LogFAQs > #956256504

#52: Griggle
First TCG release: Magic Ruler (2002-09-16)



This card epitomizes the stupidity and lack of understanding about the game I had as a kid. Obviously playground rules where kids misunderstood, accidentally cheated or just knowingly made things up about their cards were common all over especially during the beginning of the games life. Magic Ruler was the first new set I was there for the release of since LOB and MRD had both been out by the time my obsession got underway. I had seen all the real-life versions of the iconic cards from the anime but this set was the first time my child brain was witnessing and getting mind-blown by the whoa that thing I saw on the tv is now something I can have for real realization. So Magic Ruler I already have a soft spot for and itll make several more appearances on the list. But in addition to that, Griggle I thought was just an AMAZING card (and from a single glance at the card text, you can instantly tell it was because my puny child mind didnt understand how the card actually worked).

At that point my entire understanding of the game boiled down to life points = good. And to be fair, I believe there was a significant portion of the playerbase who thought similarly hence why absolutely insane cards like Solemn Judgment werent being played as frequently as it should have been because of the perceived costliness. So life points became the most important facet of the game for me rather than thinking about them as a resource to manage. Cards like Mysterious Puppeteer and Dian Keto I saw as TOP PERCENTAGE because of the life point gain (notice how Mysterious Puppeteers condition to gain life points is ignored) and of course Ookazi and Tremendous Fire were as equally good since they basically did the opposite. So along comes a new set and heres this new card. Ignore every other part of its text. It says 3000 life points. Fucking 3000 life points. Thats like the same amount of attack points as a Blue-Eyes, THE MOST POWERFUL CARD IN ALL OF DUEL MONSTERS. Tremendous Fire and Dian Keto only listed 1000 life points in its text. Never before had there been any mention of any life point amount higher than that. Not only that, my fifth grade teacher actually got into the game (it started out as a motivational tool to get one classmate to start doing his homework; it resulted in the one kid only getting to played him like once near the end of the school year while every other kid regularly played against our teacher) and there was actual discussion about how this seemingly insane card worked (yeah but what does control shifting to your opponent really mean?) and for a short while there was a mutual understanding between the classroom playerbase (i.e. my teacher and pretty much every guy in the class) that when Griggle was face up on the field and your turn ended (thus shifting control of the field to your opponent, you would gain 3000 life points. Looking back, its so clear thats not what the card says that Im baffled how as a collective group we came to that understanding.

The other issue was that despite being aware of Magic Rulers release and the existence of Griggle, either my mom had not yet acquiesced to my begging to buy me some packs or I did not pull any copies from the few packs I already had gotten OR I had one but felt like having multiple was absolutely essential. Either way, I was losing out on 3000 fucking life points. Another slight note here was that I thought any card that required a cost of life was bad. Because why would I ever want to WILLINGLY decrease my own life points? All of this eventually culminated in the worst trade I have ever made in my history of trading cards where I finally received a Griggle (+Rush Recklessly) for an actually insane card (also on this list) that I desperately wish I had now. To make matters worse, after I got my shiny (although not really because it was a Common) new Griggle and tried to add 3000 life points to my total in a duel against my teacher, I was informed that actually yeah they all realized it actually DIDNT work that way so the card was actually useless.

So yeah I kind of have to accept Griggle as one of my favorites as a reminder to the old stupid times (maybe its a coping mechanism). I can just embrace that I was a stupid kid with stupid kid moments or let punk Oddish haunt me forever.

Question: What was the worst card trade you ever made?