At the Chatham Square Library, the children and teens that join together in groups send one clear message to each other when playing two certain card games: I’M SENDING YOU TO THE GRAVEYARD! One of them is not Pokémon for sure! It’s Magic:The Gathering and YuGiOh. What’s the difference between them though? For certain, they both have a character that is a small yellow mouse named Pikachu.

Magic: the Gathering is the inspiration for YuGiOh! Magic: The Gathering was created and first published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. The game is a trading card game which involves two or more players known as "planeswalkers” who use a deck of printed cards, employ spells, artifacts, and creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents. Each player in a competition starts with 25 life points. The one who loses all life points loses the game.

YuGiOh is very similar to Magic: the Gathering because it is also a trading card game. Like Magic: The Gathering, each player starts off with life points whether it is 2000, 4000 or 8000 life points (as agreed by the players or set by the tournament rules). The starting number of points may be different, but the rule to defeat your opponent is still the same: SEND THEIR CREATURES TO THE GRAVEYARD! The graveyard has never been so appealing…

Tips on how to defeat your opponent… hope that luck is on your side and have a good deck! What I mean by a good deck is that each deck should not just have creatures or monsters of high level points or power. Each good YuGiOh deck should have a good deck of monster, trap, or spell cards to help the monster or stay alive and NOT BE SENT TO THE GRAVEYARD! Each Magic: The Gathering deck should have a good deck filled with creature, sorcery, instant, enchantment, artifact, and most importantly, planeswalker cards.

At Chatham Square, where we have a weekly YuGiOh and Card Games program on Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. at our lower level conference room hosted by our own NYPL’s Mr. Andrew, hearing "I’M SENDING YOU TO THE GRAVEYARD!" isn’t something surprising or offensive. It’s just a friendly game between kids and teens. Come join us to learn and test your deck to see who’s the best player and who’s ended up in THE GRAVEYARD…