Grand Archive is a brand-new Trading Card Game (TCG) coming to Good Games Local Game Stores in 2023. With stunning anime-inspired artwork and an easy to learn western-style game design, Grand Archive appeals to new and enfranchised players, cementing itself in the current competitive market.

But, if you’re a Magic player like me and already invested in one TCG, you may be wondering why you should play Grand Archive. There’s plenty of things to consider, such as price, learning curve, and player population. So, I took the plunge so you don’t have to (yet), and explored what the newest TCG on the block has to offer!

Grand Archive is a part of the new wave of ‘Kickstarter TCGs’, which unlike most current TCGs, is crowd funded before the initial release. Over 1,500 contributors pledged nearly 1 million dollars, making it one of the highest backed physical TCGs ever. This has resulted in an extremely active game community even before the game is physically released, with large virtual tournaments that allow play even before cards have been printed!

Okay, so here’s the rub: Grand Archive has some surface level similarities with Magic, but the overall gameplay loop and strategies one can employ are radically different. Some skills will transfer, but others won’t. The core gameplay loop is simple enough to get in one to two demo games, but the resource system (which we’ll get into) offers a lot of depth that is substantially different to MTG. We’re not going to explain all the rules, but we will cover enough to understand the basics.

Active and Rest states are untapped and tapped, and your primary goal is to keep your Champion alive, and deal total damage to your opponent’s Champion equal to their life stat. Champions are essentially your Commander, but if they die – it’s game over. They’re also treated somewhat similarly to MTG’s planeswalkers – they can be attacked, and you can retaliate (block) attackers with Allies (creatures). However, unlike planeswalkers (usually), Champions can join combat and attack through the use of various cards, which then Rests them. Champions can also be levelled up by meeting certain ‘lineage’ requirements and paying certain costs – but the payoff is usually worth it, as developing your Champion is a powerful upgrade to board-state. 

Let’s get the other similarities out of the way. Yes, Elements (Fire, Water, and Wind), Champion Classes (Assassin, Mage, Tamer, and Warrior), and Advanced Elements (Arcane, Crux, Luxem, and Tera) can be understood as mana types, and your deck creation begins there. With the first set, each class is currently tied to a single Advanced Element – meaning there are twelve possible configurations so far (compared to MTG’s current roster of 32 colour pairs). While this may seem limited, future sets will explore new elemental pairings for classes as well as introduce new classes that dramatically increase deckbuilding variety!

(Psst: the next core set will have the new Cleric, Guardian, and Ranger Champion classes, which look to shake things up!)

That’s… about where the similarities end – Grand Archive isn’t interested in retreading worn ground, and instead is focused on breathing new life into tried and true TCG mechanics.

Perhaps the greatest pain point Magic players have is being mana screwed or flooded – did you draw just the right mix of spells and lands, or are you scooping after a couple turns of not getting what you need from the top of your deck? 

Well, Grand Archive aims to fix that feel-bad experience with their resource system. You’ll need to pay for cards Reserve (mana) costs by placing that many cards from your hand face down into your Memory Zone. This means your hand size is your resource pool. Legend Story Studio’s Flesh & Blood has a similar “pitch” mechanic, but in Grand Archive, you’ll get back those cards in a later phase. 

The unique thing about this system is that the main learning curve is associated with your hand size becoming your pool of resources. Most other card games incentivise playing as many cards as possible each turn (Magic players know this as ‘curving out’). But with Grand Archive, playing nothing or just more conservatively can often be the right call. You can build card advantage for a more explosive turn or combo. Dropping down to two or three cards in hand can be dangerous, as your options get more limited. 

The next biggest difference between Grand Archive and other TCGs is that there are two decks to draw from – the Material Deck (blue coloured costs), and your Main Deck (yellow coloured costs). While we won’t cover the intricacies of those decks here, you can read the Getting Started article on their main page for a comprehensive breakdown of steps, phases, and rules regarding these decks. You can look at your Material Deck at any time, the order of it doesn’t matter, and in order to materialise a card from the deck, you must banish (exile) face down cards at random from your Memory Zone (where you paid for a card’s Reserve costs) equal to that card’s Memory cost. 

Basically, what this means is that cards that you’ve placed face-down as payment for playing other cards have a chance to be permanently removed from the game if you want to tutor any card from your Material deck. So, make sure you choose wisely and think ahead when paying for various cards.

The lore and worldbuilding are a big part of the efforts to expand Grand Archive. Both Dawn of Ashes, and the upcoming Supplemental Set, focus on the world of Cambria, which is inspired by Arthurian legends. The primary cast of Champions (our closest MTG analogue is Planeswalkers, who we follow between planes and sets) are trying to save Cambria from destruction. 

In a similar vein to MTG’s planes, which are different worlds featuring unique cultures, technologies, and magic, Grand Archive has ‘worldseeds’. The next Grand Archive Set will focus on a brand new ‘worldseed’, introducing new Champions, characters, art styles, and themes.

In a similar vein to MTG’s planes, which are different worlds featuring unique cultures, technologies, and magic, Grand Archive has ‘worldseeds’. The next Grand Archive Set will focus on a brand new ‘worldseed’, introducing new Champions, characters, art styles, and themes.

The website also has several lore articles, side stories, and supplemental material for those avid lore-enthusiasts. I enjoyed sitting down and reading the Magic: The Gathering’s latest main and side stories, and Grand Archive looks to follow a similar route, where these stories help you get attuned to the world and the stakes its champions are fighting for.

The folks over at Weebs of the Shore sent us over some demo kits to inspect, and we got to look at the quality of the cards you’ll probably be playing with. Impressively, these cards felt nice and thick, with durable cardstock. They survived a bend-test pretty well, with no noticeable impressions left behind. While they’ll most likely be sleeved up, the backs have a gorgeous select texturing that makes them feel premium.

I also got a sneak peak at some of the foils and collector rares, and the quality is very impressive. Selective foiling, textured holofoils, spot UV finishes, a textured offset layer, and a gold artist stamp await the lucky (and collectors), and WoTS are also experimenting with new styles. I’m pretty amazed by all this cardboard bling coming right out of the gate (and I’m not even a collector), and what’s more interesting is that Grand Archive will actually feature competitive competitions for collectors! But, more on that later.

Perhaps what is most interesting about Grand Archive is the organised play and competitive environment structure. Grand Archive is leaping right out of the gates with Event Pack Kits that will be provided to brick and mortar stores promoting organised play.

They’ve also got plans to build out an organised play app and system, called The Omnidex, complete with tiered rankings similar to online games such as League of Legends. There’ll even be rewards players can get, such as exclusive promos and merch. The closest thing MTG has to this system is the Companion App, or MTG: Arena, and this serves as a fusion of the two that allows you to play competitively outside of structured tournaments (such as The Path of Steel).  What makes the Omnidex stand out against other OP systems is our player ranking system, which is inspired by the ranking systems of online competitive games. Players are ranked in the Omnidex on three metrics:

• Veterancy – A metric that measures how many total matches the player has played.
• ELO – A metric that measures the player’s general skill.
• Event Points – A metric that measures the player’s mastery within the current season.

This is super interesting, as one major problem with competitive Magic is that heading to competitive qualifiers is time consuming and somewhat inaccessible. However, the Omnidex’s ranking provides a pathway for prospective players to enter the Ascent tournament – which is the pinnacle of GA.

Another innovative element of Grand Archive’s competitive scene is the Path of Silver, which is an innovative competition designed for collector’s to show off their collections and attend in-person tournaments and events. This is very unique, as no other TCG I’ve heard of has done an official collector’s competition.

Participants submit a 50-card collection and formulate a score based on several categories. Points are earned on different bases, such as having multiple cards that represent the same Champion. Prizes are awarded based on points, and First Place is looking pretty hefty! Check out their official website for more details.

That about sums up my initial impressions of Grand Archive as a Magic player. From what I’ve seen, the strengths of the game lie in its unique combat flow that attempts to resolve the ‘feel-bads’ of flooding, as well as the unique emphasis on resource management (cards in hand vs untapped mana available). Additionally, WoTS’s dedication to the competitive environment is evident in their online competitive tracker, and the event structures such as The Path of Steel and Silver or The Ascent tournament.

If this article piqued your interest and you want to give Grand Archive a try, the folks over at WoTS have supplied us with Starter Print and Play decks for Lorraine and Rai, so you and a friend can get playing for the low, low price of free! If you're interested in picking up some sealed Grand Archive product as well, Good Games has you covered here. Get cracking and start collecting now! 

If you want even more Grand Archive content, we also have another article here covering in person play and the Grand Archive community!

I look forward to seeing you in The Grand Archive! 

          – Ryan