Greetings KARDS players,

We are excited to announce changes to the monthly Officer Club Championship (OCC)! The OCC is a monthly tournament for the best players to compete for all the glory and sizable prizes, including a pot of $1000.

This upcoming OCC will mark the one year anniversary of the tournament, and to celebrate we are bringing it to a whole new level!

We also have a special celebration this weekend, so read on and get ready for exciting fun.


Well, first off, we are massively increasing the number of players that qualify for the OCC from the top 12 on the ladder to the top 36!

In the new system the top 4 players will immediately qualify for the Top 8 broadcast, with the following 32 players qualifying for a tournament to decide the 4 remaining spots in the top 8.

The tournament will be played over several days and players will have freedom to schedule the matches at a time that suits them, as long as that time is before the default match time of that round. With this we hope to keep a tight schedule while still allowing the players the flexibility to accommodate different timezones and schedules.

We are happy to announce that our long term community tournament partner 983 Media will be joining us in leveling up the OCC. So in addition to adding more players we are doing a full overhaul of our OCC production and expanding our casting team, more information on that later!


To celebrate a year of tournaments in KARDS we will be hosting a fun invitational event with some of the best known faces and talented players in the game.

Introducing the Mess Hall Brawl, a “King of the Hill” style event filled with fun, combos and of course commandos! Join Olikrummi along with past KARDS Open and OCC winners and casters for a fun afternoon of KARDS on Sunday April 25th, at 15:00 GMT on www.twitch.tv/kardsccg

We look forward to many more years of KARDS tournaments!

Following the fantastic and very successful first anniversary of KARDS the previous weekend, we now have another goodie for you: Card balance updates, bug fixes, and the new recycle feature!

Alongside the card balance changes, we introduce the new "recycle" feature. The recycle feature allows you to recycle cards that you have recently created with a wildcard and that are changed with the update. The result of the recycling is a generic wildcard of the same rarity as the recycled card. Check your collection, the cards eligible for recycling are marked with a "recycle" tag.

If you like these changes, please consider a recommendation on Steam - that is always a great help for KARDS. 👉 Support KARDS with a review.

Now, onto the patch details!


We start with the card balance changes. Read our latest dev blog, dive into the details and learn more about the reasons behind these changes. The dev blog contains also a special message from our Create Director about the direction of KARDS and certain archetypes. 📜 Check out the dev blog

• Supply Chain
  
  New: Draw a card. If SUPPLY CHAIN is discarded, add 2 copies to your hand with cost of 1.
  Was: Draw a card. If SUPPLY CHAIN is discarded, add 2 copies to your hand with cost 1 less.
  
  
• Counter Offensive
  
  New: Target infantry or tank gets +2+1 for each damaged unit on the battlefield.
  Was: Target infantry or tank gets +2+2 for each damaged unit on the battlefield.
  
  
• Panther A
  
  New: When this units moves into the frontline, the enemy does not draw a card next turn.
  Was: Deployment: The enemy does not draw a card next turn.
  
  
• Lightning Strike
  
  New: When the enemy draws an extra card, deal 4 damage to the enemy HQ.
  Was: When the enemy draws an extra card, deal 3 damage to the enemy HQ.
  
  
• Avro Anson
  
  Deployment cost decreased from 3 to now 2. Operation cost increased from 1 to now 2.
  
  
• Aichi D3A-2
  
  New: Has +2 attack for each other AICHI D3A you control.
  Was: Has +2 attack for each other AICHI D3A-2 you control.
  
  
• Panzer 38(t)
  
  Defense increase from 2 to now 3.
  
  
• 2e Brigade
  
  Deployment cost reduced from 5 to now 4.
  
  
• Imperial Strength
  
  New: Discard all activated countermeasures. Deal 2 damage to the enemy HQ.
  Was: Discard all activated countermeasures. Deal 1 damage to the enemy HQ.
  
  
• 1st Rifles
  
  New: Destruction: Add a 2nd RIFLES to your support line.
  Was: Destruction: Shuffle two copies of 1st RIFLES into your deck.
  
  
• Mig 3
  
  New: Costs 2 kredits to deploy if an enemy countermeasure triggered this battle.
  Was: Costs 2 kredits to deploy if an enemy countermeasure triggered this turn.
  
  
• Order 227
  
  New: Give your damaged Soviet units +2 attack and fully repair them.
  Was: Give your damaged Soviet units +2 attack.
  
  
• 34th Guards
  
  Attack and defense reduced from 8 to 6.
  New effect: Reduce cost by 1 each time a friendly card damges your HQ.
  Was: At the start of your turn, if this card is in hand, deal 1 damage to your HQ.
  
  
• Type 89 Chi-Ro
  
  Attack / defence changed from 4/1 to 3/2.
  Smokescreen removed. New effect added "When a HQ gains defense, it takes that much damage instead."

• Dowding system wasn't countering low cost orders that had cost increased. Fixed.
  
  
• Bombing Raid's damage to adjacent targets wasn't increased by Imperial Decree. Fixed.
  
  
• Units that hadn't attacked and were affected by Juggernaut weren't destroyed at the end of turn if it had switch owners with Minority Recruits or Confusion. Fixed.
  
  
• 73e Regiment d'Infanterie was sometimes triggering when KAGOSHIMA was on board to cancel the defense gain. Fixed.
  
  
• No. 10 Commando affected by Long Range Desert group didn't destroy units with heavy armor when damaging them in same cases. Fixed.
  
  
• When Pz. Befehlswagen 35t got sent directly from hand to frontline it was triggering "move to frontline" effects such as Unexpected Resistance. Fixed.
  
  
• AI was sometimes not removing immunity from HQ correctly after destroying 15th Motor Rifles. Fixed.
  
  
• AI's spitfires were getting buffs from enemy RAF Ground Crew. Fixed.
  
  
• Countermeasures were triggering in rare cases on AI's turn when C6N Saiun was on board. Fixed.
  
  
• Long Range Desert Group was working incorrectly on AI's turn. Fixed.
  
  
• Player's Ki-61-II Tony was getting discarded from hand in some cases against the AI when it's support line was full. Fixed.

Give us a thumbs up if you like this update. We also welcome more feedback in the comments below and on KARDS Discord!

Hello friends!

We have a balance patch coming this week for you guys. Better late than never, some of you may say, but we decided to delay the patch a bit because of many high profile tournaments going on that we didn’t want to upset those with balance changes a few days prior. We did do a booboo though by not announcing this delay to you guys in a timely manner, we are sorry for this booboo and will try to make sure to avoid said booboo in the future, as booboos are bad.

We are adding an important feature with this patch - you can now choose to recycle changed cards, as long as you crafted that card previously. So if you have spent your hard earned wildcards on crafting something that we then change into something you no longer like, you can choose to recycle the card and get your wildcard back. You will get several weeks to decide whether to recycle a card or not, the exact timeframe is something we will tweak going forward based on user feedback and data. Recycling a card will for now give a generic wildcard of that rarity (we may re-evaluate this later).

With that out of the way, it is time to look at a few cards we hate with a vengeance and a few cards we want to shower with love (in layman terms, some nerfs and buffs).




I helped my brother restock his store the other day and I sprained my back. Moral of the story: moving supplies is hard and there is no such thing as a free lunch-slash-supply chain. On a more serious note - with more powerful discard options in recent sets, players have discovered the power of the Supply Chain, especially in the omnipresent Soviet Artillery deck. A nerf is needed and a free Supply Chain was deemed the most heinous offender in the deck.



This is another card many find offensive, especially because how hard it is to counter a huge unit early on. Thus, by reducing the defense counters the most offensive part of the card, while retaining the offensive nature it provides. A counter argument is that offense is often the best defense, but that is neither here nor there.



What would a 1939 balance patch be without 1939 doing something crazy? Not a 1939 patch, that’s what, so welcome to this month’s craziness. Panther A is a very popular card and a lynchpin of the German draw denial/discard decks. Performance wise, these decks are solid, but not overpowered. However, the draw denial part can easily lock people completely out of a game and creates huge frustration to play against. Because of this, we have decided to scale back the power of draw denial a bit. Having that part be conditional on moving into the frontline gives the opponent an opportunity to deal with the Panther A before it triggers its powerful ability, but do note that if the unit withdraws from the frontline and then moves into it again, the ability will trigger a second time. Let us know what you think about nerfing draw denial in general (more changes are likely down the road) and this change in particular.




Lightning Strike offers a tasty amount of damage for its cost, but because of the uncertainty of it ever triggering, it sees little play. Making the damage even tastier will hopefully delight the palate of players enough for them to dish out some strikes.


The Avro can be a powerful tool in a dedicated Spitfire deck, but with a cost of 3, it can be a bit tricky to trigger. We are reducing the cost to make triggering it a bit easier, but because we don’t want it to become a tool in small air or naval support style decks, we are also increasing the operation cost to 2.


This is a fairly innocuous change mainly aimed to make the card a bit cleaner to read. But it does give Japan a couple of more Aichi units to trigger the +2 attack clause and if more Aichi variants come in the future, this card has the potential to become quite dangerous.


The Panzer 38(t) once cost 2 kredits and was in every German deck, ever. After we raised the cost to 3, the tank has fallen a bit out of fashion, especially at higher levels. But we want it to be a solid tool in the German tank tool kit, so we are raising the defense to 3, making it much stronger against early threats.


The 2e Brigade has very much been a 2eh Brigade so far, except occasionally in draft. In our ongoing effort to make mobilize a more interesting option for France, we are improving this marquee mobilize unit. A defensive mobilize deck may not be in the cards at the moment, but this change moves us closer to that reality.



One thing we are doing in this patch is to strengthen the anti-countermeasure cards in the game, the current ones see very little play. Upping the damage of Imperial Strength may look like a minor tweak, but there is a huge difference between 1 and 2 face damage, making Imperial Strength much more appealing in many decks, especially decks that can buff the damage even more.


Now this card is a bit of an imposter here, because this is not intended to be a nerf or a buff, but rather a rework. We want to move away from cards that can fill the deck endlessly, essentially avoiding ever taking fatigue damage. Fatigue damage is an important aspect of making sure games are not prolonged too much, so anything that avoids that is something we want to fix in the long run. At the same time, we want to keep the strength level of 1st Rifles the same as before, so this is what we ended up with. It will of course play out quite differently from before, but should over all be at a similar power level.


This is the other anti-countermeasure card we are buffing, threatening a big 2 cost fighter if an enemy countermeasure triggered at any point in the game at any point in the game. While we are not foreseeing this becoming a staple in every Soviet deck, we want it to be a stronger tool for players to adapt if the meta requires.


This card and the next one are both intended to give alternative options for the damage matters decks. Now that these decks are no longer dominated by Counter Offensive (though CO is still a potent threat), we want to explore other options for players because we want the damage matters decks to continue living despite the CO change.


Same goes here as with the card above - we are taking a little used damage matters card and adjusting it to something a bit more interesting. Nothing can go wrong with a cost 6 6 6 unit, right? Note that the cost is reduced even if the card is in your deck.


The final change is creating another anti-heal card for Japan. Kagoshima serves an important role here, but we wanted to give players the option of going even further if the meta requires. I think I speak for all of us when I say that punishing a player for all those Honeys in play gives a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Do be careful though that the Chi-Ro will also punish your own health gains.

That’s it for this patch. The update will go live next Wednesday (April 21st), make sure you check the full patch notes for all the changes in the patch (including some bug fixes). The recycle feature will also go live in the update, so any cards in this patch that you have crafted will be eligible for being recycled back to wildcards. Also, keep an eye out for spoilers from the new set coming next month!

As always, continue to give us your excellent feedback on our social platforms, it helps us immensely. Thanks and see you on the battlefield!


Dear Kards players,

Just wanted to add a few words on the change of the PANTHER A and thereby the Discard/Draw Denial deck archetype.

We decided to go this way after a careful consideration and taking various viewpoints into account. It is our honest opinion at 1939 Games that it was a mistake on our own behalf to let draw denial become as prominent as it is in the game and that it is simply not in line with what we want the game experience to be like in Kards, regardless of its power level.

We decided to keep discard in the game early on as we feel it can be a fun mechanic if kept under control, but mostly because it is very thematic in a WWII game (sinking the resources of the enemy with U-boats before they reach the battlefield etc). With "regular discard" even if your hand gets completely emptied, there is always hope. You can always get lucky and get back into the game if you draw the right card. This is not the case when you get "choked" with draw denial as it is currently, especially when the denial cards are stacked together.

This change is not done specifically with the power level of the card, high level meta, competitive gameplay or veteran players in mind. We are doing this much more for newer and more casual players and mid tier gameplay. And to improve the profile and overall game experience in Kards. We also want to emphasize that this is not done as a result of us listening to some select, few “loud voices” from the community. We are doing this after analysing a lot of feedback from various sources and from our own experience of playing against and with these decks in various different positions in the ladder for some time now.

Some suggestions have been made to change other cards that play a role in these decks or use other methods to achieve the same goal, but we feel it is much better to change directly the source cards in question that have the direct denial ability, starting with the Panther A and then we will very likely be reworking Wolfpack at a later stage as well. The third card that has direct draw denial is Admiral Hipper, but that card is of Elite rarity and if it can't be stacked with the others, much less of an issue, so we might leave that as is. We know this is frustrating for some of you who like and have invested in the deck archetype, but we are confident this is for the greater long-term good of Kards. Hopefully the recycle feature that comes at the same time will soften the blow slightly for some players that have invested in these cards.

We know some of you may disagree with this decision but we really hope you understand our motivations at least. And finally, we are quite certain many of you will welcome these changes as well.

That’s it for now,

Gudmundur
Founder/Creative Director
1939 Games

On April 15th, 2021, KARDS turns 1 year old - hooray!

KARDS has come a long way from its first release (and before that, closed and open alpha/beta testing) until now. Even though a year is a long time and despite having evolved KARDS quite a lot with several expansions, tournaments, and great additions, we are still at the very beginning of the journey. There is so much more to come!

To celebrate this fantastic event together, we have free gifts and great events ready for you. Join in and have fun!

Here are the main goodies for you:

• A new DLC with card packs from all major expansions and draft tickets, free for the anniversary!
  
• Double XP anniversary celebration from 15th to 18th of April
  
• A unique 1st-anniversary card back

We are proud and thankful for having such a great player community with us on all levels. Now it is time to give back double and extra!

Onto the many next years to come!



We kick off the celebrations on April 15th to release a new DLC free for you during the anniversary celebrations.

The 1 Year Anniversary Edition contains the best from the first year of KARDS: Officer Packs from all major releases, draft tickets, and a unique card back.

• 1 Officer Pack - Base Set, containing 7 cards from the Base set
  
  
• 1 Officer Pack - Allegiance Set, containing 7 cards from the Allegiance set
  
  
• 1 Officer Pack - Breakthrough Set, containing 7 cards from the Breakthrough set
  
  
• 2 Draft tickets, allowing you to compete in draft mode and earn great rewards

Claim this DLC worth $14.99 for free during the celebrations from 15th to April 18th.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1597920/KARDS__The_WWII_Card_Game/


First of its kind, we give you double experience points on the national progression system during the anniversary weekend.

All experience points you earn between April 15th (UTC) and the end of April 18th will be doubled! This allows you to collect rewards from the national progression system twice as fast.

The national progression rewards span a total of 250 levels and include gold, wildcards, random cards of any rarity, card packs, and more!

Use this chance to buff your account with lots of free rewards.


As a special gift and to celebrate the fantastic KARDS community, we have a unique 1st-anniversary card back ready for you as part of the Anniversary DLC.

This card back is available for free only for players that are playing KARDS between April 15th and 18th. Once the celebration period is over, this card back cannot be acquired for free anymore.

Log into KARDS, claim the DLC and this unique card back right away for free.

GET THE CARD BACK

A lot is going on, and we hope to see you in KARDS for this fantastic anniversary!

A toast and hooray: Enjoy the gifts and KARDS!

Hello KARDS community!

We are excited to present a new KARDS tournament format: Team tournaments! Team up with a friend and have more fun together as you compete team vs. team.

Together with our trusted partners at 983 Media, we bring KARDS Duos! Grab a partner, make a team and face off in a double-elimination bracket 2v2 showdown.

This tournament starts Saturday, April 17th, with the finals the following day on April 18th.

Experimenting with new formats is always exciting, don't hesitate and sign up right away. Even and especially as a new player, you should join!

I'm in. Sign me up!

2 vs. 2? How does that work in a KARDS tournament, you may ask.

You and your chosen teammate will play in a 4 player round robin during your bracket round. To advance in the bracket, you must have a combined 3 wins.

Round Robin means that each player will play against each opponent at least once. For example, Player A will play Player C and D, while player B will also do the same.

You and your teammate decide who versus whom first. To win the bracket round, you and your teammate together must have won 3 games. This means if everyone is tied at 1-1 after the round-robin, you and your teammate will decide who plays the final match.

• 2v2 team round robins in a double-elimination bracket
  
• Play a mini round-robin in your bracket round. Combined 3 wins advances your team to the next bracket round.
  
• Double elimination bracket - two rounds lost means your team is eliminated from the tournament
  
• Top 4 qualifying teams will play the following day, April 18th, and be recorded for the main broadcast
  
• Decklists are a free-for-all format. No restrictions! Bring as many or as few decks as you'd like.

Join the 983 Discord for tournament-specific info: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF

Let us know what you think about this format and enjoy the tournament!

Easter is around the corner, and so the KARDS team has prepared something special for you:

• In-client, unlimited mini-tournaments
  
• Kards Open V during the weekend
  
• Special offers with great discounts

Log in, play KARDS, and have fun!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/544810/KARDS__The_WWII_Card_Game/


First of its kind, you can enjoy 4-player single-elimination mini-tournaments directly in the KARDS client. Available between March 31st and April 5th.

Simply click the new “Tournament” button on the main screen to join any of the unlimited tournaments. The rest is pretty self-explanatory: select a deck for the tournament, wait for the opponent, and have fun!

Each tournament has a small entry fee of 2 Gold per participant. The combined fee is then split between the winner (who takes 5 Gold) and the second place (who takes 3 Gold). Win one game, and you are in the profit!

How do you like these mini-tournaments? Let us know in the comments below and provide feedback!


As you rapidly gain good tournament experience with our new in-client mini-tournaments, you are ready for something bigger: The KARDS Open V.

The fifth KARDS Open kicks off this weekend (April 3rd and 4th), and you are invited to join! No entry fee; everyone is most welcome.

This weekend, you’ll compete in a best-of-3 series; you can bring any deck you want and play it as many times as you’d like. No deck submissions required, no deck restrictions!

If you finish in the top 16, you will be qualified for the next stage on April 10th, where the fight for the prize pool of $1000 and in-game gold continues.

Sign up today for the KARDS Open V


To celebrate Easter and to be festive, we have several special offers for you. Benefit from discounts of 25% and more!

All offers contain Officer Packs of each release, delivering the best of everything! As a reminder: Officer Packs contain at least 2 cards of limited rarity, and at least 1 of special or elite rarity.

Check out the KARDS in-game shop for a treat.

We hope you enjoy this special event during the Easter period from March 31st to April 5th. All feedback, especially regarding the new mini-tournaments, is most welcome.

Hello KARDS community!

The monthly KARDS Open series returns With Kards Open 5 - 1939 Games presents the KARDS Open V powered by 983 Media. In this open, you will compete in three levels of increased challenge.

Starting April 3rd - 4th with the swiss qualifiers, you will compete in a best of 3 free-for-all deck format. This means you can bring any deck you want and play it as many times as you'd like. No deck submissions and no deck restrictions! This is to make the early stages of the tournament more accessible and faster.

If you finish in the Top 16 from the swiss weekend, you will be qualified for the next stage - April 10th to compete in the single elimination best of 3 conquest. In this stage, you will submit four of your best decks from four different main nations. (you will only use three of these decks for the first half of this bracket) You will ban one deck from your opponent and play a best of 3.

If you've made it to the Top 4 on April 10th, you've made it to stage 3! In this stage you will break out your 4th submitted decks and play in a best of 5 single elimination with one ban. These games will be recorded for the main event stream taking place on April 11th.

The total prize pool for Kards Open V is 1000$ as well as in-game gold. The prizes are distributed in the following way:

1st: $400
2nd: $250
3rd: $200
4th: $150
5th-16th: In-game Gold

For more information Join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF or sign up and check out all the details on the tournament here:

SIGN UP HERE

Hello KARDS Community!

Join the third KARDS Bunker Chat of the year on March 26th at 16:00 UTC and chat with the devs! Discover the latest news and explore together with your fellow players, developers, and friends what is coming to KARDS in the next days and weeks.

As usual, we have big topics for this chat. Here are some of the highlights:

• New ranked cardbacks - When and what do they look like?
  
• The Easter Blitz!
  
• Tournament update
  
• Card Balancing

There is, of course, a lot more to it. Especially considering that YOUR QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK matter as we will be taking live questions from Twitch chat over on www.twitch.tv/kardsccg

We are looking forward to a fun and exciting Bunker Chat together with you.

Mark the date:

March 26th at 16:00 UTC on Twitch

Add event to Google Calendar

Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we present the freshly updated KARDS roadmap.



The roadmap is a regularly updated, high-level overview of the milestones and important events for KARDS. The roadmap contains only the highest level of features; not listed on the roadmap are smaller projects we are working on and general KARDS improvements. Balancing changes is also not listed on the roadmap, even though they are ongoing and essential for our development work. Keep in mind that this is a living document and that the events further in the future will receive more info as time passes by.

Without further ado, let's have a look at what we can expect in the coming months!

March (completed)

Catalyst mini-expansion with 24 new cards

April: Easter event

While not exactly a traditional easter egg hunt, we have a lovely Easter event ready for you in KARDS. :)

April: KARDS 1st anniversary

On April 15th, 2021, we celebrate the first anniversary of KARDS. Expect goodies and extra fun!

May: KARDS Spring expansion

One of the two major KARDS expansions in 2021, the Spring expansion comes with a sizable amount of new cards and results in a new KARDS experience.

Q3: Mini-expansion with new cards

Similar to the Catalyst expansion, this release will build on the Spring expansion introducing new cards.

Q4 Winter expansion

This expansion is one of the two highlights this winter. Similar to previous major winter expansion, expect to see new cards and cool game features!

Q4 World Championship

The second highlight this winter next to the expansion is the KARDS World Championship! Like the previous World Championships, we will have qualifiers and then the actual tournament with a grand final.

Mobile Release

The mobile version for Android and iOS devices is highly anticipated, allowing you to connect and play anywhere you want. Initially scheduled for Q1 2021, we have moved the mobile version's release as we need more time to develop and deliver a great experience on your mobile device. We don't want to compromise quality for a rushed delivery that doesn't pay justice to your (and our) expectations. We are still firmly committed and very excited about the mobile version as this is our current top priority regarding the big picture of KARDS.

The roadmap is painted in broad strokes and shows only the highest level of what we have planned. There are many smaller features and improvements which will come along the road.

As you can see, the rest of 2021 is packed with KARDS excitement and good things to come!

The whole team is thrilled for the future and would love to hear your feedback! Join our KARDS Discord or use the comments below.

Celebrate the amazing makers at ThatWorks! bring one of the legendary Japanese Tantō blades back to life!

1939 Games have partnered with the incredibly skilled craftsman at ThatWorks! to recreate one of the Tantō blades using traditional skills and original methods. Watch the documentary as they bring to life this blade.



With this background and having created an actual blade, we are proud to offer this masterpiece's digital counterpart in KARDS. Get now the unsheathed version of this incredible blade in KARDS and have it on display on the battlefield. This special item is available this weekend until March 22, 2021.