There are two main card pools in KARDS: the Active card pool, and the Reserve pool. The Active card pool generally contains between 800 and 900 cards.
The Active card pool consists of all cards currently allowed in ranked play, while the Reserve pool consists of cards which are not currently allowed in ranked play.
Card rotation
Card rotation happens once per year, alongside the winter expansion. Rotation is based on card sets. When a set rotates, every card in that set moves into the Reserve pool at the same time.
Each card set has a lifetime in the Active card pool of between 21 and 30 months. Summer expansions have the longest lifetime, while spring releases have the shortest.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Mini-sets and other smaller releases belong to the card set of the preceding expansion, and rotate at the same time as that set.
- Cards that return from the Reserve pool join the set that brings them back, and rotate out again when that set rotates.
- Cards returning from the Reserve pool may return in an altered state.
The Permanent pool
Some cards never rotate. These cards make up the Permanent pool, and they remain in the Active card pool indefinitely. The Permanent pool contains around 400 cards and covers every nation, giving you a stable foundation to build decks around no matter what each new expansion brings.
Crafting these with wildcards is a solid choice, since you'll always be able to play them in ranked.
How to tell when a card rotates
Open any card in your Collection and look at the card information panel. Every card shows one of two things:
- Core Card, Never Rotates. The card is in the Permanent pool and will always stay in the Active card pool.
- Rotates with [set name] in [year]. The card belongs to that set and will move into the Reserve pool when the set rotates.
You can also use the Permanent pool filter in your Collection to display only the cards that never rotate, or the Reserved filter to display only the cards that are Reserved.
Identifying Reserved cards
Cards that have already moved into the Reserve pool are identified by a small shield icon with a strike through it next to the card.
In the Collection interface, this icon appears on the bottom-right corner below the card.
In the deck building interface, you'll see the icon next to each of the Reserved cards in your deck.
When looking at your decks, the Reserve icon is shown under the deck.
Card packs
Only two card pack types are actively available for purchase at any given time in KARDS: Core packs and the latest expansion packs. Any time that a new expansion is introduced, cards from a previously new expansion will begin to drop in Core packs. There may still be ways to acquire card packs from older sets, in which case they only drop cards from those older sets.
Cards stop dropping in Core packs four weeks before their set rotates into the Reserve pool.
Using Reserved cards
If your deck contains any card that is in the Reserve pool, you will not be able to play ranked games against other players. You can however play in the Classic PvP game mode against other players with Reserved cards in their deck, training matches against AI, and challenge matches against friends.
Recycling Reserved cards
It is possible to recycle cards you own that are currently in the Reserve pool. This will grant progress towards the next tier in the weekly crate.
Why is there a Reserve pool?
There are a number of reasons why KARDS has a Reserve pool. With hundreds of cards entering the game each year, this could lead to a number of issues, such as:
- Power creep. When introducing new and exciting cards and mechanics through expansions, without a rotation, we risk a power creep issue, making it less appealing to play anything other than a narrow range of the top cards. We want to support a variety of decks and strategies and create an environment where cards in a new expansion don't always have to be more powerful than previous content, which in turn could continuously make older cards less relevant and lead to balance issues.
- Deck building difficulties. With an ever-expanding pool of cards, deck building would become increasingly difficult. Recalling all the different cards and possibilities can take a lot of mental energy and building new decks can become tedious with too many cards.
- Inaccessibility for newer players. As the amount of cards in the game grows, newer players have more and more of a difficult time getting into the game. Collecting all available cards will be challenging and wrapping your head around all the available cards will become increasingly daunting for newer players.
- Balancing difficulties. Balancing the game becomes more challenging as the card pool expands. With a card rotation, we are able to more effectively balance the game, providing a consistently fun and engaging experience for our players.
Comments