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Super Smash Bros. TCG Project (January~May 2021)

I don't know how to play trading card games (I still don't), so I tried making my own for some reason. Maybe I just really like the aesthetic of TCGs/media with trading card gimmicks and was like "why isn't there a Smash Bros Card Game? That would be really cool."

"Important Notes" (January 15th 2021, 10:20 AM)

10:20 AM 1/15/2021

The Primary Spirit Card Should Have:

  • The Spirit's Name [Ex. Spring Man, M. Bison, Creeper]
  • The Spirit's Series [Ex. ARMS, Street Fighter, Minecraft]
  • The Spirit's Rank [Stars]
  • The Spirit's Type [Ex. Attack, Shield, Grab, Neutral]
  • The Spirit's Attack [Orange Fist]
  • The Spirit's Defense [Blue Shield]
  • The Spirit's Power [Attack + Defense Rounded to the nearest Ten]
  • The Spirit's Slots [Hexagons]
  • The Spirit's Skill [Ex. Fist Attack +, Mouthful of Curry]

Fire beats Wind

Wind beats Electric

Electric beats Stun

Stun beats Explosion

Explosion beats Poison

Poison beats Blind

Blind beats Ice

Ice beats Fire

What this basically was is me describing what should go on a "Primary Spirit Card" and also elemental strengths/weaknesses. Not sure why I put the date I wrote all this inside the document. Maybe for posterity's sake idfk. Using these clearly very important notes, I made a bunch of mockups in paint.net, including the one that you see below.

Spirit Card rough draft depicting Spring Man (ARMS)

I didn't know what Photopea was or how to pirate Photoshop at the time so if I needed to change any text, I would have to completly rewrite it from scratch, because paint.net doesn't support editable text layers. How I put up with this is beyond me.

"Terms & Jargon" (January 2021?)

Fire (Min Min, Captain Falcon)

Electric (Pikachu, Dark Pit)

Sleep (Jigglypuff)

Dark (Joker, Ganondorf)

Ice (Ice Climbers)

Water (Corrin, Squirtle)

Aura (Lucario)

Grass (Ivysaur)

Magic (Zelda, Ness)

Fighters from X Series receive a 25% stat boost. [This text only appears on Primary Spirit Cards From a universe that has a fighter representing it. Ex. Spring Man]

This Spirit can be captured. [Some Spirits cannot be captured]

Up to X Support Spirit Cards can be used. [Depends on Spirit's Slots]

Up to X Item Cards can be used. [Depends on Spirit's Rarity]

e-Reader Cards:

Fighter Cards [Holographic Red Cards] [Ex. Mario, Link, Kirby] [Up to four can be on the battlefield]

Primary Spirit Cards [Red Cards] [Ex. Mappo, Karate Joe, Chun Lee]

Support Spirit Cards [Red Cards] [Ex. Sheriff, Fox Luigi, Elite Beat Agents]

Item Cards [Blue Cards] [Ex. Lip's Stick, Master Ball, Food]

Move Cards [Yellow Cards] [Ex. Shadow Flare, PK Freeze, ARMS Change]

Smash Cards [Yellow Cards] [Ex. Supernova, PK Starstorm, ARMS Rush] [Smash Cards can only be used once per battle]

Art Cards [Holographic Yellow Cards] [Ex. Doomed Dreams of Midnight, Accursed Twilight Solar-Flare Fists, 1,000 Wishes Fluttering in the Wind] [Art Cards can only be used once per battle]

Capture Cards [Grey Cards]

e-Loader Chips:

Fighter Chips [Black Chips] [Contains Fighter Data]

Spirit Chips [White Chips] [Contains Captured Spirit Data]

Xros Chips [Red Chips] [Contains data needed to Xros]

Miscellaneous:

e-Device

Xros

More drivel about what should be on these "Spirit Cards" that I never ended up making. I don't think I even made any actual rules or any physical prototypes for this supposed trading card "game" I was only thinking about the "trading cards". There's a lot to take in here. Apparently, I forgot I was making a TCG and started making up all these weird anime video game mechanics when I can't even make any type of game to save my life, like, note the usage of "Xros", which I'm pretty sure I lifted from Digimon Xros Wars just because I thought it sounded cool and also because I was really into Digimon at the time.

I'm not sure what the fundamental difference between an "Art" Card and a Smash Card is besides the Art Cards presumably being stronger. Guess I'll have to wait until time machines are invented so I can go back to 2021 and ask 15 year-old me to explain what Arts even are.

As for the e-Loader chips and the e-Device, What I do know/remember is that the chips go into the e-Device that the two human characters would use to do... stuff. The black chips contain "Fighter Data" (to summon Fighters?), the white chips contain "Captured Spirit Data" (wouldn't the gray Capture Cards serve the same function?) and the red chips contain "data needed to Xros".

According to a little text document from this time period: I was planning on adding fusions between Smash Fighters, fusion between the two human characters and Smash Fighters and "special cards that gave Fighters magic armor". I must've been really inspired by Xros Wars to even consider adding stuff like this to the storyline of a Smash Bros-themed Trading Card "Game".

I never made any artwork of the main characters/Smash Fighters preforming Xros, or even of the main characters themselves, so I'm just going to imagine Xros as the Smash Bros. roster horrifically merging together like that one Spongebob episode.

It all started, when I was born.

"Super Smash Bros. TCG" (May 21st, 2021)

Me describing mechanics in a SSBTCG "video game" I had absolutely no plans or skills to make. Curiously, there is no mention of Xros, the e-Loader chips or the e-Device in this document. The document abruptly ends at the section on Synthesis because my brain had already moved onto the next big cool project I was definitely going to finish and I just forgot about working on the TCG entirely.

Spirit Cards

Spirit Cards are thin metal cards of varying sizes & colors. They have a character's spirit, Useful Items, Powerful Attacks or Synthesis Recipes sealed within a unique Barcode-like engraving on the back.

Spirit Cards may be refined into a magic substance known as DNA that can be synthesized to make new cards.

Fighter Cards are special Cards that contain the spirit of a Fighter, a playable character in Super Smash Bros. You can receive Fighter Cards from rescuing a Fighter from their respective Puppet Fighter.

Fighter Cards cannot:

  • Be refined into DNA
  • Be received more than once

    • Primary Spirit Cards are Cards that contain the spirit of a video game character. They are attached to a Fighter Card.

    There are 4 types of Primary Spirit Cards, Attack, Shield, Grab & Neutral; Support Spirit Cards & Fighter Cards do not have these types.

    • Attack [Weak to Shield, Strong against Grab]
    • Shield [Weak to Grab, Strong against Attack]
    • Grab [Weak to Attack, Strong against Shield]
    • Neutral [Neither weak to nor strong against any type]
    Move Cards are Cards that contain the essence of the attack that is sealed inside. There are six main elemental attributes that can be seen on Attack Cards, along with two special attributes.
    • Rouge [Fire/Explosives]
    • Bleu [Water/Ice/Aura]
    • Vert [Wind/Nature/Earth]
    • Jaune [Thunder/Electricity]
    • Noir [Darkness/Poison]
    • Blanc [Light/Energy/Magic]
    • Non [Non-Elemental Attacks]
    • Statut [Moves such as Min Min's ARMS Change or Villager's Balloon Trip]

    The power of certain moves can be affected by the effects of certain Magnets. Move Cards can't be refined.

    Item Cards are Cards that contain the essence of the item that is sealed inside.

    They have a variety of different effects, such as healing allies [Maxim Tomato] or adding status effects [Metal Box].

    • Recovery Items restore health or remove harmful status ailments
    • Status Items like the Bunny Hood add useful status effects
    • Weapon Items like the Home-Run Bat can be used against enemies in battle.
    • Summoning Items manifest helpful allies for help in battle.
    • 3-Piece Items like the Dragoon & Daybreak are ultra strong types of Weapon Cards that come in 3 separate parts.

      • The effects of items can be affected by the effects of certain Magnets. Item Cards can't be refined.

      Booster Packs are small sets of Cards that can be bought at Shops, given out as awards for doing quests, they can be used to build your deck.
      • Power Pack
      • Brawn Pack
      • Brains Pack
      • Items Pack
      • Status Pack

      DNA

      DNA is the fragment of a character's spirit. It can be obtained from refining Primary/Support Spirit Cards at the Refinery in Midair, DNA can be used in Synthesis to create other Spirit Cards or to increase the strength of Spirit Cards.

      For example, Refining Spring Man, gives you Spring Man's DNA in return.

      • Attack
      • Shield
      • Grab
      • Neutral
      • Support

      Magnets

      Magnets are thin magnetic stickers. Fighter Cards can be adorned with Magnets to increase stats or the power of certain moves, much like putting Stickers on a Fighter's Trophy in Brawl.

      Synthesis

      Synthesis is a process

      *Document ends here.*

      Mockups (January~May 2021)

      To make up for the lack of artwork of cool Trading Card Xros Smash Brothers Fusion action, here are all of the mockups/diagrams I made for the TCG that I could dig up. These were created between January and May of 2021.