What is the UCG?
The Universal Card Game, also known as the UCG, started off as a six month job to modernize a game called Losers Versus Preps. The project quickly grew in scope and evolved into its own game and keeping the competitive nature of gamers in mind. All the cards in the game are always available to all players to use in their decks. Players have access to all the cards in the game. This makes cards no longer limited by trade value, scarcity, and/or price. This model caters to everyone, making a game based on skill and technique, rather than price and rarity.
This guide will allow you to understand the inherent beauty of the Competitive Card Game format and what makes the Universal Card Game the card game for all players.
Game Overview
Players compete against each other in one on one card battles to deplete their opponent's deck count. The battle begins with each player drawing eight cards as their starting hand. Resource cards are then used to generate Terra. Most decks use Terra from Resources to play characters and effects onto the battlefield. You will need to assemble a powerful army of characters, powerful dragons known as Drakkonen, strategic effect cards, and mysterious Shadow Architects which can strike the finishing blow to your opponent's deck.
- Architects – Mysterious allies that alter the flow of turns and grant or reduce card drawing advantages.
- Characters – Used to form armies for attacking and defending against other players.
- Effects – Special ability cards that will alter the outcome of various encounters during the game.
- Resources – Used to generate Terra to pay for the usage of other cards in the player’s deck.
What You Need To Play
The Universal Card Game requires a minimum of two players each with their own deck of exactly sixty cards. It helps to keep an even split of Resource, Effect, and Character cards in your deck to keep you ready for any situation. Shadow Architect cards pack a lot of power, but you can only have one in play at a time!
Along with your deck, you may have a 20 card Sideboard which cannot be used on the battlefield. The Sideboard contains Token Characters which represent another card’s ability make another card appear on the battlefield. Use the sideboard between rounds in a match to help with unfavorable odds. Be sure not to play more than what the rules state for each card in your deck and Side deck.
Below is a list of accessories that would help increase the enjoyment of each UCG gaming session:
- A Small Collection of Beads or Counters,
used to represent various abilities of cards in the game. - A Small Pack of Dice,
some players may prefer the usage of dice to represent the various counters for abilities on cards on the battlefield. - The UCG Playmat:
this accessory will help to organize your playing field. This makes it easy for both your opponent and yourself to keep track of the game.
Serial Number
The Stability System allows the game to have built in rules for balancing the abilities of the cards within each set of the game. If cards are too powerful, the Stability can change for the card. All the cards in the game will have a Stability as part of their serial number at the bottom of the card.
The Card Serial Number Allows Players to Identify
- Which game is the card actually from?
The card set is identified with the first three letters of the serial number. All cards in the Universal Card Game are all under the same game name of NEO at the beginning of the serial. - What is the Stability of the Card?
The card's stability is listed as the next three characters after the name of the game. The stabilities of each card are listed as three characters. Each of these different stabilities will be discussed in the next section of this manual. - What is the card number?
The card number will allow players to easily identify the unique numeric identifier for the card in the game's database. This number is useful when wanting to view the entirety of a set.
The Stability System
As stated prior the Stability System is used to balance the game. It limits the total number of copies of a card a player can play. This rule allows the cards to be balanced based on the ability of the card. The less powerful, but staple cards have a Stability that would allow you to run four copies of the card in your deck. This allows more powerful cards with more specific effects or abilities to be limited to about one or two in your deck.
Stability Values of cards in the Universal Card Game
Stable
- Cards with the Stability of Stable are limited to four cards of the same Serial number per deck. These cards form the foundation of most decks.
- This stability is listed and abbreviated as STB on the card's serial number.
Unstable
- Cards with the Stability of Unstable are limited to three copies of the same serial number per deck. These cards have more advanced abilities that require multiple copies of the card to be effective.
- This stability is listed and abbreviated as UNS on the card's serial number.
Rare
- Cards with the Stability of Rare are limited to Two cards of the same Serial number per deck. These cards represent powerful champions or devastating effects that can drastically change the game.
- The Stability is listed and abbreviated as RAR on the card's serial number.
Covert
- Cards with the Stability of Covert are limited to One card of the same Serial number per deck. These represent the most powerful and game changing cards in the game. Due to the very high power of these cards, only one can be used. They almost always grant significant advantage to their players.
- The Stability is listed and abbreviated as COV on the card's serial number.
Unlimited
- Cards with the Stability of Unlimited are exactly as they claim. You can have an unlimited number of cards with the same serial number in your deck. This Stability is reserved for cards that are basic resources needed for the game such as the Standard Resource that generates Terra.
- This Stability is listed and abbreviated as UNL on the card's serial number.
Token
- Cards with the Stability of Token are used in the Sideboard Deck and can have as many copies as desired up to the max of 20 cards in the Sideboard. This Stability is reserved for Token cards used and generated by the abilities of other cards in the game.
- This Stability is listed and abbreviated as TOK on the card's serial number.
Note: Make sure to run the three powerful Covert cards in your Terra based decks: Final Clash, Touch of the Void, and Ballad of She. These three effect cards are good in any deck that utilizes the Terra Archetype!
Flow of the Game
- Shuffle your deck and draw Eight cards. If you are using a Terra based deck, make sure your hand has at least one or more Standard Resource or Unique Resource cards. If your hand does not look desirable, show your hand to your opponent and shuffle it back into the deck.
NOTE: You can perform this action only once per game. - Determine who goes first for the game, this can be done with a dice roll or a coin flip. The player that goes first may play a Resource card from their hand.
- Place the card you want to play in the Ignition Zone and then Resources can be moved over to the Expended Zone when paying the cost of a Terra card.
NOTE: If you played an Epic Character during the turn, you cannot play Terra Characters that turn!
NOTE: You can only play one Epic Character a turn. - After paying the card's cost, if it is a character card, the card is placed in the Active Zone. All cards in the Active Zone can activate their activate abilities, unless they have the ability Delayed. Any characters in the Active Zone can participate in Encounters during the Encounter Phase.
- If there are any characters in the Active Zone the player wishes to attack with, they are each moved up to the Encounter Zone one at a time. You cannot declare multiple characters as attackers. Each Encounter must be completed before declaring another character as attacking. Characters in the Encounter Zone cannot activate for abilities unless they have the Keyword Ability Cunning.
- The defending player can move up a character in their Active Zone to their Encounter Zone to have the characters declared as blockers. Additional blockers can be declared if each other character has the Keyword Ability Assist.
- The characters deal combat damage to either the blocked or blocking character. If there is no blocking character the damage is dealt to the defending player instead. The player that took damage then places the top card of their deck into The Void for each point of damage taken from an unblocked attacking character.
- After each Encounter is declared, the player discards down to Eight cards in their hand if they have more than Eight cards in their hand.
- Any end of turn abilities resolve and damage is removed from all damaged characters or Shadow Architects. Then that player’s turn ends.