SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE CCG First Edition ================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= I. Welcome to Super Smash Bros. Melee CCG! A. Objective of the Game B. Summary of Play II. Playing the Game A. The GOLDEN RULE of SSBMCCG B. The Very Basics -Deck Construction -Character Cards -Other types of Cards -'Terms' C. The Flow of the Game D. Versions of Gameplay -Time -Stock E. In Detail: The PLAY/INTERRUPT/DAMAGE Phase -Playing Cards and Attacking -Interrupting -Dealing Damage -KO'ing -Recovering -Combo Damage Addition -Energy/Non Energy Cards III. F.A.Q. IV. Credits ========================================== I. Welcome to Super Smash Bros. Melee CCG! ========================================== A. Objective of the Game ------------------------ Super Smash Brothers Melee CCG is a card game based on Super Smash Brothers for the Gamecube by Nintendo(R). You and your opponent(s) take on Nintendo Characters and fight to win the match. KO your opponent before your opponent KO's you! B. Summary of Play ------------------ Each player has a deck of 80 cards: 1 character card and 79 other mix and match cards. There are different types of cards. Each player will place their character card onto the playing field and shuffle their cards prior to play. The players take turns and go through a series of attacking, blocking, dodging, smashing, and dashing racking up damage as play goes on. As you get more and more strategic, you will need different cards to pull out different combinations such as set-up attacks and charging for a smash attack. ==================== II. PLAYING THE GAME ==================== A. The GOLDEN RULE of SSBMCCG ---------------------------- As in any other CCG or TCG, A card's text overrides any of these rules! So always follow a card's text thoroughly, using these rules as a guideline. B. The Very Basics ------------------ Deck Construction Decks can only be made up of anywhere from 60 to 80 cards. This does NOT include the character's ID card, which lists the character's statistics and ability(s). Character Cards Character Cards are the card representation of your smash brother on the playing field. Each playable deck may only have one character card. These cards have six main features: -Name: the name of the character -History: the History of the character -Image: a picture of the character -Symbol: the character's symbol -Stats: the character's statistics -Extras: Any further side notes that come into play when other cards are involved. Particularly important to remember are the last two. There are four STATS. The first is STRENGTH. This tells how much damage a character does when attacking without modifications. The second is SPEED. This determines how many cards a person can draw per turn. The third is ENDURANCE. This determines at what damage level the character is at risk of being KO'd. The last is INTELLIGENCE. This determines the turn order and the starting hand size of the player. The EXTRAS are side notes that affect the way the character uses cards. For example, Mario's Extra is "You may have one more mushroom, fire flower, and metal box than the deck limit in your deck" Other types of Cards The game consists of different types of cards. Generally, there are 'attack's, 'item's, 'taunt's, and 'defensive' cards (such as 'Dodge: Ground' and 'Block'). There are also other types of cards that amplify other cards played, or manipulate them in some way. All cards list underneath the title, what type of card it is. All of these cards can be in any deck, except for special and taunt. Any card that has a chracter's symbol on it, can only be played by the character that matches that symbol. For example, only Mario can play Super Cape, because Super Cape has Mario's symbol on it. Attack cards generally do damage somehow to your opponent(s). These cards may also cause other effects, such as drawing cards, making your opponent(s) discard cards, causing them to flip cards from their deck, etc. A good portion of character-specific cards count as attack cards. Some attack cards also are followed by extra text, such as '- projectile', or '- set-up'. This is to differentiate the cards from their cousin, the attack card, because there are some cards that ONLY interact with 'attack - projectile' cards, or don't interract with them at all. Defensive cards usually do not cause ANY damage to any opponents, but may in special circumstances. They generally stop all action within the game, putting the player of the defensive card into control at a safe pace. There are different defensive cards for different situations. Some interrupt cards that would amplify an attack, some interrupt those that would initially cause damage, and some just prevent any damage from happening, but allowing the player to continue his turn. These cards, as you can see, are priceless in any deck. Taunts usually effect the outcome of the match in a small way. For instance, some will allow you to draw cards, some make your opponent(s) discard cards, and some even amplify your damage on your attack cards! Taunts have MANY effects, but Taunts are generally easy to interrupt as well. Amplifier cards are generally physical actions that would change an attack. For example, you could play the card titled 'Jump' before a card titled 'Attack' to add damage to your attack card. Adding a 'Dash' before your attack makes the attack more difficult to deal with. These cards are generally vulnerable to only a few types of interrupting cards. Some cards act as more than one type of card. Generally, you'll find that an attack card can also interrupt an card of some sort. For instance, the card titled 'Attack' can interrupt the card titled 'Taunt'. So, if someone plays the card titled 'Taunt' against you, you can play the card titled 'Attack', to stop that 'Taunt' card, place it into his discard pile, and cause the damage as listed on the 'Attack' card. The card titled 'Link's Spin Attack' interrupts the cards titled 'Jump', 'Dash', and any 'Attack - Set-up', which means that before they could even play their 'Attack' card after that 'Jump' or 'Dash', it was interrupted, causing a good amount of damage to the opponent, and the effects listed on the card still take place. Throwing cards are cards used to throw your opponent out of the ring with brute strength. They are generally easy to interrupt, but cause large amounts of damage, and make KOing the opponent even easier. Item cards are cards that deal with items themselves. Any item card played goes right into the middle of the arena, where anyone can pick it up and use it. Item cards are manipulated by cards such as 'Item: Throw' and 'Item: Equip'. These cards, and many others, use the items to their full potential to amazingly alter your offensive and/or defensive abilities. On every card, there is text that explains what the card does, as well as which cards it may interrupt. Each card has a 'deck limit' as listed in the lower left corner of each card. This deck limit represents how many of this type of card you can have in your deck. For example, the card titled 'Power Block' has a deck limit (or DL) of 5. Since the DL is 5, then no more than 5 'Power Block's can be put into one deck. 'Terms' Abbreviations are generally used throughout the game to simplify card text. Also, certain terms are used within the game to shorten down text and add flavor. 'D' generally means 'damage'. So, if a cards reads '10D', it means '10 Damage'. 'Arena' is how you can refer to the playing field where all the cards lie after being played. Items are played directly to the arena before they are put onto your character via the effect of another card played. KO symbol. This means that this card has the effect to KO an opponent, giving you the credit for KOing him. KOing is covered later on. 1st Recovery/2nd Recovery symbols. These symbols mean that the card can be played to save you from being KOed. They must be played in order. Recovering is covered later on. Energy symbol. This symbol means that the card does damage that isn't physical. Use of energy cards is covered later on. C. The Flow of the Game ----------------------- The player with the highest intelligence goes first. In the case of a tie, the one with the higher speed goes first. A players turn looks like this: 1. Draw: Draw # of cards equal to the speed. 2a. Play: Play cards. This phase ends once the player attacks. 2b. Interrupt: Other players have a chance in block attacks 2c. Deal Damage: Keep track of damage. Flip the number of cards from your deck to the discard pile equal to the damage taken. While the first phase is simple and straightforward, the other two require more in depth discussion, which this rulebook will go over later. D. Versions of Gameplay ----------------------- Just as in the game for Gamecube, in SSBMCCG, players can choose between different matches. TIME - Limits amount of turns in the game. After that limit is reached, tabulate the score. Each KO counts for +1. Each Self Destruct counts for -1. The player with the highest score wins. For example, a timed match may be limited to fifteen turns each player. STOCK - Each KO or self destruct counts for -1 stock. When a player runs out a stock, he is out of the game. The last remaining player wins. For example, the stock may be set to 5. E. In Detail: The PLAY/INTERRUPT/DAMAGE Phase ----------------------------------------------- Playing Cards and Attacking During this phase, you may play any card except for 'Block', 'Power Block', 'Dodge: Ground', 'Dodge: Air', 'Dodge: Roll', and 'Recover'. When playing cards, follow the instructions on the card. If you use cards with attack power, the damage dealt is your character's strength statistic +XD (X is the number printed on the card. For example, if you are playing as Gannondorf, who has a strength statistic of 7, and you play a set-up attack card, you deal 7+3D or 10D. When you attack, you may choose the opponent you wish to give damage to. All effective cards go out onto the playing field. A card is effective if it successfully does what the card says and is not interrupted. Attack cards, throw cards, taunt cards, 'Item: Throw', and special cards go into the area in front of you. 'Item: X' cards go into the center of the playing field, where anyone can use them. 'Item: Equip' cards are played on the field and the 'Item' card you pick goes next to your character card. Only when a card is interrupted does it go into the discard pile. NOTE: Order of cards played MATTERS. Playing a 'Charge' followed by an 'Attack' is different than attacking then playing a 'Charge'. Playing the cards in your hand in the right order will become more and more crucial when strategizing. Interrupting After each card played, your opponent has a chance to counter or interrupt your play. Each card has a list of cards it can interrupt. For example, if you play a taunt card, your opponent can play an attack card to interrupt your taunt. In the case of an interrupt, the card you play is now void and the card your opponent plays is now in effect. In the example above, your taunt card does not do anything and your opponent deals you damage equivalent to his strength statistic. Interrupt cards can also be interrupted. Charge cards and Item cards cannot be interrupted. When you interrupt a card your opponents turn ends. There are two exceptions to this: 1) if the card that interrupts is interrupted, and 2) if the card that interrupts is a defensive card, i.e. 'Block', 'Power Block', 'Dodge'. Interrupted cards and interrupt cards are put in the discard pile. NOTE: Again, some cards have special actions when interrupted. The actions come into play before anything else does. Likewise, some cards have special actions when interrupting another card. Those actions come into play before anything else does. Also, Just because you HAVE a card to interrupt with doesn't mean you have to use it though...you might want to save it for later! NOTE: Whenever a card states that something is 'uninterruptable', or 'unblockable', it means just that. You cannot interrupt an 'uninterruptable' card, and you cannot block an 'unblockable' card. If a card says it's unreversible, it means that you cannot 'interrupt' or 'block' it from their hand OR from flipping cards from the deck! Dealing Damage When a player gets attack and damage is dealt, the player attacked must flip the number of cards equivalent to half the damage dealt (rounded down) from his draw pile to his discard pile, face up. While flipping, the player taking damage has a chance to counter. If while flipping the player flips a defensive card, the damage dealt is halved rounded down and the flipping stops. However, any effects the card may state do not come into effect. For example, one player plays Mario's Fireball and deals 7D. The player taking the damage starts flipping cards, and on the second flip, flips a 'Dodge: Roll'. Then the damage will be halved to 3D, and the flipping ends. The next turn the player that took the damage plays 'Attack', but it can be interrupted or blocked, and the player cannot look at his opponent's hand. Keep track of all damage dealt per character with a sheet of paper or counters. KO'ing Some cards have a KO effect symbol. When attacking with a card with a KO symbol, if the player attacked has damage higher than the the character's endurance level, and the attack is successfully executed, then the character is KO'd. When KO'd, the player removes all his cards (except unequipped items and his character card) from the playing field and returns them to his deck along with his discard pile. He shuffles the deck and draws his speed number. Play continues unless the game by rules is over. The player that KOs gains a point and a player KOed loses a point. Recovering Some cards have a 1st recovery or a 2nd recovery symbol on them. When you are attacked with a KO card, you have a chance to recover. At 0D to 30D above the endurance level, a 1st recovery card is required to successfully recover. At 31D to 50D above the endurance level, a 1st recovery card followed by a second recover card is required to successfully recover. At 51D+ above the endurance level it is impossible to recover. Recovery cards act as interrupts. You may not play the same recovery-type card to recover yourself. Example - you may NOT play the card titled 'Jump' then another card titled 'Jump' to recover yourself, because they are both 1st Recovery cards. But, you may play 'Jump', then 'Dodge: Air' to recover yourself. A Mario deck could play 'Jump', then 'Mario's Coin Jump', since Mario's Coin Jump acts as a 2nd Recovery card as well. NOTE: Some cards have the symbol on them but can only interrupt certain attacks. In these cases, the symbol ALWAYS trumps the interrupt list. This is one of the few times when the rulebook overrides the card text. Recovery cards are always able to interrupt an KO card. Think of it as an unwritten part of the 'Interrupts:' list. NOTE: Certain items and character-specific cards can change your recovery limits. For example, the Gerudo Dragon (one of Ganondorf's special attacks) changes his opponent's recovery stages when it is succesful. Or the item 'Super Mushroom' changes your own endurance statistic as well. These things can help turn the tide in a time of need! Combo-Damage Addition When successive attacks are executed successfully, combo-damage addition comes into play. The first attack is worth its attack value in damage. The next, if consecutive, is worth its attack value +1D in damage. The next is worth +2D, the next +3, and so on. This only works when the attacks are successive and are successful. One failed attack ends the combo-damage addition chain and it restarts with the next successful attack. This becomes key in strategically using set-up attacks to rack up damage. For example, one player playing as Ganondorf plays a 'Set-Up Attack' card and it hits. His strength stat is 7 so the card does 10D. Then he plays an attack card. Because this attack is irreversable, the damage done is 7D, but with combo-damage addition it's +1D. So total damage on that attack is 15D. Energy/Non Energy Cards Some cards say 'Energy Attack' on them. This simply means that the attack is energy and has special circumstances. This comes into play with cards like 'Ness' PSI Magnet', as well as Bowser's extra. These refer to the energy cards. In 'Ness' PSI Magnet', only energy attacks can be absorbed. In Bowser's extra, only cards without the 'Energy' text are affected. Discarding Cards During the game, due to the amount of action one card can cause, you might find yourself needing more cards in hand, or not having the right cards. Any time during your turn, you may discard up to three times any one card to draw one card. If you happen to discard any 'dodge' or 'block' card, you may draw two cards instead. ========== III. F.A.Q. ========== Q: How many character cards can I have in a deck? A: Only one, but you can have multiple decks. There are some cards that can be transferred between decks, and there are others that can't. Q: What if I want to play as different characters? A: Then you need different decks. What you can do is have a set deck without the character specific cards and replace the specific cards each time you play as a different character. Q: Why can't I use other attacks in my deck? I.E. 'Link's Boomerang' in my Pikachu deck? A: Where in the game can Pikachu use Link's Boomerang? We try to keep the trading card game as close to the original Gamecube game as possible. Q: Then how come I can only have so many of each card in my deck, when in the game I can use any attack an infinite amount of times? A: We TRY to keep the CCG as close to the original as possible. There are reasons for those deck limits, because clearly some are stronger than others. If there were no deck limits, a Ganondorf deck could be full of Warlock Punches, which would be unfair. Q: What about stages? Are there any stages in the CCG like in the game? A: As of the first edition, no. However, in later editions we plan to make stage cards. ========== IV. Credits ========== EXECUTIVE DEVELOPER PiMacleoud CARD DESIGNERS Steve2002 Teleness Falco DEVELOPMENT TEAM PiMacleoud Zaxapac PSiNess Steve2002 Teleness Togechu02 insomniacdude Static2007 ... PLAYTESTERS PiMacleoud Zaxapac ... IDEA BY Blackbounder RULEBOOK AUTHOR PSiNess MESSAGE BOARD forum.starmen.net url: [http://forum.starmen.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic; f=2;t=000423] STARMEN.NET reidman Tomato SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE Nintendo(R) Gamecube