KARDS - The WWII Card Game News

[h3]Welcome to the first KARDS update of 2025![/h3]

We're excited to bring you a substantial set of updates in this update, including card balance changes, in-game tournament improvements, bug fixes, and preparations for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations.

Read on to discover everything included in the KARDS January 2025 update.

The update is available on PC and all mobile platforms and was deployed on January 23, 2025. However, please note that it may take up to 24 hours for the update to appear worldwide on iOS and Google Play Store.

[h2]CARD BALANCE CHANGES[/h2]

Overall, the cards meta is fairly healthy, with many different decks and strategies viable and the best decks only being slightly better than the rest. That being said, there is always room for some slight adjustments.

This time around, we will update a total of 11 cards. Four cards will receive some nerfs while the other seven cards will be buffed.

[h3]Nerfed cards[/h3]

• SEA EMBARGO
  
• CALLIOPE
  
• COMPROMISE
  
• HAMMER HOME
  

[h3]Buffed cards[/h3]

• 57th RIFLES
  
• TURNING POINT
  
• 845th RIFLES
  
• 1st CAVALRY TROOP
  
• 5th REGIMENT
  
• 49th INFANTRY REGIMENT
  
• FIAT G.55
  

Check out the dev blog for all the juicy details!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/544810/view/525333037201752250

[h2]IN-GAME TOURNAMENT IMPROVEMENTS[/h2]

We’ve enhanced the rewards for the Blitz and Iron tournaments, making your efforts more rewarding than ever! These changes are part of our ongoing commitment to ensure tournaments remain fun, competitive, and packed with valuable prizes.

[h3]Blitz Tournaments[/h3]

The entry fee has been reduced to 100 Gold or 12 Diamonds (previously 150 Gold or 20 Diamonds). The gold payout has been adjusted accordingly, but the pack reward remains the same—effectively increasing the value of each win while reducing the sting of going winless.

Rewards have been adjusted as follows:

• 5th-8th place now awards 50 Gold, down from 75 Gold, still maintaining half the entry fee.
  
• 3rd-4th place continues to reward 1 pack, with the gold reward now at 75 Gold instead of 100 Gold, effectively increasing the payout from 66% to 75% of the entry fee.
  
• 2nd place still grants 1 card pack, now with 100 Gold (previously 150 Gold, the full entry fee in Gold).
  
• 1st place remains at 1 Officer pack with 100 Gold instead of 150 Gold. The victory still counts for 1 Trophy.

[h3]Iron Tournaments[/h3]

While the entry fee remains unchanged, the rewards have been significantly boosted—now offering Diamonds for the first time!

• 3rd-4th place now awards 200 Gold (unchanged) with a new additional reward of 1 card pack.
  
• 2nd place still grants 300 Gold plus 1 Officer pack, with a new additional reward of 10 Diamonds (replacing the previous Gold Special card).
  
• 1st place remains at 450 Gold plus 2 Officer packs, now with an extra 20 Diamonds (replacing the previous 2 Gold Special cards). The victory still counts for 3 Trophies.

The Boot Camp tournament remains unchanged for now.

We’re also preparing a special Lunar New Year tournament with virtually no entry fees and exciting rewards. Stay tuned for more details on the Lunar New Year celebrations in the coming days!

[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
[h4]AI[/h4]

• The displayed cost of the B-24D unit was incorrect. Fixed.
  
• ECHELON incorrectly triggered a bonus when the HQ was attacked. Fixed.
  
• KORSUN did not correctly reduce cost when revealing covert units. Fixed.
  
• Various improvements to the behavior of SUPPORT COLUMN.

[h4]Battle[/h4]

• The GREIF buff was not applied to a British unit after playing the KANGAROO TRANSPORT order. Fixed.
  
• MATILDA Mk IV did not receive the +2 attack buff from ROYAL WEST KENTS after becoming veteran. Fixed.
  
• The "Text not found" error message appeared when using the AIR CORPS FERRYING order on empty space. Fixed.

[h4]UI[/h4]

• The "RGD-33 GRENADE" item overlapped the last unit on the enemy's support line in fullscreen mode. Fixed.
  
• The Battle Ready decks' top panel displayed incorrectly after closing the settings menu. Fixed.
  
• HQ deck cards for Baguio, Kursk, Alam El Halfa, Villers-Bocage, and Arracourt were missing from the deck builder. Fixed.
  
• Some cards with the Shock keyword did not appear when searching "Shock" in the search field of the deck builder. Fixed.
  
• Dividing lines between abilities were missing when hovering over cards. Fixed.
  
• The Encyclopedia was missing text stating that "Fighters cannot gain Smokescreen." Fixed.
  
• In some instances, the crate image blocked text in the crate button. Fixed.
  
• Hints in the tutorial sometimes overlapped. Fixed.
  
• Explanatory pop-ups were incorrectly shifted in the tutorials. Fixed.
  
• The Skull icon in Draft displayed sometimes an incorrect number of losses. Fixed.

[h4]Other[/h4]

• Several issues in the localized versions were fixed.
  
• Improvements to the server backend including optimized matchmaking.

Hello friends!

As is our custom, we will have a balance patch in the month following a big expansion. The intention with these patches is to address any major balance issues following the great upheaval that the big expansions are. This time around, we kinda sorted that already with the patch we did before the World Championship finals last December. The meta is fairly healthy, with many different decks and strategies viable and the best decks only being slightly better than the rest, allowing players to experiment more. That being said, there is always room for some slight adjustments and on the menu today we have 4 nerfs and 7 buffs, served up with some saucy banter. Let’s get to it.



First up is a slight nerf to Sea Embargo. Brit Air is one of the better decks hovering around and we want to lower its ceiling a bit. Sea Embargo is still playable after this, but offers less value, especially in the all important early turns.



The long distance member of the Sherman family, Calliope came out all tubes blazing with Blood & Iron. With a solid ability and body, it has been rocking it up in many different decks, a good indicator of a strong and versatile unit. But the fireworks are a bit too much, so we are making it slightly easier to deal with.



Several mill-style decks have been growing in popularity lately and do a good job of compromising many promising play styles. Many players would love to see this card disappear completely, but increasing the cost is hopefully an acceptable middle ground.



Hammer Home was a very ham-handed way to force Exile decks into existence. The good news is that it did succeed in this and Exile decks, while never very popular, have been very strong for the past year. The bad news is that it makes the deck rely on Hammer Home a bit too much, as it offers so much value. For this reason it is time for the deck to head home to roost.

[h2]Card Buffs[/h2]



The T-34 decks are fairly popular and there is a strong indication that players enjoy playing this style of deck. But the power level of these decks is slightly below what we would like, and this change aims to put more fight into the deck by allowing you to start chaining fighting machines a turn earlier.



In a similar vein, here is another buff aimed to turn the fortunes of T-34 decks around. This one requires a more dedicated T-34 deck, but played at the right moment, this can take a win out of nowhere. Let’s see if this points the deck in the right direction.



One of the things that makes T-34 decks struggle a bit is that they can be slow out of the gate against very aggressive decks. The 845th has always been a solid tool for the Soviets against aggro decks, but it has been falling behind the curve slightly the last couple of years and is in need of a bit of a facelift. This change can also benefit various other Soviet decks.



The Throp deck is an interesting deck that plays out differently than most others. We hoped the additions to the deck in Blood & Iron would propel the deck into the limelight, but so far it has not really materialized. The 1st Cavalry Troop was always intended to be a strong inclusion to the deck, so to emphasize that even further we are throwing them the Blitz Bone.



Speaking of decks that play out in a unique way, the SKD deck certainly fits the bill. It stormed out of the gates last summer, to the point where it was hit by several nerfs. The nerfs turned out to be a bit on the harsh side, so we are re-evaluing them a bit. We are not fully rolling back the nerf to the 5th Regiment, but increasing the ability to +2+1 is a significant buff all the same.



One of the themes of Blood & Iron was the 4-attack theme, with Italy in the thick of it. The 49th Infantry Regiment is borderline a strong candidate for that deck, but is lacking slightly. Now that it is sturdier, it will be interesting to see if it makes its way into more played decks.



We are also refactoring one of the older Italian cards to fit better into the 4-attack theme, and just make it stronger in general. Getting this iconic Fiat into a playable state would be quite the feat. Triggering the ability is now more a bonus than a must and the card is less punished by being suppressed.

That is it for the January balance changes. The patch will go live on January 23rd and will also include various bug fixes, so look out for the full patch notes. Next on the agenda is the Spring Release in March and we have many interesting goodies for you that we can’t wait to show you. Until then, see you on the battlefield, commander!

Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,

This is the 2025 KARDS eSports plan. We intend to concentrate the eSports tournaments to 5 events this year and tie them in with our game expansions. This also means that the monthly OCC tournaments have been shelved so we can concentrate on fewer but bigger events. The prize pool has also been increased from the OCC.

It also means that all players can jump into the e-Sports events!



[h2]The four tournaments will be;[/h2]

February, following the January Balance Patch.

April, following the Spring release.

June, following Summer expansion.

October, following the Fall release.

[h2]Prizes will be:[/h2]

1st: 1500 USD

2nd: 1000 USD

3rd: 500USD

4th - 8th: 500 Diamonds

9th - 32nd: 100 Diamonds

Top 3 players will qualify for the World Championships.

[h2]To qualify you need to play in the seasonal ladder -[/h2]

12 players from the seasonal ladder - 2 seasons total - 24 players

8 players from the tournaments - 1 season total (January )- 8 players

Total players in the expansion tournament are always 32 players!

Additonally: TOP 4 players from WC 2024 will qualify directly into WC 2025.

Qualification towards WC 2025

Top 3 players from each tournament will qualify directly into WC 2025 - 12 total plus the top 4 players from the WC 2024.

Prices to be announced.

Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,

As 2024, a fantastic year for KARDS, is coming to an end, we are thrilled to share a first look at what lies ahead for KARDS in 2025 with a new, updated KARDS Living Roadmap.

[h3]What is the roadmap?[/h3]

The roadmap is a regularly updated, high-level overview of the milestones and important events for KARDS: The roadmap contains only the highest level of features.

The roadmap does not include regular smaller updates or patches, seasonal in-game events, our Esports calendar, ongoing balance changes or general KARDS refinements — although they are a part of our work to continuously improve KARDS.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at some of the exciting things we can look forward to in KARDS in the coming months!

[h3]KARDS Living Roadmap[/h3]



Throughout the year you can also expect: card balance updates, in-game tournament improvements, iterations of other game modes like draft and classic, UI enhancements outside the battle scene, continuation of eSports with regular cash-prize tournaments, plenty of quality-of-life improvements and other goodies.

[h3]Major Expansions: Summer & Winter[/h3]

The major expansions are highlights of the year, introducing a large set of new cards, exciting mechanics, and occasionally new allies (although not guaranteed). We are excited to share more details, of course, as each expansion approaches.

[h3]Major Releases: Spring & Fall[/h3]

Traditionally scheduled around March and September, the KARDS major releases are additional highlights of 2025. While we focus on game improvements and new features with our major releases, they also contain some new cards and balance updates for exciting fresh content.

[h3]Winter: World Championship[/h3]

We’re thrilled to announce the return of the KARDS World Championship in 2025! Details about the qualification process will become available in the upcoming months. Prepare for epic battles as you can compete for the ultimate title of KARDS World Champion.

[h3]Looking Ahead[/h3]

This roadmap outlines the major milestones planned for KARDS in 2025. Beyond these big steps, you can expect:

• Regular card balance updates
  
  
• Improvements to in-game tournaments
  
  
• Iterations of popular game modes like Draft and Classic
  
  
• UI enhancements outside the battle scene
  
  
• Ongoing Esports events with cash-prize tournaments
  
  
• A host of quality-of-life updates

Additionally, we’ll introduce smaller features, improvements, and events to keep KARDS fresh and engaging throughout the year.

Stay tuned for more!

Here at Kards we are aware of the history behind the game and we respect its origins. This history is important to us and we want to be part of keeping it alive. This is also true for many of the players. We would like to share this history that we have in common. We have been contacted by a few players who have told us stories of their relatives and we would like to showcase these stories.



Angelo Brambillia’s personal box with his movements in Switzerland, his dog tag, his lapel stars, photos and personal card.

The first comes from Lorenzo Brambilla. His grandfather Angelo Brambillia served with Savoia Cavalleria or the Savoy cavalry regiment in the Italian Army.



Angelo Brambilla’s photo next to his unit, the Savoia Cavalleria in cards.

Angelo Brambilla was born in 1923. He joined the Savoy cavalry regiment in 1943 when it had just returned from the Eastern Front where it had suffered heavy casualties during Operation Little Saturn. In Russian it had carried out one of the last significant cavalry charges in history at Isbuscensky in 1942. Angelo received his training at Malpensa and served in the air defense of Milan and in the rescue of civilians under bombing. He trained as a sharpshooter and became an attendant of Major Asti Lion. At the armistice of Italy on 8 September 1943 the Savoy cavalry, being faithful to the King, crossed the Swiss border in arms and handed themselves over to the Swiss army. Angelo arrived at the Kerzes military internment camp on 12 September 1943 and remained interned in Switzerland until 12 July 1945 and came back to an emotional reunion with his family, who had been notified in 1943 of his death. After the war Angelo married and lived a quiet life as a suitcase maker for Gucci and Fendi. Angelo passed away in 2000.

This is just one story of the many ordinary people in a world at war, whose history is represented in cards.

A thank you to Lorenzo Brambilla who submitted the story of his grandfather. Lorenzo is a teacher living in Veneto and works with unaccompanied foreign minors in Italy. He has played Kards since the summer of 2024. His game name is Billa#3018 and his favorite deck is an Alpine deck.

We at 1939 Games would welcome more true life stories like this. Find us on Facebook.



Attendente Angelo Brambilla

Did you know that all the cards have historical texts that can be accessed in the deck builder.