Christmas Gift Guide: Trading Card Games 2023

Trading card games have been growing in popularity across the board in recent years, thanks to the ongoing frenzy surrounding Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon Trading Card Game.

For outsiders to the trading card game, it may seem impossible to find something affordable and useful to give to a loved one or friend who indulges in this vast hobby. But fear not, because CGM is here to give you a head start with some practical yet desirable suggestions from across the industry.

(And don’t forget to support local this holiday season as well—there are many great independent game stores with passionate staff that can help you track down these products as well!)

Disney Lorcana

Disney Lorcana, published by Ravensburger, is one of the hottest trading card games of the year. Since the official launch of The First Chapter in August, half of the game’s challenge has been getting your hands on the actual cards at retail prices.

Nonetheless, we’re smitten with Lorcana‘s unique take on both Disney’s storytelling and the way it differentiates itself from other trading card games. Players take on the role of “Illumineers” and wield magical ink to summon versions of classic Disney characters—familiar “Storyborn” iterations, “Dreamborn” variants that have embraced their potential, or what-if “Floodborn” versions that take them in very different directions. It’s simple enough for kids to play but advanced and creative enough to keep adults and more experienced gamers engaged. It’s a natural fit for family game night with intuitive multiplayer rules.

The second set, Rise of the Floodborn, is now available at independent game stores and at retail, with more reprints of the original set, The First Chapter, due right before Christmas. Keep an eye out for the Starter Decks from either set, which are a great way to learn how to play, or for the Illumineer’s Trove box sets (pictured above) for a healthy boost of variety for your collection and a handy storage box, akin to Pokemon‘s Elite Trainer Boxes or Magic: The Gathering‘s Bundles.

Check Ravensburger’s official store locator to find what friendly local game stores might have something available to cross the Disney fan in your life off your shopping list.

Magic: The Gathering Lord Of The Rings Gift Sets

Jumping from the new blood to trading card games’ progenitor, Magic: The Gathering has several gift-minded options this year to make your holiday shopping easier. Our favourite is The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth‘s Scene Boxes, which highlight the beautiful art Wizards of the Coast commissioned for this thrilling crossover set.

Available in four varieties (“Aragorn at Helm’s Deep,” “Flight of the Witch King,” “Gandalf in Pelennor Fields,” and “The Might of Galadriel”), these premium boxes contain a full set of the illustrated scene cards—six cards each, which line up to create a full mural depicting key characters from Tolkien’s Legendarium (or at least, WOTC’s art team’s heartfelt interpretation of them). These cards can be used in play or shown off with the included art easel as a classy addition to your game room decor. The box also includes art cards of the scene and 3 regular set boosters of Tales of Middle Earth.

Considering the value of the packs and the high-quality presentation, this is a great gift for new or experienced MTG players alike, or maybe even a passionate Tolkien fan who isn’t into trading card games.

Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair

For the more enthusiastic Magic: The Gathering collector in your life, the Secret Lair line is always adding new limited-run printings on certain themes. As of publication time, the current lineup includes a collaboration with Tomb Raider featuring Lara Croft as an intriguing option for a Commander deck; a special “Holiday Gift Bag” with tranquil, snowy scenes; several crossovers with Jurassic World, tying in with the recent Lost Caverns of Ixalan set; and an otherworldly “Through the Wormhole” set of artifacts and lands that could spice up many non-Standard decks.

These are just the most recent offerings in one of trading card games’ most creative initiatives. You may yet be able to find older printings from your local game stores. Some of our favourite previous offerings include the Fortnite set, the adorable “OMG KITTIES!”, “Saturday Morning D&D,” “Kamigawa Ink,” and the Artist Series, which showcase individual artists.

Devoted players of trading card games love tricking out their decks with flashy variants where possible, especially when it comes to MTG‘s Commander format. To that end, Secret Lair versions are the height of

View the full, current lineup of these limited edition sets on the Secret Lair website.

Pokémon Trading Card Game: Battle Academy/My First Battle

Collecting Pokémon cards has been a huge hobby for kids for two decades now, and never at a bigger scale than it is today. Yet, the vast majority of collectors don’t actually play the game itself. While that’s a totally valid hobby in itself, learning the ins and outs of the cards’ actual application is easy and can expand the worth of those countless boxes of unplayed cardboard.

The Pokemon Company regularly puts out new products to help young trainers learn one of the world’s top trading card games, and in recent years, they’ve hit the nail on the head with the Battle Academy. This set, available in two different iterations, includes everything you need: two ready-to-play decks, a board game-style playing surface, tokens, and an instruction booklet. The first time you play, don’t shuffle the decks—just follow the sample game outlined in the instructions and you’ll learn the basic gameplay flow.

Once you have the fundamentals down, you can shuffle the decks and play unguided games, or break open the third deck with slightly more advanced cards. It’s a great resource for teaching young Pokemon fans, and for the parents and guardians who need to learn how to play alongside them.

The newest offering, “My First Battle,” takes a different route, with 2 “mini-decks” of 17 cards in each box, and a simplified ruleset. This may be a little easier to digest at first, but new players will need to adjust to the “real” rules if they want to keep on playing.

For our money, the Battle Academy is one of the best learning aids for trading card games out there today, but it is becoming harder to find; you can still find it at Gamestop Canada and, perhaps, your local game store. Either way, learning the actual game can put a lot more mileage into those expensive cards that the kids in your life love to collect.

Pokémon Trading Card Game: Trainer’s Toolkit

Say your youngster tries the Pokémon Trading Card Game and wants to get deeper into it. The next great step is the Trainer’s Toolkit. This box offers over 150 cards, 4 boosters, a set of card sleeves, premium tokens and dice, and a guidebook that guides new players in creating their own deck from scratch.

Of those 150 cards, the majority are Basic Energy cards, enough to give any fledgling card player the resources to build several different decks. The other cards are useful resources as well, including the Arceus V and Arceus VSTAR promos in every box.

In every system, one of the finest points of all trading card games is the intricate balance of deck construction. The Trainer’s Toolkit offers new players everything they need to build their first few decks and, via the guidebook, the wisdom to start crafting them well.

Yu-Gi-Oh Speed Duel: Streets of Battle City

Of the three big Japanese trading card games in the late ’90s, Yu-Gi-Oh won second place to Pokémon (though Digimon fans may contend this to death). Though it hasn’t quite retained the high level of popularity of its cousin, Yu-Gi-Oh is still alive and well in 2023 and celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Many childhood fans are rediscovering the game nowadays, making the Legendary Collection 25th Anniversary Box a great choice, even if the former fan on your list hasn’t been playing trading card games since they were in grade school. Help them relive their childhood on Christmas morning with this collection, boasting 6 boosters, 6 Ultra Cards (including variants of signature monsters), and 1 of 6 additional “Quarter Century Rare” variants. Or, grab the Streets of Battle City Speed Duel box, containing 8 premade decks to get right back into playing the game.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

There are many adaptations of popular video game franchises among the plethora of trading card games out there, and one of our underrated favourites is the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Hobby Japan and Square Enix have just published the 21st set in the game’s current iteration, Beyond Destiny, and it even has a small but dedicated Organized Play system behind it.

Similar to other trading card games, FFTCG has players summoning characters to attack their opponents, but thematic elements from the classic RPGS come into play to set this system apart from the others. Many of the cards feature art drawn from concept or promotional art throughout the series’ 36-year history, supplemented by some exquisite pieces commissioned specifically for the game from some of the best artists on Square Enix’s retainer.

Better still, the cards themselves are printed on premium cardstock, with a higher-quality feel than most other trading card games. Many hardcore Final Fantasy fans should enjoy collecting these works of art, or using them to create the ultimate crossover of the series’ ensembles.

Biogenik Card Vault

No matter which trading card games you play, every collector and/or player inevitably runs into a major conundrum: how and where to store all of the cards they aren’t actively using. Many products, even among those on this list, come in boxes that make excellent storage options; card stores typically offer plain white cardboard boxes in various sizes for relatively cheap, and in a pinch, even a shoebox could do.

But, for the ultimate in security and displayability, we recommend the Biogenik Card Vault. Holding over 3000 cards, this hard-shell vault is highly secure and highly customizable. Its lid is hinged and lockable, and its four rows can be customized with dividers or even cover art. Most deckboxes can fit in, as well, save for some of the bulkier options on the market.

If organization is a problem in your household, this could be the solution.

Ultra Pro Mythic Edition Accessories for Magic: The Gathering

Tricking out a deck doesn’t just mean finding the flashiest variant printings of a favourite card; it applies to the other accessories you use on the tabletop as well, such as your playmat or deck box. To that end, Ultra Pro has a classy new option in its Mythic Edition line of Magic: The Gathering accessories.

Including three different deck boxes, three different binders, a storage box, and dedicated loyalty dice with their own carrying case, there’s something for most MTG players in this lineup and plenty to make other trading card games a little green with envy. Each has a minimalist design, a black leatherette with the Planeswalker symbol embroidered in mythic orange, that is suitable for just about any deck.

The true standout is the Alcove Vault Deck Box, which packs two compartments for 100-card decks and a third central compartment for another smaller deck or accessories like dice and tokens. It’s the perfect tool for long game nights.

It’s almost rare to see something so understated and classy, yet secure and practical, in the world of trading card games’ accessories.

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