When we set out to make Eternal, we were guided by a couple of core ideas.

The first was that strategy card games can be both deep and engaging, as well as smooth and polished. We love card games, and we wanted a fast-paced game that provided a huge amount of replayability and an awesome community.

The second was that card games can be both collectible and honestly free-to-play. As an independent studio in a genre full of much larger competitors, we’ve worked hard to make Eternal the most generous SCG on the market, so players can play however they want (including competing at the highest levels) without ever having to spend a dime.

Everyone here at Dire Wolf Digital plays Eternal as a free-to-play player – we play the game the same way you do, and don’t give ourselves any shortcuts in terms of cards, gems, or gold. And we’ve learned a thing or two about how to get the most out of the game’s generous reward system. So here are the six key steps to playing how the dev team plays Eternal and competing at the highest levels as a truly free-to-play player.

Step 1: Get Your First Win of the Day

The first time you win a PvP game each day (in either Casual or Ranked queues), you get an entire pack of cards! Players are matched by overall experience and skill level, so don’t be afraid to jump into a PvP game to check it out heads-up play. All it takes is one win, and you’ll get an entire pack from the latest set! On top of that, every win after your first of the day earns you even more gold and cards.

Step 2: Complete Daily Quests

Every day in Eternal brings a new Daily Quest with special objectives based on the decks you choose. You can usually complete a Quest in a few quick games, and doing so will give you a nice bonus in the form of cards, packs, or even a theme deck!

Step 3: Level Up in Gauntlet

Grab one of the theme decks that you’ll get from playing and hop into an always-free Gauntlet to level up your skills against Eternal’s tactical AI. You’ll earn rewards as you play, and if you take down one of the extra tough Bosses, you’ll get a special level-up bonus. When you’re ready to start brewing up your own decks, try them out in Gauntlet first to see how you do. (And if, like me, you’re not that into deck-building, no worries, many of us use the theme decks available in-game to get the hang of playing or even to do our daily quests.)

Step 4: Draft, Draft, Draft

To really kickstart your collection, you’ll want to Draft. In an Eternal Draft, you build a deck on the fly by selecting 48 cards from a series of packs… and you get to keep all the cards you pick! So if you’ve got your eye on beefing up your Rakano Warcry theme deck, you can prioritize choosing cards in Draft that will help you in other game modes!

Step 5: Play Sealed

Every month, a new Sealed League kicks off and runs all month long. In Sealed League, you get a whole pile of packs (that you get to keep!) to build your deck from. Each week, you also get new packs to spice things up along the way. On top of that, you earn packs as prizes. That’s a whole lotta packs! Sealed is a great way to quickly expand your collection and discover new cards that you may have overlooked. And because everybody is only playing with the packs they opened, newer players can compete on a level playing field with even the most experienced players! In addition to all those packs, every Sealed League rewards participants with a new card back you can use to spruce up your decks.

Step 6: Go Gold

Draft and Sealed require gold to enter…so go earn some gold! Besides Daily Quests and Gauntlets, the fastest way to earn gold in Eternal is to battle other players in the Ranked queue. Get in there and use what you’ve learned to take down the competition and bust open some reward chests! The gold you earn there can be put towards Tournaments, Campaigns, Events, Totems, and everything else Eternal has to offer!

If you follow those six steps, you’ll find your card collection and your account balance growing steadily and quickly – and you’ll play some sweet games in a variety of game modes while you do it!

So, welcome the Eternal community and thanks for playing on Xbox One! With a new set on the way and the first Eternal Championship Qualifier coming in just a couple of weeks and rolling out to Xbox shortly thereafter, there’s never been a better time to discover your new favorite card game. We’ll see you in the game!

Eternal arrives on Xbox One Wednesday, November 21.