A review of the new Star Wars TCG from Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
By Aaron Brogdon (A.K.A Bacabachaui)

On December 28, 2001 an announcement was made that shocked fans of the much beloved Star Wars Customizable Card Game. Decipher, Inc. notified gaming fans that Lucasfilm had chosen not to renew their license to produce Star Wars CCG and other card games based on the Star Wars universe. Shortly after, it was confirmed that Wizards of the Coast, Inc. had been awarded the license and would be releasing a brand new game created by master game designer Richard Garfield, originator of the popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering and other games.

Rumors had been circulating the net for months but the move was now confirmed, leaving devoted Star Wars CCG fans reeling. Fans' reactions ranged from passionately expressed outrage to reluctant acceptance. Other card game enthusiasts expressed a variety of opinions from hope to outright skepticism. While still others, an outspoken few, hailed the news of a fresh new game. But in the ranks of the vast silent majority most have adopted a "wait and see" attitude.

No matter what their reaction, everyone seems to agree on one thing: Wizard?s of the Coast has big shoes to fill.

When I first heard the news about the license, I was among those shocked, upset, and outspoken. As soon as I realized that being angry or upset would accomplish nothing, I decided to see what I could find out about this new game. After all, I am a Star Wars fan, and if there is a game based on Star Wars that is worth my time and hard-earned money, I wanted to give it a chance. Rather than allow my opinion to be clouded and controlled by emotion and controversy, I began to judge the game on it?s own merits. It was at this point that my whole perspective changed.

My path to learning more about the game has taken many twists and turns. Last week I had the privilege to sample the new game at Wizard?s of the Coast headquarters in Renton, WA. What I saw was a beautiful, fantastic and challenging game that delivers every bit of what it promises, and more. Simply put, it captures the essence of the climatic battles found in the Star Wars universe perfectly. I am confident that Star Wars fans of all ages will love the new Star Wars Trading Card Game. But the question on the minds of many is "Will it hold up in the eyes of hard-core gamers, especially those upset at the loss of Decipher?s Star Wars CCG?" After playing the game and seeing it in action for myself, my answer to that is "Yes, if they give it an honest chance."

My review contains a basic summary of the game. More detailed information can be found in the rules, which you can find off of the SWTCG Main Page. The decks I played with were comprised of cards that will be released in the initial set, Attack of the Clones, and the first expansion set, Sith Rising.

In the new Star Wars Trading Card Game players face off on opposing sides. "Dark Side" and "Light Side" battle for control of three arenas of combat. These arenas are "Space", "Ground", and "Character". The player that wins control of two of the three arenas wins the game.

Card Types
There are 5 card types:
Mission Cards. Mission cards represent things that happen in the Star Wars universe.
Battle Cards. Battle cards represent actions and tactics during battles.
Space units. These cards represent starships of all kinds. Space units fight in the space arena.
Ground units. These represent infantry and vehicles. Ground units fight in the ground arena.
Characters. These cards represent Star Wars characters. Character units fight in the character arena.

Space, Ground, and Character units can have special abilities printed on them that help them in battle.

Before the game starts, players go through a setup process that allows each player to place Space, Ground, and Character units into the battle arenas. Setup takes less than five minutes, but is crucial to the outcome of the game. Each turn of the game has 3 phases: ready, command, and battle. Both players take actions during each turn.

Ready Phase During the ready phase each player rotates all his or her units in the three arenas to the normal position. Those cards are considered "readied" (in the first turn there are no cards that need to be readied). Next each player adds four force to his or her total force, which can be cumulative from turn to turn. Finally each player draws a card. Because you start the game with seven cards, you end the very first Ready Phase with eight cards in your hand.

Command Phase During the command phase players place unit or mission cards into play, which is called "building" a card. Each unit or mission card has a build cost. The Light Side player rolls a six-sided die to determine how many build points each player gets to use this turn. If a player has units in all three arenas, they get to add one to this number. Each player then takes turns building or partially building units equal to the build points allotted. To partially build a unit you place the card face down in front of you, outside of any arena and use counters or dice to show how many build points you spent on it. You can also determine which units go into battle and which units will be retreated this turn. Build Points do not carry over from turn to turn. Use ?em or lose ?em.

Rolling a die for build points works very well within the game. No matter what the result of a roll, you can always partially build a card. Even on a very low build point roll if you already have a unit that is nearly built, you can finish building it and place it in battle. Your opponent may not be able to do the same, giving you an edge that could lead to winning the game. How a player manages build points for units across three arenas, so these units can be placed in battle at the right time, adds much to the depth and strategy of the game.

Unit cards that are unique can be stacked on top of another version of that unique unit. For example Version A of Anakin can be stacked on top of version C of Anakin. Stacking in this game is different than other card games. Stacking additional versions on a unit enhances that unit by adding to its speed, power, and health; however only the top card of the stack determines the special abilities of the unit. During the command phase you can use build points to move a card in the stack to the top. You might do this if that version of the unit has abilities you want to use this turn. Stacking rules allow a player to build stacks for a minimal cost.

Battle Phase During the battle phase, opposing units battle in the Space arena, then the Ground arena, and finally the Character arena. Players can also play abilities and Battle cards at times throughout this phase.

When a unit attacks, rotate the card that is attacking and declare which opposing unit is being attacked. Roll a number of six-sided dice indicated by the attacking units power number. For example, Anakin has a power of five, so you would roll five dice. Each roll result of four, five, and six is a hit. You then place counters on the defending unit, equal to the number of hits that it received, to indicate the amount of damage. If the number of hits exceeds that unit?s health, it is discarded from play.

In each arena, the battle steps are the same. Readied units attack the opponent?s units one by one in order of their speed, from highest to lowest. If there?s a speed tie among one player?s units, that player chooses the order in which the units attack. (The Dark Side wins ties between players.) When there are no readied units left in an arena, you go to the next. After the last arena, the battle phase ends and a new turn starts.

At the end of each turn, if a player controls at least two of the three arenas (meaning that player has units at two of the three arenas where their opponent does not), that player wins the game.

Don?t be fooled by my simplistic description of the game. At first glance it may seem to be common and repetitive of other games. But applying the game?s mechanics in an effort to win makes for a very challenging and enjoyable game.

Star Wars TCG is designed so that your deck does not have to be a powerhouse to win. In many card games, the heavy hitters always win when pitted against smaller foes. That can still happen in this game, but the "little guy" has a chance to win if he plays just right. It will take some strategy, but it can happen.

Skillfully building units and sending them into battle or retreating them at the proper time is an important part of the strategy. If you have a unit in an arena by itself and have a strong presence in the other two arenas, you can retreat that unit until you have a chance to build a stronger presence. Units are built outside of all three arenas and you do not have to show your opponent the units you are building. This allows you to build several units and then swarm your opponent, catching them by surprise in an arena from which you had previously withdrawn.

The relationship of the Speed, Power, and Health of a unit in this game is beautifully balanced. For example, Starfighters are very fast and get to attack first, but they may have less power and shielding, so they do not "hit" as often and could be blown up easier if hit. A squadron of Starfighters may be able to bombard and destroy another starship before it even gets a chance to fight back. A much slower but powerful battleship attacks later, and when it does it is accurate, thorough and deadly. A freighter may be slower and less accurate, but has such heavy shielding it hangs in there long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Ground and Character units are likewise balanced very well in their Speed, Power, and Health numbers.

The order in which the cards can attack is critical. A character like Anakin has a high speed, so he often gets to attack first. However speed can be increased by using battle cards or through character stacking. Due to this, the scene of the battle and order of attack is constantly changing from turn to turn.

Although cards do not currently move between arenas, certain types of cards in one arena can affect units in another arena. For example, Ion Cannons in the ground arena can fire at starships in the space arena. You can plan your attack so that the Ion Cannon can finish off a damaged starship in space or whittle down a battleship so that next turn, your fighters can swarm it.

The use of dice is perhaps the most controversial and debated aspect of the new Star Wars TCG. Many card game fans have reacted negatively upon hearing that dice is used to resolve conflict. Critics will say that using dice adds too much randomness and takes the strategy out of the game. They consider it unacceptable to be the victim of an undesirable dice roll based on chance.

I was very skeptical myself, but only until I actually started playing.

The first few turns of the game, I will admit, it was a bit awkward using dice. But before long it was hardly noticeable. The use of the dice mechanic in this game adds so much depth and strategy within the flow of the game that you will find yourself beginning to love it. I had a very small box of dice that measured about 2"x1"x1" and which contained thirty dice. Once I got the hang of it however, I only really needed about five dice to roll throughout the rest of the game. If a card had a power higher than five, it was very easy to simply roll the additional number of dice a second time. It took only seconds.

We also used dice as damage counters and for keeping track of Force accrual, which was very convenient. You simply place the die with the number of damage taken or force accrued facing up. Tokens or counters could be used for this as well, depending on your preference.

Some of the abilities and battle cards I played with may not be available immediately in the premiere set, but there are many ways to manipulate dice rolls or to recover from them. This is where the strategy and skill of the player comes to have a significant impact on the random factor. It will take a skillful player to overcome a detrimental roll of the dice without missing a beat.

When defending against a dice roll, certain units can outright "evade" or "deflect" damage by paying force. Imagine the concept of evading in the Star Wars universe by picturing Jango Fett and Obi Wan in battle. Jango Fett fires, and Obi Wan dodges out of the path of the blaster bolt, evading it. Using this same scenario to describe deflecting, Jango Fett fires a blaster bolt at Obi Wan, who uses his lightsaber to deflect the bolt back, hitting Jango. Certain unit abilities and battle cards allow evading or deflecting, sometimes both. Other battle cards can allow for damage to be cut in half by paying force.

Besides evading and deflecting there are "shields" and "armor". Armor allows you to subtract from the total of each of your opponent?s dice. Shielding allows you to reduce the attackers power number so they roll less dice. If all else fails, you can retreat a unit at the risk of conceding an arena until you have a chance to build up your forces. Even when being directly bombarded in battle, unit cards in this game tend to last several turns.

To enhance a dice roll while attacking, units can take advantage of many other abilities or battle cards. One of these is the "critical hit" feature. A critical hit allows you to add two to the total damage if you roll at least one natural six. Other cards and abilities allow you to add one to the total of each die rolled when attacking, so that more rolls qualify as hits. Some units get a big power boost if they are undamaged, while others add to the power of all other units in the same arena. Another ability of certain unit cards allows you to pay force so that damage inflicted from that unit cannot be evaded.

Multiple battle cards and abilities can be combined and used together to maximize one defense or attack. These resources are limited and usually cost force to use. How you balance these resources across the three arenas will have a significant impact on whether you win the game or not. Of course there will be even more unique and exciting abilities in future expansions.

If even after dice manipulation you still find yourself the victim of an undesirable roll of the dice, take solace in the fact that this mirrors the Star Wars universe. Sometimes a padawan apprentice catches a Sith Lord by surprise and slices him in half. Sometimes a Jedi Master gets run through with a lightsaber. Sometimes a kid from Tatooine blows up a gigantic battle station the first time he is in a space battle.

Critics have said that a card game in which you simply win through battling is boring. This would be true of SWTCG if the battling in this game were like it is in many other TCG?s. However battling in this game is exciting. It captured my imagination and was an enjoyable and exciting experience.

Star Wars TCG may not currently enable reenactment of storyline specific events such as freezing Han or rescuing Princess Leia, but after playing the game and seeing it in action I can tell you that this game does not need these things. The excitement of recreating the experience of climatic battle in the Star Wars universe stands on it?s own.

14 March 2002