Chrom Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 https://fecipher.jp/ Journey through distant roads across the lands of Magvel, Aytolis, and Valentia in the upcoming expansion of Fire Emblem Cipher, the Fire Emblem trading card game! The Fire Emblem Cipher TCG is a collectible card game based on the Fire Emblem series by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Though it has only been available in Japan and there's no word on an official English release, it is regularly updated with new sets and rules which keep it interesting for fans to talk about. Getting Started Despite the TCG only being available in Japanese, there are a number of resources made available by fans in English which provide information on what you need to know in order to collect the cards or even how to play the game. The best source, in my opinion, is the wiki guide written here, though you can also refer to the information on the official site linked above, albeit in Japanese. Basically: New collectors who want to own specific cards of their favorite characters should get an idea of how much they individually go for at the local retailers and try to buy/trade for them within the second hand market (fellow fans in various communities). This is generally more cost friendly than the easy route of buying them off online retailers like eBay, Amazon, or TCG Republic, so you can get a lot of mileage from doing research and knowing what's out there and at what prices. If you want to import sealed starter decks, boosters, or sleeves, I recommend buying through AmiAmi. New players can try owning any of the available starter decks to help them with learning, which are ready to play and are all suitable for introducing the game. Online simulators with English translations of all the cards are out there too! The one shared on the wiki is pretty popular, although I personally prefer playing with FECipherVit. New sets are released every few months and new promo cards are regularly distributed during the interims through various means (events, magazines, etc.), so there's constantly new stuff to glean over. If you really like the art, know that many illustrators of the card artwork tend to publicly upload the full illustrations via Twitter or Pixiv, usually after the release of a new set. Some might not be available though. Card Sets Series 11 will be out on December 7, but there have already been hundreds of different cards released since the TCG started in 2015, with each set focusing on specific groups of Fire Emblem titles. For a full list of cards, you can check them out here, or search the wiki. Series 12, which is confirmed to feature Fire Emblem Awakening, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, will release early next year. Basic Rules In Fire Emblem Cipher, two players wage battle against each other using their army of characters, with the ultimate goal of claiming victory by defeating the opposing army's leader in combat until they can no longer be sustained by their five orbs. Each army's deck needs at least 50 cards to engage in battle, and unlike some other card games, running out of cards to draw from your deck just means you have to replenish your deck with all the cards left in your retreat to continue the battle, meaning the victory condition is all you have to focus on. Game Flow Each turn consists of these actions in the following order, which are divided into their own phases: Drawing a card from your deck Adding a card from your hand to the bond row Deploying units from your hand to the battlefield Attacking enemies, activating skills, or repositioning your units This goes back and forth between both players until one emerges as the battle's victor! Card Details Here's a quick rundown on what everything means on any card: Unit name - The name of the character depicted on the card. With the epithet, constitutes the card name. Epithet - A title distinguishing the unit from other different cards they may have. With the unit name, constitutes the card name. Power - A measure of the unit's strength when engaged in combat. Aid - A measure of the unit's strength when assisting an ally in combat. Range - Indicates how far the unit can attack in relation to their position on the battlefield. Class - Represents the unit's class and how seasoned they are. Skills - Normal skills the unit possesses, which grant various abilities. Assist skills - A type of skill which may only be activated when the unit is assisting an ally in combat. Field cost - The number of bonds needed to deploy the unit from your hand to the battlefield. Class change cost - The number of bonds needed to promote the already deployed unit to this card. Symbol - Denotes the unit's associated faction and color. Gender - The gender the unit is identified as. Weapon - The type of weapon the unit uses in combat. Types - Additional attributes of the unit if any, such as if they are a flier or armored. Further details on how the game plays can be found on the wiki. If there's anything you want clarification on, whether about the rules of the game or anything else regarding the cards, you're welcome to ask here! Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted October 25, 2017 Author Share Posted October 25, 2017 Earlier today, Intelligent Systems released new information about the upcoming livestream scheduled to air on November 3rd (mainly that voice actress Saori Seta would be appearing as a guest), and as a preview also revealed this new art of the Anna from FE Warriors, which is to be featured on a card this coming set. Ms. Seta is Anna's voice actress in FE Fates, so antics with Anna could be expected during the show. Quote Link to comment
Ephraim Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 i can't wait to get my eph sleeves tbh Quote Link to comment
L'Arachel Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 @Chrom remind me to update that Newcomer's Guide again when I come back from the US. It's not exactly obsolete, but there's a lot more stuff I keep meaning to add in, and organize it better, etc. >_> Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 13 hours ago, Shiva said: i can't wait to get my eph sleeves tbh I'm not planning to get them personally but I do think they're pretty great. I'm really fond of the new sleeves they've picked out for this set. 13 hours ago, Nanna said: @Chrom remind me to update that Newcomer's Guide again when I come back from the US. It's not exactly obsolete, but there's a lot more stuff I keep meaning to add in, and organize it better, etc. >_> Yeah sure, I can try to give you a heads up about it another time! As a TCG, FE Cipher is a fairly elaborate product and is constantly evolving over time, so I think it's a good idea to provide and maintain a guide that keeps up with it and continues to introduce more people to it in depth. Quote Link to comment
L'Arachel Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 The piece was originally written to be an article on SF, but we decided to move it to the wiki as a better permanent reference piece. It still functions decently we'll for the basics, just a lot of stuff that I would like to add and reformat. Also, in nore interesting news, very likely we'll start getting reveals for S11 on Monday! Chrom 1 Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 It starts today! The cards technically aren't new, but we can see their card numbers indicate FE Sacred Stones is getting top billing here by having Eirika and Ephraim being the very first cards in the set. Characters from Magvel are detailed in purple colored cards, just like those of Elibe, but with the visual aesthetic difference of having a stone-ish flair for their backgrounds and borders. It's a nice touch to give them a nuanced distinction while still indicating their mutual affinity with other purple cards. This set will also feature characters from FE Echoes (red cards) and FE Warriors (unknown at this time), so those can be looked forward to over the course of the next couple of weeks, including new information about the TCG from the upcoming livestream event this Friday, November 3rd. L'Arachel 1 Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Actual new cards this time! FE Echoes returns as the second featured title in this set. The main protagonists, Alm and Celica, lead the pack, while Valbar is also featured here in this joined art that recreates the original FE Gaiden cover (this for reference). Pretty cool throwback! I like the new Mila cameo as well. With Valbar being numbered 068, I think we can infer that a couple of earlier characters will be getting new cards as well. The tweet sharing these cards also makes it a point that this set will have us see new FE Echoes characters who didn't appear last time. We already know of Leon, Forsyth, and Python, but this might mean they won't be the only ones. L'Arachel 1 Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 The third and final featured title in this card set is FE Warriors, which recently released not that long ago. Rowan and Lianna, the twin prince and princess of Aytolis, are the main protagonists of the game, and so are leading their group in colorless cards, just like FE Heroes cast did last set. Unlike FE Heroes last set however, FE Warriors cards will actually include the characters from other worlds, such as Marth and Lissa who've already been confirmed. Going by card numbers, not everyone will be appearing, so it'll be interesting to see who in particular will return and who won't. Personally speaking, I'd like to see Chrom show up the most, but I also really want to see the characters who got new class appearances like Camilla and Frederick too. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Today's card look introduces a new feature for FE Cipher: overclasses! Like master classes, overclasses are treated as third tier classes, so characters promoted this far wield mighty power. This particular card of Faye as a Harrier breaks a convention in the TCG by requiring more bonds to promote to than to deploy directly to the field. In other words, the card is cheaper to play if you don't already have Faye deployed, but to get the most out of the card, you'd want to pay the higher cost so she can make use of a unique skill that puts heavy pressure on the opponent. Pretty cool concept in my opinion. As a reminder, the next livestream airs tomorrow morning! Really looking forward to that, will definitely check out live. Quote Link to comment
L'Arachel Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 I dislike that I'm going to have to wake up early for the livestream, though I'll be there (probably not with bells on). So exciting that we're finally getting reveals. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 1 minute ago, Nanna said: I dislike that I'm going to have to wake up early for the livestream, though I'll be there (probably not with bells on). So exciting that we're finally getting reveals. I was actually wondering whether or not you would due to your different circumstances, but that's nice to hear. For me it's always been early in the morning, but I also tend to stay up really late so at times it's proved to be too much of a challenge for me to be awake at the hour. I've been getting better at it though. Quote Link to comment
L'Arachel Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Yeah, looks like the stream starts at 6am my time here, but I don't have a problem with getting up early. The bigger issue is that I only have my laptop, so I'll be slower with capping and I have no graphic editing programs, so it'll be a bit more difficult to clean up my caps. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 https://imgur.com/a/5W4i3 No L'Arachel card announced yet. FE Cipher sucks, actually. I really like the Comiket promos, but them being tied to the player boxes is a pain. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Here's a proper look at the SRs for Eirika and Ephraim, which were previously shown at the livestream earlier. They're both illustrated by the talented Sachiko Wada, and the cards depict them in the midst of their fateful battle against Fomortiis. These cards also introduce a new type of skill called Twin Skills, and in this case they both allow them to protect one another from falling in combat in exchange for one of the player's orbs instead. Like in the original game, they're at their best when they fight together. Quote Link to comment
L'Arachel Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 This is the first year that I've actually liked the Players Box Comiket promos... and also the first time I probably won't be getting any. I don't think I can justify the cost, especially with my money going into Heroes (though not any more; I've cut it off) and Granblue. I'll make a firm decision on it later in the month. Really love the Ephraim and Eirika SRs, too; Wada never disappoints. <3 I also made this post yesterday but apparently forgot to submit it. WHOOPS. Chrom 1 Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 A surprise! Delthea SR is getting a plus version. Both illustrations show her casting Death, the powerful black magic spell that was originally enemy-only until it was made available to the player through the Enchantress class in FE Echoes. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 It finally happened, L'Arachel R! She attacks with magic and excels most when she defeats monsters. Not only that, but if she shows up to support an ally, she can be used to heal your leader so you can have more cards of them in your hand. Quote Link to comment
Chrom Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 Nice! Accompanying L'Arachel are her vassals Dozla and Rennac with HN cards, who depend on her presence to really shine. Dozla's designed to protect L'Arachel from falling (and to be protected himself), while Rennac can help the player draw more cards thanks to her. All in all, nothing amazing due to their heavy dependency on L'Arachel, but can be fun cards to play nonetheless. Quote Link to comment
Ephraim Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Man their faces looks super weird though. Quote Link to comment
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