former, which, if returned to the hand from the field, does not result in the destruction of the monster it originally resummoned, thus allowing multiple resummons with cards such as Giant Trunade, Raiza and Brionac. Let's not forget Arms Hole, which can retrieve any equip from deck or grave, which may have been the final straw.)
*** Actually, that sounds backwards: ''Monster Reborn'' came off the list because of the hype it would get with it's re-release in the ''Yugi Duelist Pack'' set. ''Call of the Haunted'' and ''Premature Burial'' were banned as a result, seeing as not doing so would give a player too many extra chances to revive dead monsters.

*** Subversion: Rocket Zapdos was a beastly card that resulted in numerous [=OTKs=], and was an all-around powerful card. However, a lot of über cards were monsters not given much regard in either the anime or the game (Cleffa [that's right, the baby form of a crap monster, and possibly the best card in Neo], Hitmonchan, Electabuzz, Jigglypuff, Arcanine).

** Not only was evolution horribly designed and hard to pull off, but in the beginning they though it was "balanced" to design cards that didn't have evolutions stronger because being able to evolve was an "advantage". The result was that Pokemon without evolutions were almost universally the strongest cards. Combine with the broken retreat mechanic and the colored energy and for a while Scyther of all cards was considered the strongest Pokemon since it had a decent colorless attack, good HP, and no retreat cost, making it an excellent card to simply throw into any deck. Eventually Sneasel came out even more broken, and if I remember correctly that was when they started banning cards.

* The [[LordOfTheRings Middle Earth]] CCG was infamous for its "Kuduk Lore" -- characters essentially created out of thin air by Iron Crown Enterprises to cover the apparent insufficiency of named characters. Many of these came from the Middle Earth RoleplayingGame. Very few were anything to be proud of -- the names they created for the Nazgul were especially demoralizing. (Who wants to admit to playing a card named "Dwar of Waw"?)

* ''[[YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' has countless examples of this trope. The famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a 3000 ATK monster that requires two Tributes (monsters removed from the field) and has no effect; in the manga, it was powerful enough that [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney Seto Kaiba]] resorted to extortion and theft to collect every last one of them, but in the TCG that ensued, it's merely an expensive target. Likewise Yugi's signature card, the Dark Magician, which requires two Tributes but has only 2500 ATK; arguably, it's received more support cards in later years than even the Blue-Eyes White Dragon could ever hope for, but it too is a white (black?) elephant, even if you're dedicated enough to theme an entire deck around him. Not that ''all'' famous cards get this treatment, however; the very first duel featured in the manga included Summoned Skull, a powerful and incredibly playable card for many years (2500 ATK, like the Dark Magician, but it only needs ''one'' Tribute), and Monster Reborn, a powerful card that spent some time on the [[TooAwesomeToUse Forbidden List]]: it allows the player who uses it to bring back a monster from the Graveyard. ''Either player's'' Graveyard. Many of the most powerful cards, in fact, have either never appeared on the show or appeared only briefly. Nowadays it's not uncommon for each new expansion set to feature cards for an entire new deck archetype, which typically dominates the field for about 3-6 months before a new expansion renders it utterly moot: these archetypes are often based off of the decks of one-shot characters, or minor recurring ones, rather than the main protagonists.

** The Rise of the Eldrazi block gave us the Eldrazi titans, basically a bunch of [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] which ''several'' new-style planeswalkers could only barely defeat. Two of the three aren't very spectacular, and while the third, [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/roe/4.jpg Emrakul]], is ridiculously expensive (at 15 mana, it's one of the highest-mana-cost cards ever printed period), but once in play somehow (such as by casting [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/us/96.jpg certain]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/us/218.jpg other]] [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/ts/201.jpg cards]] which can "cheat" it into play), it will end the game damn near instantly.

* And then there is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrard_Capashen Gerrard Capashen]]. Plot-wise, he is a pinnacle of ages-long eugenics plan formulated by Urza, a powerful and very intelligent Planeswalker. Gerrard was specially engineered as a "Super-Soldier", to fight the denizens of Phyrexia, also known as ''The Nine Hells''. Gerrard also receives several whole sets of cards dedicated to his (and his skyship's) crew: Weatherlight Adventures (Which is the name of one of the expansions). His card? [[http://magiccards.info/ap/en/11.html Utterly unremarkable]]. Bonus points for the card flat-out losing to every other card representing opponents that Gerrard defeated or overcame in the novels.
** At the very least, they've errata'd his card into being a soldier, which lets a truly large number of other cards give him bonuses he didn't get otherwise. It's still a pretty bad card though.

** The game suffered from PowerCreepPowerSeep as well. In the first year of the game Fellowship members (and Arwen) were the strongest companions in the game, while various "random nameless extra" Elves and Dwarves had significantly lower stats and were used for HeroicSacrifice rather than combat. Over time the distinction blurred and the Extras started receiving the same stats as the Heroes, though the Heroes still came with better abilities. And further down the road there came characters who, while important figures in Middle-Earth, only had seconds seconds of screen time and yet were stronger than Aragorn, Eomer or Gandalf. SoYeah...

* While the ''LordoftheRings'' movies portray heroes such as Boromir or Gimli as capable of successfully defeating dozens of Orcs or Uruks in a single fight, in the ''LordoftheRings Trading Card Game'' most minions, including not only Nazguls or Trolls, but about 98% or all "random nameless extra" Orcs, Uruks and Evil Men are stronger than the basic Fellowship members. Thus, the Fellowship has to arm itself with lots and lots of weapons and use various combat support to be able to win skirmishes. And even then, many wounds are taken.