SCOMP LINK
New And Returning Players
The Game
As its name implies, the Star Wars Customizable Card Game is a trading card game, like Magic: The Gathering, set in the Star Wars universe. It is a two player game where one player is the Light Side of the Force, and the other is the Dark Side. Each player builds a deck of 60 cards (consisting of the characters, starships, locations, weapons and events drawn from the Star Wars universe) and tries to damage the opponent by causing them to lose cards from their deck. Once a player has no cards in their deck, they lose.
The basic rules (which would be best for you to review and start with), can be found here, or to view a sample game being played, check out the Star Wars CCG YouTube channel for videos like this (keeping in mind your games in real life will generally be quicker and much most fast paced than these played on the computer, especially as you get more advanced).
Getting Started
It is recommend you start by registering (for free) with the Star Wars CCG message boards. From there you can always ask any questions you have and received a response.
You’re also going to want to see what the various cards do. This includes the Decipher cards, as well as the Virtual Cards (which are free cards produced in a pdf by the Player’s Committee – to use them, you simply print out the pdf file, cut out the card(s) you want, and lay them over top of the specified card for a brand new card!). Obviously going through each of the thousands of cards would not be a good use of your time, but those links can be a good reference to see what a card does in case you come across it being mentioned in any discussions. However, one quick way to jump start your experience is to download the New Player Demo Decks (for free! Located under the "Misc" tab in the Virtual Cards page). These decks will give you instant access to fun, playable pre-constructed decks, regardless of your personal card collection. Obtaining cards
Since Decipher no longer prints the cards, the cards are finite. However, they are still very, very available online and in the card playing community. While many playing groups will gladly let you borrow cards and help you learn the game, should there come a time when you do wish to build a collection, there are many online stores, including the Player’s Committee’s store, that can help.
The good news is that cards for the Star Wars CCG are generally much, much cheaper than cards for the other popular card games – in fact, since the virtual set expansions are free, once you get your collection, you won’t have to spend any more money buying expensive booster boxes for each new set every time a new expansion comes out like you would for other games.
If you don’t have a local card shop to talk cards in or find other players, the Player Locator can put you in touch with nearby players. Additionally, the message boards can be very useful in getting you started into the community.
The game can also be played (for free) online using either of two different programs: Holotable or GEMP. More information about online play is available on the Online Play information page.
While the website and message boards are filled with great resources for all Star Wars CCG players, the following may be of particular help to newer players start playing:
a printable, card-sized pdf file with explanations of what to do within each phase of the game.
Playmats (Dark Side Playmat) (Light Side Playmat):
PDF files of playmats that indicate where you put each pile of your Life Force and Lost Pile. (Originally published under the Decipher license and released as a promotional item along with the gaming magazine, Inquest.) (Note: for best printing results, ensure the page orientation is set to print in landscape and that page scaling is set to none and that it is not set to auto-rotate and center.)
a list of abbreviations commonly used by players when discussing the game (including on the message boards) that may be helpful to those who are unfamiliar with them.