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Tutorial 2: Battle, Timing, Effects

Welcome back to the second Tutorial. This time, it would divided into the following.

Section 1: Battle
1-1. Rules of Battle Phase
1-2. Detachment and putting one
1-3. Defending/Blocking/Damage Calculation
1-4. The Timing details of "Put to battle"
1-5. Terrain
Section 2: Timing
2-1. What is it?
2-2. The phases requirement rule
2-3. Free Timing
Section 3: Cards and Effects Activation
3-1. Card Activation requirement/Timing
3-2. Turn/Phase/Step activation timing
3-3. Normal
3-4. Auto Effects
3-5. Cut-In
3-6. Types of activation effect

1-1. Rules of Battle Phase
- A Battle Phase is divided into 4 different steps: Attack, Defense, Damage Calculation, and Return
- A Battle Phase is when you can put Units/Set Group (or...a Unit card with any card set onto it) from your disposition area into the battle area.
- Only the Units/Disposition Group in "Reroll" (or...untapped) position can be put into the battle area from the disposition area
- You MAY choose NOT to put any card into the Battle area.

1-2. Detachment
- During beginning of Attack/Defense step (depends on who's turn it is), you may put Units and Set Groups into the battle areas, but, they're NOT individually "attacking", they're put into a "Detachment"
- In a Detachment,
EXAMPLE:
- You have a U-1 Gundam (2/1/3) and U-11 Gelgoog (3/1/3) with Red CH-1 Haman Khan (2/2/2) disposed on it in your disposition area.
- Your opponent have a U-1 Qubeley (3/1/3) in rolled position, and a U-C41 Crossbone Gundam X2 (5/1/5) in Rerolled position
- In your ATTACK STEP, you decided to put Gundam and Gelgoog in Space Area.
**** The "Detachment" stats would be:
- Attack: Since I put "Gundam" in the "forefront" of the Detachment, it would have 2 attack, and since Gelgoog is NOT THE FOREFRONT, I count it's SHOOTING STRENGTH AS ATTACK. (or...any Units that is NOT in the forefront). With Gundam's 2 and Gelgoog 3 (because of the stats change by the character card), the total attack is 5.
- Defense: They don't add together, it is treated as "individual cards".
- Your opponent then put hit Crossbone Gundam X2 into the Space Area as defense
**** The "Detachment" stats would be: 5 attack and 5 defense.

1-3. Damage Calculation
From the example above...just that...
- All Detachment deal damages AT THE SAME TIME, unless it have "Quick Strike" (which would deal damages first)
- The "damages" is that, when you do one damage to a Unit, the defense of that unit card is lowered by 1. When the Defense Strength become 0, that unit would enter "destroyed mode" (with stats of */*/*).
FROM THE EXAMPLE ABOVE:
- Your Detachment would deal 5 damages to Crossbone Gundam X2
- Your opponent's Detachment would deal 5 damages to your Detachment
- Since Crossbone X2's defense is five, it would be destroy at end of damage calculation
- Since the defense of "Gundam" is 3, and it was dealed 3 damages, so it would be destroy, and the 2 excess damages would deal to Gelgoog, but, since it's defense is 5, it would NOT be destroy.
CONCLUSION: Crossbone and Gundam are destroy.
- After that, all cards would put back into their respective disposition area in Rolled position.

1-4. Timing Details of "Put to Battle"

1-5. Terrain
As most of you guys see, on the top right corner of the UNIT card text box, there's two box, one represent "Space", and one represent "Earth". All it does is, that unit card, unless by other effect, can only put in the Detachment that is in the Battle Area: Earth or Space.

In addition, there's an extra Battle Area called "Ring Area". Please see Ring Area rule in Tutorial 3.

Section 2 - Timing
2-1. What is it?
In Gundam War TCG, the concept of Timing is VERY VERY important. All timing is "when you can do so and so". Basically, there're two type of timing: Activation Timing, and cut-in timing. Activation Timing is stated on the card effect box, like the following:
C-58 (Neo Zeon)
The Old Habits
1-1-0
(Opponent's Disposition Phase): Negate a use of opponent's Special G and Trash it.

It just basically state that this card can only activate in opponent's Disposition Phase.

2-2. Phases Requirement Rule
During each phase, there're some rules that you must DO in that phase.
Reroll Phase: Reroll all cards on the turn player's field
Draw Phase: Put the top card of the turn player's Nation into his/her hand (aka...draw a card)
Battle Phase:
- Attack Step: Put the attacking Detachment to Battle Area
- Defense Step: (Non-turn player, or opponent) Put the defending Detachments to Battle Area
- Damage Calculation: Resolve all battle damages (Either battle between detachments, or, for turn player, if their Units is not battling, damage would be dealt to opponent's Nation)
- Return Step: Return all Detachments (attacking and defending) from Battle Area into respective Disposition Area in Rolled position (all Units with "Supplement" would not be Roll)

2-3. Free Timing
During each phase, there's a specific time call "Free Timing" where you can play cards. ALL cards are play in the Free Timing. It goes as the following:
Reroll Phase:
- Beginning of Phase
- "The Phase Requirement Rules"
- Free Timing
- End of Phase
Draw Phase/the four steps in Battle Phase
- Beginning of Phase
- Free Timing
- "The Phase Requirement Rules"
- Free Timing
- End of Phase
Disposition Phase
- Beginning of Phase
- Free Timing
- End of Phase
End of turn:
- CANNOT Cut-in effects (or...card or effect cannot be use)
- Revive all damages done to all Units
- Effect Resolve (End of Turn activate effect/the effect in cutting in)
- Hand: If more than 6, discard to 6
- Effect ends, turn end

3-2. Turn/Phase/Step Name Activation
ALL of the timing are located in front of the effect in ( ). Like "(Damage Calculation Step): ...." means that effect can ONLY activate in the free timing damage calculation step, both yours and your opponent. If it said "Self DC Step", it means only your DC Step and nothing else. You cannot activate card effect other than at that time.

3-3. Normal
WHAT is Normal. Some of the card have timing of "(Normal):...". All that means is, that effect can activate at any free timing as long as it is allowed to do so and you can pay for the cost, etc.

3-4. Required Cost / Resource Cost
Some effect has <<X.Y>>, <<(N)>>, <<R>>, or combinations of them. <<X.Y>> means that the effect can only be "activate" when you have X Designated NP of the card's color, while Y is the Total NP cost. (i.e. A Red card with <<2.5>> would require you to have 5 NP, in which no less than 2 NP are Red). <<(N)>> basically means Resource Cost, and <<R>> means you need to roll the card to activate the effect.

3-5. Auto effect
Here it gets more complicated. Unlike the two things above, Auto effects activate AUTOMATICALLY no matter what, you cannot choose to activate it or not, it MUST activate.

There're four types of Auto effects:
(Auto A):
- When the cards with this effect comes to play, this effect would be activate.
- This type of effect cannot "cut-in" to other effects
- When that card leaves play, the effect would end immediately
．When there're multiple (Auto A) effect, the first effect would be resolve first.
Example: (Auto A): All of your Units that have Character set on it gains +1/+1/±0.

(Auto B) - Begin
．All effects that are activate "when comes into play", or, when in somewhere other than the "field"
- This type of effect cannot "cut-in" to other effects
- This effect also affect when constructing a Nation (50 cards rule, etc.)
Example: (Auto B): When this card comes into play, play it in Reroll position.

(Auto C) - Cut-In
．This type of effect can only activate in specific situation
- This type of effect can "cut-in" to other effects
- Cannot activate when "cut-in" is not possible
- When the activation requirement already activate, when that effect end, this new effect would "cut-in", and activate.
Example: (Auto C): When this card's Detachment does battle damages to your opponent's Nation, draw 1 card.

(Auto D) - Designate
- Effect that only can activate in specific timing.
- This type of effect cannot "cut-in" to other effect.
Example: (Auto D): When this card put into battle for attack, until the end of turn, this card gains +0/+1/+0.

Difference between A, C, and D
All effect of C and D would not end until the specific timing on the card said the effect would end, but (Auto A) effects would end immediately when the card leaves the field.

Difference between B and D
(Auto B) effect would be activate even if it is not yet on the field, while (Auto D) effect can only activate when it is on the field.

3-5. Cut-In (Chain/Stack)
A Cut-In is just a series of effects "in a chain". As M:tG or Yu-Gi-Oh, this system is treated by "Resolve the last activate effect to first". You can cut-in effect as long as it was allow.

EXAMPLE:
1. A RGM-79 GM is on the field (No effect, 2/0/2).
2. Oppponent use Command card "Red Comet" (Effect: (Damage Calculation Step): Do three damages to a unit card in battle zone. )
3. You react with Command Card "Retreat Action" ((Normal): Until the End of Turn, one of your units gains stats of +0/+0/+3.)

So, what would happen??
- If "Retreat Action" is not use, "GM" would be destroy by the damages
- BUT now...since the effect resolve "backward order", it would be:
1. "Retreat Action" add defense strength of "GM" by +3. (Now "GM"'s defense is 5)
2. Effect of "Red Comet" would be activate (Do three damages to "GM", but it is not enough to destroy it)

BUT REMEMBER: Your opponent have to "pass action" (or priority) to you, or decide not to cut-in any cards, before you can cut-in more card or card effect into the "chain".