Comprehensive Intro to WIXOSS

WIXOSS (pronounced "wi-cross", because why not?) is the abbreviated title for Wish Across, a relatively new trading card game that hits Japanese stores later this month. You probably have no real clue what it is, so I made this guide to try and save you a considerable amount of time, energy, and confusion. I'll try to break it up into a couple of sections to make the information easier to digest and give you links to important things along the way, so let's go ahead and dive in.

What is WIXOSS about?

Wixoss is an OCG where two players use decks composed of a levelable avatar card (LRIGs) and monster cards (SIGNI) as well as a variety of spells and unique skills (Arts) in an attempt to reduce their opponent's health (Life Cloth) to zero and then strike the finishing blow. Similar to Magic: The Gathering, there are different colored cards (white, blue, red, green, black, and colorless), each with differing play styles and strategies. An anime based on the card game, titled Selector Infected Wixoss, is currently airing Thursdays on MBS in Japan.

Basic Terminology and Gameplay Overview

So I tossed a lot of terms at you in that little paragraph, so I'll give you a closer look at some of them while discussing their roles in the game, but first I'll let you take a look at how your will be set up:

PDF of the Play Field (from the merchandise company's website):
http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/wixoss/images/pdf/wixoss_playseat.pdf

Lots of things, right? I'll start explaining.

DECKS

In Wixoss, you have two decks, one with Black backing and one with White backing. The White deck (or LRIG Deck), which you may look through at any point in the game, consists of your LRIG (a non-monster card that acts as your avatar) and various LRIG skills, know as Arts, that the LRIG can perform at certain times. The Black deck, your Main Deck, holds the other two types of cards - SIGNI (monster cards used to attack your opponent and protect you) and Spells. Players MUST have a total of 50 cards, 10 White (5 of which will be your LRIG's levels) and 40 Black (of which no more than 20 may have the Life Burst ability).

LRIGs and ARTS

One of the hallmarks of Wixoss is the LRIG. Acting as your player avatar, the LRIG is one of the most important cards on the field, where it will remain at all times. While it cannot attack or be destroyed like typical monster cards (similar to the Planeswalker cards from Magic), your LRIG can still utilize its card skills or other special skills (if present) to affect you or the opposing player. Every LRIG has five levels, 0-4. As a player, your goal will be to level up your LRIG in order to summon more powerful SIGNI and use powerful skills (a process known as Growing). In order to do so, you must use send Energy from the EnerZone to the discard pile, known as your Trash. I'll get to that in the soon, I promise.

You've probably seen me toss around the word 'special skills' a few times now. These skills, called Arts, are the cards in your LRIG Deck that aren't LRIG levels 0-4. They are similar to Spells, but can be played from your White deck at any point during the Main Phase and the Attack Phase, provided you meet the requirements. After Arts are used, they are sent to a special discard zone known as the LRIG Trash, located next to your Trash. Some Arts can be used by any LRIG, while others are specific to a certain one. Make sure that your LRIG can use the Arts before including it in your LRIG Deck.

After all of your SIGNI have attacked, your LRIG may also attempt to attack the opponent's Life Cloth. This is indicated by turning the LRIG horizontally, a position known as the Down position. At the start of your next turn, remember to place your LRIG in the vertical (Up) position so that it can attack again.

LIFE CLOTH and LIFE BURST

At the start of the game, after placing down your Level 0 LRIG, you will shuffle your Main Deck and place the top 7 cards horizontally underneath your LRIG. These horizontal cards are called your Life Cloth and will function as your "health" for the duration of the game; however, if you run out of Life Cloth, that does not automatically mean that you lose. Your opponent must successfully attack you once more after depleting your Life Cloth in order to win the game.

Another interesting feature tied to Life Cloth is the Check ability. When a Life Cloth is destroyed, an act known as Crashing or being Crashed, the destroyed card is flipped face up into Check Zone where its owner checks for a Life Burst ability before sending the card to the EnerZone. Life Burst abilities, located on the bottom of some SIGNI (they are marked by a star-shaped symbol), give a special advantage to the player whose Life Cloth was Crashed, such as banishing an opponent's SIGNI or adding an extra card to the EnerZone; however, it is important to note that the player may choose whether or not to use them. In a way, Life Burst abilities act as turnabouts, helping losing players to regain momentum by giving them a boost. Of course, the chances of getting 7 Life Cloth with Life Burst abilities are not high, so it is important not to rely on Life Burst alone.

SIGNI, COSTS, and THE ENERZONE

SIGNI are the "monsters" that you will summon in order to attack your opponent's Life Cloth, attack opposing SIGNI, and protect your Life Cloth. Like your LRIG, each SIGNI has a level (0-4). You may only summon SIGNI to an open SIGNI Zone if their level is the same, or lower than, your LRIG's level. If you've looked at the play chart in the link above, you've probably noticed that there are only 3 SIGNI zones. You may only have 3 SIGNI in play at any point in the game.

SIGNI may only attack the SIGNI directly across from them, also indicated by putting them in the Down position, but they are not required to, unless stated otherwise. If an opposing SIGNI is present, the player's SIGNI may NOT attack the opponent's Life Cloth directly until that SIGNI is defeated. SIGNI do not die when they are killed (they aren't sent to the Trash), instead they are Banished to their owner's EnerZone where they can be used as Energy for Spells, Growing the LRIG, or Arts. When Energy is used to pay a cost, an amount of cards equal to the cost is moved from the EnerZone to the Trash.

In addition to asking that you discard a certain amount of cards, some costs may also require you to discard cards of a specific color. These colored costs, indicated by a colored symbol in the top left corner of the card beneath its numerical cost, mean that you will need to discard cards of the same number AND color as the listed cost. Colorless costs, indicated by a gray symbol, can take any color Energy as payment.

Both SIGNI and Life Cloth become Energy after they are destroyed, but there are other ways to get Energy into the EnerZone. Once during their turn, a play may either move one card from their hand into the EnerZone OR they may move one SIGNI from the SIGNI Zone to the EnerZone. Spells are NOT sent to the EnerZone after use, they are sent to the Trash.

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QUICK REVIEW #1

Throughout the course of the game, you will aim to:

-Grow your LRIG using Energy
-Send cards to the EnerZone to accumulate Energy
-Summon SIGNI to attack your opponent's Life Cloth and protect your own

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Okay, you've got the basics out of the way, let's look at how a typical game progresses:

Translated version of the Wixoss Quick Start Guide (thank you based anon who did this):
http://i.imgur.com/9PgrIrF.jpg

I'm not really going to dive too deep into anything here, since the guide is fairly self-explanatory and does a good job of explaining turn progression as well as showing you the different types of cards and their parts. If you would prefer seeing a game of Wixoss played out, please refer to http://pastebin.com/8cr4PdEF which includes a link to a YouTube tutorial courtesy of the manufacturer, as well as translation and play-by-play analysis of the aforementioned video. There are also some nice visual demonstrations of the basics on the manufacturer's website: http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/wixoss/rule/rule_moviedl.html

Some things I do feel the need to elaborate on are Guard, SIGNI Power, and LRIG limit.

GUARD

This ability, indicated by the Guard Symbol, is unique to certain SIGNI as it allows you to nullify an attack from your opponent's LRIG. By discarding a SIGNI with Guard from your hand during the Guard Phase (the period after your opponent turns his LRIG Down to attack), any damage that would be done to your Life Cloth is nullified. This is especially useful against LRIGs with the ability to multi-Crash (destroy two or more Life Cloth with a single attack).

SIGNI with the Guard ability can be summoned normally to a SIGNI Zone, but it is important to keep in mind that you can only Guard by discarding the appropriate SIGNI from your hand. You CANNOT use Guard from the Signi Zone.

SIGNI POWER

In the bottom left corner of each SIGNI card there is a number (i.e. 12000). That is your SIGNI's Power, its "life" and attack. Attacking SIGNI can only Banish an opposing SIGNI if their Power is greater than their opponent's. If their Power is less than, or equal to, the opposing SIGNI's, then both cards remain on the field.

There are cases when Arts or card abilities are activated during the Attack Phase increase or decrease a SIGNI's Power. In cases such as these, the effects are added to or subtracted from the SIGNIs before the attack goes through. I'll give you an example for this:

-My SIGNI has a Power of 12000.
-My opponent's SIGNI has a Power of 8000.
-I place my SIGNI in the Down position and indicate that I am attacking my opponent.

Normally, this would result in my opponent's SIGNI getting Banished to the EnerZone, but let's keep going.

-My opponent plays an Art that gives one of his or her SIGNI +5000 Power.
-We stop, calculate the new power, and then see if my attack still goes through
-My SIGNI still has 12000 Power.
-The opposing SIGNI now has 13000 Power.
-My opponent's Power is greater than mine
-Since my Power was lower, both SIGNI remain, neither get Banished.

Sounds simple enough, right? If a Spell or an Art that changes power during the Attack Phase is played, player must stop and recalculate Power before the attack resolves.

LRIG LIMIT

You already know that SIGNI come in different levels like the LRIG and that you can only summon SIGNI of a level equal to, or lower than, your LRIG. What you may not have known is that the total level of your three SIGNI may not exceed a certain number. That number, located below your LRIG's level, is known as the Limit. I'll give you another example:

-My LRIG is Tama, a level 3 LRIG.
-That means I can summon level 3 SIGNIs to the SIGNI zone
-I already have 2 level 3 SIGNI on the field and an empty SIGNI Zone I want to fill
-However, Tama's Limit is 8
-Because I have two level 3s out, the total level is 6

In this case, even if I have another level 3 SIGNI, I can't put it on the field without exceeding the Limit, so I have to put down a SIGNI that is level 2 or less if I still want to fill the empty SIGNI Zone.

It is important to look at LRIG Limit when summoning SIGNI. It is also important to note that more powerful LRIGs often have lower limits. Keep these tips in mind when summoning high-level SIGNI or when Growing your LRIG.

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QUICK REVIEW #2

-SIGNI go to the EnerZone when they are Banished.
-Destroyed Life Cloth is also sent to the EnerZone after being checked in the Check Zone.
-Spells go to the Trash after use.
-Arts and old LRIG levels go to the LRIG trash
-Spells, card effects, Arts, and Growing costs are 'paid' by sending Energy from the EnerZone to the trash

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COLOR ARCHETYPES

If you're still with me at this point, you're probably interested in the different Color types, their strategies, and where where you might find some Wixoss cards of your own. Luckily, I can give you all three in one section.

All starter decks are 870 Japanese Yen (approximately $8.50). Cards are 66mm x 91mm if you're interested in buying sleeves. I'm including links to deck pre-orders* with each color, but you are responsible for figuring out how to use the website and calculating any shipping costs. If you have questions, you can most likely find answers to them here: http://www.amiami.com/top/page/t/faq.html

RED (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5416)

Red decks specialize in cards that Banish the opponent's SIGNI, attack through SIGNI, and ignore Guards. Red plays a risk/reward strategy: if they attack an opponent quickly with their explosive power, they are able to quickly gain the advantage; however, while the ability to Banish SIGNI and attack freely is useful, it also provides their opponent with more Energy. Pick this if you're interested in trading a strong defensive game for lot of quick attacks with the ability to hit hard when you need to.

WHITE (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5414)

White decks specialize in cards that search search for other cards (i.e. Spells that search for SIGNI), bouncing (sending your opponent's SIGNI back to their hand), and negating attacks. Compared to the other decks, White plays a more defensive game with cards that give them an indirect advantage, while delaying their opponent. Pick this if you're interested in slower victory, earned by stalling your opponent while keeping your Life Cloth fairly safe.

-As an interesting note, White decks are currently the ones with the most pre-orders. I actually haven't seen this one "restock" yet. Good luck to anyone interested in getting this one.

BLUE (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5418)

Blue decks specialize in cards that allow you to add cards to your hand while discarding cards from your opponent's. Blue players focus on controlling the field, keeping their hand size relatively big, and restricting their opponent's strategy. If it's somehow still sounding mediocre to you, remember that sending cards that could be used as Energy straight to the Trash can really put your opponent at a disadvantage. Pick this if your name is Akira Aoi or if you really feel like being a dick is cool.

-Another note here, and it's actually pretty cool. In other card games, Blue decks can typically mill (force their opponents to discard cards from their main deck until they have no more left) in order to win, but that's actually not a viable strategy in Wixoss. If all of the cards in your Main Deck were to be sent to the Trash, your opponent wouldn't win. You would merely lose a Life Cloth (if you have one), shuffle your Trash, and use that as your main deck again. The only way to win in Wixoss is to Crash all of your opponent's Life Cloth and strike the finishing blow.

GREEN (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5668)**

Green decks specialize in building Energy and having special abilities relating to the EnerZone. Green's strategy revolves around gaining an advantage in the EnerZone in order to increase their power. If this is starting to sound like the opposite of Red to you, then you're probably right. Pick this if you're interested in using your opponent's power to fuel your own. Please, play safe and be wary of Blue.

BLACK (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5670)**

Not much is really known about Black at the moment. All of the other card's actually had some play descriptions from the manufacturer. This one really doesn't and they haven't shown us scans of any Black cards yet. A little text description somewhere indicated that Black uses cards from the Trash and employs cards that power down opposing SIGNI, instead of powering up your own like Green (I'm not sure how much of that is speculation). If you're OK not knowing what your deck does when you pre-order it, go ahead and go for it...I mean it looks sorta cool. If not, just check back in a few days and I'll probably have a decent description for this.

*All starter decks are currently on pre-order. None of them are Sold Out for good yet. If the deck you want is not currently available for purchase, please remain patient and check the page every day. New pre-order slots often get added, allowing you to get the deck you want if you just wait a little. If you do miss the pre-order, continue to follow the starter deck after release. They WILL restock at some point.

**Green and Black starter decks are not slated for the same release date as White, Red, and Blue. The former will be released in mid-June, while the latter will be released later this month. Keep this in mind if you plan to pre-order all 5 decks.

That's pretty much it for the Colors and starter decks. I know I mentioned Colorless cards earlier on, but they don't have their own starter deck. You should be able to use them in any deck, though, if you pick the appropriate ones.

If you want to buy booster packs, you can't buy them individually from the site I've provided. You can, however, buy a box of 20 for approximately $51. Here are the links to the two that are up for pre-order now:

WIXOSS TCG VOL. 1 (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5413)

WIXOSS TCG VOL. 2 (http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGM-5672)

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (If you still have questions, answers are probably here.)

Wixoss Card Game Twitter(Japanese): https://twitter.com/wixoss_TCG
FAQ translated from the Twitter: http://pastebin.com/FGBvsHyS
Wixoss Anime Twitter (Also Japanese): https://twitter.com/selector_anime
Pictures of some cards with translated descriptions: http://m.imgur.com/a/sZRpR
Quick Start Guide: http://i.imgur.com/9PgrIrF.jpg
Field Setup PDF: http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/wixoss/images/pdf/wixoss_playseat.pdf

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That's all there is for Wixoss, really. If you made it this far, you should really be psyched about this card game, or at least interested enough. Thanks for bearing with me. Have fun playing~