Gameplay

Weiß Schwarz is a two-player turn-based dueling card game. When starting a game, each player's deck is shuffled and then the players randomly determine who goes first. Before the first turn, each player draws 5 cards, and may choose to discard cards they do not want and draw the amount they discarded from the deck. This may only be done once. After this, the first turn may begin, and each player alternates turns until one of them wins.

Up to 5 characters can be played on the field, with 2 as supports and the remaining 3 as attackers. Upon taking damage, players will level up from Level 0. Each Level corresponds to 7 points of damage. The game ends when either player reaches level 4.

Basic Information

First and foremost, in the case that the rules should conflict with the card text, the card text takes precedence.

Card Types

See Card Types

Play Area

See Game Mat

Preparing a Deck

Weiß Schwarz can be played out of the box using any Trial Deck. However, if you want to make your own deck, it must conform to the following rules:

1. A deck must contain exactly 50 cards.
2. A deck can only have up to a maximum of four cards with the same name.
3. A deck can have at most 8 Climax Cards.

See the Beginner's Guide to Creating a Deck for deck construction tips.

Level Up

When a player's Clock Area contains 7 or more cards, that player's level increases by 1. That player then selects any 1 card from the top 7 cards in their Clock Area and places it in the Level Area, and discards the remaining 6 to the Waiting Room. All additional cards past the aforementioned top 7 (the 8th and beyond, before discarding) remain on the Clock Area unless the conditions for a subsequent Level Up is met.

Playing a Card

In order to play a card, three conditions must be met unless otherwise stated.

1. Level
   • The level of the card must be equal to or lower than the player's own level. (Applies only to Character and Event Cards)
2. Cost
   • The number of cards specified by the cost must be moved from the Stock Area to the Waiting Room. (Applies only to Character and Event Cards)
3. Color
   • There must be at least one card of the same color as the card to be played in the player's Level or Clock Area. (Does not apply to Level 0 Character and Level 0 Event Cards).

Refreshing the Deck

• When a player's Deck runs out of cards, the cards in the Waiting Room are immediately turned face-down and shuffled, then placed in the Deck Area as the new Deck.
• The topmost card of the new Deck is then overturned and placed in the Clock Area. Damage cancellation effects cannot cancel this effect, even if the topmost card is a Climax Card.
  • NOTE: If the Deck runs out and more cards or damage still need to be taken from it, Refresh the Deck and complete all pending actions before drawing a card from the top to place in the Clock Area.

Winning and Losing Conditions

• The player that forces their opponent to Level 4 wins the game immediately.
• The player that runs out of cards in both their deck and Waiting Room at the same time loses the game immediately.

Starting the Game

1. Both players shuffle their respective Deck and place it face-down in the Deck Area.
2. Decide which player goes first through some random method (e.g. Rock-paper-scissors).
3. Both players draw 5 cards from the top of their Deck and place them into their hands.
4. Starting with the player going first, each player is allowed to discard any number of cards from his hand to the Waiting Room to draw the same number of cards from the top of his Deck.
5. Start the first turn of the game.

Phases of a Turn

Stand Phase

All characters on the active player's Stage in 【Rest】 are returned to 【Stand】.

Draw Phase

The active player draws a card from the top of their deck.

Clock Phase

The active player may choose to place one card from their hand into their Clock Area to draw 2 additional cards.

Note that while drawing additional cards may be useful, by doing so you will go through your deck faster. When your deck is out of cards, you will need to perform a Refresh and become closer to your loss by taking one damage.

Main Phase

Any of the following 4 actions may be done as many times as desired during this phase.

1. Play an Event Card.
   • Event Cards can be played from the active player's hand. Event Cards whose effects are resolved are sent to the Waiting Room.
2. Play a Character Card.
   • The active player can play a Character Card to any slot on his Stage. The new character is placed in 【Stand】. If the slot is already occupied by another character, the old character is sent to the Waiting Room, and the new character takes his place.
3. Move a Character Card.
   • The active player can move a Character Card he controls from one slot to any other slot of his choosing on his own Stage. He may swap the positions of two Character Cards, but their status remain unchanged. (i.e. a card in 【Rest】 will stay in 【Rest】.)
4. Use the Startup Ability of a Character Card.
   • A Startup ability (denoted with a 【起】) of a Character Card in play can be activated if its specified conditions for doing so are met and its cost is paid.

Climax Phase

The active player may play a Climax Card. Only one Climax Card may be played per turn.

Attack Phase

Characters in the active player's Center Stage in 【Stand】 may attack the opponent and inflict damage. For each attack, repeat in order steps 1 through 5, then carry out the instructions in step 6 once at the end of the Attack Phase.

If this is the first turn of the game, only one attack may be declared.

1. Attack Declaration Step
   • The active player may declare an attack with a character he controls by changing the character's status from 【Stand】 to 【Rest】.
     1. Front Attack
        • Conduct battle with the opposing character directly in front of the attacking character.
     2. Side Attack
        • Avoid conducting battle with the opposing character before the attacking card to attack the player directly. The Soul Points of the attacking card is decreased by the opposing card's level for this damage calculation. It is not good to side attack as you would not be inflicting much soul damage, which is the objective of the game.
     3. Direct Attack
        • The attack declaration used when there are no character card present in the slot directly in front of the attacking character card. Increase the attacking character's Soul Points by 1 for this damage calculation. It is better to direct attack as the opponent will be taking more clock damage.
2. Trigger Step
   • The attacking player flips the top most card on his deck and activates the effect of the Trigger Icon, shown in the top right hand corner of the card. After resolving the effect the triggered card is flipped face-down and placed in the attacking player's Stock.
3. Counter-Attack Step
   • The Counter Step is only conducted if a Front Attack is declared in Step 1.
   • The player receiving the attack may play one card, or use one Startup Ability marked with the Counter-Attack Icon. He may do either, but not both.
   • Character cards played this way must meet the level requirements for being played, but can otherwise be played regardless of color.
     • Counter Event Cards must however, meet both the level and color requirement.
4. Damage Step
   • The defending player receives damage equal to the attacking character's Soul Points.
   • A player taking damage must overturn the same amount of cards as the amount of damage he received from the top of this deck, and place them face up in his Clock Area.
   • If a Climax Card is overturned, all remaining damage is canceled, and all previously overturned cards are placed in the Waiting Room.
5. Battle Step (The Battle step only occurs in the case of a Front Attack.)
   • The power value of the battling Character Cards is compared, and the character with lower power is put in 【Reversed】 status (i.e. facing the player). In the case of a tie, both cards are put in 【Reversed】.
   • If the attacking player wants to perform more attacks, return to step 1, otherwise, proceed to step 6.
6. Encore Step
   • The attacking player sends all of his cards in 【Reversed】 status one by one to the Waiting Room. When the turn player has sent all of his 【Reversed】 cards to the Waiting Room, the defending player will do the same.
   • At this point of time, a character with Encore ability can be placed back in the slot they were occupying by paying the appropriate cost. They will return in 【Rest】 status.
     • Character Cards with no Encore ability can still be Encored if their owning player pays 3 cards from his Stock. This is considered by standard ruling to be an ability all Character Cards possess by default, with the description 『【Startup】 Encore ［(3)］』.
   • ※Encore can be conducted regardless of phase as long as the requirements are met (e.g. if a card is to be sent to the Waiting Room via an Event Card's effect played during the main phase, it can still be encored if the player pays the appropriate cost).

End Phase

If a Climax Card is in play, it is sent to the Waiting Room.

If the active player has more than 7 cards in his/her hand, he/she must discard cards in his/her hand until his hand size is 7.

All active effects that last for the current turn (with the text, "During this turn," or "そのターン中～") lose their effect at this point.

At the end of this phase, the active player's turn is considered over and control is given to his/her opponent.