NUZLOCKE INFO

A look into how the game's Nuzlocke modes will work

For those looking for a bit more of a challenge, Eternal Skies will have two (or probably more honestly) Nuzlocke modes. If you don't know what a Nuzlocke is, it's a Pokemon community made mode to give the games a bit more difficulty. Essentially what it boils down to is: limiting the number of Pokemon you can catch, and permadeath for the ones that fall in battle.

Now, since you clicked this article, you're probably wondering how this applies to a card game. Well, for the permadeath, here is how it will work:

• Anything that is put into a graveyard by a means other than playing it normally will be lost after the battle.

That means crew that die, discarded cards, countered spells, sacrificed crew, destroyed items: All of these things and more will be permanently destroyed at the end of a battle. For anyone wondering about it, yes this makes the prospect of facing a mill or control deck horrifying. However, single use spells that go straight to the graveyard on play will not be lost permanently, so it's possible burn decks will be the way to go here.

You may be thinking that's way too many cards to lose on a per game basis, and I agree. That's why some amount of the cards you lose will be replenished with random cards of the same rarity. These might not be the same colors as you were previously playing, so you might have to switch up your deck several times as you play through the game.

Now this brings me to the second mode. I know there are some people out there who will want it to be as difficult as humanly possible, and don't want their cards replenished after battle. I will make this an option. Good luck.

Card Limits

The other part of a Nuzlocke is limits on how many cards you can gain, so you can't just have enough to where your losses don't matter. This part hasn't been planned out yet, but there are a few options.

There could be limits on how many times you can battle each person, or restrictions on what you get in a pack. There could be a total limit as to how many of a card you could get ever, or when you lose one permanently you could also lose one from the number you can include in a deck (ie you can now only include 3 of it instead of 4).

Probably, I'll experiment with several options and offer a few of them as selectable options in the menu, so the community can figure out what the best experience is.

Personally, I only grind on the hardest difficulty in Fire Emblem and otherwise play baby mode. But I know there are a lot of people out there who like a challenge, and I aim to offer you the tools to make this a unique TCG challenge.

Just you know, don't expect me to play it myself.