ZENONZARD: Artificial Card Intelligence is an online card game set for release in May 2020 across 56 countries and regions in English. Players will team up with AI to fight against AI. By playing the currently available Japanese version, we’ll introduce its basic rules and unique Force system. We also participated in a battle to show you what this game is all about!
Playing ZENONZARD, a card game where you fight alongside AI, in Japanese!
BANDAI, famous for its ‘Carddass’ card vending machines, has released the smartphone card game ZENONZARD as the first installment in its new ‘AI Carddass’ series.
The game tackles a whole new genre, combining a card game and AI which enables you to receive support and play analysis during battles.
Before the global release of ZENONZARD, we played the currently available Japanese version to bring you our guide and review of the game!
A Simple ‘Mana Cost’ Style Card Game
ZENONZARD uses one basic rule: spending Mana to summon cards.
Veteran card players will quickly get the hang of this rule, but the game incorporates ‘Force’ and ‘moving Mana,’ which sets it apart from other games.
Win the battle by depleting your opponent’s life to 0.
Winning a battle is simple too; the first player to deplete their opponent’s life down to 0 comes out victorious.
There aren’t any cards that allow you to win by special conditions, so the game can be enjoyed as a traditional card game. Perfectly timed attacks and counters can make or break a player.
Once there are no cards in your deck, it’s all over.
Losing all your life will leave you defeated, but just like in other card games, having no more cards in your deck will also leave you biting the dust.
A player won’t lose as soon as their deck has no cards left, but being unable to draw any will cause you to lose the battle.
Most of our battles ended before one of our decks ran out of cards. But remember, some battlescan stretch out and a deck that requires drawing a lot of cards can end the battle before you know it.
Card types are split into three main groups.
The card types that appear in ZENONZARD are split into three main groups.
‘Field Minions’ are used for battle, ‘Base Minions’ are placed as Mana, and ‘Magic’ cards can be used as soon as they’re played.
Of course, cards have their own effects, but when playing them, their positions on the field and general roles don’t change. Make sure to check them out before you head into battle.
◆Card Types and Their Attributes
There are exceptions, such as ‘Token’ cards which can be summoned by another card’s effect.
Turns during battle are split into three phases. Moving through these phases advances the game.
As you will see in the chart below, the ‘Standby Phase’ and ‘Mana Phase’ don’t require much time. Most of the battle takes place within the ‘Main Phase.’
Decisions such as choosing what to attack and how you use your Mana are crucial to winning, as well as showing off a player’s skills!
Use Flash Timing to make your escape!
Normally, the player can’t move an inch if their opponent doesn’t attack during their turn.
But by using ‘Flash Timing,’ the player has a chance to act during their opponent’s onslaught.
Using Mana allows the player to activate the [Flash] magic effect and summon minions with the [Swoop] effect. With Flash Timing, turn the tables on your opponent in the blink of an eye!
A lot of Yellow ‘Light Kingdom Kanatana’ cards have the [Swoop] effect, so players are able to create a deck built for counter attacks.
Using ‘Force’ and ‘Movement’ to Expand Your Strategy
We’ve covered the basic rules of the game, but ‘Force’ and ‘Movement,’ unique to ZENONZARD, require a deeper explanation.
Use ‘Force’ to activate a powerful effect.
ZENONZARD’s unique ‘Force’ system allows you to choose two “passive skills” for a deck.
Using Force lets you activate effects such as ‘strengthen attack minions,’ ‘reduce life damage,’ ‘secure Mana to use during the opponent’s turn,’ and much more. This makes the game more complex and fleshed out.
Even if you build an identical deck, different Forces alter a player’s moves and strategies, making deck building all the more fun and interesting.
◆Some Force Effects You’ll Encounter
The player’s life is altered by Force life.
Force has life assigned to it just like the player. Minions are able to attack both the player and their Force.
Once the Force sustains damage and its life is reduced to zero, it’s destroyed and loses its effect. It’s easier to gain the upper hand by destroying your opponent’s Force before charging in with everything you’ve got.
Force life and the player’s life add up to 12, so take into account your Force effect and life when making your decision.
[How to Calculate the Player’s Life]
12-(Force : 1 + Force : 2)=Player’s life
Reduce/increase your Mana and board using the ‘Mana Movement System.’
The ‘Mana Movement System’ does exactly as the name suggests: it allows the player to move their cards.
More specifically, minion cards are able to move from ‘base to field’ and ‘field to base,’ allowing the player to stock Mana and strengthen their board.
Players are able to move once during their turn, but the number can be increased by the effects of Force and minions.
Moving skillfully and devising strategies, such as increasing Mana to use in the next turn or increase chances to attack by moving minions to the field, is one of several paths to winning in ZENONZARD.
‘Moving’ is a unique rule within the card game. While first time players may be taken aback by this, the AI will guide players and familiarize them with the various mechanics.
A report on our actual gameplay!
Now that we’ve gone over the rules of ZENONZARD, we’ll let you in on our gameplay review.
We used the ‘Kanatana (Yellow)’ deck.
The deck we’re going with this time is ‘Half Year Anniversary: Kanatana,’ a Yellow base deck to commemorate the six month anniversary of ZENONZARD’s release in Japan.
We’ll use the cards given to us without altering the deck.
*The ‘Half Year Anniversary Deck’ will be unavailable at the time of the English release.
Watch out for Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes.
The deck’s finisher is Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes.
This field minion has a powerful effect that prevents its attacks from being blocked unless the enemy is a ‘Dragon’ or ‘Dragonewt’ type card.
We’ll also use Selika – Sorceress of Thunderstrikes to search for Eleksai (applies while using this deck) and combine them to create a balanced battle.
Use Mulligan to aim for a Mana Curve.
Mulligan allows us to exchange any amount of cards we choose. We try to aim for a Mana Curve to set us up for the next three to four turns.
Here’s our Mulligan result. Cost 1, 2, 3 and 4 cards give us a decent hand to work with for the beginning of our battle.
We also have one of our trump cards: Selika – Sorceress of Thunderstrikes, so hopefully we’ll bump into Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes early on in the battle.
We haven’t drawn any base minions to use as Yellow Mana, but we’ll attempt to draw them during our turn!
Pollin is a 1 cost, one draw card with a catch.
Pollin lets you draw one card if your base (Mana zone) only has ‘Neutral Mana tokens,’ so we’ll use this to get our deck rolling.
The battle advances with only Neutral Mana.
We want to get some Yellow Mana ASAP, but things don’t go as planned…
Before we know it, eight turns pass by with only Neutral Mana. With one of our Forces destroyed, we finally get our hands on Yellow Mana.
All Forces have the same effect when they’re destroyed. They can ‘summon a minion from your deck to your base’ and ‘draw one card.’
The Force’s effects will disappear, but in cases like this, using it as a means to draw extra cards could get you out of a sticky situation.
Summon Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes!
Another Force is destroyed but with two Yellow Mana at our disposal, we use Selika – Sorceress of Thunderstrikes to search for Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes!
We manage to summon Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes, but our life is down to 2…
Can we turn this battle around?!
Defeated by an onslaught.
We’re only able to block one attack with Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes, so an onslaught from our opponent’s minions leads to our defeat…
It’s definitely better to build and adjust decks so that they are easier for you to use than using them as they are!
The Key to Building a Deck
We’ll now reflect on our defeat as we look at how to improve the deck.
There aren’t many colored base minions.
Having colored Mana is essential when building a balanced deck.
The Half Year Anniversary deck has five, but we recommend putting in at least eight cards.
Adding too many base minions can weaken your board, so figure out the number of colored
Mana you need and adjust the amount of cards.
Force isn’t being used to its full potential.
The deck we used has ‘Minotaur Force’ and ‘Phoenix Force’ selected.
The Minotaur Force possesses the ability to lower the player’s DP by 1 and it’s useful against Aggro type decks. However, it stands in the front line bearing the risk of being destroyed first.
Protect your Force by placing minions during the beginning and middle of the battle. This way it’ll soften the blow in the second half of the battle, even for Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes.
Boost your deck with cards in the 4 to 5 cost range to secure a balanced playing field during the middle of the battle.
Increase the number of finishers.
The Half Year Anniversary deck only has one Eleksai – Lord of Thunderstrikes card. The maximum is three, so throw in two more. This strategy allows a player to use a finisher without
relying on Selika – Sorceress of Thunderstrikes.
However, there’s a downside. If you end up with several Eleksai – Lord of Thunderskies in your hand from the very beginning, the amount of cards you can play will be limited. But by skillfully moving Mana and creating sources to draw from, you can save your own skin.
Our Opinions After Playing
After engaging in a heated battle, we felt it’s a deep and complex card game as well as having an easy to use interface.
By participating in a battle, we were able to find out how to improve our deck and switch up our playing style. ZENONZARD hits all the right spots as a solid card game.
With a simple change of Forces the battle can go in a completely different direction, so players can experience many different battles with just one deck.
The interface highlights vital information, such as playable cards and effects available to be activated, so inexperienced players are able to dive right into the game.
As for seasoned card game players, they’ll be able to understand its mechanics with ease and find it a breeze to build their own battle strategies while delving into deeper parts of the game.
ZENONZARD is a card game able to be enjoyed by players of any level, from beginners to seasoned veterans. If you think this is right up your alley, go ahead and give it a try!
Content updates are posted on both Facebook and Twitter, so check them out!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zenonzard/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenonZ_official
Pre-register now on the App Store and Google Play!
App Store Pre-Registration: Coming Soon!
Google Play Pre-Registration: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandai.zzarden
ZENONZARD: ACI will be releasing this May 2020!
But wait… just before we open up to the public, we’ll be running a limited period closed beta for one week in May!
This is your chance to get a head start and learn the ropes of how to battle in the Zenon ahead of the game’s full release, so be sure to make the most of it!
Follow the official Facebook and Twitter pages to be notified when registration begins.
Title: ZENONZARD: Artificial Card Intelligence
Platform: iOS / Android
Price: Download, Free to Play (includes microtransactions)
Planned Release Date: May 2020
Genre: AI x Digital Card Battle
Distributor: BANDAI CO., Ltd.