Mechanics

An aggressive deck strategy that applies pressure early with low-cost cards and tries to win before the opponent sets up.

An aggro deck in One Piece TCG might flood the board with cheap Characters and attack every turn.

A named style of deck defined by its leader, core cards, or strategy, such as a specific leader deck or a color combination.

When people say 'the Kaido deck', they mean that archetype.

A list of cards that are banned or restricted from a format, published by the game's publisher to keep the meta healthy.

A One Piece TCG keyword. When a card with [Banish] deals damage to a Leader, the Life card taken is trashed instead of added to the hand, so its [Trigger] cannot be used.

In Union Arena, the number on a Character that decides battle outcomes. A Character with higher BP beats one with lower BP when they fight.

A location in Riftbound that players compete over. Units fight to control Battlefields, and controlling them earns points toward victory.

A One Piece TCG keyword. A Character with [Blocker] can rest to become the target of an opponent's attack, protecting your Leader or other Characters.

A Disney Lorcana keyword. A character with Bodyguard can enter play exerted to protect other characters from being challenged.

Having more usable cards or resources than your opponent. Drawing extra cards or trading one card for two of theirs creates card advantage.

A Disney Lorcana action where an exerted character attacks an opposing exerted character. Both deal damage equal to their strength, and banished characters go to the discard.

A set of cards whose effects work together to produce a result much stronger than the cards do alone, often to win the game or generate a big swing.

A deck strategy built around answering the opponent's threats, trading resources, and winning late with powerful finishers.

In One Piece TCG, a defensive effect used during your opponent's attack. Cards with a Counter value can be trashed from your hand to add power to the defender, and Counter Events give extra effects.

The distribution of card costs in a deck. A smooth curve gives you useful plays on each turn instead of clunky hands full of expensive cards.

Losing the game because you have no cards left in your deck when you need to draw or take a required action.

The full list of cards, with quantities, in a deck. Tournaments require submitting one, and guides publish decklists to show a build.

A Level 2 Digimon card kept in its own separate deck and hatched in the breeding area, where it can digivolve and move to the battle area.

To evolve a Digimon by placing a higher-level Digimon card on top of it, usually for a digivolution cost that is cheaper than playing it from hand.

In Riftbound, the color identities that Champions and cards belong to. Your Legend decides which Domains your deck can use.

The resource system in One Piece TCG. You pay costs by resting DON!! cards from your cost area, and you can attach them to Leaders or Characters to give them extra power.

A separate 10-card deck in One Piece TCG that holds only DON!! cards. You add DON!! from it to your cost area each turn.

A One Piece TCG keyword. A Character with [Double Attack] deals 2 damage to a Leader instead of 1.

The resource used to play cards in Union Arena. Cards require Energy of specific colors, so your deck's colors decide which cards you can play.

In Pokémon TCG Pocket, the area that generates Energy each turn. Instead of playing Energy cards from your hand, you attach the Energy that appears there.

A Disney Lorcana keyword. Only characters with Evasive can challenge a character that has Evasive.

The set of rules and legal cards a game is played under, such as which sets are allowed and which cards are banned.

In Disney Lorcana, the zone where you place cards face down as ink. Only cards with the inkable symbol can be added, and ink is the resource you spend to play cards.

In One Piece TCG, your Leader card sets your deck's colors, shows how much Life you start with, and has its own ability. Your Leader stays in play the whole game.

The card in Riftbound that represents your character. It sets your Domains and gives your deck a special ability.

In One Piece TCG, your Life cards act as your health. When your Leader is hit, you take a Life card into your hand, and a hit while you have no Life left loses you the game.

The victory points in Disney Lorcana. You win by being the first player to reach 20 lore, usually by questing with your characters.

How one deck or leader performs against another. Matchup spreads show which decks are favored, even, or unfavored against each other.

The shared resource track in Digimon Card Game. Playing cards moves memory toward your opponent, and when it passes to their side your turn ends.

The current competitive landscape: which decks are most popular and successful. The meta shifts with new set releases and ban list updates.

A balanced strategy that sits between aggro and control: it develops a solid board, answers key threats, and pressures the opponent in the mid game.

A strategy or effect that puts cards from a deck into the trash. Mill decks aim to run the opponent out of cards, or to fuel their own trash-based effects.

An option to redraw your opening hand, letting you replace a hand you don't want to keep. The exact rules differ by game.

An effect that activates once when a Character is played onto the board. Many One Piece TCG Characters have an [On Play] ability.

The cards you draw at the start of the game before turn one. A good opening hand lets you play your deck's early cards on time.

How you win in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Knocking out a Pokémon earns a point, or two points for an ex Pokémon, and the first player to reach 3 points wins.

The number that decides who wins a battle in One Piece TCG. An attacker with equal or higher power than its target succeeds, and attached DON!! and Counters add to it.

A stand-in card used in place of a real one, usually for testing. Most official events do not allow proxies unless the event rules say so.

A Disney Lorcana action where you exert a character to gain lore equal to its lore value. Questing is the main way to win.

To turn a card sideways to show it has been used, such as when paying a cost, attacking, or using an ability. Rested cards become active again at the start of your turn.

When older sets stop being legal in a format. Not every TCG rotates; some keep older cards legal and use ban lists instead.

The resource cards in Riftbound. Runes are kept in their own deck and channeled into play to pay for cards.

A keyword that lets a Character attack on the turn it is played instead of waiting a turn. It appears in games such as One Piece TCG and Disney Lorcana.

The face-down cards that act as a player's life in Digimon Card Game. Attackers that get through reveal security cards, and having none left when you are hit loses the game.

A Disney Lorcana keyword that lets you play a character on top of one of your characters with the same name for a reduced cost.

A Disney Lorcana keyword. A character with Singer can exert to play a song for free if its singer value is high enough.

A card that fits in many decks because it is efficient and flexible. Staples tend to hold their value and see play across different builds.

Cards that become better when played together, usually because they share a trait, color, or keyword or reward the same game plan.

A card added to a deck to beat a specific matchup or popular deck in the meta, rather than as a core part of the main strategy.

How efficiently you use your resources each turn compared with your opponent. Gaining tempo means developing your board or forcing the opponent to spend resources without falling behind on cards.

A ranking of decks or leaders by strength in the current meta, usually grouped into tiers (S, A, B and so on) based on results and popularity.

The area where used or destroyed cards go. Some effects and archetypes care about what is in your trash.

An effect in One Piece TCG that can activate when a card with a [Trigger] ability is revealed from your Life after your Leader takes damage. You may activate it instead of adding the card to your hand.