Well I decided to give it a look, mainly because of what I heard about how it was similar to Yu-Gi-Oh, and since I liked the show and franchises I figured this might be interesting.
By the time I finished the second episode however, I can't imagine how anyone would call this as being close to YGO, aside from rather few similarities and nods to the DM series.
I supposes Akira Ito working on this project might be the primary reason for the comparison, though I think that him doing the designs for the anime ended up backfiring as I don't think it is doing any service to this anime being constantly compared to YGO. For starter, the setting is nearly the complete opposite of DM, as it is more down to earth and lacks any of the ''outrageous'' quality YGO had in its story.
While the world here is set to have card games be common place as sports, the difference here is that the protagonist didn't become involve deeper into the center of the gaming scene because he was on his way to save the world/fulfill his destiny, but rather because he wanted to meet the stranger who at a tough time in his life gave him a small line to hold on and become stronger a little, and his desire to thank that person by getting into the same hobby. I really liked this angle they had going here, it reminded me a bit, just a bit, of Hikaru no Go. The game itself isn't so important here as much as the two players who oppose each, and how their relationship plays out during the game.
Another thing I really liked was the OP and ED. JAM Project is a an excellent choice here, though I can't say I've found this to be among their best. I would've loved had they done the same as they did in Sora Kake and taken full charge of the score of the show. Still, Takayuki Negishi is a good composer and I suppose he had done an adequate job with the music. The ED was very nice, and the sequence was funny enough better than the OP's imo.
That all being said, I really can't I was impressed with the rest, or to be more accurate, I thought that the anime managed to present itself as being something more than a tutorial for the actual card game (more so in the second episode). This is the thing that hurts the most when being compared with YGO
M, as the pilot there was much better produced and more contained (production values appear very low, which is strange since this is getting such a massive push to make it have a piece of the pie, and while YGO had a single important duel in the pilot, here we have the shows first duel play on the the second, and further make it so that it ends up all feeling like this was a special episode bundled with the starter decks to help introduce players into the game).
If I had to give a rating, I'd say the first 2 episode both end up with a below average 5/10. Hopefully they attempt to make the show stand on it's own legs and not be simply a 30 minute commercial.
As for the card game, I agree with Klashikari that comparing it with Yu-Gi-Oh is incorrect. If anything, I see it as being a hybrid of Duel Masters and the Pokemon TCG. I also agree that the speed at which the game is played is also quite unappealing (at least for me. I suppose they want to go for a faster game play here) though the actual rules IRL might be different (much like how YGO
(sorry for the constant reference to it btw :P) had the duelists start at 4000 LP instead of 8000 to help make things go faster.
That being said
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But the way how it was made, it is just convulated: even 1 single cost is precious as hell (since unless "healing" is introduced, you can only have 5 stock available for a whole match. And even with healing skills, it will also cut short your precious stock at the same time, so yay), and having skills costing like 3 just makes the whole deal worse than a dilemna.
Because of the way it is heavily tied to the damage counter, no one in their right mind would use ability that cost 1-2, let alone using that kind of cards.
And suffice to say, if you don't draw that ass whooping card with that expensive ability, your stock just remains idle for nothing.
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it depends on the abilities themselves I think, though I can see your point. Cards like Blaster Blade are really a gamble, as early game they can be helpful to the opponent (since Units can't be destroyed, by removing them the opponent can replace it with something better) but at mid game he can be better as he can remove higher grades but won't be a game turner.
That being said I don't agree that the way the cost system works is convoluted, but makes sense. After all, Dragonic Overlord is clearly meant for late game usage (and considering how quickly they get to that point, I don't think it'll sit idly for long in the hand) and at that point the cost well be ready for his effect to activate (and if the cost cards remain tapped, then he can only activate the effect once per game ie he's pretty balanced as a gamer closer) at best he'll be able to do 3 Damage to the opponent which would be able to either turn things around/end the game.
It really depends on the cards effects to help carry the game through, though I guess it would've helped had they had ''spell'' cards like Duel Masters does, to help make game play a bit more interesting.