What's better than a huge RPG? A themed card game available to play in-game, of course! Splatoon 3 brought in a Tableturf Battle TCG this year, The Witcher has Gwent, and now Genshin Impact is following the trend with the Genius Invokation TCG.
In just a few weeks' time, we'll be able to invite Zhongli to play cards or show off our skills in front of Cyno in the all-new trading card game in Genshin Impact. Genius Invokation was originally shown off in the Version 3.1 Special Program, but has now been given a release schedule.
We've got loads more Genshin Impact content to keep you busy while you're here. Check our up-to-date codes list for free Primogems and Mora, and see where your team matches up on our tier list. We've also got build guides so you can get farming for upcoming Nahida and Scaramouche.
When is the Genius Invokation TCG release date?
The Genius Invokation card game has been given a release date. It'll be coming with Version update 3.3 on December 7, 2022.
What is Genius Invokation TCG?
The eagerly awaited new game mode is a card game, with cards based on characters, monsters, and items within Genshin Impact.
This will be an entirely new game mode, not an event, and will involve more casual gameplay than some of the other aspects of Genshin Impact. In fact, most games will be played against NPCs, not so much other players. You can still battle your friends, but any rewards are linked to NPC challengers.
We know of a few characters in Genshin Impact that already play the game. Namely, Cyno, Itto, Kamisato Ayato, and NPCs like Liben are avid players of Genius Invokation. Cyno even has voice lines about his new deck!
The good news is, there won't be any micro-transactions here. All rewards are said to be achievable in-game, so we won't need to spend more money on the game.
- Read more: Our AFK Arena tier list and Wild Rift tier list
In terms of lore, Genius Invokation was created in Sumeru, hence its release in the Sumeru-centric 3.0 version updates. Researchers at the Akademiya devised it and commissioned none other than Liben the merchant to get the game published at Yae Publishing House. It has taken off in terms of popularity all across Teyvat, and has some specific locations where players congregate, such as the Puspa Café in Sumeru City.
How to play Genius Invokation TCG
There hasn't been any official explanation of gameplay yet, but it seems like the classic card game play style, where two opponents try and beat each other by using cards in their hand to attack the other. Whoever's cards are knocked out first loses. So far we haven't seen what winners get, or how to get new cards, but this will all be revealed in time.
Some more leaks have come out pertaining to the gameplay, and this is what we've learned so far.
You will be able to create decks using Character and Action cards, and you can draw two new cards at the beginning of each round. Decks are made of 33 cards, with three Character cards, and 30 Action cards. There is a choice of 27 Characters, and a whopping 92 Action cards.
There are different phases involved in the gameplay, namely the following:
The Roll Phase
Players will roll eight Elemental Dice to begin each round. You can reroll dice once at this stage. Each dice has all seven elements on it and an Omni-Element side, which will give essentially a free choice of element to play.
The Action Phase
This is where players will play their Skill Cards, and spend Elemental Dice to use them. Your Active Character is the attacker and will hit the opponent's Active Character. You can swap your Active by spending one Elemental Dice.
Your goal is to defeat your opponent by getting all three of their active cards down to 0 HP, from 10 HP. To do this, play cards by spending corresponding Elemental Dice. There are other types of cards too: Equipment Cards can raise the strength of certain characters, Support Cards will buff them, and Event Cards will be one-use cards that take immediate effect. Some character cards will have follow-up skills, such as Amber or Xiangling's deployable creatures, and Keqing's warp strike.
'Elemental Sync' comes into play here too; you can discard cards in order to change the Element of your available Dice. Each discard will mean one change of a Die.
To end a round, both players must have declared that they are finished. Whichever player declares this will go first next time.
Which cards are there in Genius Invokation TCG?
It seems that - judging by the brief look at the game in the Version 3.1 update stream - there are the boss and playable character cards used as the main battle cards. The 5-star characters have three diamonds on the side of the card, as do boss opponents, but the 4-stars have two. The trailer specifically shows Mona, Xingqiu, and the Oceanid enemy against a team of Keqing, Diluc, and Kamisato Ayaka.
It also appears that there are support cards being used on either side of the main combat cards. It is currently unknown what their function is.
These are a few playable characters that we have already seen as main cards in the TCG:
These 'Character Cards' are the main meat of the deck, and each character will have 10 HP. Like in Genshin Impact, they have three attacks available: their normal attack, elemental skill, and elemental burst.
Cards featuring Itto, Paimon, Rosaria, Hu Tao and Amber featured in a leak of all the playable cards, though they don't appear to be specific character action cards.
There are plenty of enemy and boss cards making an appearance too, from the Oceanid and Slimes to the Fatui and Jadeplume Terrorshroom. It seems that all of Teyvat's current enemies are getting represented in some way.
In terms of support cards, what we've seen so far are notable NPCs and boss-assist enemies for the Oceanid, namely the Hydro mimic squirrel and raptor bird. There are cards featuring Tubby the Teapot Spirit, Constellations, food items, and many more.
Which characters can I duel in Genshin Impact?
Leaks have shown which characters have been given dialogue alluding to the Traveler initiating a game of cards with them. This includes most of the characters that also have cards within the game. They all have different decks, and characters will have decks centred around their element and skills - for instance, Fischl's deck focuses on energy recharge, and Diluc's focuses on heavy Pyro damage.
What card designs are there in the Genius Invokation TCG?
Not only can we collect cards and build decks, but Genshin Impact players can also earn different card designs to use to show off during games. Some designs have been leaked, and include regional themes and elemental designs. It currently isn't clear how to get these different designs of cards, so they will likely be rewards for winning battles or earning achievements.
While we wait for Version 3.2 and then Version 3.3 with the card game, check out the upcoming 5-stars Alhaitham, Nahida, and Dehya.
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