Games - Raw Deal

	Games - Raw Deal

Raw Deal is a collectible card game published by Comic Images and licensed from World Wrestling Entertainment, designed to replicate the action of a professional wrestling match.

Game play

Raw Deal uses a 60-card deck, referred to as the player’s Arsenal. It is intended to be played in a one-on-one or two-on-two setting (a tag team match), but multi-player variants are common and popular.

Cards for the game are available in starter decks and booster packs. Expansions are released twice a year, with additional, smaller “holiday sets” being released at the end of each year. Every two years, a “Survivor Series” set is released, which contains the most popular cards from the preceding sets.

Basics of the game

A typical game of Raw Deal can include cards representing everything from the venue in which the match takes place to outside interference in the match. Each player reveals their chosen wrestler (referred to as a Superstar card) before the game commences. Information on the Superstar card is used to determine the number of cards in a player’s opening hand (starting hand size) and who will start the game (superstar value). Every superstar card also has a superstar ability, which reflects the wrestler’s in-ring attributes and often forms the basis of the deck.

Some superstar cards are referred to as “remakes”. This is because they represent the same WWE persona as an existing superstar card, but with a different title, hand size, superstar value and ability. They also do not count as the same superstar as the original superstar card for that WWE performer, as they are conceptually distinct and are often played quite differently. Both are legal to play.

Almost every card other than a Superstar card has two values on it: Fortitude, and Damage.

A player can have up to 3 copies of any card in their Arsenal, with the following exceptions:

Set-Ups: a player may have any number of copies of any Set-Up card in their deck.

Unique: a player may not have more than one copy of any Unique card in their deck.

Fortitude represents a wrestler’s ability to use more powerful attacks, defences and in-ring strategies. A player can only play a card to the table if the Fortitude value on the card is equal to or less than their current Fortitude rating. A player’s Fortitude is calculated by adding together the Damage values of all cards a player has on the table (referred to as their Ring Area or the Ring). Obviously, at the start of the game, a player will have no cards in the Ring, and every game starts with both players on zero Fortitude.

A card’s Damage value shows how much damage will be inflicted upon the opponent if the card is successfully played. Damage is represented by a player overturning cards from their Arsenal, one at a time, into a pile next to their Arsenal (the Ringside pile). When a card is in the Ring, it adds its Damage value to a player’s Fortitude rating, which allows them to play better and more powerful cards.

A player wins the game in one of two ways:

Pinfall: a player inflicts enough Damage that their opponent has to overturn more cards than remain in their Arsenal.

Count-Out: an opponent ends any turn with no cards left in their Arsenal. A player may elect to refuse a count-out and go for a pin, if they want to prevent their opponent from deliberately “counting themselves out”.

Card types

At a basic level, the cards in any Raw Deal deck will be of the following types:

Maneuvers (yellow): in most decks, maneuvers are the means by which players inflict damage on their opponents and gain Fortitude. There are five main types of maneuver - strikes, grapples, submissions, high risks, and trademark finishers. Maneuvers can only be played on a player’s turn.

Reversals (red): these cards are used to stop an opponent’s maneuver or action cards. They typically stop a specific type of card, although some will reverse any card. Unless stated otherwise, Reversals will work when played from a player’s hand, or when overturned while taking damage. Reversals can only be played on the opponent’s turn unless the card states otherwise, and will end an opponent’s turn when played or overturned.

Actions (blue): these cards represent different antics in and out of the squared circle. Their effects can range from allowing a player to draw cards or recovering cards in the Ringside pile, to removing cards from an opponent’s Ring area or even immediately winning the game. Actions can only be played on a player’s turn.

Hybrids: hybrid cards are multicoloured, and can be used for either purpose. Hybrid actions and maneuvers can only be played on a player’s turn, while hybrid reversals can only be played on an opponent’s turn.

Superstar-specifics: these can be any of the other types of cards, and represent the trademark actions of WWE wrestlers. These cards have a logo denoting which superstar(s) may use the card, and are usually the most powerful cards in any player’s deck.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Raw Deal ]

Games - Raw Deal

Game play

Basics of the game

Card types

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