WWE SuperCard is only the second WWE game from 2K Sports, since the company acquiring the wrestling organization's licensing agreement from THQ last year, but the new digital card game is quickly becoming one of the most popular games on Google Play and iTunes alike.
With relatively simple game mechanics, not to mention one of the most simplified card combat systems we've ever seen, many of us here at the International Digital Times aren't especially surprised that WWE SuperCard has become so popular. In fact, I've become something of a fan myself, spending far more of my Friday and Saturday than I'd care to admit tapping the screen of my iPhone and hopping from one WWE SuperCard match to the next as quickly as they'd load.
On the plus side, having spent all that time with the game, I can now offer a few tips to new and beginner WWE SuperCard players. Don't expect any of the tips from this article to send you skyrocketing to the top of the WWE SuperCard ladders - assuming such things even exist - but following this advice should leave you with more than a few rare and super-rare cards from the WWE SuperCard catalogue.
Not forcing WWE SuperCard players to face-off against one another in a live gameplay environment might have been one of the best decisions made during creation of WWE SuperCard. Why?
Because you don't have to feel like an asshole if/when you decide to battle the Exhibition decks of WWE SuperCard users with terrible records.
Anytime you enter Exhibition mode, WWE SuperCard players are presented with four possible opponents. Along with names and Superstar portraits, which conveniently identify one of the five cards from your opponent's deck, WWE SuperCard also offers information on the current win-loss records for your potential foes. From there, it's as simple as figuring out which user(s) will be the easiest to defeat.
Early on, you'll frequently have the opportunity to take on decks that have only been used once or twice - some not at all - and after several hours with the game I'm still regularly given the option of facing WWE SuperCard users with fewer games on their record than I have wins.
And again, there's pretty much zero reason to get upset with someone for scraping the bottom of the barrel in WWE SuperCard, because your wins don't affect the opposing player at all. But those wins will net you some easy cards early on, and help jumpstart your path to the top of the ladder.
2. Don't Keep Commons
Unless you're actively looking to acquire all of the cards in the WWE SuperCard catalogue, including the various "Pro" versions, there doesn't appear to be any good reason to keep the common cards you pick up after WWE SuperCard matches. Instead, use the less-valuable cards in your collection to train the Superstars that you're actually using in your Exhibition and/or King of the Ring deck.
Pretty much every card in the game can be trained through its first few levels with a handful of Commons, and you'd be surprised how few players seem to know/care about the mechanic, especially when you're still in the Rare tier. Just remember, every Common card in your collection is 21 more experience you could bestow upon one of your better cards, and those tempted to hold onto everything until you can make pro versions should know you'll only get 3 extra experience points (45 vs 42) for waiting.
Even those looking to expand their personal catalog are probably best off burning through their early acquisitions, powering up whatever five cards you're currently using in your deck. Before long, victories will feel like a foregone conclusion in WWE SuperCard especially once you're comfortable with both your own deck and the cards you're encountering most-frequently in your current tier.
While it might sound a bit a tedious, every WWE SuperCard player should be hitting the Edit Deck screen between matches. Because of the nature of the game's reward system, you'll always have at least one new card added to your collection after each match, and that will frequently be enough to get a new Pro card or more stat points for one of the cards currently in your collection.
This becomes less of an issue as the level/value of your Exhibition deck increases, but efficient card management is absolutely critical to early success in WWE SuperCard. Even at the later stages, I wouldn't let more than 3-4 matches pass, depending on just how well you're doing.
And don't get too attached to the cards in your deck, either. While the idea of leading your favorite WWE Superstars down to the ring is certainly appealing, realistically, you're far more likely to be stuck with five wrestlers who may or may not have even been alive at the same time.
Eventually, you'll have extra cards to burn getting your favorite WWE Superstar caught up to the rest of the cards in your deck, but be ready to see your WWE SuperCard line-up change on more than one occasion.
It's also important to keep a close eye on your King of the Ring deck anytime that you decide to enter the three-day tournament, as it doesn't take more than a couple of losses to derail your hopes of taking home the top prize in WWE SuperCard's only real competitive mode.
In many cases, proper Energy management will be all it takes to at least qualify for a prize in each King of the Ring tournament you enter -- which isn't shocking, given just how much attention you have to pay to keep your team fresh for three straight days -- but those eyeing first place will also need to make efficient use of the stat boosters that can be earned in WWE SuperCard exhibition matches.
Of course, unless you're willing to spend enough time playing WWE SuperCard to loot 5 new Energy cards an hour - maybe two or three, if you're willing to let your Superstars compete with slightly-diminished capabilities -- substitutions will be vital to those hoping to find success in the King of the Ring tournament.
It's also important to remember that King of the Ring is a two-stage affair; so, if at all possible, try and get yourself in a position where you don't need to win the last couple of matches on your schedule. Use those games to rest the top cards in your King of the Ring deck, that way you don't find yourself eliminated during the first round of Phase Two. Keeping a few extra Energy and stat boosters on-hand probably wouldn't hurt, either.
Much like real-world WWE programming, it seems that most fans of WWE SuperCard just can't be bothered to acquire, train or make any real use of the Divas - side note: that's still the worst name for the women's division -- that have been included in WWE SuperCard.
Sure, some people will take the ten seconds needed to combine a pair of Summer Rae cards, giving them a slightly more-powerful Pro version to send down to the squared-circle, but I've played less than a dozen games against WWE SuperCard players with Uncommon/Rare Divas in their deck.
While the Divas are something of a wildcard, since there's no guarantee they'll see any action in a given match, keeping a mid-level Naomi on the backburner has pulled me out of the fire on more than one occasion. Hell, if it weren't for pulling a rare Diva card fairly early-on, I'm not sure I'd be enjoying such a high win-percentage in the game.
So, if you haven't yet, you should probably stop using all your Divas cards as fodder for the other cards in your WWE SuperCard collection. If nothing else, you'll thank me after the first time it bails you out of an Extra Match scenario.
I can't tell you how many games I've pulled out by the skin of my teeth - we're talking one and two point victories here -- all because of the ten percent stat boost that comes from pairing WWE Superstars with complementary team symbols.
Ideally, you'll want two left-facing and two right-facing triangles (or two Ups and two Downs) that way you have a bit more freedom to mix and match as needed. But I've managed to keep my win percentage above 90 over the last couple of days simply by taking two sets of compatible Superstars into all of my WWE SuperCard match-ups.
At the very minimum, work towards acquiring a set of four cards that can easily be played with one another in a way that avoids the penalty that must be paid by non-compatible Superstars. Pairing two wrestlers with matching icons will prevent either from losing a portion of their stats; however, you won't get the ten percent compatibility bonus, either.
Wishing you'd seen these tips, or just spent a little more time researching the game, before creating your WWE SuperCard account and racking up a bunch of losses?
You're in luck!
While there are currently only two options for logging into the WWE SuperCard servers, it's easy to log out of your existing account and get a new collection going. Just open up the WWE SuperCard Options menu, select Logout and then log back in using whichever service you didn't use when creating your first WWE SuperCard account. Voila!
Say hello to a clean slate.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for additional WWE SuperCard in the coming weeks, and for however long 2K Sports and Take-Two Interactive continues to support their recently-launched WWE card game.
Have you been spending any time with WWE SuperCard since the game made its iOS and Android debut last week? Planning to stick with a fully-featured digital card game instead, like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft or Magic 2015? Want to share your own tips for beginning and/or advanced WWE SuperCard players?
Let us know in the comments section!
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