http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ShadowVerse

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Shadowverse is a free-to-play Collectible Card Game developed by Cygames. Orginally released in Japan, it was later released in iOS and Android devices in June 17th, 2016 in the U.S., and later in Mac and Windows in October 28, 2016 available at Steam. Shadowverse is very similar to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, but according to Word of God, unlike Hearthstone, Random Number God has a smaller impact in match outcomes.

In retrospect, Shadowverse is considered to be a Spiritual Successor to Rage of Bahamut after the English version failed to be successful in the west (mainly due to numerous Screwed by the Network moments with dropping many events). Regardless, the game still has the anime style graphics and cards, with even English voice acting to boot. Unlike Rage of Bahamut, Shadowverse has succeeded in the U.S., in addition to being one of the top played Collectible Card Games in Japan.

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Players can play using cards from seven different factions (with the eighth added in the Chronogenesis expansion), each with its own unique playstyle and cards.

Factions

Shadowverse has expansions every three months, each one released at the end of the quarter, and its devs conduct balance changes at the end of every month, starting from mid-2017. The expansions are as follows:

Expansions

Darkness Evolved (September 2016): Introduces numerous followers with effects that trigger on evolution, and cards that work differently if the player controls evolved followers. Also expands on the secondary archetypes of the existing classes.

(September 2016): Introduces numerous followers with effects that trigger on evolution, and cards that work differently if the player controls evolved followers. Also expands on the secondary archetypes of the existing classes. Rise of Bahamut (December 2016): Introduces two new keywords — Enhance and Clash . Cards with Enhance can also be played at their higher Enhance cost for greater effect. Should a card contain multiple Enhance effects, playing it at a higher Enhance cost will also cause its lesser Enhance abilities to trigger. Clash effects will trigger when the follower engages in combat with another follower (either attacking or defending).

(December 2016): Introduces two new keywords — and . Cards with Enhance can also be played at their higher Enhance cost for greater effect. Should a card contain multiple Enhance effects, playing it at a higher Enhance cost will also cause its lesser Enhance abilities to trigger. Clash effects will trigger when the follower engages in combat with another follower (either attacking or defending). Tempest of the Gods (March 2017): Themed after celestial beings from multiple mythos. This set also establishes a trend of 2 legendaries per craft (and 2 Neutral ones); the previous expansions only had 1 legendary per craft, including neutral ones.

(March 2017): Themed after celestial beings from multiple mythos. This set also establishes a trend of 2 legendaries per craft (and 2 Neutral ones); the previous expansions only had 1 legendary per craft, including neutral ones. Wonderland Dreams (June 2017): Featuring Alice with multiple cards based on numerous fairytales. The set has a focus on Neutral synergies, leading to decks where Neutral cards make up their backbone instead of space-filling utility.

(June 2017): Featuring Alice with multiple cards based on numerous fairytales. The set has a focus on Neutral synergies, leading to decks where Neutral cards make up their backbone instead of space-filling utility. Starforged Legends (September 2017): Introduces cards themed on various constellations from multiple mythos. This set also contains special leader cards — alternate art versions of popular cards that won the leader poll. Those alternate-art cards cannot be crafted, and can only be pulled from the set starring them, but getting those cards will also grant the player their respective leader skin and sleeve. Daria and Imperial Dragoon (Aldos) are featured in this set.

(September 2017): Introduces cards themed on various constellations from multiple mythos. This set also contains special leader cards — alternate art versions of popular cards that won the leader poll. Those alternate-art cards cannot be crafted, and can only be pulled from the set starring them, but getting those cards will also grant the player their respective leader skin and sleeve. Daria and Imperial Dragoon (Aldos) are featured in this set. Chronogenesis (December 2017): Introduces the eighth class, Portalcraft, and adds two new keywords for Shadowcraft — Reanimate and Burial Rite . The introduction of Chronogenesis also heralded the division of constructed play into Rotation and Unlimited formats, with Rotation only accommodating the five latest sets. Several cards in Chronogenesis are also designed to be Suspiciously Similar Substitutes for what the respective crafts would be missing when rotation sets in. This set's leader cards are Albert, Cerberus, and Dark General (Exella).

(December 2017): Introduces the eighth class, Portalcraft, and adds two new keywords for Shadowcraft — and . The introduction of Chronogenesis also heralded the division of constructed play into Rotation and Unlimited formats, with Rotation only accommodating the five latest sets. Several cards in Chronogenesis are also designed to be Suspiciously Similar Substitutes for what the respective crafts would be missing when rotation sets in. This set's leader cards are Albert, Cerberus, and Dark General (Exella). Dawnbreak Nightedge (March 2018): Introduces the Choose mechanic, where certain cards can be played in different forms if their conditions are met. This set's leader cards are Aria and Moon Rabbit Al'miraj (Ramina). At the end of May 2017, Dawnbreak Nightedge's card pool received a small expansion, adding 1 more legendary and 1 more gold card for each craft, on top of a single neutral gold card. This mini-expansion was designed to "shake up the metagame" and minimize the Complacent Gaming Syndrome experienced at the third month of every expansion. This practice would be continued for subsequent expansions.

(March 2018): Introduces the mechanic, where certain cards can be played in different forms if their conditions are met. This set's leader cards are Aria and Moon Rabbit Al'miraj (Ramina). Brigade of the Sky (June 2018): An entire set based on Granblue Fantasy, featuring numerous characters as cards. It introduces the Accelerate keyword, functioning as a reversed form of Enhance — cards with Accelerate can be played at their lower Accelerate cost, but they will be played as a spell in that case and they may do something different. This set's only leader card is Spinaria, though a whole raft of Granblue characters were added as purchasable leaders.

(June 2018): An entire set based on Granblue Fantasy, featuring numerous characters as cards. It introduces the keyword, functioning as a reversed form of Enhance — cards with Accelerate can be played at their lower Accelerate cost, but they will be played as a spell in that case and they may do something different. This set's only leader card is Spinaria, though a whole raft of Granblue characters were added as purchasable leaders. Omen of the Ten (September 2018): A set designed around the Ten Omens, each of which is an Original Generation character based off The Commandments with a Numerological Motif. This expansion introduces a new mechanic called Invocation , where cards with that mechanic summon themselves directly from their deck if certain conditions are met. This set's leader cards are Cassiopeia and Medusa.

(September 2018): A set designed around the Ten Omens, each of which is an Original Generation character based off The Commandments with a Numerological Motif. This expansion introduces a new mechanic called , where cards with that mechanic summon themselves directly from their deck if certain conditions are met. This set's leader cards are Cassiopeia and Medusa. Altersphere (December 2018): A set designed around familiar characters from various classes that have been "altered" into different classes with a similar design, but with a different take of a particular class. For example, Havencraft's Aether of the White Wing is remade into a Swordcraft follower Aether of the Warrior Wing , drawing an expensive follower rather than summoning it. The set also features the guild leaders of Isunia from the game's Story mode as playable characters. This set's leader cards are Orchis and Alexiel.

(December 2018): A set designed around familiar characters from various classes that have been "altered" into different classes with a similar design, but with a different take of a particular class. For example, Havencraft's Aether of the White Wing is remade into a Swordcraft follower Aether of the Warrior Wing , drawing an expensive follower rather than summoning it. The set also features the guild leaders of Isunia from the game's Story mode as playable characters. This set's leader cards are Orchis and Alexiel. Steel Rebellion (March 2019): A futuristic/sci-fi themed expansion that takes place in the Gears of Rebellion storyline. This set introduces a new trait, Machina, a trait accessible to all classes. Machina cards puts emphasis on specific Machina card synergy and encourages board flooding and creating unique Machina tokens. This set's leader cards are Wizardess of Oz and Filene.

(March 2019): A futuristic/sci-fi themed expansion that takes place in the Gears of Rebellion storyline. This set introduces a new trait, Machina, a trait accessible to all classes. Machina cards puts emphasis on specific Machina card synergy and encourages board flooding and creating unique Machina tokens. This set's leader cards are Wizardess of Oz and Filene. Rebirth of Glory (July 2019): A set with a central design theme around old rotated-out cards being retrained for Rotation and the current power levels. On top of developing the existing Machina cards, it adds the Levin trait to Swordcraft which is again separate from its Commander-Officer interactions. The "when attacking" condition has been keyworded into Strike , which helps differentiate from Clash in that Strike effects will never trigger when the follower is being attacked. Follower Strike is a variation that only triggers while attacking an enemy follower; never the leader. The set's leader cards are Melissa and Aisha.

(July 2019): A set with a central design theme around old rotated-out cards being retrained for Rotation and the current power levels. On top of developing the existing Machina cards, it adds the Levin trait to Swordcraft which is again separate from its Commander-Officer interactions. The "when attacking" condition has been keyworded into , which helps differentiate from Clash in that Strike effects will never trigger when the follower is being attacked. is a variation that only triggers while attacking an enemy follower; never the leader. The set's leader cards are Melissa and Aisha. Verdant Conflict (September 2019): A nature themed expansion that takes place in the Seeds of Conflict storyline. This set introduces a new keyword, Crystallize , and a new trait, Natura. Crystallize functions like Accelerate, allowing cards to be played at a lower Crystallize cost with a different effect. However, instead of a spell, the card turns into an amulet. Natura cards focus on combo synergies with a special token amulet, Naterran Great Tree . The leader cards for this set are Liza and Mono.

(September 2019): A nature themed expansion that takes place in the Seeds of Conflict storyline. This set introduces a new keyword, , and a new trait, Natura. Crystallize functions like Accelerate, allowing cards to be played at a lower Crystallize cost with a different effect. However, instead of a spell, the card turns into an amulet. Natura cards focus on combo synergies with a special token amulet, Naterran Great Tree . The leader cards for this set are Liza and Mono. Ultimate Colosseum (December 2019): A arena themed expansion featuring characters from Princess Connect! Re:Dive note the game isn't officially released in North America yet. This is also the first expansion to have cards where the characters are left with the original Japanese voice acting with the Princess Connect characters since Union Burst (named after the Limit Break mechanic of Princess Connect), which has an additional effect that activates after a particular turn number (i.e. Union Burst (10) means the effect will only activate the tenth turn or later) and has an additional effect of reducing the count by one whenever an allied follower evolves with the said card in hand, hence allowing the Union Burst effect to be played sooner. The leader cards for this set are Kyoka and Miyako — one of the rare instances of non-legendary cards becoming leader skins.

(December 2019): A arena themed expansion featuring characters from Princess Connect! Re:Dive (named after the Limit Break mechanic of Princess Connect), which has an additional effect that activates after a particular turn number (i.e. Union Burst (10) means the effect will only activate the tenth turn or later) and has an additional effect of reducing the count by one whenever an allied follower evolves with the said card in hand, hence allowing the Union Burst effect to be played sooner. The leader cards for this set are Kyoka and Miyako — one of the rare instances of non-legendary cards becoming leader skins. World Uprooted (March 2020): An expansion set during the Invasion of the Worldreaver storyline, combining both the sci-fi theme of Steel Rebelion and the nature theme of Verdant Conflict. This set introduces new support cards for the Machina and Natura archetypes, including cards with multiple traits. This set also introduces the Fusion keyword. Cards with the Fusion keyword can fuse with other cards in the hand (by banishing them) in order to gain additional effects depending on how many cards were banished. Two of Bloodcraft's mechanics have also been given keywords — Wrath is enabled after the player has damaged themselves seven times on their turn over the course of one match, and Avarice is a condition that checks if the player's added two or more cards from their deck to their hand (including their draw for the turn). This set's leader cards are Galmieux and Dionne.

(March 2020): An expansion set during the Invasion of the Worldreaver storyline, combining both the sci-fi theme of Steel Rebelion and the nature theme of Verdant Conflict. This set introduces new support cards for the Machina and Natura archetypes, including cards with multiple traits. This set also introduces the keyword. Cards with the Fusion keyword can fuse with other cards in the hand (by banishing them) in order to gain additional effects depending on how many cards were banished. Two of Bloodcraft's mechanics have also been given keywords — is enabled after the player has damaged themselves seven times on their turn over the course of one match, and is a condition that checks if the player's added two or more cards from their deck to their hand (including their draw for the turn). This set's leader cards are Galmieux and Dionne. Fortune's Hand (June 2020): A tarot-themed expansion. The "Rally" keyword was introduced with this expansion. Rally effects activate when the number of allied followers that have come into play (from both being played from the hand or summoned via effects), is equal or greater than the effect's Rally value.

(June 2020): A tarot-themed expansion. The "Rally" keyword was introduced with this expansion. Rally effects activate when the number of allied followers that have come into play (from both being played from the hand or summoned via effects), is equal or greater than the effect's Rally value. Storm Over Rivayle (September 2020): A western-themed expansion set during the Fate's Trigger storyline. This set introduces the "Maneuver" keyword. Maneuver indicates followers that need to be "maneuvered" by another follower (such as a car that needs a driver). Followers with the Maneuver keyword cannot attack until a follower that meets specified conditions enters play. Once a follower that meets said conditions comes into play, it leaves the field and the Maneuver follower can attack (followers that leave this way do not count as having "left play", nor do shadows increase). When the Maneuver follower leaves play, the follower that activated it returns to the field (again, this does not count as "come into play" as technically it never left).

See the Analysis page for a more in-depth look at the current meta decks in Shadowverse.

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An anime adaptation began airing on 7 April 2020, which puts the focus on a separate cast that plays the game itself, rather than any of the in-game plot and characters. This led into a Switch adaptation, named Shadowverse: Champion's Battle, due to release in November 2020 .

Tropes relating to Shadowverse: