Weiß Schwarz

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Weiß Schwarz

Card back to the Weiß Schwarz TCG.
Publisher	Bushiroad
Type	Collectible card game
Players	2
Cards	50

Weiß Schwarz (ヴァイスシュヴァルツ, Vaisu Shuvarutsu) is a Japanese collectible card game created by Bushiroad. The game is separated into Weiß-side and Schwarz-side. "Weiß" and "Schwarz" are German for white and black, respectively.

The game main attraction is the fact that its different expansions contain cards from different licensed properties (manga and anime series such as Bakemonogatari, Log Horizon, Madoka, Attack on Titan, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Fate Stay Night, among others).^[1]

The game was launched in March 2008.^[2] It received an English release in 2013.^[3][4]

In 2010 Animate Times called the game "hugely popular", and noted that the game has produced 100 million cards within 21 months since its release, and 2000 million after 31 months.^[2] The game was also called popular by Anime News Network in 2013^[4] and 2021,^[5] and by GameRant in 2021.^[6]

The game focuses on two main aspects: character battle and clock/level which regulate what cards can be played as well as acting as a player's life points.^[3]

The game is designed for two players and an average game lasts about 10-15 minutes.^[1]

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• The player that forces their opponent to Level 4 wins the game immediately.
• The opposing player has no cards left in their deck and Waiting Room.

The player's deck is placed face down in this area and consists of 50 cards. Unlike other trading card games, the game does not end when a player runs out of cards in their deck. Instead, the player shuffles the cards in their waiting room to put back in the deck area.^[7]

Cards placed in this area represent the player's level. Upon reaching level 4, the player loses.^[7]

When a player takes damage, the amount dealt is then added in cards to this area. This zone can hold up to six cards at time. When a seventh card is added, the player is forced to level up.^[7]

Cards representing "Stock" are placed in this area. Cards in this area are placed faced down after trigger checks and cannot be revised or rearranged.^[7]

A maximum of one face-up Climax card is allowed in this zone. During the end phase, any card in this area is sent to the Waiting Room.^[7]

Consists of five stage positions. Character cards are placed face-up in these areas. There are two types of Stage Areas:

• Center Stage

The three foremost positions make up the Center Stage. Character cards placed in this area can battle with opponent's Character cards directly in front of them.^[7]

• Back Stage

The two rear positions make up the Back stage. Character cards placed in this area cannot battle with opponent's Character cards. However, cards in this usually possess support abilities.^[7]

Cards that have been retired/used are placed in this area. Example: Character cards defeated in battle.^[7]

The cards that are removed from the game are placed in this area.^[7]

Gameplay of Weiß Schwarz is broken into several phases during a players turn:

All characters on the active player's Stage in [Rest] are returned to [Stand].

The active player draws a card from the top of his deck.

The active player may choose to discard one card from his hand into his/her Clock Area to draw 2 additional cards from his/her deck.

The phase where you play and move characters or event cards and activate start up abilities/effects.

When you play a card, you have to fulfill the three conditions (level, cost, and color) in order to play the card.

Climax cards are played during this phase. You must have a card in either your Level Area or Clock Area that matches the color of the Climax card you wish to play in order to play it.

The player declares an attack of choice with their characters one at a time to damage the opponent's life points (called "Clock" in Weiß Schwarz) and also their characters (if present) at the same time.
During the first turn of the game, the player who goes first may only declare an attack with one character.
Only Characters that are in [Stand] Position and in the Center Stage, the three foremost positions, can declare attacks.
Characters declaring attack will be put to [Rest] position from [Stand] position.
The 3 different types of Attack:

• Direct Attack

This attack is the default attack when a character is attacking an empty slot.
The attacking character will gain an additional Soul Damage to the Soul Damage total.

• Front Attack

The player may choose this attack when a character is attacking and there is a character opposing it. Battle between the characters will occur and the character with the lower Power will be put to [Reverse]. Characters that are put to [Reverse] will be sent to the Waiting Room during the Encore Phase unless otherwise stated. The Soul Damage total the attacking character deals to the opposing player is equal to the character's Soul plus any additional Soul as a result of the trigger phase.

• Side Attack

The player may choose this attack when a character is attacking and there is a character opposing it. Battle between the characters will NOT occur. The attacking character will suffer a Soul Damage penalty that is equivalent to the Level of the opposing character. The Soul Damage total the attacking character deals to the opposing player is equal to the character's Soul minus the Level of the opposing character, plus any additional Soul as a result of the trigger phase.

Upon declaring an attack from front attack, side attack, or direct attack, a card is flipped over from your deck as trigger to check for trigger (effect varies upon trigger) and the card goes into stock. The trigger phase occurs with the attack of each character.

If you declared a front attack, your opponent may play a character/event counter card, if they have one.

Your opponent takes damage equivalent to your soul output + soul trigger upon trigger step (if any) by flipping over cards from the top of their deck onto their clock. 7 cards on the clock raises their level by 1, and any additional damage are retained onto the next level. However, should they flip over a climax card, all the damage sustained for that damage step is canceled, and the cards are moved into the Waiting Room (discard pile) instead.

This phase occurs only when a Front Attack is declared.
A Power comparison between the characters is done and the character with the lower Power is put to [Reverse].
If the Power of both battling characters are the same, both of them are put to [Reverse].

This phase occurs when the current player has decided to stop attacking.
All Characters that are in the [Reverse] state are sent to the Waiting Room.
Starting with the current player, both players are allowed to "revive" their characters by paying the characters' respective Encore cost.
Even when not stated, all character cards comes with a built-in ability [Auto] Encore (3), which means that a player may pay 3 cost from his/her stock to "revive" a character which has been put to [Reverse].
The Encored characters will be put back from the Waiting Room in [Rest] position to their original position on the Center Stage.

You pass on your turn to the opponent.

There are 3 main type of cards in Weiß Schwarz: character cards, event cards, and climax cards. They are further broken down into colors and level subcategories. A deck can contain up to four copies of cards with the same name, and no more than 8 climax cards per deck. The number of cards in a deck build is exactly 50.

Character cards form the base of the gameplay, serving as your means of damaging the opponent and subsequently defeating them. Character cards have several features which include the level and cost on the top left, soul trigger on the top right, effects, color, power, soul output and traits on the bottom of the card. To play a character, you have to meet the color requirement (applies only to card level 1 and above), the cost requirement, and the level requirement.

Event cards act as an instant play card during your main phase which may give functions like retrievals or healing effects. Event cards have to meet color and level requirements to be played.

Climax cards boost your soul and power damage output during your climax phase upon play, increases soul output or resource advantage upon triggering on the trigger phase, and serve as a damage canceler during the damage phase. Due to the usefulness of climax cards, a deck is capped at 8 climaxes. Climax card have to meet the color requirement to be played during the climax phase.

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• Universal Fighting System - another card game with a similar, multi-franchise concept

• Official website
• Weiß Schwarz Card Translation Fanpage
• American distributor / translator
• Bushiroad English Blog
• Bushi Navi English (Radio)