Months have passed and this is our 3rd installment for Introductory Strategies and Combos. This time, our topic is Character Abilities and Traits in general. (Also, sorry for the lack of images)

Rin needs no abilities to be a good card

CHARACTER CARD ABILITIES

In the game of WS exist a wide range of card abilities. The explanation of the abilities will show the diversifying effects that stretch over the whole game.

CARD ABILITY TYPES

The following are the different main classification of different abilities in this game.

1) 【自】【A】【Auto】

This classification of  abilities trigger upon a certain fulfilment stated on the card ability. They also happen on the opponent’s turn as long as the text is fulfilled.

2) 【起】【S】【Startup】

This classification of abilities are abilities that can only be triggered at the turn player’s Main Phase. They can be activated any number of times as long as the ability requirements can be fulfilled.

3) 【永】【C】【Continuous】

This classification of abilities are abilities that are not triggered but affects the card by the conditions set by the text. The card is affected in real time and might also be active during the opponent’s turn depending on the card’s text.

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There are several types of Character abilities and i have listed them under a few different types:

1) Assistance

These cards basically support cards either in the front lines by certain means or they help by providing certain evasions, boosts and other effects. There are different kinds of supporting Character cards as well. Some of them boost Character cards by improving their Power, Soul, Level, or take their place when they are sent to Waiting Room.

Some support Character cards have specific requirements or targets for their abilities. Usually they revolve around Character card names, position or Character card Traits. Effective positioning or target selections can help the player attain certain boosts they require.

2) Boost

These cards are Character cards that boost their own stat abilities through certain conditions present on the Stage. They usually tap on the existence of certain cards that are in play on the Stage.

3) Control

This series of Character cards are used to control either the Stage, your hand or opponent’s hand. They can range from non-combat Character card destruction, hand control, play control as well deck control. Some cards allow the player to manipulate what they want in their hand, deck. or Waiting Room. These cards sometimes affect cards and send them to Memories too.

4) Counter/Backup

This series of Character cards are used to foil your opponent’s plans to rid you of Stage presence. You can use this to prevent the Reverse of important Character cards. Of course, your opponent can return the favour when you attack with it…

5)Advance Summon/Change

These types of cards are special in the sense that they forego the Level restriction of the game rules and summon out a Character of a higher level then the player. These cards normally perform very efficiently, however their costs are usually abysmal, thus Stock control will become a challenge in such decks

6) Special

These types of cards are Character cards that do slightly different things. They are cards that deal damage without commencing battle, remove damage, or other purposes such as cost payment substitution. They alter the Stage or condition of the game in ways normally not attainable by just conventional play alone. Special play of Character cards to the Stage are also included in this category.

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CHARACTER TRAITS

Below is a list of traits that i remember from my experience with the game. Remember, this list is not exhaustive and more are added in every set.

• Alien
• Angel
• Animal
• Backpack
• Buddhism
• Banana
• Book
• Bread
• Brigade Chief
• Bully
• Colony
• Committee Chairman
• Cook
• Dango
• Dark Hero
• Death
• Demon (Akuma)
• Delinquent
• Detective
• Disease
• Doll
• Double Tooth
• Dragon
• Elemental
• ESP
• Fairytale
• Familiar
• Fan
• Forehead
• Frog
• Gem
• Glasses (Megane)
• God
• Gourmet
• Headphones
• Japanese Traditional Costume (Wafuku)
• Jewel
• Last Will
• Love
• Maid
• Magic
• Manga
• Master
• Mecha
• Milk
• Music
• Muscle
• Net Game
• Ninja
• Nurse
• Occult
• Oddeye
• Otaku
• Pajamas
• Pot
• Police
• Prinny
• Pumpkin
• Pun
• Priestress (Miko)
• Ramen
• Rose
• Royalty
• Sake
• Salmon (Shiake)
• Science
• School Infirmary
• Servant
• Snack
• Shadow
• Spirit
• Sports
• SOS Brigade
• Starfish
• Student Council (Chairman)
• Steward
• Swimsuit
• Tea
• Teacher
• Television
• Television Order
• Theatre
• Toys (Omochia)
• Transvesile
• Twins
• Umbrella
• Unison
• Undead
• Void
• Waitress
• Warrior
• Weapon

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Finally some tips to basic playing of the game.

- Be Balanced

By choosing Characters that have multiple functions, you can assure that your deck is interchangable and is able to be flexible. Having a tri colour deck is already an extremely hard to balance game. Some of the Character cards in different colours share the same type of abilities, even though they seem out of place in their colour code.

- Take Your Level Slot Card Seriously

When Leveling up, do caution by selecting correct cards that you want to put in your Level slot. First of all, check your hand and see what cards are the most advantageous when you your Level slot card. In fact, i would suggest that a player only concentrate on one colour for all his Level 1 cards.

- Choose Efficient Combos

Whenever choosing a combo, don’t always choose something you think is the most game breaking. Sometimes simple combos are the best. Try not to overthink your combo and synergy. In fact, try to keep combos to 2-3 cards maximum. Well, sometimes certain decks aren’t meant to be the most efficient so those are special cases.

- Choose What Card to Discard/Clock Carefully

Remember that you always pay cost before the activation of an ability. Some players forget that they require a certain card to activate the synergy of the deck. Holding on to certain cards too early in the game will also decrease the efficiency of your game. Do know when to clock certain cards at certain times. Catch the timings to discard/Clock such cards to your advantage, sometimes they are effective ways to store certain cards in your Waiting Room before you Level Up.

- Stacking Your Chains Efficiently

When playing a game with multiple chains, do stack them in your advantage. A classic example will be Leveling Up and Refresh deck at the same time (Both are compulsory actions as they are considered “interlude actions”. These two normally have to be in the top of the chain). Weigh in the pros and cons of Leveling Up first or Refreshing your deck.

- Avoid Using Too Many Foil Cards

Yes, foil cards are awesome but if you put too many of them, your shuffles might unknowingly shuffle those cards to the top. This is from real game experience folks (expecially Climax Cards). Also, other players might accuse you of cheating.

- Take Loses With a Pinch of Salt

Players might get aggitated at losing, or complain like mad “Oh if only i have **** in my hand and *****, i might not have lost!”.  Do keep in mind that your opponent has his pride too. He might have taken a lot of effort to make his combos work more efficiently then yours so let’s all practice some sportsmanship and relax. =)

Oh and don’t laugh at your opponent/friends when they failed to pull off some combos. That’s really rude too.

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With all that said and done, next up will probably be the “broken card” theory. I’ll try to come up with a simple way of knowing how to rate a card based on their usefulness (however, this still depends on the player himself).

Until then, ciao and happy clocking!