Dinosaur King TCG preview

Get ready for an adventure of Paleolithic proportions! Upper Deck’s Dinosaur King Trading Card Game launches later this month, letting you relive exciting dinosaur battles from the popular The CW4Kids animated television series. This easy-to-learn game lets you command your favorite dinosaurs, use powerful Moves to help them defeat your opponent, and team up with characters from Dinosaur King TV show!

The game is aimed at Dinosaur King fans and first-time TCG players. Game play is quick and simple, but there are tactical decisions to make and rewardingly deep deck construction options. The object of the game is to reduce your opponent’s Life Points from 20 to zero. You’ll accomplish this by using your Dinosaurs to attack your opponent’s Dinosaurs, or your opponent directly if they don’t have any Dinosaurs in play.

You can Dino Slash (play) any number of Dinosaurs from your hand each turn, but you can’t have more than three Dinosaurs in play at the same time. To Dino Slash a Dinosaur, its level must be equal to or less than your Turn Counter. Your Turn Counter goes up by one at the start of each of your turns, so on your first turn you can play level 1 Dinosaurs, on your second turn level 2 and level 1 Dinosaurs, and so on.

Once you’ve got Dinosaurs in play, it’s time to attack! Each of your Dinosaurs can attack once during your turn. If your opponent doesn’t have any Dinosaurs in play, you can attack them directly, biting them for one Life Point. If your opponent has Dinosaurs in play, you’ve got to attack them first, triggering an epic Dinosaur battle.

Each Dinosaur has a Power number, and the higher a Dinosaur’s level, the higher its Power. When Dinosaurs battle, the one with the highest Power number wins. But there’s more to it – each Dinosaur in the battle can use one Move card to increase their Power. One of the cleverest innovations in the Dinosaur King Trading Card Game is the rock-paper-scissors system, which determines which Dinosaur has to use a Move first.

Each Dinosaur has either a rock, paper or scissors icon. When Dinosaurs battle, the Dinosaur that’s losing at rock-paper-scissors has to use Move first, or they lose their opportunity to Move during that battle. If it’s a tie, the attacking Dinosaur has to play first. The familiarity of the mini-game keeps the main game moving, and adds a level of strategy that will have players carefully planning their attacks.

Elemental Strategy
Move cards come in two varieties – regular Moves and Super Moves. Regular Move cards can be used by any Dinosaur and have general purpose effects that can benefit any deck. Super Moves are more powerful, but can only be played by a Dinosaur whose Element matches the Super Move’s Element. Their effects support the themes of their Elements.

There are six Elements in the Dinosaur King Trading Card Game — Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth, Grass and Wind. Each one has a unique suite of abilities, and you can mix and match Dinosaurs from different Elements in your deck to suit your strategy. Each Element has one massive level 6 Dinosaur capping its lineup, and their abilities represent their Element’s theme.

Fire
Fire is about all-out attacks. Many Fire Dinosaurs and Super Moves are stronger during your own turns, and are weaker or have no effect during your opponent’s turns. For example, several Fire Dinosaurs have an ability called “Rampage.” Rampage boosts a Dinosaur’s attack strength past the usual maximum for their level during your turn, but leaves them slightly weaker than average on defense.

The legendary Tyrannosaurus is Fire’s level 6 Dinosaur. Its ability lets you discard a Fire Dinosaur or Super Move to boost its Power up to 3000, but only during your turn. Only another level 6 with the help of a powerful Super Move has a chance of beating that. So not only does this ability almost guarantee a win in Tyrannosaurus’ next battle, it gives you something to do with lower-level Dinosaurs that you draw later in the game.

Lightning
Lightning Dinosaurs “charge up,” becoming more powerful when you have more Dinosaurs in play. “Recharge” is one of Lightning’s signature abilities. It lets you trade the Recharge Dinosaur’s attack for an extra attack with one of your other Dinosaurs. Lightning also has the only negation effects, like the Super Move Electric Aura. It negates any Move whose effect happens after the battle – which is most of the best Moves and Super Moves in the game. Lightning features ceratopsid dinosaurs like the Triceratops and Centrosaurus, and is headed up by the level 6 Styracosaurus.

Water
Spinosaurus leads the Water Dinosaur forces. This Element focuses on card draw and card cycling. With abilities like “Exchange” that let you dig through your deck, Water Dinosaurs make a good choice for the second Element in a deck. Even just splashing a few in can help smooth out your draws.

In a dedicated Water deck, you may find that you have to give up early battles in order to hold cards in your hand and make the most of Spinosaurs’ “Geyser” ability. It’s worth it though, because even a few hundred extra points goes a long way to keeping Spinosaurus out of reach of your opponent’s Dinosaurs.

Earth
For defense, look no further than Earth Dinosaurs. Filled with armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus, Earth specializes in defending and dealing damage without attacking. For example, the “Quake” ability lets Dinosaurs deals two damage to your opponent at the end of each of their turns. Several Earth Dinosaurs also have “Defender,” which lets them jump in the way of an attack – perfect for keeping your Quake Dinos on the field. Earth’s heavy hitter is the level 6 Tarchia, with a modified Quake that hits every turn!

Grass
If life gain is your favorite strategy, go for Grass Dinosaurs. In addition to the “Heal” ability that gives you a Life Point every time your Dinosaur wins, Grass also has “Revive” that brings back Dinosaurs from your discard pile. Parasaurolophus, the level 6 Grass Dinosaur, will get you two Life Points when it wins a battle during your turn. Those extra Life Points can make a big difference in the end game, letting you win a war of attrition.

Wind
Wind Dinosaurs specialize in dealing extra damage, sort of like Fire Dinosaurs. Unlike Fire, Wind’s abilities are focused more on trickery and opportunity than brute force. For example, Dinosaurs with “Twin Talons” deal an extra damage when they attack directly. Dinosaurs with “Sneak Attack” can trade places with a Dinosaur in your hand when they win a battle. Combo the two, and you can clear the way with Sneak Attack Dinosaur, trade it for one with Twin Talons, then replay the Sneak Attack’er and attack with it again! Wind’s level 6, Carnotaurus, can attack again after it defeats a Dinosaur.

You can mix and match Elements in your deck however you want, but it’s best to focus on one or two so you can use your Super Moves reliably. The Starter Set fixed deck is mainly Fire and Lightning Dinosaurs, but there’s plenty of room for other combinations. Try a hard-hitting Earth and Wind direct damage deck, or a late-game focused Water/Grass deck.

Characters
In addition to Dinosaurs and Moves, each player uses one Character card. These represent the kids from the heroic D-Team of the Dinosaur King TV show, or Dr. Z and his villainous Alpha Gang, enemy of the D-Team. Each Character has a unique ability that can only be used once per game. Characters are powerful, and using your Character ability at the right time can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Special Dinosaurs
Another benefit of Characters is that they let you use Special Dinosaurs in your deck. Special Dinosaurs represent the cute Dinosaurs from the TV show, like Chomp, Terry and Ace, as well as their powered-up Battle Mode forms. Chomp and Terry are the first Special Dinosaurs to appear, and they’re paired with their partners – with Max Taylor as your Character, you can use Chomp, and using Dr. Z lets you use Terry.

To Dino Slash the powerful Battle Mode Special Dinosaurs, you need to have the cute version in play already. The effort pays off, because the Battle Mode Dinosaurs have abilities far more powerful than the average Dinosaur.

It’s All in the Cards
Fans of the Dinosaur King animated series should also look out for the TV Moments series of cards. They feature iconic scenes from the show, with a mention of the episode from which the image is taken.

For collectors, there are Silver and Gold Rare metallic foil cards, sure to add some shine to your deck or binder. Also look out for Colossal Rares. They feature unique variant artwork of the most recognizable dinosaurs in the set running wild in real world locations (see Spinosaurus on this page for an example). The rarest of rare cards, Colossal Rares are printed on eye-catching pattern foil.

Look for Dinosaur King Trading Card Game Starter Sets and booster packs in your local hobby store starting in late October. The Starter Set contains everything one player needs to play: a 40-card deck, Beginner’s Guide, Battle Mat, an oversized Character card, and a five-card booster pack to get started customizing your deck.

Perfect for fans of the show and TCG beginners, the Dinosaur King Trading Card Game makes a great gift this holiday season for younger siblings or relatives you’d like to introduce to the exciting world of TCGs! Check out http://www.DinoKingTCG.com for more information!