Our Stance on Alpha Clash Being an Eternal TCG

Set Rotation, or the Lack Thereof – Our Stance on an Eternal Game and the Banned & Restriction Lists

By David DeBates

Rising Empire Studios wants to make Alpha Clash the best game it can be, full of fun decks, superpowered strategies and powerful matchups. We have a cast of engaging characters that we love to see and want to represent in exciting ways and hope that you also come to love these characters and the overarching story like we have. We truly try to bring those characters into the game, with gameplay that feels unique, both in mechanics and flavor. To do that, we bring our all to designing every set and Clash Kit, archetype, and card to create the best card pool we can for our players to bring to every Clash they compete in. As we create new strategies, support previous ones, or even combine designs into something fresh and new, the possibilities for interactions and engaging gameplay grow exponentially.

But even as we create gameplay and archetypes for each set, there is truly not enough room to address every character all the time. The cast we see in The Awakening, while fun and important and exciting, will be different from the characters in our future sets. And while we will always try to go back to characters and explore that flavor in the future, and some will be seen more commonly than others, there might be long spans of time between these various iterations of certain characters or playstyles. But just like you, we don’t want these characters to fall by the wayside, in the story or at the table. 

Therefore, the development and design team here at RES has opted for an eternal format for the Alpha Clash Trading Card Game. This means that no matter what, even if there are multiple reasons for certain cards not seeing play, their age within the game will never be one of them. We are deeply connected to these characters and shaping them into various gameplay elements to really capture their personality, abilities, and feelings. We truly want to extend that love for as long as possible, and constantly build on previously existing mechanics for each unique playstyle we develop. Ten sets from now, if you want to play Mean-Streak as your Contender from The Awakening, we want you playing that Contender! Because this is a game so clearly influenced by its characters, we want players to be able to experience the game however they see fit, with their favorite Contenders leading them into clash combat. 

We are strongly aware, however, of the implications an eternal format brings to a game, both from a gameplay and a design perspective. With the entire card pool at your disposal, players are bound to uncover strategies and synergies that even we here on the design team might overlook. After all, we are all human, and thousands of eyes will catch more things than we ever could. The eternal nature also forces us in design to be more conscious of power creep and ensure we are not rushing to make cards more exciting and fun at the expense of balanced gameplay. Even a single set can lead to a lot of problems for the overall health of the game. 

This only shows how important a ban list will be to manage. While the policy acts as a general statement more than a concise set of requirements, our accountability is paramount to preventing problem cards from having a negative effect on the game at large. Due to this, we plan to analyze and test cards thoroughly before release, and then keep a vigilant eye on meta shifts and card performance across events for at least a month after a new set releases. We want the players to have a chance to experiment, find what works and what doesn’t, and come up with ways to beat winning strategies before we make any hasty moves with the banning or restricting of cards.

You might be wondering the difference between a card ban and restriction. Sometimes a card’s consistency in a game is more of an issue than its actual effect. While certain effects aren’t all that powerful in isolated instances, always having access to them or having access to potentially four of the same effect each game can make them shine more than intended. In cases like these, we don’t want the card completely removed from deck building, but rather we want to keep it in check. In these cases, we might Semi-Limit a card to two copies in a deck list, rather than the standard four. Or, if the card proves itself too useful in duplicate, we might Limit a card to a single copy. For cards that have a single copy allowed per deck list (e.g., a Contender or Legendary card with Unrivaled), we will have to make a much stronger informed decision. With only one copy to work with, there is no limiting or restriction possible, which means we will have to be much more accurate in our decision to ban them. For Contenders, this will come from a retirement system, banning certain Contenders after so much tournament success, which will be discussed in depth at a later date. For Legendary cards with Unrivaled, these will be assessed alongside the rest of the cards from a set, but because they are far less consistent, there will be less cases of one becoming banned, at least in direct comparisons to other cards. 

As new sets are added into the card pool and the meta shifts along the way, we might discover cards that were banned or restricted in some way that eventually no longer require the classification. When this happens, we will slowly wean those cards back into the card pool, allowing them more freedom to be used in deck building. This will be taken in small steps to not disturb the game at large or reintroduce potential problems that existed before, and whether it deals with cards coming on or off the lists, we will closely monitor the card pool and game at large before any decisions get made. 

Now that some of the logistics are out of the way, and you are aware of our dedication and commitment to keeping the game fun and exciting for anyone looking to play, I hope you “speed” off to get some product and get some games in! We hope that our openness with our intent can make you feel confident that Alpha Clash is the game for you, and the game for years to come.

IT’S TIME TO CLASH!!

For more an updated list of banned, restricted or limited cards, or information regarding the banning of Contenders, check out our page dedicated to card legality here!