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 Roleplaying Game, Star Wars Trading Card Game, and Star Wars Miniatures. 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. Numerous "virtual sets" have been released (see below.)

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.

An interesting article about the history of SW:CCG has been written by Brandon Ruck and posted over at DeckTech.net, the article can be found here: http://www.decktech.net/starwarsccg/articles/articles.php?id=6364&view=2

Management
There has been two groups so far to run and manage SW:CCG, they are: (listed next to them are their dates {in years} of management):


 * Decipher: 1995 -  2001
 * Players Committee: 2001 -  Current (2006)

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
 * Podracer
 * 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-3PO 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.

Virtual Cards
Now a new and distinctive part of the game, Virtual Cards are often employed more than the previous cards. The Virtual Cards are now a distinquishing feature of this game, as they have added a whole new level of complexity to the game (due to persona rules, one per table, which Bad Feeling Have I to play, etc.).

Expansions
The game has released numerous (over a total of twenty) expansions and small botique products. Expansions are the way in which new cards are released to add to the game.

Expansions produced by Decipher
Other Star Wars CCG Items Not Included In Sets
 * Premiere Limited
 * Premiere Unlimited
 * Premiere Two-Player Introductory Set
 * A New Hope Limited
 * Jedi Pack
 * Rebel Leader Cards
 * Hoth Limited
 * Empire Strikes Back Introductory Two-Player Game
 * Dagobah Limited
 * First Anthology
 * Cloud City Limited
 * Jabba's Palace Limited
 * Official Tournament Sealed Deck
 * Second Anthology
 * A New Hope Revised Unlimited
 * Hoth Revised Unlimited
 * Special Edition Limited
 * Enhanced Premiere
 * Endor Limited
 * Enhanced Cloud City
 * Dagobah Revised Unlimited
 * Enhanced Jabba's Palace
 * Reflections: A Collector's Bounty
 * Third Anthology
 * Death Star II Limited
 * Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck
 * Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy
 * Tatooine Limited
 * Coruscant Limited
 * Reflections III
 * Theed Palace Limited


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

Virtual Cards: Players Committee Expansions
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
 * Virtual Set 10 Preview
 * Virtual Set 10
 * Virtual Set 11 (Gold Edition)
 * Premium Set 1 (Defensive Shields)

Reconstruction
April (4.18.06) 2006 the PC has announced that they will be doing a large-scale reconstruction of the 11 Virtual Sets, re-working meta problems, and issuing erratas and the such. More information about this will be released shortly.

The Virtual Set based around this reconstruction will be known as "Redux" (or Virtual Set Redux) and will deal with numerous erratas to "problem" cards that have hindered the enjoyment of players. This re-issued expansion is due out in either June or July.

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

There has been (and still are) various other tournament formats, such as Sealed Deck, Secret Squirrel, Bespin and Beyond, or EPP Overdrive, etc.

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
 * Continentals
 * Worlds

Large Events

 * Origins
 * GenCon
 * Worlds (Chicago 2006)

Other Con Events

 * Mystic Visions
 * DragonCon
 * ComiCon
 * GenCon SoCal
 * CanCon
 * GenCon Europe

Nationals

 * 2006: Nationals will be held at GenCon (where previously GenCon was where Worlds was held).

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)

Worlds
Worlds is broken down into three days. Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

Day 1
Day 1 is open for all participants, whoever shows up, pays the admission fee, and has the proper decklists and decks, is allowed to participate. The Top 8 of Day 1 qualify for Day 2.

Day 2
Day 2 is open to only those who have qualified. That means the Top 8 who qualified from the Day 1 tournament, as well as any person who qualified from a Regional, State, Open, National, or Continental tournament. The Top 8 of Day 2 make it on to Day 3.

Day 3
Day 3 is the finals for Star Wars Customizable Card Game championships. The winner of Day 3 is the World Champion.

Day 3 is match-play, meaning, it is set up like such:


 * 8 vs. 1
 * 7 vs. 2
 * 6 vs. 3
 * 5 vs. 4

Then it would follow like such:


 * Winner of 8-v-1 vs. winner of 5-v-4 (A)
 * Winner of 7-v-2 vs. winner of 6-v-3 (B)

Then:


 * Winner of (A) vs. Winner of (B)

The winner of this game is the World Champion!

Location
In past years, Worlds has been held at GenCon, and before that at DecipherCon (which no longer exists). In 2006, the Players Committee will be hosting Worlds in Chicago at a store called PasTimes.

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 Current Head of the Players Committee. Other notables would be Scott Lingrell, Nick Kolnick, Greg Anderson, Sonn, Kevin Brownell, and Doug Taylor. 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.

For more information on the branches of the Players Committee please check out the Players Committe article. (The article goes on to explain the Design Team, Writing Team, Marketing Team, and Rules Committee.)

Player Advocates
Player Advocates are the "big guys" behind the scenes who help run the Players Committee. These contain those who help to maintain tournaments, rules, marketing, design, etc.

The current head of the Players Committee is Mike Carr. The lead design team members are Doug Taylor and Scott Lingrell. The lead rules Advocates are Greg Anderson and Sonn.

Administration
For a better look at administration, refer to the Players Committee article.


 * Current Administrator of the Players Committee: (2005 -  )  Mike Carr
 * Past Administrator of the Players Committee: (2001 - 2004) Andrew Howard

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.

Softwear
There are numerous softwear that can be obtained by downloading the programs online. Many of these programs allow a player to maintain their database of cards, others also assit in deck-building. There are also numerous programs that allow for online CCG to be played.

Card Organizers and Deck Builders

 * Card Game Organizer
 * DeckMaker
 * HoloDeck

Online Play

 * HoloTable
 * CardTable
 * CCG Workshop

For more information on how to obtain these programs, check the various links below, or wait for this section to be updated with direct links. (Coming Soon.)

Forums

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

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

Some fansites are:


 * DeckTech.net (http://www.decktech.net)
 * Jasonmaas.net (http://www.jasonmaas.net/swccg)
 * EssentialSWCCG (http://www.essentialswccg.com)

Wiki

 * The SW:CCG Page at the official Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Customizable_Card_Game

Contact
You can always contact a Players Advocate for more information on the state of SW:CCG, or the Players Committee. The easiest way to contact them would be to go to the SW:CCG-PC Forums, which can be found here: http://swccgpc.com/forums/

The Players Advocates, as well as other members of the Players Committee have their e-mail addresses, as well as various online instant messaging names available for you to contact them.

If you would like to help the Players Committee you can check out the Players Committee article here on the Wookiepedia for more information and links to help out.