Summary

The WARS Trading Card Game is a card game by Decipher, set in its own proprietary science fiction universe, rather than being based on a licensed property. The game is essentially a non-branded version of Decipher's earlier Star Wars CCG, after they lost the license for that property. In the game, you control an army of ground and space troops and fight for supremacy by draining opponents' energy.

Decipher took the world building for this universe seriously; they commissioned and released a series of short stories and even a custom soundtrack to support the game.

The game was distributed in starter decks and 15-card booster packs, and has tournament and promotional cards.

Card Types

• Character - A ground troop used to fight enemies at ground locations. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, stats (power, tactics, and defense), and may have abilities. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• NoBot - A robotic troop used to fight enemies at ground locations. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, stats, and may have abilities. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Vehicle - A ground vehicle used to fight enemies at ground locations. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, stats, and may have abilities. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Ship - A fighter ship used to fight enemies in space. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, stats, and may have abilities. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Weapon - An item used by some troops to fight. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, and abilities. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Asset - An ongoing effect that helps your forces. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, and an effect. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Order - A one-time effect that helps your forces. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, and an effect. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Interrupt - A one-time effect that can be used during other players' turns. Each has an energy cost, destiny number, support icon cost, and an effect. Each belongs to a faction (or is Independent).
• Location - A place where you fight. Each is either a sector (space location; vertical card) or a site (ground location; horizontal card). Each has a destiny number and provides energy icons to both you and your opponent. Locations can also provide support icons for factions. Locations do not belong to any faction.

Sets and Decks

The game saw only two released sets: Incursion and Nowhere to Hide. Several additional sets were planned (Edge of a Sword, Motion of Mind, Eye of Insight), with the first one actually being almost ready for release (and available in virtual card form) when the game was put on hiatus.

Both released sets include starter decks. All sets include starter-only cards, and each set also has 18 different "rare foil" cards (foil versions of selected rare cards) which can replace the rare card in a booster pack. There are also tournament and promotional cards.

Deck Composition and Contents

Starter Decks

Six starter decks were available featuring different factions. Incursion had Swarm (Quay), Suppression (Shi and Maverick), Alliance (Earther and Maverick), and Solidarity (Gongen). Nowhere to Hide had Cats and Claws (Quay and Maverick) and Overlords (Earther and Shi). Each came with a full 60 card deck (including 5 foiled starter-only cards).

Starter deck contents were fixed, and the boxes indicated which deck you would get. The decks themselves are a mix of common, uncommon, and starter-only cards, and each includes 5 foil cards exclusive to starter decks (a combination of F and PF rarity, but effectively starter-only rarity).

Worth noting: The Nowhere to Hide rulebook also includes the short story "When the Mind and Body Become One", which is just further evidence of Decipher's extensive world building and an attempt to really pull you into the universe.

Deck Rarity Analysis

As with other Decipher games of this era, these products are great for collectors. I'm a little confused why they felt a need to label the foil cards as both F and PF rarity (in addition to having S rarity cards in the deck itself) when those cards are only available in starter decks, but the outcome is the same: Each deck includes 5 starter-only foil cards, and the other cards are common, uncommon, and starter-only. The decks are clearly marked with which deck is inside. You're not going to ruin any rares, or get any duplicate cards you're not intending to get.

The only thing that would've made this better is if they had followed their lead with other games (like LotR or Star Trek 2E) and included random rare cards as well, but at this point I'm really nitpicking. These starters are great.

Alan's Thoughts On The Game

Will be updated once I've played the game.

Resources

• Players Committee (includes rules, info, and a full card listing)
• Starter Deck Card Lists (AlanvDotOrg Randomjunk)