Shadowfist CCG

So I was at my local retailer today and I found a hidden stash of Shadowfist cards.

Armed only with reviews from this site and the 70% discount the cards were priced at I bought a big stack in hopes that I can find somebody to play it with!

I hope it lives up to expectations and I can find at least one like minded person out there...

Shadowfist is one of the very best CCGs. Btw, did they have any starter decks? My Ascended starter from The Year of the Dragon seems to have disappeared.

There is part of a display of starters, labelled "Limited Edition" with a ponytailed girl in red executing a kung fu kick to the right of the box. Says they are from 1995. They had a pretty piled up discount table, they might have another kind. (In the confusion I accidentally grabbed ShadowRUN boosters D'oh!! Only four though at 80 cents apiece so no big deal) They also have quite a few displays of decks and packs of many other defunct card games. (Displays of original Star Wars by decipher for 10 bucks I think, I didn't look to see if it was decks or what ...not interested)


Can you answer my first question? If I am needing to meet the resource requirements to play a character does playing a charcater use them up for that turn, or would they meet the requirement for multiple cards?

Example, I have two of a certain resource, we'll just call it resource "A". I want to play two cards with a double resource A requirement. Can I play both , since I have two of resource A available, or do I have to have FOUR of resource A?

Squigherder wrote:

Example, I have two of a certain resource, we'll just call it resource "A". I want to play two cards with a double resource A requirement. Can I play both , since I have two of resource A available...

Your first guess is correct. If you have two of resource A available, whether on cards already in play or even on cards that have been smoked (played and then killed or otherwise knocked out of play, but not "toasted.") then you can bring out any number of cards that require two or less of that resource in the same turn, as long as you are able to pay the power costs. It's not like Magic where you need to tap a land resource to provide that color of mana for the turn. The rationale for how your dead guys (but not the "toasted" ones) can provide resources is that you have looted the bodies, I guess. The toasted ones are so wrecked that nothing could be salvaged.

From your description of the card packaging, it sounds like you have come across cards from the original set. They aren't necessarily valuable, aside from certain out-of-print rares that might be worth a buck or two, but they are totally legal and playable. The starter deck that I'm looking for was published in 2000, and was in a bright orange and yellow box.

At this point, most gamers are not interested in getting into another CCG, especially if it isn't currently popular. Shadowfist is still alive and kicking, with a new base set that recently came out and introduced another faction to the game. But for all practical purposes, Shadowfist is only popular in California these days. You could find players at a major convention like GenCon, too.

I would recommend that you instead treat Shadowfist as a kind of a boardgame, if you want to get people to play with you. Make some decks from the cards you bought, and try to balance them well against each other. Then just let your friends choose which decks they want to play and then you choose from whatever is left.

You can find a lot of information about Shadowfist at:

www.shadowfist.com

Just to get you off to a fast start, there is a reliable rule of thumb on how to design a decent Shadowfist deck, the Rule of Five. Basically, make five piles as you design the deck, and add the same number of cards to each pile as you go.

Pile #1: feng shui sites

#2: foundation characters, which are characters that don't require a specific resource to play, just power.

#3: cheap events and states, ones that cost 0 or 1 power each.

#4: characters that require resources, usually ones that cost 4 or less power.

#5: whatever you want, probably including a few big characters that cost 5 or more power.

Resist the temptation to play Shadowfist as a 2-player game. It's playable, but generally one player gets the upper hand early on and then it's a beatdown. Try to play this game multi-player, ideally with 4-6 players.

Thanks for the clarification on the resources.

I'll taake your advice on the board game type presentation and try to make up some middle earth-esque challenge decks and get some of my regular group to play. I'll let you know how it goes.

I went back by the store this morning and got another 15 bucks worth of product (75% off and they were doing some friendly rounding down) as well as traded my ShadowRUN boosters in for some ShadowFIST boosters. Looks like he has the majority of a booster display and about 6 more decks I can grab cheap if it takes off, but I gotta play at least once first.........maybe!

Squigherder wrote:

Thanks for the clarification on the resources.

I'll taake your advice on the board game type presentation and try to make up some middle earth-esque challenge decks and get some of my regular group to play. I'll let you know how it goes.

I went back by the store this morning and got another 15 bucks worth of product (75% off and they were doing some friendly rounding down) as well as traded my ShadowRUN boosters in for some ShadowFIST boosters. Looks like he has the majority of a booster display and about 6 more decks I can grab cheap if it takes off, but I gotta play at least once first.........maybe!

And if you need any extra cards, especially from the earlier sets (Limited, Unlimited, Netherworld, Flashpoint, etc.) let me know. I have enough cards to kill an Old Master...

Shame you don't have a WANT LIST!

I wanna pony!

Actually, I do want an Ascended starter deck from the Year of the Dragon, mine seems to have disappeared from my collection.

SenorOcho wrote:

Shame you don't have a WANT LIST!

Yes, Yes... I'm ignoring you... =op

I'm checking the list and I'll email you shortly. I promise...

SenorOcho wrote:

Shame you don't have a WANT LIST!

Emails sent, ya happy??? =o)

All this talk of Shadowfist has inspired me to pull out my shadowfist cards and revisit it. I can clearly remember though that with with only two decks my factions were so diluted as to be almost unplayable. Is anyone interested is in selling off a bunch of commons (or premade decks. Maybe now I'll actually have enough resources to bring out Kar Fai, leader of the dragons.

BTW..we need a RPG forum Feng Shui is one of my top favorite RPG's. Very few others even come close to its butt kicking glory.

Steve"Master of a thousand steps"Avery