Force of Will

With the tremendous success this card game has, many still wonder how to play Force of Will? Luckily it's not hard to learn. If you've ever played Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! or HearthStone, you know the vast majority of the mechanics used. But if you're completely new to card games, don't worry; learning will be easy!

Force of Will is a trading card game originating from Japan devised by former Magic player Eiji Shishido. It is a game with a marked manga aesthetic and whose cards are based on different mythologies of the world. Since its release in 2016, the game has grown, mainly due to its illustrations and overall aesthetics, as well as its accessible rules and wide distribution.

The rarity of cards is divided into Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Super Rare, which can appear in different forms: standard, foil (shine, all cards), full-art foil (shine and disappear text box, only rare and super rare) and Uber (only sovereigns, the card is metalized with color details depending on the Sovereign's attribute).

How to play

Force of Will is a JCC that, based on the rules of Magic, tries to innovate with various factors that differentiate it from the competition. In it, we will use our avatar (Sovereign) to summon creatures (Resonators), spells (Chants), additions, or badges to defeat the opponent's army using our resources (Will). Decks are made up of at least 40 cards for the main deck, although there is no maximum limit, and 10 Magic Stones for your Stones deck, up to 20. You can have up to 4 copies of cards with the same name per deck.

Force of Will is based on a system of "attributes". Each card has three attributes, divided into Light, Darkness, Water, Fire, or Wind. To invoke cards that have any of these attributes, we must pay their Will cost of that particular attribute. Each player starts the game with five cards in hand and 4,000 health points. The first player to lose all vitality or run out of cards will have lost the game.

Force of Will consists of two decks: the Stones Deck and the main deck. The Magic Stones function as a resource to obtain will and use the cards of the main deck. In addition, there is a card called Sovereign, printed on both sides, which is limited to one per deck and is always present on the pitch. These Sovereigns function as "captains" of our army and have distinct roles over our deck depending on what it is. 

The function they have in common is to "exhaust" them (rotate the card to be inactive this turn) and thus draw a Magic Stone to the field of play. Each Magic Stone remains on the ground throughout the game and can be depleted to produce Will. This will be our primary resource for invoking the rest of the cards.

Inside the main deck, we will have Resonators, which will make the first line of battle function to fight our adversary. Resonators have different points of ATK (attack) and DEF (defense). With them, you can try to attack the opponent by exhausting the card, but if he decides to block your direct attack with another Resonator, also draining it, the two cards will go into combat. Each inflicts harm on the other reciprocally. If the ATK points of one exceed the DEF points of the other, that card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard. 

Damage is also inflicted on the blocking card, subtracting the ATK points from the card that attacks the DEF points of the blocking card until the end of the turn. You can also target a depleted Resonator for your attack, which another Resonator can also block.

Songs are used to apply effects on Resonators, the opponent, or yourself. They are very powerful resources used at the right time, making a 180º turn to the game. The edges can be hidden, face down on the board after being invoked until their conditions are activated, or clicks, usable at any time, including the opponent's turn.

On the other hand, additions are cards that can affect the field or another card being linked to it. Finally, we have the Badges, objects of great power without attributes invoked to the area to use their effects.

Sovereigns can also be taken to the battlefield by turning the card around and paying the cost. This is called Judgment. The Sovereign then becomes Sovereign-J and passes to the pitch, being used then as any Resonator. The Sovereign can continue to invoke Stones in this state. Instead of going to the cemetery, if they are destroyed, it passes back to the Sovereign zone, having the same passive effect of invoking Magic Stones.

Release and history of Force of Will

The Force of Will is divided into blocks. The Valhalla block (2013/2014) was released in 2013 in a prototype phase in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Italian. This kind of beta phase served to lay the foundations of the game as the illustrations, the rules, or the different types of cards and balance and compensate the other cards of the game between them. The block was divided into three expansions that added new cards: The Dawn of Valhalla, The War of Valhalla, and The Shaft of Light of Valhalla.

The following year the Grimm block was developed (2014/2015). Divided into four expansions, it meant the consolidation of FoW in his native country and part of the foreign country with clearer rules and lore or background that would unite the characters that appear in the different cards. The four expansions were Crimson Moon Fairytale, The Castle of Heaven and the Two Towers, The Moon Priestess Returns, and Millenia of Ages.

Check our trading card section and choose your favorite Force of Will set!