I have a dream

2000’s – The pinnacle years

In early 2000’s, I was never skipping a Friday Night Magic and a couple years later I started to grind PTQs, went to nearby Grand Prix and tried to compete in as many events as my wallet would let me attend. Those were, in my humble opinion, the best years, the pinnacle, of TCGs. A time where it meant everything to me, alike so many other players. We would see each others at all the majors events, enjoyed dinner together or discussing strategies while taking the long hours drive in a jammed packed small car. My very first car back then.

I played that way for several years, then started to work and had less time to play it. I was attending an event or 2 per year, as my time schedule didn’t allow for more. Luckily, some friends were having success and it was great to see them making high achievements in Pro Tours, which kept me thrilled. But it faded out. And I know that a lot of people felt like that too. That brilliant game faded out, but it has left in its heritage so many great memories.

 

2010’s – The fall of an empire

I’ve tried to get back at it around 2015, but it never felt the same. I’ve played it for several other years, and then switched to another great game, which was Flesh and Blood. Another great game, but at last, never gave me the engagement I was looking for. And I must recognize that both Richard Garfield and James White (I don’t know them personally) have done a great job, but the first one got swallowed by a company that is all but what it was at the start, and the second has designed a game that is, once again in my opinion, not meant to get the thrive we were all seeking for after those years.

 

2020’s – Dream of lost memories

After several deceptions and many years of experience as a manager and a couple game prototype (I’ve always enjoyed creating stuff) I started to work on L.E.T.A.L. back in 2020 (oddly enough, this is not related at all with the pandemic, as I never stopped working). And for that very game, I had a dream, which I still have: Retrieving what was lost – The joy we were getting at those FNM back in the early 2000’s.

Even it is was just a dream back then, I, with a couple close friends, tuned the details and never gave up. Most of you cannot understand how much hard work it is to get a project like that started – I certainly have more than 5000 hours spent designing / playing / fine tuning this game. But I believe we have achieved it! We have reached that dream – At least the very base of it. We have a game that have this potential!

 

Facing the hard truth!

Then, back in 2023, I spoke and read about getting more serious. And this has been a great despair. My chances of success, according to most people : Close to none! That has been a though feeling. A very though one! If I was in a box ring, I would have been knocked out. And you know what you do after you get knocked out? You get back on your feet and train harder!

So I stood up and thought about it again…

I asked myself: What makes success of any TCG?

People were talking to me about the fact that I would need to invest millions, that no matter what would happen it would always be shadowed by the big games (Thanks Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Lorcana and so much more) and it would never last.

But I found out what really matter. There’s only one thing we need:

ITS COMMUNITY!

And I strongly believe that WE can make it. One folk at the time, one game at the time, one memory at the time! Each small step will make a difference.

 

A dream coming true

We will do things differently, as we want every customer to be part of this adventure. We will focus on what really matters : Your game experience!

We will design a game that is not changing format too often, yet still making it a real thing (it’s fun to change things from time to time, but let’s be honest, no one can keep up with MTG Standard format). We will also make sure that whatever set you are buying, you will get new cool cards to put in your deck (and not having to wait a year because your favourite hero doesn’t get any support). Plus we will make sure that you can enjoy it for both competitive play, casual play, and limited play (I’ve always been a real fan of limited formats, and from the start we’ve designed this game thinking about formats and mostly about multiplayer). 

We will create a game for players, and not for collectors / speculators. We plan to release 2 sets and a half (a smaller set will be planned at end of season we several twists in it – first twist is already set 🙂 ). We will make sure it’s affordable for players (of course we will add alternate arts, foils – it’s fun to open one of those cards – but this will not be our focus, we want game to generate value based on playability and interest). Enough said, if you want to learn more, you can ever read our policies.

In order to achieve my dream, I am pledging you to join us. Please share, give it a try (we have put 8 decklists ready to print plus our search engine which can let you do your own prints) and join us. We don’t want to necessarily be your first choice (we hope it will become it – we all do 😉 ), as we know there’s many other great options.

 

What we want?

We want this game to fill your needs. We want this game to be your sunday PM rendez-vous at your LGS. We want this game to give you thrive prior to the next big event.

And there’s only one way to achieve that: It’s with your collaboration!!!

With my most sincere gratitude, I am very grateful for the few minutes you gave us by reading this article.

Love,

    David Maltais, dreamer and founder of L.E.T.A.L TCG!