Star Wars Customizable Card Game

Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SWCCG) is a collectible card game based on the Star Wars universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produces Star Trek Customizable Card Game and The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game.

History
The game was first released in December, 1995. Over the years, Decipher added 11 full expansions to the original card base, as well as numerous smaller expansions, special purpose sets, and promotional releases. The last set was released by Decipher in the fall of 2001. The game spanned the Original trilogy as well as The Phantom Menace.

At the end of 2001, Lucasfilm chose not to renew Decipher's license to use the Star Wars intellectual property, and instead granted this license to Wizards of the Coast, which used the license to create their own game. Decipher can no longer legally create new expansions to SWCCG; many cards that were in development can never be released to the public.

The decision was mainly reached due to Hasbro owning Wizards of the Coast and instead of having two companies to keep a head over, Lucasfilm under direct decision of George Lucas decided not to renew Decipher's license. The license was then bought by Wizards of the Coast who then used this to produce their Star Wars Roleplaing Game, Star Wars Trading Card Game, and Star Wars Minitures. In 2005 the Star Wars Trading Card Game was put on indefinite hold (meaning it will no longer be produced).

As of 2006, SWCCG still has an active playing community. The game is now administered by a Players' Committee, which interprets rules, organizes tournaments, and releases "virtual expansions" which give alternate game text for existing cards. The new "virtual cards" function as entirely new cards and keep the game changing. The "virtual card" overlays are available for free on the Players' Committee website, though you must have the original card to use its "virtual" version.

Scroll down (or click on the link) to go to the virtual sets list, there is numerous sets released!

In 2005 the Players Committee introduced a few sub-groups, to help promote and market the game, the two main groups are: The Writing Team and The Video Team.

Gameplay
Each game requires one player to play the Light Side while the other plays the Dark Side. In friendly play, a player can specialize in one side or the other. In tournament play, players need two decks, one for playing Dark and the other for playing Light.

The objective of the game is to deplete the other player's deck.

Star Wars CCG had more basic card types than most CCGs; the game began with 8 card types, most of which contained several subtypes. Later expansions added new basic card types.

The original card types were:
 * Character
 * Starship
 * Vehicle
 * Device
 * Weapon
 * Interrupt
 * Effect
 * Location

Card types introduced later:
 * Epic Event
 * Creature
 * Jedi Test
 * Objective
 * Admiral's Order
 * Defensive Shield

Some card types have different subtypes indicated on their card:

- Site (held horizontal) - Sector (held vertical) - System (held vertical) - Alien (One, two, three or many eyes symbol) - Rebel (Rebel Symbol; always a light side card) - Imperial (Imperial Symbol; always a dark side card) - Droid (C-3P0 eye symbol) - Republic - Jedi Master (light side force icon symbol) - Dark Jedi Master (dark side force icon symbol) - Used - Lost - Used or Lost - Used or Starting - Lost or Starting - Out of Play (introduced by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee) - Effect - Mobile - Immediate - Utinni - Starting
 * Location
 * Character
 * Interrupt
 * Effect

Distinguishing features
Compared to other trading card games, SWCCG is complex and has a steep learning curve. It has more rules than other TCGs, with some of these rules being obscure and seldom-needed. Some of the basic concepts (such as the distinction between "battle damage" and "attrition" in battle) can be counter-intuitive.

On the other hand the basic mechanics are innovative and flexible, giving SWCCG a game depth that appeals to serious gamers.

One other feature distinguished SWCCG from many other TCGs: while Decipher oversaw the game, no card was ever banned from tournament play. Instead, when a card or strategy was deemed abusive or too powerful, Decipher chose to release "magic bullets," new cards which were specifically designed to counter the offending strategy. In some cases, Decipher also used errata, modifications to game text of a card that supersede the actual printed version. The use of errata also contributes to a steep learning curve, since players need to be aware of errata in order to use the affected cards properly. This feature has been continued by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. While other formats have been created, using a limited card pool, the original open format still has no card banned from play.

Expansions

 * Theed Palace Limited
 * Reflections III
 * Coruscant Limited
 * Tatooine Limited
 * Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy
 * Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck
 * Death Star II Limited
 * Third Anthology
 * Reflections: A Collector's Bounty
 * Enhanced Jabba's Palace
 * Dagobah Revised Unlimited
 * Enhanced Cloud City
 * Endor Limited
 * Enhanced Premiere
 * Special Edition Limited
 * Hoth Revised Unlimited
 * A New Hope Revised Unlimited
 * Second Anthology
 * Official Tournament Sealed Deck
 * Jabba's Palace Limited
 * Cloud City Limited
 * First Anthology
 * Dagobah Limited
 * Hoth Limited
 * Rebel Leader Cards
 * Jedi Pack
 * Empire Strikes Back Introductory Two-Player Game
 * A New Hope Limited
 * Premiere Two-Player Introductory Set
 * Premiere Unlimited
 * Premiere Limited

Other Star Wars CCG Items Not Included In Sets


 * Star Wars CCG Tournament Foils - not an expansion set
 * Star Wars CCG - Miscellaneous - not an expansion set, includes oversized cards etc.

Tournament formats
There are two major constructed formats for tournament play, Open and Classic, which differ only in deck construction rules.

In the Open format, every card is legal. The only deck restrictions are that each deck must contain 60 cards from the same side of the Force and no more than 1 Objective card.

Classic format is intended to recreate the environment of the game before the Episode I sets (Tatooine, Theed Palace, Coruscant, and Reflections III), which many players viewed to have unbalanced game mechanics and broken continuity. The Classic format has the same deck construction rules as the Open format, but includes the following list of banned cards:
 * 1) Any card with the Episode I icon
 * 2) Any card with a Maintenance Cost

The World Championships and most events in the World Tournament Circuit are played in the Open format.

Types of Events
The types of events are:
 * Locals
 * States
 * Opens
 * Regionals
 * Nationals
 * Worlds

Events

 * Origins
 * GenCon

Past World Champions

 * 2005: Drew Scott (of the USA)
 * 2004: Brandon Schele (of the USA)
 * 2003: Jonathan Chu (of the USA)
 * 2002: Angelo Consoli (of Germany)
 * 2001: Bastian Winkelhaus ((of Germany)
 * 2000: Matt Sokol (of the USA)
 * 1999: Gary Carman (of the United Kingdom)
 * 1998: Matt Potter (of the USA)
 * 1997: Philipp Jacobs (of Germany)
 * 1996: Raphael Asselin (of Canada)

Players Committee
The Players Committee was created when Decipher lost the license to Wizards of the Coast in 2001. The Players Committee (PC) run tournaments, control various formats, enforce the rules, clarifications and errata's, and they also create the virtual cards. The PC has several key dignitaries, known as Player Advocates, the most notable being Mike Carr who acts as the President of the Players Committee. Other notables would be Scott Lingrell and Kevin Brownell. Through the Players Committee, the game has stayed alive til 2006 (and will far beyond this), when most games that lose their license die shortly there-after.

Virtual Cards
Virtual Cards are the new form of cards for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. They are printable pieces of paper that can be cut and then inserted into card sleeves that give past cards new game-text. Virtual Sets include:


 * Virtual Set 1
 * Virtual Set 2
 * Virtual Set 3
 * Virtual Set 4
 * Virtual Set 5
 * Virtual Set 6
 * Virtual Set 7
 * Virtual Set 8
 * Virtual Set 9
 * Preview Virtual Set 10
 * Virtual Set 10
 * Virtual Set 11 (Gold Edition)
 * Premium Set 1

Related games
Decipher produced two other TCGs based on the Star Wars universe: Young Jedi, based on the Prequel trilogy, and Jedi Knights. Neither of these games matched the popularity of SWCCG. Both were discontinued when Decipher lost the Star Wars license.

In April, 2004, Decipher announced that it was creating a new game, Wars TCG, based on the game mechanics of SWCCG. The new game is set in a proprietary science fiction universe created specially for the game and owned by Decipher.

As of 2005, the game was announced to be placed on HOLD, awaiting future development by Decipher. Although in Decipher's archives, there are still old PDF EBooks written by Chuck Kallenbach and Michael Stackpole.

Star Wars Trading Card Game
You might be looking for the Star Wars Trading Card Game, if so click the previous link. The two games are completly different and have no relationship to each other.

Forums

 * http://www.swccgpc.com/forums/
 * http://www.decktech.net/starwarsccg/resources/buzz.php

Fansites
There are numerous fansites devoted to CCG, many of which have come up actually since Decipher lost the license to WotC.

Some fansites are:

DeckTech.net (http://www.decktech.net) GamePlayers Network Jasonmaas.net (http://www.jasonmaas.net) EssentialSWCCG (http://www.essentialswccg.com)

There are also numerous sites devoted to ways to play online, you can find links for them from various sites like the ones above.