KARDS - The WWII Card Game News

Hello KARDS community!

As we near the end of summer it’s time to gear up for more KARDS tournament action throughout 2021, culminating in the epic showdown between the top four players in KARDS in Iceland for the World Championship in December!

But if you think you have to wait all the way until December for some high stakes KARDS action, we have some fantastic news to share!

[h3]Announcing a different KARDS Open![/h3]

We are making some changes to the KARDS Open moving forward to help the tournament better serve its purpose as a tournament where any player in KARDS can start earning some tournament experience and have fun while doing it.

First off we are slowing down the frequency of the KARDS Opens, hosting them every other month instead of each month. Alongside this we are increasing the prize pool for each KARDS Open from $1000 to $1500 so the overall KARDS Open Prize pool stays the same for the entire year.

Each of the tournaments will feature two separate swiss qualification weekends, giving players multiple chances to qualify for the latter part of the tournament and make their run for the prizes at the top, while providing players looking to sharpen their skills with ample opportunities to test their skills in the swiss rounds and start working their way up in the tournament scene.

The first tournament with the new format will be KARDS Open VIII which will start in August.

Signups for the two Swiss Qualifier weekends are open here: https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-open-viii/details

More details on the upcoming KARDS Open VIII can be found here.

How to register for an event on Smash and obtain your event pass: https://help.smash.gg/en/articles/2472270-registering-for-an-event

Help for how to use Smash during a tournament: https://help.smash.gg/en/articles/1465698-how-to-play-online-tournaments-on-smash-gg

[h3]The OCC Continues![/h3]

The Officer Club Championship will continue through the rest of the year, with the top 38 players on the ladder each month having a chance to compete for their share of the 1000$ cash prize and the glory of becoming the Officer Club Champion.

[h3]The World Championship journey begins![/h3]

As was mentioned in our announcement of the 2021 KARDS World Championship, the first qualifiers will start in September and will be open to all KARDS players interested in competing. The World championship will continue to run until the finals in early December.

Hello Kards community! It is with great excitement that 1939 Games announces the KARDS World Championship 2021 and invites everyone to join!

The KARDS World Championship 2021 is an open event for all KARDS players starting with open qualifiers in September and October and culminating in a grand finale in Iceland in December where we will crown the KARDS World Champion 2021.

To guarantee a fun event for all participants, the World Championship has three stages so everyone can dip their toes into the competitive pool for a taste of the action

• In-Client Open Qualifiers
  
• Knockout Stage
  
• Finals stage (in Iceland)

While playing in the World Championship is already a great adventure on its own, the way to the final is sprinkled with additional rewards ranging from cosmetics to the unique KARDS 2021 World Championship Cardback.

[h2]How do you become the KARDS World Champion?[/h2]

The World Championship 2021 has three stages, you need to be successful at each to become the World Champion.

Previous season winners, KARDS Open winners and OCC winners as well as the top 4 players from last year's KARDS World Championship are all guaranteed a spot in the top 128 that compete in the knockout stage.

[h3]Stage 1: Open Qualifiers in September/October[/h3]

Join one or both of the two open qualifiers available through the KARDS Client during weekends between September 4th and October 9th to earn your 2021 KARDS World Championship Cardback and compete to qualify for stage 2 of the tournament. The top 50 players from each qualifier will advance.

[h3]Stage 2: Top 128 player knockout stage[/h3]

The 100 players from the open qualifiers and the 28 pre-qualified players are randomly drawn into 16 groups of 8 players and will play a round robin group stage during the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of October. The two players with the best score in each group will progress into a 32 person double elimination bracket played during the weekend of 30th-31st of October to qualify the four players that will make it to Iceland for the final stage of the tournament.

[h3]Stage 3: The grand finale of the World Championship![/h3]

All finalists will be invited to Iceland by 1939 Games for a thrilling adventure and to battle for the title of KARDS World Champion 2021 in an offline setting! A very limited number of seats will be available for those interested in attending the finals in Iceland, more information on that later.

[h2]Start preparing for battle![/h2]

With the first set of qualifiers starting at the beginning of September, now is your chance to start preparing your forces for battle to challenge for the title of KARDS World Champion and your share of the $10.000 Prize pool.

Start thinking about what types of decks you want to bring, what cards you need to get to be in fighting shape come September to take on the world's best players!

[h2]Rewards: Prizes all along the way to the top[/h2]

Even though participating in the KARDS World Championship is already a great adventure in itself, we have sprinkled your journey through the various stages with additional rewards and prizes!

Let’s go over the rewards one by one.

• Every player that completes three qualifying sessions in the Open qualifier for the World Championship will receive the KARDS World Championship 2021 cardback and a random golden special card.
  
• Every player that qualifies for the top 128 - the knockout stage will receive two cosmetic in game-items as well as a pack of 10 draft tickets
  
• The four finalists will get an all expenses paid trip to Iceland to play the finals in the bunker and will compete for their share of the $10.000 prize pool.

We will publish more details on all things KWC2021 in the coming weeks and months, so make sure to regularly check in for updates!

Welcome to Operation Husky in KARDS!

On July 10, 1943, the Allies launched Operation Husky, a massive amphibious assault on the southern shores of Sicily to open the door to mainland Europe from the Mediterranean. For the next three days, more than 3,000 ships landed over 150,000 ground troops. More than 4,000 aircraft covered the landings and provided vital air support.

In memory of Operation Husky, we have a special event for you in KARDS from 16th to 19th of July.

Following our previous historical events, we now have for you new mini-tournaments and special operations. This time, participation in the tournament is entirely free. These tournaments are for new players and veterans alike as only cards of standard and limited cards are allowed.

Additionally, we introduce the US Field Flask as a new board decoration and also offer you good savings on some of the most popular KARDS bundles.

[h2]Historical background (in a nutshell)[/h2]
Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, was a major step towards the invasion of mainland Europe as it secured the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean and provided a secure base for further operations.

The planning of Operation Husky is worth its own article, especially considering the amount of deception involved to mislead the Axis (most famously Operation Mincemeat [Wikipedia article] [book excerpt]) and to conceal the actual invasion.

Husky was a joint operation between the USA, Great Britain, including the Commonwealth, and Free France against the axis powers of Italy and Germany.

The second-largest amphibious assault, only surpassed by D-Day, Operation Husky involved at its peak almost 800.000 fighting troops, the majority allied forces. The initial assault, complicated by harsh weather conditions, landed over 150.000 troops and 600 tanks.

The German commander-in-chief Albert Kesselring soon realized that the Italian forces couldn't contribute enough to defend Sicily and consequently worked towards a German retreat which was very successfully conducted between August 11 - 17, 1943.

Even though the Allied successfully conquered Sicily, they couldn't prevent the successful retreat of Axis forces, including heavy equipment, and thus failed their second main objective with this invasion.

In the end, however, the successful completion of Operation Husky led to the collapse of the fascist Mussolini regime in Italy and the declaration of war between Italy and Germany.

[h2]Tournament details[/h2]
The KARDS "Operation Husky" tournaments are 4-player single-elimination tournaments for new players and veterans alike: Allowed are only standard and limited cards, no specials or elite cards!

In contrast to previous mini-tournaments, the Operation Husky tournaments are completely free. No entry fee is required at all.

Even though the tournament is free, there are rewards to earn! Complete the special operations assigned to you during this tournament and reap the rewards.

Deck Construction Rules:

• Only Standard or Limited cards

Special Operations win conditions (can be combined):

• Win 5 tournament matches as Britain, Germany, or US
  
• Win 5 tournament matches with Italy or France as allies

(Edit: To clarify, the above mentioned matches are single matches. You do not need to win 5 times the tournament itself, just 5 individual matches).

We hope you like this format and would love to hear your thoughts on this. As you can see from the previous mini-tournaments and the current iteration, your feedback matters and is much appreciated!

Please let us know and use the comments below or chat with us on KARDS Discord.

Have fun and enjoy. See you on the battlefields of KARDS!

Hello KARDS Community!

The Weekday Skirmish happens twice each month and is a one day Swiss format tournament. Each tournament will have a unique set of rules, challenging not only your play ability but deckbuilding as well!

We are extremely excited to announce the next weekday skirmish on July 14th! This time it’s Odds vs Evens!

Signups are live NOW: https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-weekday-skirmish-july/details

[h3]What does Odds vs Evens mean?[/h3]

In this deck format, you will only be allowed to bring a deck that includes all even and a deck that includes all odd cost cards. This means in your deck, your cards' base play cost must all be an even number while your other deck must contain all base play odd cost cards.

Who will reign supreme as the ultimate limited format tactician? Start building your decks now as the action commences on July 14th!

Join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF

[h3]FORMAT[/h3]

• Bring two decks from two different main nations
  
• One deck can only contain all odd cost cards while your second deck can only contain all even cost cards.
  
• Win with both of your decks to win the round. NO BANS.
  
• Best of Three Conquest
  
• Swiss Format
  
• First round starts at 17:00 GMT
  
• Top 8 get 100 Gold each

Sign up to play right now, right here:
https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-weekday-skirmish-july/details

Following the fantastic release of the Legions summer expansion, we have another goodie for you now: Card balance updates, bug fixes, and the event Operation Barbarossa!

Now onto the details!

[h2]General Changes & Improvements[/h2]

• Operation Barbarossa, the latest event in KARDS, is active between 24th and 27th. Read more about it in the 📜 Barbarossa event blog!
  
  
• A new pop-up window with explanations about the seasonal ladder has been added.
  
• The seasonal ladder rewards have been improved.
  

[h2]Card Balance Changes[/h2]
Read the dev blog Research & Destroy for details and background info on the following 15 card changes. Listed below are the changes on these 15 cards.

• Bletchley Park
  Was: All enemy cards in hand and on the battlefield are put on top of enemy's deck.
  Now: All enemy cards with cost 5 or less in hand and on the battlefield are put on top of enemy's deck.
  
  
• Manhattan Project
  Was: Deal 10 damage to all enemies. Cost 12 Kredits.
  Now: Deal 6 damage to all enemies. Cost 6 Kredits.
  
  
• Uranprojekt
  Was: Pin all enemy units. Enemy cannot deploy units or give orders for 2 turns.
  Now: Destroy all enemy units.
  
  
• Type XXI U-Boat
  Was: Destroy target unit with cost 8 or less. Enemy discards 3 cards.
  Now: Destroy target unit. Enemy discards 2 cards.
  
  
• Night Witches
  Was: Add a POLIKARPOV PO-2 OR FROM THE PEOPLE to your hand. Shuffle NIGHT WITCHES into your deck. Cost 1 Kredit.
  Now: Add three POLIKARPOV PO-2-II to your hand. Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• Seaborne Invasion
  Was: All enemy units in frontline retreat. Add two random 3 cost US infantry units there.
  Now: All enemy units in frontline retreat. Add two US infantry units there with total attack of 6.
  
  
• Dowding System
  Was: Counter an enemy order with cost 3 or more. Cost 2 Kredits.
  Now: Counter an enemy order with cost 4 or more. Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• Patriotic Firestorm
  Was: Cost 1 Kredit.
  Now: Cost 2 Kredits.
  
  
• 10th Engineers Battalion
  Was: Defense 2.
  Now: Defense 1.
  
  
• 34th Infantry Regiment
  Was: At the end of your turn, remove the top card of your deck from the game.
  Now: At the end of your turn, draw and discard the top card of your deck.
  
  
• Phoney War
  Was: Both players draw until they have a full hand.
  Now: Both players draw until they have 8 cards in hand.
  
  
• Type 1 37mm
  Was: Deployment cost 3 Kredits.
  Now: Deployment cost 2 Kredits.
  
  
• Torpedo Attack
  Was: Cost 4 Kredits.
  Now: Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• 106th Quartermasters
  Was: Defense 3.
  Now: Defense 5.
  
  
• Western Allies
  Was: Draw a French unit from your deck for each non-French unit in your support line.
  Now: Add the top non-French unit from your deck to your support line.
  

➡️ Read the dev blog Research & Destroy for details and background info on the above 15 card changes.

[h2]Bug Fixes [/h2]

• Card copied from DOUBLE STRENGTH is no longer shown to enemy.
  
• Yamagata wasn't getting its buff in some cases when spawning on the board with an empty hand. Fixed.
  
• AI was playing 2 extra kredits when its DEATH FROM ABOVE hit a PB4Y-2 PRIVATEER. Fixed.