KARDS - The WWII Card Game News

Hello everyone!

The battles in KARDS have escalated since the introduction of World at War - Escalation on January 20th. Now it is time to escalate the battles to the next level by some balance changes.

We have been looking at the card statistics all the time, before and after the holiday. Generally speaking, the meta looks pretty good and solid. The Britain Air deck performed extremely well right after the previous balance patch. The USA frontline aggro deck has been catching up, and it is now in line with the Britain Air deck, or even better. On the other hand, the Japan/France deck seems to be a dark horse. They all saw great performances through the holiday in the ladder and in the World Championship before the holiday and our first OCC in 2022. If you missed the battles, you can find our live recordings on our official Youtube channel.

We have been closely monitoring those new Escalation cards since they were released. Some of them are performing pretty well, while others lead to new and interesting strategies. We hope you enjoy those new cards. Now let’s jump into the new changes.

[h2]Cards adjusted down in power[/h2]

[h3]LONG RANGE RECON[/h3]



Old: Give your HQ + X defense where X is the count of all enemy units and hand cards.
New: Your HQ gains defense equal to the number of all cards on the battlefield.

This card has been very reliable for the Japan/France deck. It can help you stack up your HQ’s defense to a vast number, along with other healing cards. We want to reduce the amount of healing and increase the risk if you plan to get the maximum healing. It’s undoubtedly a nerf for this deck. However, the extra Intel ability allows this card to be potentially used in other decks.

[h3]CALM BEFORE THE STORM[/h3]



Old: [Cost 3]
New: [Cost 4]

This storm has been very powerful and devastating since it was released. While we want to see intensified heat on the battlefield, it is probably better to let the storm come just a bit late so that we can all be ready for it.

[h3]L6/40[/h3]



Old: 1 Attack, 3 Defense
New: 1 Attack, 2 Defense

We are aware that the USA/Italy aggro deck (aka Pizza deck) has NOT been performing well for the past few months. This is an actually predicted nerf because of the next change (99TH INFANTRY BATTALION).

[h2]Strategic Changes[/h2]

[h3]99TH INFANTRY BATTALION[/h3]



Old: Deployment: If you control the frontline, send an enemy unit to owner's hand.
New: Deployment: If you control the frontline, give a friendly unit +2+2.

While Retreat and the frontline are unique features in KARDS, setting units back to hand is seemingly getting the edge of being out of control. We would like to remove the retreat ability from this card and probably a couple of similar cards in the future, giving Guard and all other high-cost units more opportunities at the battlefield. However, we want to keep its strength in an aggro deck, thus this new powerful +2+2 ability.

[h3]HMS ILLUSTRIOUS[/h3]



Old: Add two SWORDFISH bombers with Blitz to the support line.
New: Add two SWORDFISH bombers to the support line. Give them Blitz.

The difference here is that those bombers will no longer have Blitz once they are returned back to hand. There are still other units that work a bit differently but possess the same names. We plan to either rename some units or adjust them a bit to improve the consistency.

[h3]NO SURRENDER[/h3]



Old: [Cost 4] Add 1/1 LIGHT INFANTRY units to the support line until it is full.
New: [Cost 5] Add LIGHT INFANTRY to the support line until it is full. Give them Blitz.

The Token deck seems to be stuck in a dilemma, neither fast enough against aggro decks, nor powerful enough against control decks. With this change, we hope taking and holding the frontline will be easier for this deck in the middle game stage. Once those tokens are holding the frontline, we all know what will happen.

[h2]Adjusted up in power[/h2]

[h3]ARGYLLSHIRE HIGHLANDERS[/h3]



Old: Has +3 attack while guarded.
New: Gets +1+1 when you deploy or add a Guard unit.

Those highlanders are expected to be powerful along with Guard units - yet they are not. Hopefully this new ability can cooperate with Guard units much better. So watch out for the Naval Support deck.

[h3]DIVE BOMBING[/h3]



Old: Give an enemy unit -3 attack and -1 defense until the start of your next turn.
New: Deal 1 damage to an enemy unit. Set its attack to 0 until your next turn.

It looks like this bomb never hits the target and thus is not so dangerous at all. Let’s have a bigger bomb by making the damage permanent and reducing the attack even more.

[h3]KI-51 SONIA[/h3]



Old: [Cost 2]
New: [Cost 1]

The Japan Air deck is still nowhere to be found after the buff of RULE THE SKIES. We would to like to have this first 1 cost Japan bomber and see how it goes. This special bomber’s ability is also very unique in the game. Maybe a PIN deck is finally on the way.

[h3]SCOUTING PARTY[/h3]



Old: Draw 5 cards, discard drawn cards that are not Japanese units.
New: Add two 33RD RECON to your support line.

Even though this card has a very good potential value, it doesn’t fit quite well into any meta deck. This new version is very thematic and provides more drawing abilities for Japan with a low cost.

That is all, these changes will be on the live server soon. We will monitor closely how the meta will change after those changes. Keep an eye on the spoiler season for the next World at War update. Please continue giving us your feedback, it is very valuable to us. Thanks and see you on the battlefield, commander!

It is with great excitement that we announce the first KARDS Open of 2022!

SIGN UP NOW

1939 Games presents the KARDS Open X, powered by 983 Media. In this Open tournament, players will have two chances to make it into the top 16 through one of the two Swiss Qualifiers held on January 29th and February 5th.

The KARDS Open is all about gathering together, meeting new people, having fun, and playing KARSD. To that end, we will be doing a random giveaway between all those that sign up and play in the KARDS Open X qualifiers, where three lucky players will receive 4 officer packs once the qualifiers are complete.

Read on for a detailed breakdown of the different tournament stages.

[h2]STAGE ONE[/h2]

Starting Saturday, January 29th, with the swiss qualifiers, you will compete in a best of 3 free-for-all deck format. This means you can bring any deck you want and play it as many times as you'd like. No deck submissions and no deck restrictions! If you make the top 8 in this stage, you will advance to stage two.

The second chance qualifier will be Saturday, February 5th. This swiss bracket is open to any player who has not already made the top 8 cuts, so make sure to maximize your chances of making the top 16 by playing in both qualifiers.

[h2]STAGE TWO[/h2]

If you finish in the Top 8 from either of the stage one weekends, you will be qualified for the next stage - Saturday, February 26th to compete in the single-elimination best of 3 conquest. You will submit four of your best decks from four different main nations in this stage. (you will only use three of these decks for the first half of this bracket) You will ban one deck from your opponent and play a best of 3.

[h2]STAGE THREE[/h2]

If you've made it to the Top 4 on February 26th, you've made it to stage 3! In this stage, you will break out your 4th submitted deck and play in a best of 5 single elimination with one ban. These games will be broadcast live on Sunday, February 27th.

For all questions about participating in the Open and all things related to KARDS Tournaments, please join our KARDS competitive Discord: https://discord.gg/288DQexmng



[h3]Swiss Qualifiers[/h3]

Compete in one or both qualifier swiss bracket weekends.
Top 8 from each weekend bracket moves on to Top - Cuts weekend
Closed deck lists with no deck restrictions! Play whatever you want, whenever you want!

[h3]Best of Three matchups[/h3]

Swiss Bracket with 128 player maximum (7 swiss rounds)
Swiss Qualifier Bracket A January 29th @ 1300 GMT
Swiss Qualifier Bracket B February 5th @ 1300 GMT

[h3]Top Cuts[/h3]

Bring three decks from three different main nations
A fourth deck must be submitted, which will only be used if you make it to top 4
Top 16 Conquest format best of 3 with open deck lists and one ban
Top 4 conquest format best of 5 with open deck lists and one ban
Top 16 Bracket February 26th @ 1300 GMT

⏰ DECK LIST SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 26th @ 1200 GMT

Top 4 Bracket & Live Stream February 27th @ 1400 GMT

[h3]PRIZES[/h3]

The KARDS Open has a prize pool of $1500 that is split the following way:

• 1st: $600 USD
  
• 2nd: $450 USD
  
• 3rd: $250 USD
  
• 4th: $200 USD
  
• 5th-16th - 100 Gold

Sign ups are open now!
https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-open-x/details

Thrilling news from KARDS: New cards, general improvements, and alternative art have arrived on the battlefield in KARDS with the latest World at War - Escalation update on January 20th!

[h2]World at War: Escalation[/h2]

This second World at War update is themed around the build-up into the war and focuses on the USA, Japan, and the Soviet Union. This update delivers a combination of new and existing cards fitting the theme.



Explore new options and strategies with Escalation, such as the iconic US 5th Medical Battalion, which repairs your units and gives them extra attack, or the Soviet 60th Cavalry Regiment that restricts players to play a maximum of one order per round.

This World at War update comes with 7 unique new cards (18 in total). Included in the premium version is also highly popular alternate art, a new Battlefield, gold versions of the World at War: Escalation card set, the interactive Silver Dollar Lighter board item, and a sizable number of wildcards of all rarities.

[h2]Get your new Escalation cards[/h2]


KARDS is entirely free to play and stays like this. You can obtain the new Escalation cards in many ways:

1. Create the new Escalation cards with wildcards (nation-specific or all-purpose type)
   
2. Get the Escalation standard bundle for in-game gold
   
3. Get the Escalation standard bundle for real currency
   
4. Upgrade your existing Escalation standard bundle to the premium version with real currency
   
5. Get the Escalation premium version for real currency

The premium version of the Escalation also contains popular alternate art for some of our most iconic cards.

[h2]Additional World at War updates on the horizon[/h2]

This World at War - Escalation update is the second in our series of updates stretching over the next half year. A new update will arrive almost every month now!

With the World at War updates, we want to satisfy several demands:

• Release new cards more often
  
• Provide strong, coherently themed, and history-aligned bundles to ease access to KARDS
  
• Deliver regular exciting content for new and veteran players alike
  
• Trying out new methods to deliver precisely defined content (additional to the current card draws from packs)

Each of the World at War updates focuses on a specific historical theme and comes with a bundle of new and existing cards to support each theme.

Let us know what you think of our new World at War - Escalation and use the comments below or chat with the developers on our KARDS Discord!

Welcome to the first card reveal of our upcoming update, World at War: Escalation.

[h2]World at War: Escalation[/h2]

This second World at War update is themed around the build-up to the war and focuses on the three nations USA, Japan, and the Soviet Union. World at War: Escalation comes with 18 total cards, of which 7 are entirely new. Similar to the first World at War update, there are several options to receive the new cards:

1. Get the standard World at War bundle for in-game gold or real currency
   
2. Get the premium World at War bundle for real currency
   
3. Use wildcards to create some or all of the cards you want

[h2]Spoiler season[/h2]

Every day until the release on the 20th, we will reveal new cards, their stats, and interesting background info.

Subscribe to our social media channels to stay up to date and never miss any reveals:

KARDS Facebook KARDS YouTube KARDS Twitter

Especially join our 👉 KARDS Discord server! Get first-hand information, discuss the revealed cards and their potential use in existing and new decks, and speculate about unrevealed upcoming cards.

Let's have a look at the first new World at War Escalation card!

[h2]Spoiler season starts now: First new World at War Escalation card[/h2]

We kick off the spoiler season with the legendary 60th Cavalry Regiment.



The 60th Cavalry Regiment was a military unit of the 3rd Cavalry Division of the Red Army of the Soviet Union. The division was first formed in 1923 and participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939, but at the start of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 it defended against the Axis invaders as part of the 5th Cavalry Corps of the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front. That same year the division was redesignated to 5th Guards Cavalry Division for its skillful combat performance against the Axis forces. From 1944 to 1945 the division served under the 1st and 2nd Baltic Front, but was moved to 3rd Belorussian Front where it served until the end of the war.

Stay tuned for more as we approach the World at War II release on January 20th. There are card reveals now every day!

[h2]Card reveal updates[/h2]
Since the initial announcement, more cards have been revealed.

[h3]SOUTHERN PLAN[/h3]


Imperial Japan’s ultimate goal was to conquer China, but they knew they couldn’t subdue this large country without clashing with other great powers, the Soviet Union in the north or the United States in the south. Several reasons led to the choice of the southern plan, that was led by the navy, over the northern plan that would rely on the army.

One was the raw materials such as oil and rubber in the American, British and Dutch possessions in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Another reason was the defeat of the Japanese Army in the Soviet–Japanese border conflicts in the 1930’s and the Japanese believed that the Soviet Union was too powerful to conquer. Last but not least was the trade embargo imposed by the Americans and the British that was intended to pressure Japan to withdraw from China.

The Japanese southern plan worked great for the first 6 months, but once American industrial and military capabilities reached their full potential, and after the devastating defeats in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Japanese war machine was fated to fail in its efforts.

[h3]5th MEDICAL BATTALION[/h3]


A medical battalion was a divisional unit that offered medical support to the division in the field. Its main role was to conduct necessary evacuation and to administer medical care for the casualties of the division.

The 5th Medical Battalion was attached to the 5th Infantry Division, aka “Red Devils”, of the US Army during WWII. In 1942 the division was shipped to Iceland, where the British occupation force was replaced by the US forces, but from there it was sent to England in 1943 to prepare for the Allied invasion of Europe.

After two years of training the 5th Division landed in Normandy in 1944, over a month after the D-Day landings, and in the following months it participated in heavy combat during the Battle of France. In December 1944 the division was sent to reinforce the Allied southern flank in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. Later, that the division fought its way towards Germany along with the Allied forces and ended the war in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

[h3]M4A2[/h3]


The Sherman M4A2 medium tank variant was nearly identical to the Sherman M4, but it had a diesel engine and came with a pair of vented armored grates on the rear hull deck.

This variant saw limited combat with the US forces, some were in service of the US Marine Corps, but mostly it was used by the British forces. Some M4A2’s were shipped to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease program. The tank fitted the needs of the Red Army perfectly as they were using diesel tanks only.

A total of 10,968 M4A2 tanks were produced from 1942 to 1945.


[h3]MACHINES OF WAR[/h3]


During the opening stages of the German invasion of the Soviet Union the Red Army faced a serious shortage of weapons. The course of the war went on in such a way that most of the available munitions were lost, along with its troops who were either killed or captured, destroyed during a retreat or captured by the enemy in warehouses.

The development and manufacturing of munitions in the Soviet Union had begun before the invasion, but in 1941 they stepped up their game and most of their weapon production was done during the invasion, in some cases under siege and isolation.

From 1941 to 1945, the Soviet Union managed to produce over 30 million rifles and submachine guns, 1,476 million machine guns, 516,648 artillery guns, 347,900 mortars, 119,769 tanks and self-propelled guns, 265,600 army trucks, 213,742 military aircraft, 2 cruisers, 25 destroyers and 52 submarines.


[h3]52-K[/h3]



The Soviet 85 mm M1939, aka 52-K, anti aircraft gun was used by the Red Army during WWII.

The gun entered service in 1939 in regiments of 16 guns each and was used effectively against German aircraft between 1941 and 1945. In its secondary role the 52-K was used as an anti tank weapon and some gun barrels were mounted on vehicles such as the SU-85 tank destroyer.

After the war most Soviet nations had the 52-K in its arsenal and in some cases they were refitted for peaceful purposes as anti-avalanche guns.


[h3]SAKURA REGIMENT[/h3]



The 57th Regiment Sakura was a regiment of the 1st Division of the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII.

The division was sent to the Philippines to participate in the Pacific War in 1944 and was initially based in Manilla before being shipped to Leyte to defend against the Filipino and US forces which had reoccupied the island.

The 1st Division participated in fierce combat during the Battle of Leyte where it was nearly annihilated. Of the 11,000 soldiers only 800 managed to evacuate to Cebu island where they would participate in the Battle for Cebu City.


[h3]Alternate Artwork[/h3]

The premium bundle also contains the new alternate artwork for three popular cards: The War Machine, Ural Factories, and Last Rites.

Once you have received the premium bundle, this alternate art will get automatically activated.

Hello KARDS players!

It is a new year but some good things remain the same! We are delighted to announce that this holds true for the Officer Club Championship which will be returning for the year of 2022!

[h2]What is the Officer Club Championship?[/h2]

The Officer Club Championship (OCC) is a monthly tournament with a $1000 prize pool available to the top 38 players on the ladder each month!

The tournament consists of two stages. First is the play-in stage, where players fight for their spot in the top 8. The play-in stage is then followed by the top 8 finals, broadcast live on Twitch every month!

[h2]How do I qualify for the Officer Club Championship?[/h2]

In order to qualify for the Officer Club Championship a player must be in one of the top 38 spots of the in-game ladder when the season ends.

From there, the top 6 players are automatically qualified for the top 8 finals and broadcast.

The remaining 32 players are paired off based on their placement on the ladder and placed in two 16 person double elimination brackets, each fighting for one of the two remaining spots in the top 8 broadcast.

Finally the remaining 8 players face off in a single elimination knockout bracket until a champion is crowned!

[h2]The first OCC of 2022[/h2]

The first Officer Club Championship top 8 broadcast of 2022 will happen on the 22nd of January and will be broadcast live on www.twitch.tv/kardsccg

Never miss a beat or broadcast and follow us on social media

KARDS Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KARDSccg KARDS Twitter - https://twitter.com/KARDSccg KARDS Discord - https://discord.gg/kards KARDS Kaihei (CN) - https://kaihei.co/8GlMiN