Grand Archive TCG: how the game works
Grand Archive TCG is a card game from Weebs of the Shore in which each player has a champion that levels up during the match. Champions and regalia sit in a separate material deck next to the main deck, and you choose which card to bring out from it.
Quick facts
| Publisher | Weebs of the Shore |
|---|---|
| Launch | Kickstarter 2021, in shops from April 2023 |
| Number of players | 2, or 3 to 4 in Pantheon |
| Main deck | At least 60 cards, at most 4 of each |
| Material deck | At most 12 cards, one of each, at least one level 0 champion |
| Win condition | Defeat your opponent's champion |
| Editions | First Edition and Alter Edition |
| Card size | Standard, the same sleeves as for Magic and Pokémon |
What makes the game different
The material deck is hidden from your opponent, but you may look through it whenever you like. On every turn except the first you may materialise a card from it, and that is mainly how the champion levels up and regalia come into play.
Main deck cards have a reserve cost, which you pay by placing the same number of cards from your hand face down in your memory. In the recollection phase of your next turn they return to your hand. Material deck cards instead have a memory cost, which is paid by banishing cards from memory at random. The materialize phase comes before recollection, so the cards used for a memory cost do not return to your hand.
Champions and how they level up
On the first turn you put out a Spirit, a level 0 champion from the material deck. After that you level the champion by materialising a champion exactly one level higher and placing it on top of the previous one. The stack is called a lineage, and some champions can only be levelled from a specific lineage. Lorraine, Crux Knight, for example, must be levelled from an earlier Lorraine.
Only the top card counts as your champion. The cards beneath it contribute their inherited effects and their elements, but not their life. Damage stays when the champion levels up, and the champion dies when the damage reaches the top card's life. The level also affects the rest of the deck: cards with efficiency cost less the higher the champion's level.
The card types
The cost shows which deck a card belongs to. A yellow reserve cost means the main deck and a blue memory cost the material deck, where champions and regalia must start. Allies have power and life and can attack. The champion attacks with attack cards or weapons, and a weapon loses a durability counter for each attack it is used in. Actions are one-off effects, while items and domains are placed on the field.
The class, for example Warrior, Mage, Assassin or Cleric, comes first among the card's subtypes. It does not limit what you may play, but a card's class bonus only applies when the champion's class matches the card's. The elements, on the other hand, determine what you may play. Norm is open to everyone, and the other elements are unlocked by the champion cards in your lineage. You can level to a champion with an advanced element such as Crux without the element being unlocked, and after that you may play Crux cards.
The formats
Standard is played by two players with a main deck of at least 60 cards, at most four of each, and a material deck of at most twelve cards. Legal sets are listed, and a set on the list is legal in all its editions unless otherwise stated. In draft and sealed the deck is built on site from sealed packs, and in draft the main deck has at least 30 cards and the material deck at most ten.
Pantheon was introduced in April 2026 and is a casual format for three or four players. Everyone plays against everyone, and the last champion standing wins. The main deck is singleton with at least 60 cards and the material deck has twelve cards. Each player starts with a lesser boon and a greater boon face down in their Pantheon zone. A boon is played with bestow, where the player pays its reserve cost. The format has its own ban list.
The Pantheon decks
The Pantheon decks are ready-made decks for the format. A deck has a prebuilt main deck of 60 cards and a material deck of 12 cards, plus a lesser boon and a greater boon. The deck may also contain a randomly inserted foil card with extended art. The decks are released with the sets and are sold both individually and together in deck sets. Boons and other Pantheon-specific cards are not legal in Standard.
First Edition and Alter Edition
According to the publisher, First Edition boosters are printed in a single run and are not reprinted. Alter Edition is a reprint of the set that is printed continuously according to demand, so that the game stays available, and it can include cards that were not in First Edition. The edition is shown on the packaging, and on Dawn of Ashes it is also shown in the set code at the bottom left of the card, as DOA 1st or DOA Alter.
For play the edition makes no difference, since a set on the Standard list is legal in all its editions. The rarities include C, U, R, SR and UR, and the collector rarities include CSR and CUR, collector super rare and collector ultra rare. Which collector rarities exist can differ between the editions. The publisher also reports roughly how many copies have been printed of each version of a card, and whether the version is being printed or has stopped being printed.
The sets
The sets are listed in release order, with the set code and what sets each one apart from the others.
Distorted Reflections
Distorted Reflections takes place in Underland, where the game's champions follow the rabbit hole ever deeper, search for their vanished predecessors and finally face themselves. First Edition was released in July 2025, and Alter Edition from October 2026 is a reprint that adds 40 new cards, alternative art on ultra rare cards and new CSR cards. Alter Edition is printed according to demand, and the New-To-Alter Bundle has four packs with only the 40 newly added cards and a foil promo, Reckoning's Wake.
The chase cards are the CSR cards “Diana, Aether Dilettante”, “Snow White, Weiss Queen” and “Ciel, Loyal Valet”.
Radiant Origins
The publisher calls Radiant Origins a capstone set, and it takes place in Homeworld, where the champions celebrate a festival after their adventures and receive the gods' gifts ahead of Pantheon. The set comes with Pantheon decks, ready-made decks with 60 cards in the main deck and 12 cards in the material deck, plus one lesser and one greater boon card.
The chase card is the CSR card Full Bloom.
.asphodel/cantabile
.asphodel/cantabile is an expansion set that supports all seven classes but puts the emphasis on Cleric and Tamer. In the story, Casella's music drives the concertgoers in Dis into a frenzy while Dante searches for his missing adopted daughter. First Edition is printed in a single run and is not reprinted, and the set has 207 cards with nine cards per pack. The two Pantheon decks for the set are Casella, Sky's Cantatrice and Dante, Hemomancer.
Getting started
If there are two of you, starter decks are the ready-made way in, and the publisher's beginner's guide has video walkthroughs of them. If there are three or four of you, you can play Pantheon with one Pantheon deck each. A booster display suits draft and sealed. The New-To-Alter Bundle contains only cards added in Alter Edition and is made for those who already have the set's First Edition.
Terms you will come across
| Spirit | The level 0 champion put out on the first turn |
|---|---|
| Lineage | The stack of champions, where the top card is your champion |
| Inherited effect | An ability that applies as long as the card is in the lineage |
| Materialize | Playing a card from the material deck |
| Memory | The zone where cards from your hand are placed to pay reserve costs |
| Regalia | Cards that start in the material deck and have a memory cost |
| Class bonus | An effect that only applies when the champion's class matches |
| Boon | A Pantheon card played with bestow |
More terms are in the glossary.
Frequently asked questions
- How many can play? Two in Standard and draft, three or four in Pantheon.
- Can First Edition and Alter Edition be mixed? Yes. In Standard a set is legal in all its editions.
- Is First Edition reprinted? No, it is printed in a single run. Alter Edition is printed according to demand.
- Do the cards have to match the champion's class? No. The class only decides whether the class bonus applies, while the elements determine what you may play.
- Which sleeves fit? Standard size, the same as for Magic and Pokémon.
Read more about the rarities and sleeves.
Shop: Grand Archive at Bangerpack.
Written by those of us who run Bangerpack. Range and prices change continuously. What applies when you read this is shown in the category.
