Written May 1st, 1998

I was one of the ones on the list to test the new Xena: TCG for playability as well as give my opinion as a Xenite on the "historical accuracy" of the game. We received two decks of cards of 30 cards each. Each deck had its own unique set of cards (meaning that a card from one deck was not found in the other). But within the deck there were only about 15 unique cards. Many were duplicates but that is necessary for the game. I will not attempt to describe the actual game here in great detail or teach how to play it. I just want to give an overview of what to expect to Xenites who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this card game.

Basic Summary:

The nature of the game is kind of like what I always imagined playing D&D would be like. And from what I can garner...instead of having one person be the "leader" that dictates what spells and whatever are available to you...these things are specified in the cards and each unique card has it's own unique abilities. You are a leader of an army that you must build. You do this by acquring resources (cards that money and food and supplies which are essential for creating and maintaining any army). Then as you begin "hiring" fighters (character cards who usually have an unique ability of some kind, who costs X amount of resources to hire, and have a "strength" (called power) of some number). After that is just a matter of strategy, as the goal of the game is to "attack" your opponent's deck and force them to discard all their cards first. The deck is the "draw pile" of cards from which you draw new cards to play with. Regardless of how a player comes to the end of their deck, once the deck is gone, the game is over and the other player wins.

More Misc Details, Thoughts and Assumptions:

The whole idea is I guess is that you will play the game with a deck of 40 cards and those 40 cards can be any combination of cards of your choosing from your collection of Xena TCG. Your opponent will also create his/her own deck from their collections. Then you play against each other.

According to the people at www.wizard.com, you can create decks with a theme by choosing only certain cards of a particular nature. As you begin playing the game and building your "arsenal" by buying "booster" packs of cards, you will begin to devise strategies based around certain combinations of cards and thus start constructing decks based on these strategies. Thus the nature of the "trading card game" as you can trade cards for ones that you want and also just buy and trade cards for the purpose of building a complete collection as a collectible.

I would imagine that the number 40 is just an arbitrary number and dedicated players whose individual collections grow can choose to start with any number of cards just as long as both players have enough cards in their "arsenal" to play with. The higher the number...the longer and more evolved the game gets. However, since I have never played a TCG game before playing this Xena demo, I am not certain if there is ever a point where it becomes impratical to play with so many cards.

Judging from the numbers in the small print (ie 4 of 180) of my Demo set, there are currently 180 unique cards in existence for the Xena deck. Based on the information I've received from the people at www.wizards.com, every few months a new range of unique cards will be released. This will be good because it will keep the game fresh as there will always be more cards to figure out strategies with or against. I think it will definitely keep me playing as long as I have someone to play with!

Tenative pricing is set at $5.99 for a starter deck of 40 cards and then $2.49 for a booster pack of 12 cards to add to your "arsenal" and/or to get the complete set. As new series of cards are released, it is anyone's guess if the opportunity to buy booster packs from JUST that new series will be available. Though it is not clear to me exactly how they intend to do this, it does seem like they are going to offer some kind of special pack of just all new cards.

I forsee that the Xena TCG (Hercules decks coming soon...) will be a big hit among Xenites like "Magic: The Gathering" has been on a whole. What's even better about it is that Herkuleans with their Hercules decks and Xenites with their Xena decks can play against each other as it doesn't matter what series the actual cards used come from.

Opinions and Predictions:

So far, I love this game despite the limited set of cards that I have to play with. I love to play games that require some kind of strategy and planning especially where I have some control over what resources are going to be available to me!

I am really looking forward to the day that every Xena Con and Fest or any xena fan gathering will have tables set up for the purpose of playing this game. Perhaps the Xenites in New York go to Meow Mix for Xena night will now start taking their TCG decks and playing against each other as they watch Xena eps on the TVs there. I would love to see Xenites in other areas forming "clubs" that have regular get-togethers to chat and talk and play the game. For those who aren't sure where the other Xenites in the area are, check out your local comic book store (where you will probably be buying your cards anyways). Comic book stores already often have 'Magic: the Gathering' "clubs" or whatnot where people wanting to play M:TG can come and play with other interested people. I am sure that if there are enough Xenite fans in an area around a comic book store who REQUEST and PETITION the store to organize similiar meeting/playing times for Xenites, similar "clubs" will emerge.

What about Hercules and Herkuleans?

Since I am a fan of H:TLJ as well as X:WP and quite aware of the rift between fans who are solely fans of just one show, this whole trading card game is going to provide an interesting outlet!

A line of Hercules TCG is in the works and scheduled to come out a couple months after the Xena TCG. (The website says July) Now the way that these cards are designed, there is no reason why any player has to only play with Xena cards against another Xena player. We will be able to easily mix and match with Hercules and Xena cards JUST like we do within the series themselves!

What does this mean? It means that for us fans who like both shows equally well, we can play with a combination of both. But more importantly, members of the Pro-My Show/Anti-Other Show factions can now play against each other using just the decks of their show. A Herkulean fan can play with a Hercules deck against a Xenite with a Xena deck. It is my hope that we can parlay the rift into a more friendly atmosphere of competition where teams can be formed of experienced players: Herkuleans vs Xenites. May the team with the better strategists and team players win!

In any case, I think they will be sending out Demo packs for the Hercules game as well and if i get one I will note any difference here. However, I expect the basics to be the same...the only real that that will be different is just the content on the cards.

A Reader's response with more Good Info - written 5/1/98

I also received one of the demo decks (actually, my comic book store gave me theirs, so now I have two!) and I had pretty much the same perceptions that you did. I play other card games like this, but I was pleased the simplicity and fast pace of this game. I too like both shows and I think it will be interesting to have Herc- themed decks or villain-themed decks (Ares & Callisto, anyone?) as well as Xena based decks.

Two items: one, the current issue of *Duelist* has Xena on the cover and a complete card list on the inside of the first 180 cards. An expansion called "Battle Yell" is proposed by the end of the year.

Secondly, Xena is part of the 'ARC' card system. In order to play a less limited game, I bought a few booster packs of the other ARC game, C23. The graphics aren't as nice but the card play is identical and they fit seamlessly in with Xena. This is a nice alternative to spur creative deck building until the real thing comes out (which I hope is soon).

written by Oshram

For More Information and Details
The proposed date for releasing the Xena:TCG is this month (May). But it could likely be next month as well

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