A Beginner's Guide to League of Legends TCG Card Games
A Beginner's Guide to League of Legends TCG Card Games
First, understand the basic rules of the game
Core gameplay: League of Legends TCG is a collectible card game featuring two-player battles (supporting multiple players), similar to traditional TCGS like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! The game is set against the backdrop of a "Rune Battlefield". Players engage in battles by building decks and applying strategies. The player who reaches 8 points first wins.
Card classification and functions
Rune cards: A total of 12, used as fees. Each deck can only select 2 Rune cards from 6 colors, and these 2 colors must be consistent with the corresponding color of the legendary card. When playing a card, placing a rune card horizontally can charge 1 point. Some powerful cards require the return of rune cards of specific colors to the rune card library. At the beginning of their turn, players can place 2 talisman cards vertically on the field for free. The subsequent player can place an additional one in the first turn, with a maximum cost of 12 to start the game.
Battlefield Cards: A total of 3, they determine the outcome of the game and are the core of the gameplay. Players occupy and defend on battlefield cards. At the start of the game, each player draws one battlefield card and places it on the field. You can earn 1 point by successfully moving your character to the battlefield card to occupy the battlefield. You can also earn 1 point by successfully holding the battlefield at the beginning of your next turn. When a player reaches 7 points, the 8th point must be obtained either by "occupying 2 battlefields after the attack in the current round" or by "successfully defending".
Main deck: Composed of legendary cards, hero cards, unit cards, spell cards, and item cards, totaling 40 cards. Only a maximum of 3 cards of the same number with the same name can be put in.
Legendary Cards: Cards placed on the field at the beginning of the game, namely heroes, come with two colors to restrict construction. Each deck can only carry one card, with no cost, providing a continuous effect.
Hero Card: At the beginning of the game, place one hero card from the deck onto the field. It must match the character corresponding to the legendary card. When hero cards and unit cards are first played, they are in a horizontal position. At the beginning of the next turn, they become vertical. Only cards in a vertical position can move between the base and the battlefield. After moving, they become horizontal. However, some hero cards come with a "roaming" entry, allowing them to move directly between two different battlefields.
Unit cards: Similar to hero cards, they have costs, attack power, effects, and characteristics, and are the main characters participating in battlefield battles.
Spell cards: They have costs and effects, but no attack power attribute. After calculating the effects, they are placed in the scrap pile. The game features spell speed and chain. The "Focus" spell can only be used when one's own side has priority in their turn, while the "Response" spell can be used in the opponent's turn. Some spell cards have a "standby" mechanism. After paying the fee, they can be placed face down to enter the game, and then used after paying the fee in subsequent turns.
Item card: It has costs and effects, but no attack power attribute. Once played, it remains on the field all the time and can be used for effects at specific moments.
Second, deck construction strategy
Determine the core strategy: Based on personal preferences and game style, choose core strategies such as fast attack suppression, medium-speed control of the game, or late-game explosion. For instance, quick attack suppression emphasizes the rapid accumulation of advantages in the early stage of the game. Through high-frequency attacks and the continuous output of low-cost cards, victory is achieved before the opponent has gained a firm foothold.
Select core cards: Based on the core strategy, choose 3 to 5 cards that can determine the direction of the deck and ensure there is a synergy among them. For instance, if there are core cards that can increase attack power, you can pair them with some minions that have higher attack power but lower health points to form a powerful attack combination.
Match with auxiliary cards
Resource acquisition category: Add cards that can quickly obtain resources (such as magic crystals, hand cards) to ensure there are sufficient resources to implement strategies during the game.
Control type: Use cards with control effects, such as those that can freeze, silence or eliminate the enemy's minions, to deal with the opponent's threats and maintain the balance of the situation.
Defensive type: Equipped with defensive cards such as shields, healers or taunt minions to protect your key units and crystals.
Adjust the card quantity and cost curve: Reasonably allocate the number of core cards and support cards, construct a reasonable cost curve, and ensure that there are suitable cards to play in each round. Low-cost cards are used for early stage setup and transition, medium-cost cards play a role in the middle stage, and high-cost cards provide strong support in the later stage.
Third, learn the game process and operation
Round process: Be familiar with each stage of each round, including the card-drawing stage, the planning stage, the main stage, the battle stage, the rainstorm settlement stage, etc. Draw a card from the deck to hand during the card-drawing stage. During the planning stage, up to three cards can be placed face up from the hand into the rational pile. In the main stage, operations such as character card summoning, using magic spells, and setting meme cards can be carried out. During the battle stage, players can freely choose their own character cards to attack the opposing character cards or players. During the rainstorm settlement stage, corresponding operations should be carried out according to the positions of the markers within the time axis.
Resource management: Manage the cards in the Rational Pile and the Passionate Pile reasonably. The cards in the rational pile can be regarded as rational. Every time they suffer a little damage, flip the cards at the top of the deck and add them to the rational pile. The maximum number of cards in the rational pile is 6. When there are more than 6 cards, the extra cards will be placed in the discard pile. When cards can be placed in the rational pile but the remaining cards in the deck are insufficient, they are replenished from the top of the discard pile. The upper limit of the Passion Pile is 6. When there are more than 6 cards, the extra cards will be placed in the discard pile. If a card can be placed in the Passion Pile but the remaining cards in the deck are insufficient, it will be replenished from the top of the discard pile. Rationality is a higher-level resource than passion. It can not only replace passion in expenses but also serve as an additional hand card.
Battle rules: Understand the rules of the battle stage, including attack declarations, damage judgments, the destinations of damaged cards, changes in morale values, etc. When making an attack declaration, select one of your own character cards on the field, declare one of the opponent's character cards, or directly attack the player (if the opponent has a character card, you must first select the opponent's character to attack). When making damage judgments, compare the attack power of your own and the opponent's cards. The side with a larger attack destroys the side with a smaller attack. Determine whether the card of the damaged side enters the safe house or is discarded. The side with a lower attack reduces the morale value of the attack difference and moves the age axis at the same time. Each character card can only attack once per turn. When directly dealing damage to the player, if the safe house is not fully occupied, flip the top card of the deck (if there is no card on the top of the discard pile) to the free safe house (chosen by the opponent). When there are no cards in the card pile during the card-drawing stage, the opponent wins. When the morale value of one side is 0 or below 0 at any moment, the other side wins. When the heavy rain has settled and a certain player's safe house is completely empty, the opponent wins.
Fourth, participate in battles and accumulate experience
Participate in offline activities: Take part in local TCG competitions, gatherings or events organized by card stores, communicate and trade face-to-face with other players, and accumulate battle experience at the same time. At the competition site, you can exchange card experiences with other players and learn different tactics and strategies.
Online battles: Utilize official game forums, social media groups and other online channels to seek opportunities for online battles, practice with other players, and continuously improve your gaming skills.
Analyze the game: After the battle, carefully analyze the game process, summarize your strengths and weaknesses, and think about how to improve deck construction and tactical strategies. Record the decisions and card usage in the critical round, analyze which decisions were correct and which led to failure, so as to avoid making the same mistakes in future battles.