Primer: // Cyberpunk TCG // WEIRDCO Part. 1 of 2
ooh fancy.
the basics:
WELCOME TO SEEDY WORLD OF TRADING CARDS!
Okay, it’s not all that bad. You’ve probably spent hundreds of hours tuning that chromed - out bod of yours, but now it’s time to train your mammal brain choom.
It’s really important that you’ve got the basics down — so you don’t get your head blown clean off trying to make heads or tails with how to best play your cards.
So let’s start there.
You’re going to need a few things so you don’t look like you’re fresh off the streets of Night City ✅:
What you’ll need to play Cyberpunk TCG:
Dice: 1x Each D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20
Deck Box: We’ll be making quite a few decks, so invest wisely.
Sleeves: Preferably both INNER and OUTER SLEEVES.
A Binder & Toploaders: To protect the merch. More on this below.
Notepad: Tracking Gig Die in Competitive Environments.
AND LASTLY, CYBERPUNK TCG CARDS.
GOING TO ASSUME YOU’VE ALREADY FUNDED THE KICKSTARTER YOU LEGEND YOU. 👊
ON THE OFFCHANCE YOUR GONK BRAIN FORGOT TO BACK/FUND THE TCG:
CLICKY CLICKY THE PHOTO TO THE LEFT.
(TAPPY TAPPY? WHATEVS.)
i ain’t your mom choom.
WAIFU ALERT
🚨
WAIFU ALERT 🚨
SPECIAL LIMITED TIME EXCLUSIVE KICKSTARTER PROMO LUCY KUSHINADA - FRESH BEGINNINGS
Lucy Kushinada-
LEGEND
Fresh Beginnings
OVERCLOCKING
‘‘Got this feeling… You and I’d make a pretty great team.”
I never really recovered from Edgerunners, so it’s nice to know I’ll be able to carry around my trauma/memory in deck box too. 😭
WAIFU ALERT
💓
WAIFU ALERT 💓
SIGN UP FOR A KICKSTARTER ACCOUNT: EASY PEASY.
2. FOLLOW/LIKE WEIRD CO’S CYBERPUNK TCG KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN.3. FIGHT OFF THOUSANDS OF BOTS AND SCALPER HEADS TRYING TO FIGHT YOUR FOR A CHANCE AT A SINGLE PRODUCT.
3. Get ready to play. Because The Kickstarter campaign is PRINT TO DEMAND! 💋
That means you should be able to order as much product ON March 17th at release via the backer form!
WeirdCo’s already figured out that limited release times/product is a BAD CALL for the START of this game, so they’ll be printing as many boxes to fill the initial demand as possible! Totally rad!
We love you for this WeirdCo. Never Change.
Protect Your “Investments”:
We’ve klepped some cards to build our decks with, and gotten all the things we need to protect & sleeve up the BLING.
ICONICS. NOVA RARES. FOILS!
DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT CHICAS Y CHICOS? WE’VE GOT TO DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO PROTECT THAT PREEM LOOT ONCE WE OPEN IT UP!🤤
The following is a quick break-down of what and why you should be investing in protective sleeves, decks, a good set of die, a playmat, notepad and more!
Dice:
A standard set of Dice from your local Hobby Shop will suffice. You’ll also find a plethora of Apps for Android or iPhone that simulate Dice rolls. I’m currently working on an app that will be able to track your Die Rolls and keep them “Slotted” on screen for players to see! It will be Cyberpunk themed, so you impress the Chooms when you’re playing at the table!
Cyberpunk TCG is played with 6x Die: a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 & lastly a D20. You’ll need at least one set of these and they can generally be purchased together as a set. Your LOCAL CARD SHOP or LGS will also sell individual Die in case you ever lose one.
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY DIE.
Do you all have a Bulk Barn near you? At home, I have literally 3 bulk barn bins of Die, because I was so frustrated with losing them, or handing them out to friends and never having them returned *glares at playgroup*. You’ll want some nice dice with clear numbers on them for you and your Rival to clearly see.
Your dice are special in any card game. Whether it’s a saving throw or a GIG ROLL, those dice WILL be part of a memory, GOOD OR BAD. So I like Dice. Shiny die, metal die, plastic die, doesn’t matter; As long as you know where you left them! Dice storage can come any which way, but a DICE BAG is preferred. A pencil case, a dice bag, a chainmail bag, even tucked into a pocket in a regular backpack, works! When I started, I didn’t have a dice bag, so a friend brought over a bottle of Crown Royal during one of our game sessions, and I kept that beautiful felt bag that the bottle was in. INSTANT DICE BAG. And PREEM FEELING TOO. Anything can be dice storage! (Okay, not everything, put Nibbles down.)
Make use of what you have available to you. Chessex Dice are popular and are usually tested for balance. If you have a larger budget, how about springing for a custom set of dies from Etsy? The community is so talented, and we’ll have some products/brands to share that we enjoy in the shop too!
Instead of Dice, a really good DICE TCG APP on your phone can work wonders too! We might need to get creative about the tools/apps that are available, though: Since in Cyberpunk TCG Gig die are often thrown back and forth between players in combat, most applications can’t track the game state the way Cyberpunk TCG demands. Despite that, we thought it bears noting in case you don’t have a full set of Die at your disposal.
Deck Box: Don’t Cheap Out
This section seems massive, but this is the least you need to know about what’s on the market. Something tough and rigid, and not flimsy’s best. Ultimate Guard, Gamegenic, Ultra PRO, Vault X, and BCW are going to be your best companies to choose from, and they all have different products with varying price ranges.
DECKBOXES COME IN A VARIETY OF QUALITIES/TYPES/SIZES:
Acrylic Cases: Affordable, but cheap and scratches easily. Can be transparent or colored. Not a lot of customization options. Stickers tho. ✅
Hard Plastic: Durable, cost-effective. Middle of the pack option. A good sturdy box. (e.g., Ultimate Guard Boulder, Ultra PRO Satin Cube).
Leatherette/Premium: Stylized, often with magnetic closures. Printed or Colored Box (e.g., Ultra PRO Alcove, Ultimate Guard Sidewinder).
Large Capacity/Modular: Designed to hold multiple decks, dice, or accessories (e.g., Gamegenic Dungeon, Ultimate Guard Arkhive). Usually doesn’t have prints/solid colour.
PRICE RANGE AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
$0 - $10: Gamegenic wins here with their GameGenic Deck Holder 80+ count deck box @$2.95; however, GameGenic has grown to become one of the best budget and quality brands available, offering a range of products with different textures, skins, thicknesses and sizes. Ultrapro has some thicker Acrylic Cases for about $10.00, but if you’re just starting off and not sure which you’d like, head over to your local LGS and ask them about budget brands. At every LGS, I’ll find a variety of these, and often I’ll just pick one up for the night, especially if I’m just drafting.
$11 - $30: It’s NOT who you think. At this price range, EVERY Accessories brand has a quality product, but our vote goes to
Jaffzora for their $15.00 Magnetic Card Display Case. ULTIMATE GUARD still has the best product in this price-range with the starter Xeno-Skin line of Deck Boxes for around $20-30, and they are textured for better grip, have super strong magnets that hold the top down. Ultrapro makes a similar product with their SIDEWINDER, and they can come with some AMAZING graphic artwork sublimated onto their deckboxes. SO JAFFORZA & ULTRAPRO Wins here.
In the $25-30 range, Gamegenic offers their Sidekick and Sidekick XL line that I’m a fan of too (Just Not The Price).
$31 - $50: OKAY. The big guns are out with this one. We are looking at Magnetic Long Boxes here, and premium quality (But Still Entry) deckboxes and storage options. I feel like this is where I want to be when I’m looking at long-term storage. Longer storage that can usually hold multiple decks can be found in this price range. Big fan of the Gamegenic Squire X Plus at $29.00, and you can often find it cheaper on Amazon, too! Ultimate Guard makes Xeno Skin Longboxes and is my everyday go-to product for long-term storage. Seriously hope that WeirdCo collaborates with Ultimate Guard for some premiere products!
To be fair, all companies tend to offer longboxes at this price range, and it’s mostly about how STRONG those magnets are. Drop tests are real, although I don’t recommend you go out to your Local Game Shop and start testing gravity. Check out some reviews about your favourite brand, but I prefer those Ultimate Guard Longboxes & Deckholders.
If you’re spending this much money on protecting your precious cardboard, you’re likely organized and are a frequent player of TCG games. You respect the money you’ve made and put into this game, so you don’t cheap out on protecting your investment.
Custom 3D Printed Deckboxes can FEEL like you’re pulling out Premium Chrome, and slapping it on the table. At this price-range, many designers offer STLs to print at home yourself! Hobby shops will have a few 3D printers around these days, but often using the WRONG material makes the rigidity of the deckbox suffer, and that’s where most of the cost of custom printing comes in. Getting those layers nice and smooth takes times a patience. Getting tolerances just right can be tricky, so I wouldn’t break out the credit card JUST yet, do some research or better yet, go find out who your nearest 3D printer is and start asking questions.
$51+: OH BABY. We’re not looking at Longboxes anymore NO NO NO. We’ve got CASES. The Ultimate Guard Flip N Tray Xeno Cases fit 160+ Cards, Your Dice, Your Sideboard, Your Token, A SNACK? No, not your snacks.
WAIT MAYBE. YES. Snacks too. Had to test it.
The point is, we’re looking at all-in-one storage, and when you move away from the Big 5 here, you’ll find a variety of cases at budget prices. For Cyberpunk TCG, I would recommend those heavy-duty Commander Display Cases or the 400+ Count Commander Deck Boxes by Kabinka. Who’s Kabinka you ask? Well, I didn’t know either before this write-up, BUT WE BOUGHT THEIR CASES because they were reasonably priced with positive reviews from people online. People: Get them while they’re cheap and available because those cases are PREEM.
Anatomy of A Card:
We’ll update/add to this section as more is known/released about the TCG game.
Cyberpunk TCG has its own mechanics and keywords to understand. It’s fairly easy to understand if you’re coming over from other card games. From the limited spoiler we’ve seen regarding gameplay, Cyberpunk TCG has a different layer of complexity built into core systems like RAM and Tags, and knowing how to evaluate a card Early, Mid, and Late Game is key to winning your Gigs.
You start off deck building by choosing 3 Cards with the LEGEND tag to act as your deck leaders. Your LEGEND’S Colour and RAM Capacity will determine which card you can slot into your deck. We’ll get into that more below, but the Color identity and RAM Costs are restrictions that are imposed on Edgerunners looking to build different decks. Because you start the game with 3 LEGENDS in your Eddie zone, choosing synergistic cards and LEGENDS can assist your strategy is KEY.
Cost:
The top left of your card is THE COST of the card you’re looking to play. You must have enough Eddies (Akin to Mana, Ink, Energy) to play the card in question. The cost is the same as MTG or Lorcana, with both CMC and Cost being interchangeable here. Spend an equal number of Eddies to the number in the top left corner to play a card.
Sell Tag:
The Sell Tag shows up below your cost and lets you know whether or not you can use the card as a resource. It’s a mechanic that I love, and it carries over very well from games like Lorcana, where a card can be used as Eddies!
Tags:
Tags designate the affiliation that a particular card has with a faction or group. There are various factions/organizations in the Cyberpunk Universe, and Tags are used to check certain modifier conditions in the game. (Whatever faction Gary is in, I want in. I’ll drink the juice.)
Type:
Type denotes the different kinds of game pieces in Cyberpunk TCG. Certain abilities and effects will reference a card’s Type, and different Types make resolving that card change.
The current known Types in Cyberpunk TCG are: Legend, Unit, Program & Gear. At the moment, these are the only card types that exist, but I can see them adding a few more down the road. Daemons, for instance, or quick hacks that can be played in response or on your opponent’s turn come to mind ;)
LEGENDS: Legends are your core deck-building strategy. They are your 3 resources you start with at the beginning of the game and are considered permanents in respect to MTG. Only one of each is allowed in a Deck with the present rule-set, and starts in your Legends Zone each game as an Eddie Resource separate from your Eddie Zone. Currently, Legend cannot be played in your main deck.
Unit: A unit is what you’ll be combating with during your Attack phase. They share common traits with your Legends, except you can play a maximum of 3, and they can be shuffled into your deck.
Gear: A piece of gear is an attachable card that can be placed on either your Legends or Units to add bonuses or abilities. At present, Gear can only be equipped to Units or Legends on your side of the Battlefield. They stay attached to Units or Legends until they are defeated or trashed by an effect, at which point they also go into the Trash.
Program: A program is a one-time effect that is played and discarded into the trash upon resolution. Some programs can affect you or your opponent depending on the condition of the card, but only last for the turn the program card is played.
RAM:
This determines which cards you can play in your deck. Cards will have a RAM Total/Cost, and ALL CARDS in your deck must BE EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN THE RAM TOTAL OF YOUR LEGENDS.
It’s actually a lot simpler than it seems. In addition to noting which Colors are used by your LEGENDS, you’ll be noting the RAM Capacities. Multiple Legends with the same colour identity ADD to your deck’s RAM capacity and allow higher-cost cards to be played.
ALL CARDS SLOTED INTO YOUR DECK MUST HAVE THE SAME COLOR IDENTITY AS YOUR LEADER, AND THEIR RAM COST MUST BE EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN THE TOTAL RAM IDENTITY PRESENT ON YOUR LEGENDS.
All cards have a RAM cost, and if that number is GREATER than the total of your Legend’s RAM capacity and isn’t in those colours, they can’t be played. Simple choom.
Seems complicated at first, but it’s really simple addition and subtraction. You’ll quickly understand how unique and fun this type of restriction is! Although it’s meant to be a restrictive measure, it actually spurs so many creative and unique deck ideas. I can’t wait to see the full card gallery of cards on release! Although you can only play a maximum of 3 colours with the current rules, you’ll still have an amazing time deckbuilding (it’s pretty addictive).
Colour Identity:
Something that the Official HOW TO PLAY sort of glosses over, but we’re sure will be discussed at a later time, is Colour Identity within Cyberpunk TCG. At the moment, we only know of a handful of colours through the Alpha Deck Lists: RED, GREEN, BLUE, and YELLOW.
My instincts tell me that they may use the Chakra Colours to denote Deck Identities (Just as a nod to Misty’s Esoterica), but that’s just a guess. Here’s to hoping we get more information about that sometime SOON 👀
In Magic: The Gathering, they split their Colour Identities into WUBRG (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green) as well as Colourless (Grey?) spells. Each colour shares a design philosophy that determines the abilities of a card depending on many factors, but each colour has its own set of mechanics and abilities that aren’t found within the other colours in the colour pie. Often, combining colors make for unique combinations of effects that would never be found in a singular colour’s identity alone. MTG decks have ZERO colour restrictions, and that really makes for a wide range of deck styles and choices within the game’s identity.
In Lorcana, we have AAERSS - Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Steel. Each Ink identity also has an intricate design philosophy. In Lorcana, however, you ARE restricted to a 2 Colour Identity system and can only choose cards from among 2 colours of your deck’s identity.
So why even mention those other games?
CYBERPUNK TCG has a colour restriction of 3 colours at a time with the current ruleset. With 3 Legends who operate as your color restrictions, strategies will center around 1, 2 or 3 Color combination strategies, and no format where all colours could be played currently exists, but WeirdCo have expressed an interest in adding new and different formats to the game entirely.
Presently, there is no clear design philosophy presented by WeirdCo, and we haven’t been able to interpret one from the release of the Alpha Deck Kits sent to content creators. We’re not sure if this is a strategic move on WeirdCo’s part, but as an avid gamer, I do respect what games like MTG and Lorcana have done by injecting a design philosophy into their cards’ identities. I hope they will showcase more cards and even expound on this at GAMA in Kentucky from March 1st to March 5th!
Despite lacking a clear design philosophy, there are notable synergies based on a card’s TAGS in the Alpha. Colour will likely influence a card/character’s design depending on that card’s colour identity, and inversely change depending on the Tag. We’re excited to see how colour will change a particular faction or group’s mechanics when spread out among Cyberpunk TCG’s Colour Wheel.
Inside the Alpha Decks, Arasaka synergies are found within the Green/Red colour Identities, where more of the Tech & Draw synergies were found within the Blue/Yellow colour combinations. It isn't readily clear how colour identity will play into the Philosophy of the game long-term. We just don’t have enough information at the time, and it’s purely speculative. I have a longer form video that I’m working on for the channel, that touches on HOW I THINK the colour identity in the game will influence gameplay, but that’s for another time.
I think the 3 Colour Deck Identities will encourage creative deckbuilding. With a larger pool of Legends, we’ll have more Archetypes to build into and strategize around. Currently, only 6 Legends have been revealed at the moment, with more to come upon release.
And so Colour Identity matters in Cyberpunk TCG. Which Legends you play in combination with others Legends takes priority in deckbuilding, and will cut you off from strategies found in other Colour and Tag identities.
Will you go all in with a single colour deck, or opt to mix-and-match them for unique synergies?
Card Name:
We’ll be receiving multiple variants of Characters from the Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners Universe. Colour identity can shift a character’s abilities, will be represented by different Sub names, and can represent characters upon different lifepaths or choices found within each respective media. I hope there is an opportunity to do a sort of “What IF” set, where, for instance, Characters are represented by choices we may not have been able to make in Cyberpunk 2077.
Names appear in two locations: Top Center of the Artwork on Legends & Bottom-left corner of the art box above the card’s TAG line. Some cards, like characters like “Jackie Welles” have multiple card variations, both Legend and Non-Legend. The First name is a card’s actual name, where the second name (or sub name) depicts a character in a different point or path in their life.
Ex. Jackie Welles - Ride or Die Choom \\ vs // Jackie Welles - Pour One Out For Me 😭
Jackie Welles is the NAME, and Pour One Out For ME is the SUBNAME.
Power:
The Bigger The Number. The Better The Person. And in Cyberpunk TCG, the larger number wins in Combat.
Combat engagements work when a Unit/Legend goes on the offensive during the Attack Phase. You can choose to attack a Spent Unit your opponent has, or to direct your attack to your rival. A successful attack happens when your Unit/Legend, after modifiers, has the larger number in combat.
Last Thoughts Before We Dive Back Into Content Creation (Did you read all of this?) :
Cyberpunk 2077 is quickly shaping up in my mind as the 2027 TCG of the year, and quickly enticing me to put a new bookshelf in the library. The collector in me is excited or all the different Foil and Alt Art variants, at competing at tournaments and engaging with the greater community collectively. I’ve always enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 mostly alone and online with like-minded people, but now I can go into the LGS and be the definitive expert on the subject matter.
1. While I fully expect there to be a rotating format like standard, I also can see a non-rotating Eternal Format (Voting right now to call it ETERNAL LEGENDS or like AFTERLIFE) where new players and old players from any point of the game’s release can see value in both their new and old cards.
2. I’m a BIG fan of the LEGEND system.
I’ve played COMMANDER in MTG for about 15+ and love being able to re-explore my library (and it’s literally a library now) of spells with newer Legendary creatures. Combining newly released cards with your vintage/older cards really shake up the format of commander. I’ve got over 40 Decks built that I constantly upgrade at home base, each with 100 cards in them. Safe to say I’ll be doing the same with The Cyberpunk TCG
I would love to see a sideboard with multiple different Legends and Cards you can play to swap out for in between games. Being able to swap out legends and spells makes for great gameplay.
3. I had a concern about LGS competitions/tournaments though.
Small thought: We must assume that the Rivals we are opposite the table from have integrity enough to deck build honestly and not lie about the RAM costs of their cards slotted in their Deck. Assuming a game is played quickly (and boy are games quick), we may never see an opponent’s Legend roster.
In a game of Cyberpunk TCG, all Legends start at the beginning of the game FACE DOWN; So there isn’t really a way to know whether or not your opponent is being honest about the Colour/Ram identity of their deck. Some 3rd party almost has to enter to mediate this, and at tournaments, repeat deck checks may have to be considered.
Although I haven’t played with enough people or a diverse enough card pool, I hope an Official Comprehensive Rules Guide can remedy how we can assert the accuracy of these deck lists, while not compromising the integrity of Hidden Information within the game. Generally, people are honest, but at minor/local tournaments, I can foresee this being an issue.
Perhaps if we just allowed the opponent to know The Color and RAM limit of our deck at the start of each game, that may keep the game more honest.
4. Cyberpunk TCG blends some of the best mechanics from different card games and re-interprets and uniquely re-imagines them into the universe of Cyberpunk 2077’s terms. Being able to use your cards as either Eddies or a Unit adds such a nice level of strategy, especially when you’ve only got a maximum of 3 of that card. Starting with Legends and Colour/Ram restrictions reminds me of a refined version/scalable version of Commander. Oh man, we’ve GOT to build a singleton deck to play down the road, aren’t we?
Mechanics should be familiar with Veteran players of the TCG games. The game’s Keywords and abilities are constantly being updated via the Discord channel “Cyberpunk TCG”, and players are already engaging with the complexity of the game’s rule mechanics before the official comprehensive rules have been released. With everyone in one location and not spread out, they’ve created a core community of hardcore players who are trying to make heads and tails about card interactions the MOMENT they’re spoiled to the public.
5. Cyberpunk can deal with mature & important themes as part of its narrative presentation. It uses DECADES worth of source material to draw inspiration from, and even more is actively being written the world by CD PROJEKT RED. Although the game doesn’t currently take on Elements from the Pen and Paper TTRPG, I think down the road they may hit on some of those game elements referentially.
Corporate Espionage and Corporate Deception, Murder, Greed, Spirituality, Power Dynamics, What it takes to be a family and how we define them ; These are just some of the basic themes present within Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk 2077 hits on real themes we ultimately wrestle with as a society (just kicked up to 11).
Many other card games try to find this happy medium between all-ages friendly, political appropriateness, and I hope we can SORT of throw that out the window in pursuit of narrative storytelling within this game. A fantasy story set in a technologically rich, but resource-lacking future dystopia is sort of what THIS old fart wants to engage with. Real topics with consequences. Cyberpunk felt like an allegory for a future we could be rapidly headed toward, but one we should actively work to AVOID: a dark future of sorts. I’d be happy to explore those aforementioned themes, and hope all 3 active parties involved (WeirdCo, CD PROJEKT RED, and Studio Trigger) continue to share a story ultimately rooted in humanity, and what happens when we lose ours.
The Cyberpunk Franchise and to an extent, the Cyberpunk movement, has been mantled by the community not just for its aesthetics and New Retro-Futuristic vision for the future, but for the quality of the conversation being held just beneath the surface level. And when you start digging, it really expands into a life-altering event.
It leaves room for fantasy, yes, but plenty of space for a mature conversation about the dangers of technology, large corporate monopoly, street-level control, and drug abuse. And just when you’ve cracked the code about the dialogue being presented, it takes a MUCH deeper look into Spirituality, the progress of Religious belief, What Is Consciousness & What it means to be alive; Free will, and breaking out of cycles through choice and intention, caring for the common man when given the worst circumstances.
It wrestles with a society that over-indulges and seeks instant gratification as almost a basic human right.
Cyberpunk is life today, but if the choices we make lead us to a bad ending. So it’s nice to reflect, finally sit down with some friends I haven’t met, and just: Reflect.
The tone of this Primer’s slowly turned into my real thoughts about the franchise, so I’ll wrap this up and write that blog/script another day. I come from a world of Videogames, Philosophy, Puzzle Solving & Code Breaking and I can’t wait to integrate the Cyberpunk world into my TCG world too. Cyberpunk is all of that and more. I hope you all see it the same way I do one day.
COUGH COUGH
