Remember swapping Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards with your friends in the school playground? Well today, I’m here to tell you that your childhood nostalgia has taken a giant leap into the world of esports, as the Overwatch League now has its own set of trading cards.
In a press release issued earlier this week, collectibles company Upper Deck announced that it’s launching the cards to commemorate the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. The 125-strong base set, as well as ‘insert sets’ that include iconic moments from Season One, as well as holographic cards featuring the Overwatch League All-Stars.
There’s a bunch more special cards, including signed Ink cards and Fragment cards which feature swatches from player jerseys. If you’re really after some collector’s items, you can use Upper Deck’s achievement system to earn oversized cards featuring mice, CPU chips, and even pieces of keyboards used on-stage by players. There’s even an opportunity to win autographed jerseys from Jjonak and Profit, MVPs of the first season and the Grand Finals respectively.
Ok, so these aren’t quite as charming as some of the anime-inspired cards of my youth, but given that I also spent a worrying amount of my pre-teen time and effort collecting cards with football players on them, I’m not sure my initial scepticism is quite fair. That said, I can’t say I’ll be partaking myself this time around.
Deal me in: Here are the best card games on PC
From here, I imagine the possibilities are endless. Just imagine what could come next: LCS trading cards, CWL trading cards, even Fortnite streamer trading cards – although I’m not sure Shiny Ninja has quite the same appeal as an OG Shiny Charizard.