Star Wars Customizable Card Game
From Free net encyclopedia
Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is a collectible card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produces Star Trek Customizable Card Game and The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game.
| Star Wars Customizable Card Game | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Age range | 8 and up |
| Setup time | < 1 minute |
| Playing time | 1 hour |
| Rules complexity | High |
| Strategy depth | High |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skills required | Deck Manipulation, Deck Optimization, Planning |
| {{{footnotes|}}} | |
Contents |
History
The game was first released in December 1995. Over the years, Decipher added 11 full expansions to the original card base, as well as numerous smaller expansions, special purpose sets, and promotional releases. The last set, Theed Palace, was released by Decipher in the fall of 2001. The game spanned all of the classic Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) as well as The Phantom Menace.
At the end of 2001, Lucasfilm chose not to renew Decipher's license to use the Star Wars intellectual property, and instead granted this license to Wizards of the Coast, which used the license to create their own game. Decipher can no longer legally create new expansions to SW:CCG; many cards that were in development can never be released to the public.
As of 2006, SW:CCG still has an active playing community. The game is now administered by a Players' Committee, which interprets rules, organizes tournaments, and releases "virtual expansions" which give alternate game text for existing cards. The new "virtual cards" function as entirely new cards and keep the game changing. The "virtual card" overlays are available for free on the Players' Committee website, though you must have the original card to use its "virtual" version. To date, the Players' Committee has produced eleven virtual sets.
Sets
Full expansion sets
The following full sets were created by Decipher:
- Premiere (1995) - This was the first set for the Star Wars CCG and included Luke, Han, Leia, C-3PO, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Vader as well as many other very useful cards that formed the core of the game. All of the images from this set were taken from A New Hope. This set along with A New Hope and Hoth were sold in packs of 15 cards for a retail price of $3.00.
- A New Hope (1996) - This set featured additional cards taken from the first Star Wars movie. Important introductions in this set included Chewbacca and R2-D2 who were not in the first set. Also of note were the Death Star as a system card and the introduction of creatures and rules for blowing away planets (which in the beginning was extremely difficult to do.)
- Hoth (1996) - This was the first set to include images from The Empire Strikes Back. It was also the first set to introduce a new "persona" of a "main character" that was at the same power level as the original version (Commander Luke Skywalker). Also included in this set were the immense AT-AT walkers. This set, due to its high level of useful cards, is still popular.
- Dagobah (1997) - This was set featured cards from the middle part of The Empire Strikes Back. Significant cards included Yoda, another new version of Luke (Son of Skywalker) and all of the bounty hunters, their ships, and weapons (except Boba Fett). This set was also the first to be sold in packs of 9 cards with an original retail price of $2.50 per pack, the last card in the pack would always be the rare. This was meant so that players and collectors could get more rares and less commons and uncommons. When originally released, this set had a bad reputation with players because of the introduction of many elements that made the game less interactive and focused on deck manipulation strategies to the expense of intense battling that originally made the game popular.
- Cloud City (1997) - This set included new versions of Han and Leia and also introduced Lando Calrissian as a character card in the game. He was also unique in that he had both Light Side and Dark Side versions. It also finally added Boba Fett to the game (although he had been availalbe as a preview card in the First Anthology released earlier in the year.) This set also introduced dueling as a major strategic factor for the Dark Side and provided for the possibility that Luke could turn to the Dark Side. Cloud City also attempted to correct the "numbers" strategies prevalent since Dagobah that players found abusive. Due to a large print run, this set, as of 2006, is very easy to acquire.
- Jabba's Palace (1998) - This was the first set to feature cards from Return of the Jedi and focused on the opening scenes of the film where the heroes tried to rescue Han from Jabba. Jabba the Hutt, himself, was an important card as was the new version of R2-D2 (Artoo) but on the whole this set was seen as being fairly weak by players who complained that there were simply too many aliens that had little or no strategic use. This is, as of 2006, the cheapest and easiest set to purchase.
- Special Edition (1998) - This was the largest set since Premiere and the first to introduce new starter decks (which included many cards that could only be found in them). This set was seen as something of an overhaul of the game since it changed some game terms and attempted to make the entire play experience more streamlined through the release of a comprehensive rulebook and glossary. The most notable addition in this set was the introduction of objectives. These cards allowed a player to start many more cards and provided a movie-based goal for a player's deck. Many players praised this addition, arguing that it made little-used strategies (like freezing people in carbonite) useful. Others argued that it limited creativity and led to cookie-cutter decks based around various objectives that all looked and played the same. The most popular card in this set is probably Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.
- Endor (1999) - This was the first of two sets to focus on the latter two-thirds of The Return of the Jedi. It included a vast amount of characters and vehicles that were designed to be useful in battles. This set did not have a good reputation in the beginning because of the sheer amount of new characters and vehicles that some players argued were redundant. However, its reputation has improved since then, and as of 2006, is one of the more valuable and expensive to purchase. This set, and all after it, were sold in 11 card packs for a retail price of $3.49.
- Death Star II (2000) - This set was the second to focus on the end of The Return of the Jedi and along with Endor forms a stand-alone environment, where all of the cards can be played independently of other sets. This was also the first set to feature ultra-rare cards (Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and Emperor Palpatine). The inclusion of these two very powerful characters along with many other useful cards and a perception that the set as a whole was very well designed has given it lasting appeal and led to it being, as of 2006, one of the more expensive sets to purchase.
- Tatooine (2001) - Tatooine was originally scheduled to be a set based on the Skywalker family, this idea, however, was abandoned when Decipher decided to allow for elements of the film The Phantom Menace, the first of the prequels, to mix with the "Classic Trilogy" cards. Thus, this set includes Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, Padme Naberrie, as well as a younger version of Obi-Wan. Anakin Skywalker was not included in this set to avoid problems with having him and Darth Vader both in the game. This set seemed to have a very high print run and along with a smaller number of cards has led to it being very easy acquire and inexpensive to purchase.
- Coruscant (2001) - Coruscant focuses on events from the middle of The Phantom Menace. This has a high number of very useful cards and a very limited print run. As of 2006, it is, by far, the most expensive and hardest set to acquire. There are a number of notable cards in this deck including new versions of Queen Amidala, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul as well as the introduction of Mace Windu.
- Theed Palace (2001) - This was the very last set produced for Star Wars CCG. The most popular and notable card in this set is Darth Sidious who was, at that time, not considered by Decipher to be the same person as Emperor Palpatine or Senator Palpatine in game terms. For gameplay reasons, these three cards have still not been combined into one persona. This set is also somewhat difficult to acquire.
Decipher also reprinted four sets that had sold out (Premiere, A New Hope, Hoth, and Dagobah). These reprinted cards sometimes had slightly different game text to reflect erratas that had been issued and all of them had white borders which indicated an unlimited edition. Also, packs of revised A New Hope and Hoth were sold in 9 card packs rather than the original 15.
Premium and additional sets
Decipher also created several smaller sets and premium products which included additional cards:
- Premiere Two-Player Game (1995) - This set included two preconstructed decks and a Premiere booster pack. The decks included six unique cards available only in this set. Included beginners versions of Luke and Vader as well as the card Vader's Obsession which would later become very powerful with the introduction of dueling. The entire set was packaged in a boardgame style box and was, indeed, often sold alongside board games at many retail stores.
- Jedi Pack (1996) - This 11 card pack was released as a thank you to players and was distributed for free via email in offer. It contained versions of Han, Leia, Tarkin, and Motti with very limited functionality, but nonetheless allowed players to play with the, at the time, difficult to acquire "main characters." There were no truly powerful cards in this set.
- The Empire Strikes Back Two-Player Game (1996) - Like the Premiere Two-Player Game, this set included a light and dark side deck which included well as six premium cards as well as a Premiere booster pack. There were limited functionality versions of Chewie and Veers, but the true star of this set were the Imperial Walkers and the card Walker Garrison. The Imperial Walkers were low-deploy cost versions of AT-ATs that fascilitated the use of Walker Garrison, an extremely powerful card which increased force drains on Hoth for the dark side to devastating levels. This is the centerpiece of several decks and continues to be very powerful.
- Rebel Leaders pack (1997) - This was a two card set that featured Red Leader in Red 1 and Gold Leader in Gold 1. These ships were oringally very powerful, but their utility has decreased somewhat over time. The cards were given out free at many major conventions where Decipher had a presence.
- Official Tournament Sealed Deck (1998) - This set included 18 premium cards, four Premiere packs, and one A New Hope pack. As the name implies, this set was used in tournaments. Each player would be assigned a Side and would open their packs. They would keep their Side's cards and pass the rest to the next player, who would be the opposite Side. Once all of the cards were sorted, the players would create a deck with the cards they had.
- Enhanced Premiere (1998) - This set featured six new cards: versions of Luke, Han, Leia, Obi-Wan, Vader, and Boba Fett with their personal weapons built into the character card. These six cards were incredibly powerful at the time of release, and indeed, many of them eclipsed the power of the original character cards. Several of these EPPs (so called because they are found in Enhanced Premiere Packs) are still very useful in competitive play. Each character came with four Premiere booster packs. You could tell which character you were getting through the die-cut box face.
- Enhanced Cloud City (1999) - This set featured 12 new cards, three per box (which came with four Cloud City packs). The highlight of this set was the introduction of bounty hunter character cards wielding their signature weapons. Like Enhanced Premiere before, these new characters were generally more powerful than their original versions. Also of note, were the two Cloud City objectives in this set, one of which would dominate the tournament play for many years.
- Enhanced Jabba's Palace (1999) - This set also included 12 new cards. The "face cards" were versions of Luke, Leia, and C-3PO from the "Jabba's Palce scenes" in Return of the Jedi as well as the first ever character card of Mara Jade, a very popular character from Timothy Zahn's series of novels. Mara Jade easily became the most popular card in this set.
- Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck (2000) - This was new version of the Tournament Sealed Deck themed around Jabba's Palace. The set included several Jabba's Palace packs and 20 premium cards (10 Light Side and 10 Dark Side). These were used in the same format tournaments as the Tournament Sealed Deck.
- Reflections II (2000) - 52 new cards were featured in this set. Each Reflections II pack came with two of these new cards (along with a foil version of a popular card from a previous expansion set as well as a random assortment of other old cards). Many of these premium cards were characters, ships, and objects from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. As with Mara Jade, models were used for these characters which included the likes of Talon Karrde, Corran Horn, Dash Rendar, and Prince Xizor. This set also introduced "combo" versions of past interrupts, effects, and characters which combined two different cards into one. These combo cards were very popular and ultimately made the individual versions of the cards that they were based on obsolete.
- Third Anthology (2000) - This boxed set included six new cards, including two new objectives based around the Death Star. The most popular card in this set is Artoo in Red-Five. It is unique and very useful for having a destiny number of 0 or 7, making it the card with the absolute best destiny number in the game.
- Reflections III (2001) - Included with the foils and random old cards found in all Reflections sets were 104 new cards. Among the new cards were characters and one vehicle with "maintenance cost". These cards were extremely powerful (some fans would argue "broken" in their power level) that you had to pay for each turn to keep on table. The other notable addition in this set were defensive shields, cards that were separate from your sixty-card deck and were designed to counter abusive strategies. This set had a limited print run, and is today one of the hardest to find on the secondary market.
Other products
Three other products were released that did not include any cards not found elsewhere:
- First Anthology (1997) - This set featured six preview cards that, while at the time were unique, were later found in the Special Edition card set. The most popular one, at the time, was the first appearance of Boba Fett.
- Second Anthology (1998) - This product also featured six preview cards, one from Special Edition, two from Endor, and three from Death Star II. It also included eight packs of Unlimited Premiere, two of Dagobah and two of Cloud City.
- Reflections (1999) - Each 18 card pack of Reflections contained one rare card from a previous set that was deemed to be a fan favorite after a poll on Decipher.com was taken. These cards were overlayed with foil that made them shine in the light. The remaining 17 cards were a random mixture of past cards, thus making it possible to find packs with multiple rares. Some have even found packs containing only rares.
Gameplay
Each game requires one player to play the Light Side while the other plays the Dark Side of the Force. In friendly play, a player can specialize in one side or the other. In tournament play, players need two decks, one for playing Dark and the other for playing Light.
The objective of the game is to deplete the other player's deck.
Star Wars CCG had more basic card types than most TCGs; the game began with 8 card types, most of which contained several subtypes. Later expansions added new basic card types.
The original card types were:
- Character
- Starship
- Vehicle
- Equipment
- Weapon
- Interrupt
- Effect
- Location
Card types introduced later:
- Epic Event
- Creature
- Jedi Test
- Objective
- Admiral's Order
- Podracer
- Defensive Shield
Distinguishing features
Compared to other trading card games, SW:CCG is complex and has a steep learning curve. It has more rules than other TCGs, with some of these rules being obscure and seldom-needed. Some of the basic concepts (such as the distinction between "battle damage" and "attrition" in battle) can be counter-intuitive.
On the other hand the basic mechanics are innovative and flexible, giving SW:CCG a game depth that appeals to serious gamers.
One other feature distinguished SW:CCG from many other TCGs: while Decipher oversaw the game, no card was ever banned from tournament play. Instead, when a card or strategy was deemed abusive or too powerful, Decipher chose to release "magic bullets," new cards which were specifically designed to counter the offending strategy. In some cases, Decipher also used errata, modifications to game text of a card that supersede the actual printed version. The use of errata also contributes to a steep learning curve, since players need to be aware of errata in order to use the affected cards properly.
Tournament formats
There are two major constructed formats for tournament play - Open and Classic, which differ only in deck construction rules.
In the Open format, every card is legal. The only deck restrictions are that each deck must contain 60 cards from the same side of the Force and no more than 1 Objective card.
Classic format is intended to recreate the environment of the game before the Episode I sets (Tatooine, Theed Palace, Coruscant, and Reflections III), which many players viewed to have unbalanced game mechanics and broken continuity. The Classic format has the same deck construction rules as the Open format, but includes the following list of banned cards:
- Any card with the Episode I icon
- Any card with a Maintenance Cost
The World Championships and most events in the World Tournament Circuit are played in the Open format.
Related games
Decipher produced two other TCGs based on the Star Wars universe: Young Jedi, based on the second Star Wars trilogy, and Jedi Knights. Neither of these games matched the popularity of SW:CCG. Both were discontinued when Decipher lost the Star Wars license.
In April 2004, Decipher announced a new game, Wars TCG, based on the game mechanics of SW:CCG. Wars TCG is set in a proprietary science fiction universe created specially for the game and owned by Decipher. However, the game failed to catch on with players and sales were sluggish. After two sets, the game was placed on "indefinite hiatus" by Decipher at the beginning of May 2005.