• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:21
CEST 13:21
KST 20:21
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL20] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Holding On8Maestros of the Game: Live Finals Preview (RO4)5TL.net Map Contest #21 - Finalists4Team TLMC #5: Vote to Decide Ladder Maps!0[ASL20] Ro8 Preview Pt1: Mile High15
Community News
PartinG joins SteamerZone, returns to SC2 competition(?)55.0.15 Balance Patch Notes (Live version)67$2,500 WardiTV TL Map Contest Tournament 151Stellar Fest: StarCraft II returns to Canada11Weekly Cups (Sept 22-28): MaxPax double, Zerg wins, PTR12
StarCraft 2
General
5.0.15 Balance Patch Notes (Live version) PartinG joins SteamerZone, returns to SC2 competition(?) ZvT - Army Composition - Slow Lings + Fast Banes Stellar Fest: StarCraft II returns to Canada Had to smile :)
Tourneys
$2,500 WardiTV TL Map Contest Tournament 15 Stellar Fest Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament LANified! 37: Groundswell, BYOC LAN, Nov 28-30 2025 Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 493 Quick Killers Mutation # 492 Get Out More Mutation # 491 Night Drive Mutation # 490 Masters of Midnight
Brood War
General
RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site Thoughts on rarely used units [ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions Recommended FPV games (post-KeSPA) [ASL20] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Holding On
Tourneys
[ASL20] Ro8 Day 4 [ASL20] Ro8 Day 3 Small VOD Thread 2.0 3D!Community Brood War Super Cup №3
Strategy
Current Meta I am doing this better than progamers do. Simple Questions, Simple Answers Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy)
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Dawn of War IV Path of Exile Liquipedia App: Now Covering SC2 and Brood War!
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion LiquidDota to reintegrate into TL.net
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Games Industry And ATVI Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread MLB/Baseball 2023 Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts The Automated Ban List BarCraft in Tokyo Japan for ASL Season5 Final
Blogs
Mental Health In Esports: Wo…
TrAiDoS
[AI] Sorry, Chill, My Bad :…
Peanutsc
Try to reverse getting fired …
Garnet
[ASL20] Players bad at pi…
pullarius1
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1861 users

A StarCraft II Card Game: Concept & Vision

Blogs > ibraishome
Post a Reply
ibraishome
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
Germany337 Posts
July 06 2013 18:27 GMT
#1
A StarCraft II Card Game: Concept & Vision

Hi TL, my name is ibraishome and this is my first blog ever

Today I would like to present you a basic concept of a SCII Card Game I've been working on lately. I always have been a fan of altering board- or cardgames and play them with my friends. For example in the past I created alternate versions of Risk (new map with some special rules and action cards) and Citadels (modern version with different characters (hacker, scientist, insurance salesman, ect. ^^ ) and different buildings).

As I saw the player cards on GOM TV during WCS Korea, I felt the urge to create a card game for StarCraft II, since I think there isn't any.

What I would like to show you is the basic concept I worked out until now, concerning the basic game mechanichs. Additionally I will share my "vision" of how I would like the card game to work. Therefore I will put my opinion about the game mechanics, and why I would like to have them in that way in [spoiler tags] during the text.

I would like to ask you about your opinion and feedback on the game and if you want to have a StarCraft Card Game. If you have an own idea, how you think the game could be improved or the mechanics could be tweaked, please tell them. If I agree that they fit, I would love to include them into the game.


Table of Contents:
I. General Information
II. Game Concept
III. Basic Mechanics & Rules
IV. Example Cards


I. General Information:
First of all, I don't want the game to be a copy of an existing TCG like Magic. Even though I always enjoy playing some Magic (the old Magic: Shandalar from 1997^^), I would prefer the game to feel more like a real game of StarCraft II. Therefore I started to design the game from scratch.

Of course there will be some parts that might remind you of other card games. I don't want the game to be as individual as possible, but to be as StarCraft II as possible.

Please take also into consideration that all the numbers & values presented are nowhere near final and only act as placeholders. The game itself is by no means playable at the moment, as I am still unsure about many mechanics or undecided between several alternatives. Please take everything only as a concept.

II. Game Concept:
There are two types of cards in the game: Player-Cards and Action-Cards (sorry, I don't know how these are properly called in English). Action-Cards are further divided into Units, Buildings and Strategies/Harassement (and maybe Upgrades too, we'll see). Both card types have a different deck, so that means, every player will have two decks.

Every player has to choose a race for his decks and is only allowed to include cards that match the chosen race in his decks. This means, if I choose Protoss as my race, I won't be able to include Zerg-Unit-Cards or Terran-Players into my decks. As it looks now, it won't be possible to play a random-like style. However, there will be some "neutral" cards, that can be used in every race's deck.

In the following, to avoid any confusion, I will call the Player-Cards "Gamer-Cards" and if I refer to them I will say "gamers". "Players" will always mean the people playing the game.


A game between two players will be viewed as a single match in StarCraft II. To win a game, a player has to win three or four fights (like a Bo5 or Bo7). During a game, whenever its a players turn he can attack his opponent. The moment when to attack during the game can be completely chosen by the player, ther won't be a rule that forces to attack at a certain time.

To attack, he has to play one of his Gamer-Cards. The opponent has to play a Gamer-Card as well and the winner of the fight will be determined by some values I will explain later. The winner of the fight gets one point, and as stated above, whoever gets enough points wins the game.

+ Show Spoiler +
A few things:

That every player has two decks might seem complicated as first, but the deck with the Player-Cards should hardly be seen as a second pile. I only wanted to make clear that both card-types do NOT share the same deck. So I promise, it won't be very complicated

I included the gamer-cards because I personally think it will be more fun to have them. That means that the fights I described above will be seen for example as Innovation vs. Soulkey or Mvp vs. Scarlett or whoever else, which might bring another factor of fun into the game. Additionally anybody should be able to create his personal dream team of players.

Another point is be that, given the values and skills the different (Pro-)Gamers might have, they will be useful in different stages of the game. For example a MC should be very good in early gamestages, on the other side, Rain might be very useful in the "late-game". With that I hope to encourage to different playstyles and strategies within a race. Like, your deck as a Protoss can be very agressive and you try to finish the game quick or you try to win in the later stages of the game, and you choose your Action-Cards after the strategy you pursue.

In general it is my goal to achieve a 50:50 balance between the importance of the player cards and strategy cards.


III. Basic Mechanics & Rules:
Perhaps I'm repeating myself, but I want to say again, that all of the rules are basics until now and nothing is final

I will start to explain the game mechanics with the important values in the game: Every player will have an Income and an Army. Both values will start at 0 at the beginning of the game. Income will work as something like Mana or Energy in other card games. It will allow you to play stronger cards. However, there won't be something like lands or energy-cards. At the beginning of each turn, a player has to choose, if he wants to increase his Income or his Army by 1 (or maybe if he wants to draw an extra card).

As I said, Income works as a regulator for the cards, so that you won't be able to play a "BattleCruiser" in the first round of the game. On the other hand, the Army-value is what is important in a fight. Both values will be increaseable (or decreasable) not only by the beginning of your turn, but also by playing cards.

The Gamer-cards will have values (attributes), too. I am trying to work in three different attributes. The one I'm most sure about is the "Unit Control"-Skill. This attribute should interact with your Army-Value. To give an easy example:

Your Army-Value is 12, your opponent's is 15. You decide to attack with MarineKing, who has "Unit Control: 19" (NOT FINAL^^). Your opponents answers with a player who only has "Unit Control: 14". That means you would win the fight by 2 ((12+19) - (15+14)). You would get one point. To make it more strategic, the players should be played hidden.

The other Gamer-attributes I'm working with would be "Macro" (or Mechanics) and "Strategy" (or Decision Making). These values should assist you in fights. For example, if your player has a better Macro and additionally you've got better Income at the moment, you will receive somewhat a bonus. On the other hand, the player who owns the gamer with the better Strategy is allowed to play extra cards before the fight, or something else. These attributes still need a lot of tweaking.

Additionally some players might have different skills, that might come into play when they are in a fight. Here is another example: MarineKing has the skill "Exceptional Marine-Control: If MKP wins a fight, all of your Marine-Units are allowed to stay on the battlefield and have not go to the deposit."

Regarding the general process of the game:

Your Action-card deck might consist of 50 cards, where you hold maybe 6 in your hand. Your Gamer-Pile might consist of 10-15 cards, where you hold about 3 in your hand.
I'm not sure about the drawing process. Maybe, a player is only allowed to draw one card per turn, or as many until he has again 6 in his hand.

On his turn, the player is allowed to play one of his Action-Cards or choose to fight. If he plays an Action-Card, whatever is standing on it, will be done. Normally, it will only be possible to play one Action-Card during a turn, but certain cards will allow or require you to play an additional card.

Most Strategy-Cards will be played and go to the deposit after it. Units, Buildings and other cards will stay on the battlefield for a certain time.

If a players chooses to attack, he plays one of his Gamer-Cards from his hand (hidden). The defender has to play a Gamer-Card, too, but possibly is allowed to play another Action-Card (like a Defenders-Advantage). If this increases the passiveness of the game, the attacker might be allowed to play an Action-Card, too. Then the fight happens, and after that, both Gamer-Cards will go to the deposit (like a "graveyard", but not so cruel) and both players draw another gamer.

Therefore players might be forced to have at least 10 gamers in their Gamer-Pile, so that nobody can be certain to have his Flash, Innovation, Mvp and TaeJa Combo every game. After the fight took place, all Units on the battlefield will go to the deposit. It might be the same with all buildings, but I'm not sure about that - it needs some testing.

+ Show Spoiler +
I hope this will add another strategic element into the game. As the Units you played disappear after a fight, you will have to think what units to play. Like you have 3 Colossi on your hand, but it might not be clever to play all of them now, as they will vanish after the fight and you won't have them in later stages.


IV. Example Cards:

This might actually be the most interesting section, as it perhaps shows you how the game should look in the end. Of course I don't have a card-design ready until now, so everything will be text. Sorry ^^

Please read the spoilers, as I will explain my thoughts, again.

Zealot
Race: Protoss, Unit
Income Required: None
The Zealot gives you +1 Army.
+ Show Spoiler +
This is the way, a standard-card might look like. Nothing fancy.


Colossus
Race: Protoss, Unit
Income Req.: 15
If you own have a Robotics Facility on the field, you can play this card with at least 10 income. Reduces your income by 1. Increases your Army by 6.
+ Show Spoiler +
One of the stronger units. Perhaps many of the stronger ones might give you -1 Income (As it's a commitment to build them). In general I want the cards to have a relation with each other, but there should be no requirements. That means you can play the Colossus without a Robo, but you will get a bonus if you already have one on the field.


Charge
Race: Protoss, Upgrade
Income Req.: 12
All Zealots on your field give +2 Army instead of +1.
+ Show Spoiler +
An Upgrade - the type of card I'm actually most unsure with. We'll see. It should stay on the battlefield after a fight, as you lose units but no upgrades in a real StarCraft game.


Photon Overcharge
Race: Protoss, Strategy
Income Req.: 7
If you have a Mothership Core on the field, this card doesn't need a required income. You counter one of the opponents harassement cards.
+ Show Spoiler +
Again: No requirement of a MSC, but a bonus if you already have one.


Orbital Command
Race: Terran, Building
Income Req.: 2
Stays on the field. If you play a "M.U.L.E", "Supply Calldown" or "Scan", you can remove the Orbital Command from the field and take the played card back onto your hand.
+ Show Spoiler +
Another card that interacts with others. Actually, I don't have a concept for the three other mentioned cards, yet, but surprise, surprise: with MULEs you might get a better income


Doom-Drop
Race: Terran, Harassement
Income Req.: 8
You lose 3 Army and 1 Army for every Static Defense the opponent has on the field. The opponents loses 3 Army. You can destroy up to 2 buildings of your opponent.
+ Show Spoiler +
Of course I try to put in special strategies of the actual races, like this Doom-Drop or the 7-Roach-Push and what not... Numbers might have to be tweaked.


Nuke
Race: Terran, Strategy
Income Req.: 12
If you have a Ghost Academy on the field, this card requires only 10 Income. If you have a Ghost Academy and a Ghost on the field, you can play this card for free. Destroy up to 2 buildings of your opponent.

All-Kill-Format
Race: None, Event
Income Req: None
After the next fight, the winnings player does not go into the deposit. Instead he goes back to the hand of its owner.
+ Show Spoiler +
Might be risky to play, if you're losing. Actually a card, that is played best directly before a fight. I just wanted to show how some of the neutral cards might look like.



I appreciate your feedback and thank you for reading! Please ask if something was unclear. Sorry if my not-so-good-English made some things hard to understand
I you are interested in the game, I will post blogs with my progession every now and then.

Greets,
ibraishome


*****
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-06 18:42:00
July 06 2013 18:41 GMT
#2
It's already in your quote, you must be pretty confident about this
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
ibraishome
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
Germany337 Posts
July 06 2013 18:51 GMT
#3
On July 07 2013 03:41 The_Templar wrote:
It's already in your quote, you must be pretty confident about this


I only want to get people informed
Penguin7
Profile Joined April 2013
United States16 Posts
July 06 2013 21:20 GMT
#4
cool idea
Heroes are remembered, but legends never die- Babe Ruth-The Sandlot
Epishade
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
United States2267 Posts
July 07 2013 00:48 GMT
#5
Looks very cool but way too much information for a card game to be played by hand. I think this kind of stuff is best suited for electronic play on a computer. Kind of like Risk. As a board game, Risk incorporates a lot of information that makes taking turns very long. Risk on the computer is much funner imo because there's less worrying about rules and dice throwing and you just have this stuff happen automatically on your turn.

Reminds me of YuGiOh WorldWide Edition (I think) for the GBA. It's just as good as playing with real cards, if not better because you don't have to worry about subtracting life points and keeping score. Granted, YuGiOh is actually a really easy game to play with just the cards so maybe that wasn't the best example. When there's a lot of internal management in a game though, you have to think about how much is too much. Sure, some can be good to keep the game a little complicated and give it depth, but if you have too much, the players can become bored or confused.

I've tried creating board games before and that's always something I have to take into account when I'm making them.
Pinhead Larry in the streets, Dirty Dan in the sheets.
docvoc
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States5491 Posts
July 07 2013 01:38 GMT
#6
I really don't know how this would go. One of the things about SCII that makes it a unique experience is that the game is real time. If one were to make it a board game, it would play a lot like either risk or chess, and I don't think that would be unique at all. That and in making it a card game, you would have to dilute the skill level quite a bit due to the randomness factor of decks and the fact that only so many cards can be included etc. where as in SCII one has access to all units every game and at the time he chooses. I want to see it work, but I just don't see how it would be possible to do.
User was warned for too many mimes.
ibraishome
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
Germany337 Posts
July 07 2013 07:50 GMT
#7
On July 07 2013 09:48 Epishade wrote:
Looks very cool but way too much information for a card game to be played by hand. I think this kind of stuff is best suited for electronic play on a computer. Kind of like Risk. As a board game, Risk incorporates a lot of information that makes taking turns very long. Risk on the computer is much funner imo because there's less worrying about rules and dice throwing and you just have this stuff happen automatically on your turn.

Reminds me of YuGiOh WorldWide Edition (I think) for the GBA. It's just as good as playing with real cards, if not better because you don't have to worry about subtracting life points and keeping score. Granted, YuGiOh is actually a really easy game to play with just the cards so maybe that wasn't the best example. When there's a lot of internal management in a game though, you have to think about how much is too much. Sure, some can be good to keep the game a little complicated and give it depth, but if you have too much, the players can become bored or confused.

I've tried creating board games before and that's always something I have to take into account when I'm making them.


Yeah... I somewhat agree, so I try to keep everything that has to be calculated rather minimal. We'll see how it will turn out.
Actually if somebody would make a Custom Map of it, when it's done, that would be like a dream come true
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Wardi Open
11:00
WardiTV Mondays #54
WardiTV392
Rex68
IndyStarCraft 66
CranKy Ducklings50
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
OGKoka 250
Harstem 173
SortOf 88
ProTech74
Rex 68
IndyStarCraft 66
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 18164
Calm 4201
Rain 2794
BeSt 1710
Bisu 1678
EffOrt 566
Mind 469
Shuttle 401
firebathero 330
Leta 261
[ Show more ]
Light 258
Stork 253
ZerO 246
Hyun 230
Mini 199
Zeus 184
Soma 146
Hyuk 131
Barracks 86
ggaemo 68
Soulkey 50
Aegong 48
JulyZerg 42
sorry 40
JYJ38
Killer 36
Rush 35
Bale 26
HiyA 24
Movie 23
Sharp 22
Backho 22
Free 18
Icarus 17
scan(afreeca) 14
Terrorterran 13
ajuk12(nOOB) 13
SilentControl 13
Noble 7
Dota 2
Cr1tdota903
boxi98341
XcaliburYe252
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1977
shoxiejesuss686
Super Smash Bros
Westballz41
Other Games
gofns20155
tarik_tv10610
singsing1955
DeMusliM343
B2W.Neo302
crisheroes301
NeuroSwarm58
ArmadaUGS46
ToD34
ZerO(Twitch)11
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV450
Upcoming Events
Online Event
5h 39m
Online Event
23h 39m
[BSL 2025] Weekly
1d 6h
Safe House 2
1d 6h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 22h
BSL Team Wars
2 days
Team Bonyth vs Team Dewalt
Dewalt vs kogeT
JDConan vs Tarson
RaNgeD vs DragOn
StRyKeR vs Bonyth
Aeternum vs Hejek
Replay Cast
2 days
The PondCast
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
Maestros of the Game
HCC Europe

Ongoing

BSL 20 Team Wars
BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
Acropolis #4 - TS2
EC S1
ESL Pro League S22
Frag Blocktober 2025
Urban Riga Open #1
FERJEE Rush 2025
Birch Cup 2025
DraculaN #2
LanDaLan #3
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025

Upcoming

IPSL Winter 2025-26
SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
RSL Revival: Season 3
Stellar Fest
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
WardiTV TLMC #15
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.