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Follow Your Destiny
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What is Star Wars CCG?
The Star Wars Customisable Card Game
(SWCCG) by Decipher inc. is a brilliant two player game of
strategy, power and
cunning set in the Star Wars universe! I started collecting Star
Wars CCG in late January 1996, with the release of the
Limited Premiere Edition. The limited edition cards have a black
border around the face side, whereas the subsequently
released Unlimited Premiere Edition cards have a white border
around the face side. The print run for the Limited Premiere
Edition was approximately 300,000,000 cards. The unlimited will
initially have a print run of 100,000,000 cards with more if necessary. Later printings will rotate cards from the expansions
into the unlimited set. Finding Limited Premiere packs is
near-impossible now.
There are a number of different types of card in Star Wars CCG - as well as being divided into the Light Side and the Dark Side, each side has droids, aliens, devices, weapons, starships and main characters from the film at their disposal (provided you have the right cards, of course!). There are also special cards which represent "plot twists" or "effects"; these cards, if skilfully played, can alter the outcome of a game! There are also location cards, representing sites from the trilogy such as Mos Eisley's infamous Docking Bay 94, or the ill-fated Alderaan system. The final effect is a breathtaking re-creation of the atmosphere of the Star Wars universe, and an immensely enjoyable card game!
All the cards can also be divided into rarities - COMMON, UNCOMMON and RARE:
Common cards are, as the name implies, the most common. They form the backbone of the game - examples of such cards would be the X-Wing and TIE starfighters, stormtrooper or rebel guard characters as well as basic weapons such as a blaster.
Uncommon cards are often more central to the trilogy - incidental characters such as Jek Porkins, powerful weapons like the lightsaber and larger starships such as Imperial Star Destroyers are typical uncommon cards.
Rare cards are the most important cards. As well as containing some extremely powerful effects and "interrupt" cards, it is among the rares that you will find favourites such as Luke Skywalker, the Millenium Falcon and even Darth Vader! Practically all rare cards can be put to ruthlessly efficient use in a game!
There are 108 cards in each of the 3
rarity categories - making a total of 324 cards in the Premiere
Edition alone! However,
finding all of them will require a lot of effort (and cash)!!!
.There are two types of pack available -
starter packs and booster packs. A starter pack contains 60
cards, a booster pack
only 15 (or 9 in the newer sets). However, although you get more
cards for your money in a starter pack, there is a much
lower proportion of the rarer cards. A starter deck contains only
2 rares in 60 cards, compared to 1 rare in all boosters. A
booster also contains a higher ratio of uncommons when compared
to a starter pack. I advise the novice player to buy 2 or 3
starter packs to get into the game, and only to buy booster packs
from then on! The expansions are only available in booster
packs, which contain a set number of cards in a specific ratio of
rarities.
Decipher plan on making a number of
expansion sets for the Star Wars CCG. The first three, entitled A
New Hope, Hoth
and Dagobah are now available. A New Hope completes the card set
for the first Star Wars film, including characters like
Chewbacca and R2-D2 that were held back from the Premiere
release. Hoth features characters and vehicles from the first
part of the second film, including AT-ATs, snowspeeders and a
new, updated Commander Luke Skywalker! These are
smaller sets than the Premiere edition, with 162 cards in each
expansion. The most recent expansion, Dagobah, consists of
180 cards and these packs should be cheaper than previously as
they contain less cards, but the new ratio of rarities in the
packs means you get more rare cards for your money! Decipher will
soon release expansion sets for Cloud City, as well as
Shadows of the Empire and numerous packs connected to Return of
the Jedi. One will also be released to coincide with the
forthcoming Special Edition of the original trilogy!
