Tactical Game Cards

# Welcome to the Exciting world of Tactical Game Cards!

Sponsored by Nanotrasen Edu-tainment Devision.

### Core Rules:

Tactical Game Cards (Also known as /TG/C) is a traditional trading card game. It's played between two players, each with a deck or collection of cards.

> Each player's **deck** contains a set of **30 cards**. For each individual card, you can have a maximum of 3 cards in your deck.
> Each player's **hand** can hold a maximum of **7 cards.** At the end of your turn, if you have more than 7 cards, you must choose cards to discard to your discard pile until you have 7 cards.
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To begin a match, both players must flip a coin to decide who goes first. The winner of the coin toss then decides if they go **first** or **second**. Before the match begins each player draws 5 cards each with the ability to mulligan cards from their hand facedown once (Basically, you get a first pass where you can replace cards in your hands back into your deck, shuffle your deck, then draw until you're back to 5). Each player begins with 1 Max Mana to start with, which serves as the cost to playing cards.

### What You Need

In order to play the TCG, a deck is required. As stated above, decks must contain exactly 30 cards.

Additionally, to save cards you require access to the TCG CardStore in the library or ~~a modular computer loaded with a holoprojector and the TCG CardStore app.~~

Finally, a stock of Thunderdome Flippers to use for coin tosses and counter effects is recommended- these can be obtained occasionally from cardpacks, but any coin will do.

### Gameplay Phases

A single turn of the game goes as follows, and the order of card effects is very similar to other card games.
Within a single turn, the following phases are gone through, in order, unless otherwise altered by a card effect.
Turn Phases are the **Draw Phase, Effect Phase 1, Play Phase, Combat Phase, Effect Phase 2, and the End Phase.**

> **During the draw phase**, the player whose turn it is untaps all their cards, then draws a single card. They gain 1 Max Mana, and their Mana is refilled. Cards with missing health due to defending, attacking, or damage effects return to max health at the end of the draw phase.
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> **During the First Effect Phase,** this is when effects that take place at the start of your turn would occur. If an opponent's effect takes place at the start of your turn, their effects will always take place first, then yours, unless otherwise stated by a card effect. If an opponent's effect would cause you to lose the game, and your effects would prevent that condition from happening afterwards, you would lose the game. As a general roll, when it's your turn, your opponent's effects take place FIRST, then yours.
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> **During the Play Phase,** this is when you can play, summon, or activate your own cards. Card Effects that don't state when they're activated MUST be activated during the Play Phase. Your opponent can also activate their own card effects in response to one of your actions during your play phase, if able. Any card played during the play phase can activate its effect as soon as it's played. More details within the **Card Breakdown** section.
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> **During the Battle Phase,** a creature card is able to battle other creature cards, or attack their opponent once per turn. Neither player can attack on their first turn, and all cards that enter the field can attack as soon as they can, unless it is that player's first turn, or they are prevented by a card effect. More details within the **Card Combat** section.
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> **During the End Phase,** end of turn effects will occur. If the active player has more than 7 cards in their hand by this point, this is when they must discard cards. All of the player's cards who used an effect at any point in the turn are refreshed, and able to use their effect again going into the opponent's turn. By the end of their turn, if the player has more than 7 cards, they must discard cards from their hand until 7 remain.
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After all 5 phases have passed, the players turn officially ends, and the opponent begins their turn, starting anew from the draw phase.

### Card Effects

Card effects are typically limited to the turn that that card is played. For example, a card effect that provides a card +1/+1 power/resolve would only last until the end of the turn, unless otherwise stated, OR if the card is an Item card. More on those below.

### Card Breakdown

Within the game, there are 4 kinds of cards (So far), **Creature, Item, Event, and Battlefield cards.**

> **Creature Cards.**
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> All creature cards have 4 core values to keep in mind, **Power, Resolve, Faction, and Summoning Cost**. **Power** serves as a card's offensive value in combat. **Resolve** serves as a card's defensive value in combat, and doubles as a card's health. **Factions** are groupings of cards that can often share effects and traits together. **Summoning Cost** is how much mana a card needs in order to be summoned.
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> **Item Cards.**
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> All item cards (similarly to Creature Cards) have Power, Resolve, and Summon Cost values, but for items, these values are added to the attached card's values. Items can only be attached (Equip) to creatures, and they last until the creature dies, or otherwise leaves the field, following it's equip card. If returned to the hand, send to the discard pile, or otherwise leaves the field, it is detached from the equip card. When a Item card increases a card's power or resolve, those effects stay on the equip card until the item is unequipped or removed from the parent card.
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> If a card would have it's resolve decreased by having it's equip card removed, it's handled by having it's maximum resolve decreased, not it's current resolve. For example, lets say you had a card with 1/1 power/resolve, and give it an item giving it +1/+2, then that card enters combat, dropping it down to 2/1. If by an opponent's card effect it lost that +1/+2 item now, it's stats would be 1/1 once again. If an equip card *explicitly* lowers a card's stats, it is possible for a card to be killed as a result, but drops in power will always bottom out at 0 power at any given time.
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> **Artifact Cards.**
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> Artifact cards are similar to item cards. Except instead of equipping it to a creature, it is equipped to a player. Artifact cards are useful but tricky to play. These cards *can* become creatures, but they become a "Creature Artifact." Where they are both a creature and an artifact
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> **Event Cards.**
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> Event Cards function as instant effects that can be played from the hand on either player's turn. Event cards will often have a summon cost to be played, but may also have a condition that must be met in order to be activated. Events can also be activated in response to another player's event, including your own. This means that event cards are subject to the order that they're played, in a *reverse stack*. For example, creature A uses an effect that returns creature B to the opponent's hand. You activate and event that destroys creature A instead. If that effect resolves, creature A would be destroyed before creature B returns to the hand. However, if the opponent then played an event that prevent the activation of event cards that turn, then the first event would be negated, and creature B returns to the hand, while creature A remains unharmed.
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> Other events may take place over the course of a single turn instead of instantly, based on the card effect. The initial playing of those cards can allow for an event response, but only against it's initial playing on the field.
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> **Department Cards.**
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> Department cards function as continuous effects on the field, and between you and your opponent only a single department may be in play at a given time. If a department is in play and you attempt to play a new one, discard the old department, unless otherwise stated by a card effect. Department cards with an active effect are resolved when stated, or during the play phase if not otherwise stated. Use of department cards and their fitting factions is the key to tying your deck's themes and strengths together!
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Maintaining a healthy ratio of department cards, creature cards, events, and item cards is important to being able to activate the cards you want in the order you want to to be activated.

### Card Combat

Card combat is determined as follows. On your turn, any non-tapped creature card with a positive attack power is capable of declaring an attack. Upon declaring an attack, you must state if you're attacking your opponent directly, or if you're going to attack a specific opponent's creature. Unless otherwise stated, cards can only attack or defend one time per turn.

An **attack against a creature** resolves as follows:
Both creatures will do their power as damage to the opponent's creature's resolve. Damage is typically dealt at the same time, and if both creatures would kill each other through combat, both are destroyed at the same time. If One or both creatures would not be destroyed by combat, they would have their health reduced by the difference of their resolve minus their opponent's power, until the start of your next turn. If the attacker or defender has a keyword or effect that prevents them from attacking their opponent (Like silicon, immunity), then they are not able to attack, but may still defend against the opponent's attack. Once combat has resolved, all remaining participants become tapped.

A **direct attack** resolves as follows:
The attacking creature declares an attack against the opponent's lifeshards. Your opponent may then declare a defender if one is available, who will then turn the combat into an **attack against a creature** for the purposes of combat that turn. If the attack is not blocked, and the direct attack connects, then your opponent loses a number of lifeshards equal to the attacking creatures power.

### How to Win

This part is simple. Each player starts the match with **20 Life Shards**. When an opponent attacks you directly, you will lose lifeshards (unless otherwise stated). Alternatively, when either player attempts to draw a card from their deck and has nothing else remaining, the drawing player must lose 1 life shard, but may draw a chosen card from their discard pile instead. You win the match by reducing your opponent's lifeshards to zero.

Card combat plays a large part to winning, as blockers and taunts are the only things keeping your opponent from attacking you directly. Maintaining a field advantage can win you the game quite easily, but card removal and effects can overpower any brute force strategy.

### Tips N Tricks!

Follows these Tips N Tricks to become the ultimate /TG/C player on the station!

* There are several rarities of cards! Every Pack comes with 5 common cards, 1 guaranteed rare or better, and occasionally a coin for flipping!
* A wise man once said, "the card game is deep". Experiment with card effects, combos, and strategies!
* Did you know that 2% of all profits of /TG/C cards is sent to charity?\*
* Building a deck that revolves around multiple departments can be the key to victory against some strategies!
* The Quartermaster will never be a head of staff. Not even in fiction.
* /TG/C cards are individually printed on paper made from the last of the California Redwoods!
* We've never heard of 'magic' or 'porkmen' or 'yumigoes'. Stop Emailing us about it.
* There are some clever ways to activate once-per-turn effects a second time.
* Playing /TG/C while driving or operating heavy machinery is not advised, if you want to look like a DORK that is.

* By charity, we mean we literally just throw it away.