The Story Behind the Cards: My Little Pony CCG
Posted on 1/9/2025
By
Raeann Calcutta
When CGC Cards™ first began certifying cards in 2020, the only two TCGs that were accepted for grading were Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Later, CGC Cards announced the expansion of its grading services to include nearly all TCGs and non-sports cards. One of the first sets that CGC Cards began grading after MTG and Pokémon was the My Little Pony CCG — a card game based on the wildly popular franchise My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FiM) is the fourth generation of the My Little Pony media franchise by Hasbro. This iteration of My Little Pony is set in the fictional land of Equestria and centers around six “mane” characters: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy. Commonly referred to as the “Mane Six,” the TV show and other aspects of the franchise focus on the daily lives of the characters, with episodes, comics and stories usually centered around Twilight and her friends trying to solve problems together.
Interestingly, Friendship is Magic ended up being popular with both young girls and — unintentionally — an older, male-oriented fan base. Because of this, Friendship is Magic gained a huge following, leading to exceptional revenue for Hasbro and its affiliates. In response, Hasbro evolved Friendship is Magic into its own multimedia franchise, including comics, movies and a CCG.
The My Little Pony CCG takes the idea of problem solving and integrates it into its core gameplay experience. Gameplay takes place between two players, each of which have a “Mane” character as their player card and a stack of 10 “Problem” cards. The rest of a 45-card deck must consist of various Friends, Resources, Events and Troublemakers. Throughout the game, players play cards in their hand to face off against “Problems” put forth by either player, using the cards in their deck to solve problems and score points, or to hinder their opponent.
The CCG was developed by Enterplay and released in August 2013. Because the game is based around popular characters from the Friendship is Magic TV show, a large audience consisting of both children and adult fans were attracted to the game, causing a surge in aftermarket value. This led to a second and third series of the game before it finally went out of print in 2019, ending along with Friendship is Magic.
Although the CCG ended in 2019, many players still collect My Little Pony cards to play the game in both casual and non-official competitive tournaments. Others purchase My Little Pony CCG cards with the intent of building a collection of their favorite characters, scenes and moments from the show. Are you ready to expand your My Little Pony collection? CGC Cards is here to help! The company has certified dozens of My Little Pony cards. Learn how to submit by clicking here.
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