WCW Nitro Trading Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Questions and Answers
  • Basic Gameplay
  • Damage Resolution
  • Fan Card Combos
  • Errata and Miscellaneous Questions
• Strategy Guide
  • Deck Construction
  • Starting Play
  • Plan Your Turns
  • Taking Damage
  • Dealing Damage
  • Recycling
  • Fog of War
  • Set Up Your Finisher
  • Orange Attacks and Weapons
  • Punches
  • A Little Help From Your Friends
  • Fan Support
• Strategy Guide Questions
• Sample Games: Championship Chase
  • World Championship
  • U.S. Championship
  • TV Championship
  • Hardcore Championship
  • Cruiserweight Championship
  • Match Rules Championship
  • General Rules
• Sample Games: Shorthand System
  • Shorthand Game Recording System
• Wrestler Cards
• Wrestler Unique Cards
• Blue Moves
• Green Moves
• Magneta Moves
• Orange Moves
• White Moves
• Yellow Moves
• Thunder Cards
• Orange Corner Cards
• White Corner Cards
• White Corner Cards (continued)
• Hardcore Expansion Moves (Premium)
• Hardcore Expansion Moves (Rare)
• Hardcore Expansion Moves (Uncommon)
• Hardcore Expansion Moves (Common)

Questions and Answers

Basic Gameplay

Q: How do you choose who starts first each game if the rep is the same? A: Randomly decide- die roll etc.

Q: If you have one of the Thunder cards come up while you are taking damage, that says when it comes from the deck all opponents cards do -1 in damage, does that card work to limit the damage you are currently taking? A: No- these cards say put them in your corner and then they will do their thing from then on.

Q: DDP has Jimmy Hart in his corner to distract the referee and enable the use of weapons. His opponent, Kidman, has Outside Interference in his corner along with his two "friends", Bagwell and Jarrett. Is the referee considered to be distracted for both players' benefit (giving Kidman the chance to use the Outside Interference card) or does Jimmy Hart only benefit DDP for distraction purposes? A: When the ref is distracted, he is distracted for everybody.

Q: Does Resistance "Useless" ignore Thunder cards (like Angry Fans) which are in the opponent's Corner as well as those which are turned up from the deck and/or played from the hand? A: You can't ignore Angry Fans in the corner because you must first play the attack card before adding in Resistance is Useless so you must meet the attack cards requirements without the aid of RiU.

Q: According to the game turn sequence, a player must draw his initial card before spending any Action Points. Is it permitted to do things which do not require the expenditure of Action Points prior to drawing that initial card? For example, can Bret Hart use his Special Ability to return 5 discards to his deck before drawing his initial card? In a recent game, Hart was down to one card in his deck (after eating a big attack) when his turn began and had not yet used his Special. If he could use it before drawing that card, he could have saved himself and won the round. If he had to draw first, he would lose. A: You cannot use your ability before the draw unless the ability states a use outside your turn. The rulebook says "each time it's your turn, start by drawing a card" (p.19)

Q: Concerning such cards as DDT which require 1 or more cards to be discarded from your deck, are you allowed to search through your deck to find the card(s) to be discarded or must you discard cards from off the top of the deck? A: From the top of the deck. (Thunders you pull this way do not activate)

Q: Concerning cards such as Chae which levy some Nitro or attack penalty, do the penalties also apply to the player who played these cards? A: Read the Card- some like Chae apply to all players. (you use this in a deck that does not use blue attacks) Others like Fans Boo the Other Wrestler only apply to the other player.

Q: Does Late Nitro count towards Nitro bonus? A: Yes

Q: Does Late Nitro count as a legal target for Chaos in the Corner or Good Night Everybody? A: Yes- it counts as a Nitro card. Chaos in the Ring can not remove a Nitro card.

Q: Is it required to spend any or all of one's Action Points during your turn? Last night, I was playing a great match between Kidman and Mysterio which came down to Kidman having two cards in his deck while Mysterio had one card remaining. It was Kidman's turn. After drawing a card to begin his turn, he had no attacks or other cards which could be played in order to spend his Action Points. Does this situation force him to spend his APs drawing cards -- which, of course, would exhaust his deck and cause him to lose the round? Or, could he "pass" his turn and force Mysterio to draw his final card and end up losing the round? A: It is required to use all your actions. Kidman would lose.

Q: Continue the Hold cards don't benefit from any modifying cards played with the initial attack. However, do they receive any +1 wrestler color bonuses? A: Continue the Hold does not get benefits from cards played or wrestler once a round abilities but does get whatever came with the initial attack card.

Q: Can a Mentor card be used to give an additional bonus from a Wrestler in the Corner which may be used with Continue the Hold? A: Mentor would work since it affects the base number of the attack without adding a card.

Q: Is it legal to play two (or more) Mix in Some Nitro cards in the same turn and, thus, reduce the number of required Nitro for other card plays during that turn by 4, 6, or more? A: Yes

Q: Is it legal to play two or more white modifier cards such as Running Start and/or Dive From the Top Rope on a single attack card? A: Yes

Q: What happens when somebody does something illegal and the ref is not distracted? A: Nothing. But to use a weapon the Ref MUST be distracted first. The only bad thing about illegal moves is that if your opponent is packing the Thunder card DQ and it comes up during an illegal attack, you lose (ref distracted or not).

Q: Does a Late Nitro count as a "Nitro" card for purposes of only being allowed to have 4 in a deck? In other words, can I have more than 4 Late Nitro cards in my deck? A: You may only have 4 Late Nitro in your deck. The only card that is unlimited is actual Nitro Cards, not cards with Nitro in the title.

Q: Does Nitro get used up on your turn? If I have five (5) Nitro in my corner, can I play a Belly to Belly Suplex (3 Nitro, 1 action) and a 450 Splash (5 Nitro, 2 Action), or can I only play cards requiring 2 or less Nitro and 2 or less Action points after the Belly to Belly Suplex? A: Nitro does not get used up. The only thing that gets used up is Action Points. So, you can play all of those cards.

Q: Are the rules correct in that wrestlers are placed in the discard pile and are subject to being recycled instead of being removed from the round after being exploited? A: Yes the wrestlers are discarded

Q: Is it permissible to use a corner wrestler's special ability via a Help card more than once in the same round? A: No - you can not use a wrestlers special ability more than once a round. The recycling does allow you to use the wrestlers stats with cards like Call for Help more than once but not the ability. Good find on this deck- we found it to be very strong in playtesting. Keep in mind my rulings are not final since I am not an official DCI guy at WOTC. But this is what I had in mind in making the game.

Damage Resolution

Q: During damage resolution, Kidman turns up multiple Payback cards (or multiple Move cards following Kidman Gets Help) and gets to return multiple small attacks against his opponent. While resolving the first Payback card, the opponent turns up a Thunder card which say "after this attack, the opponent's turn ends" (or, alternatively, he discards a "Full Stop" from his corner). Would the remainder of the Payback attacks be ignored? A: No -- since all this is going on during your turn.

Q: Kidman plays Moonsault with Irish Whip to the Ropes. During damage resolution, the opponent turns up multiple Block cards. Does Kidman take 3 points of damage for each Block or just 3 points total? A: 3 points for each Block.

Q: In a recent game pitting Kidman v. Nash, Nash played his Elbow Smash and Kidman turned up Kidman Gets Help as the first damage draw. He then proceeded to draw 7 Move cards! The question is whether or not this return damage to Nash is treated as 7 separate 3-point attacks (as multiple Payback cards would be treated) or if the total of 21 points is delivered as one attack (which one Dodge card would stop). A: Each move would do a seperate 3 like Payback. That is the nastiest Kidman Gets Help story I have heard yet. 7 moves- wow.

Q: Concerning attack cards which allow you to ignore Thunders/Dodges, does this only apply to cards drawn from the deck to resolve damage, or does it also apply to Corner cards and Thunders which might be played from the hand? A: The card will explain. If it ignores all Thunders than that includes the hand, corner and deck. If it ignores Dodges- that means any card with Dodge in the title etc. The high risk moves explain they only get affected by Dodge or Block Thunders from the deck.

Q: Do Practiced Dodge and Practiced/Strong Block count for damage taken from attack modifiers (i.e., Dive From the Top Rope's 4 for a Dodge coming up)? A: The Dive From the Top Rope says "If a Dodge Thunder card comes up"- so no- the corner Dodges and Blocks would not count.

Q: If a Second Wind card is turned up during damage resolution, does that count as "playing" that card and causing it to be removed from the round? If not, could a subsequent Second Wind card played from the hand be used to recover the first discarded Second Wind card and return it to the deck? A: No-Yes

Q: If multiple Payback cards are turned up during damage resolution, is each considered to be a separate attack or is their total damage combined into one attack? A: Each are a seperate attack.

Fan Card Combos

Q: Are Thunders affected by corner cards? Like if a Payback comes up, and there are 3 Loud Fans in play. Is it considered an attack and thus reduced to 0 damage? A: In this case- yes

Q: Must an Attack card deliver at least one point of damage in order to qualify for a subsequent play of a Pin? For example, if 4 Heckling Fans and 4 Fans Boo the Other Wrestler are in play and one Wrestler plays a Vertical Suplex, we have an interesting situation. The Vertical Suplex damage has been reduced to nil (actually, -1), but since "no damage points were stopped", can the Wrestler now play a Pin card? This seems rather ludicrous, but is it allowable under the game's rules? A: Yes it is allowable. This would be a very rare situation- I have never seen it happen and I have played a lot of Fan decks vs Pin decks.

Q: Let's suppose that there were six combined -1 damage Fan cards in play. Now, the Vertical Suplex would be reduced to a value of 1 point. If that single point of damage isn't stopped, a subsequent Pin seems perfectly legal even if one must ignore reality while it's happening. Or, is this just a dangerous strategy with which to counter Fan decks? A: I have seen the Fan decks get beat by some easier pins like this. It is perfectly legal as long as none of the damage is stopped.

Q: The preceding questions would also apply to Continue the Hold combos along with an additional question. Do the damage modifications of the Fan cards apply to the resolution of the Continue the Hold card? Other cards which modify the original Attack (such as Running Start) are disregarded for the Continue, but do the Fan cards continue to exert their influence? If not, substitute Figure-Four Leg Lock for Vertical Suplex in the preceding questions and a similar Fan deck counter-strategy is now possible with Continue the Hold combos. A: The Fan cards would apply to the Continue because they are global affects-not ones used just for that first attack.

Errata and Miscellaneous Questions

Q: Just wondering why Spinning Kick is a Magenta card? A: A mistake -- it should be Green for maneuver. It also should not have the Continue the Hold on it. Those are only in Yellow (submission type moves).

Q: Also, with Corner Chaos. Why is that card Magenta? A: It is Magenta because guys who are good at lifting can clear the corner easier than others.

Q: Is it intended that The Artist and TTP's special ability do not require the deck to be reshuffled after searching through it? It would seem that this could give one some powerful intelligence about the structure of a deck if he's allowed to look all or part of the way through it while finding cards and then not having to reshuffle. A: These should say that you should shuffle the deck afterwards.

Q: I assume there are plans for sanctioned tournaments. If so, will there be any "sideboard" for the match? Otherwise, it would seem that some cards will be rather underplayed (DQ for instance.) A: I don't think that we are going to do a sideboard. However, I put 3 DQ's (it would be 4, but I only have 3) in my fast win Pin deck because if I get them in my hand, I can recycle them looking for the combos I need to pull off my early Pin Win.

Q: Jeff's Punch does not contain the text "Only Jeff Jarrett may use this card". Is it reasonable to assume that this is errata and that the card should be treated as any other wrestler-unique foil? A: Yes

Strategy Guide

Deck Construction

Decks must contain exactly 60 cards (not including your Wrestler). The first thing to do when building your deck is to see which three colors are displayed at the top of your Wrestler's card. These are the only three Move/Corner card colors (along with White) that your Wrestler will be able to use in his deck. If your Wrestler has a "+1" listed in one or more of his colors, he gets a +1 point Attack bonus when playing cards of that color, so you may wish to put more of those cards in your deck.

Blue cards are high-risk, high-flyer moves. Green cards are mat wrestling moves or maneuvers. Magenta cards are lifting or power moves. Orange cards are hardcore or illegal moves. Yellow cards are submission moves. White cards are special actions that any Wrestler can use. No more than four of any of these cards can be included in your deck.

Nitro cards represent the cost or preparation necessary to play another card. You must have Nitro cards in your Corner in sufficient numbers to be able to play other desired cards. Once played, Nitro cards are never "used up" or "tapped". They remain in your Corner and allow you to play your other cards unless another game event requires one or more Nitro to be discarded. Your deck may have any number of Nitro cards in it. Most players use between 16-24 Nitro cards in a deck. The exact number depends on your playing style and the Nitro cost of the cards you are using in your deck. Start your deck with 18-20 Nitro. If you find it difficult to get enough into play to allow you to play your other cards, add a few more. If you always have enough in play, you can take a few out and add other cards to your deck.

Thunder cards have various benefits which are gained either by playing them from your hand or when they are overturned from your deck during Damage resolution. You'll want to have some Thunders which stop all or most of the Damage from an Attack. Six of these (equally divided between the various Dodges and Blocks) is a good starting point. Depending on your playing style and deck strategy, you may wish to include some of the others, as well. 6-8 Thunders in a deck is normal and you can adjust from there.

You'll want to select Move cards based upon your Wrestler's strengths and Special Ability. Concentrate on Move cards in colors for which your Wrestler can gain the +1 bonus. Consider including cards which give you a benefit (such as ignoring Dodges) and be wary of cards which force you to discard or which might do bad things to you if the opponent overturns a Block or Dodge while taking Damage. Check to see if cards require the previous play of other cards (such as the "out of the ring" cards in the Hardcore expansion set). Compare the Damage each card can do against the Nitro and AP (Action Point) cost of playing that card. Make sure you get good "bang for your buck". Big cards that you can't play are useless and weak cards take up valuable deck space without doing you much good. As you gain experience, you can "fine-tune" your deck and you might even consider creating a "theme" deck which concentrates on one particular strategy which is well-suited to your Wrestler or playing style. Some of these are described later in this guide.

Starting Play

It should go without saying that you should get Nitro cards into your Corner as quickly as possible. Often, it's a good idea to play every Nitro card in your hand as soon as you draw it. A possible exception is the use of an early Attack strategy with cards like Arm Toss. This card requires only one Nitro and two APs to do four Damage. If you have the first turn and also get +1 for Green Attacks, a good first turn is to play only one Nitro card and follow that up with an Arm Toss. This will also gain the +1 "Most Nitro" bonus (since your opponent doesn't yet have any on the table) and allows you a first-turn Attack worth a total of six Damage points.

If possible, play Attacks early in the game which do not use all three of your APs. This will allow you to draw and/or play one or two additional cards along with launching your Attack. Getting cards into your hand early will give you more options in later turns and is a more important early strategy than gaining an extra Damage point against your opponent by using a more expensive Attack card.

If your style is to play more defensively, consider playing a Practiced Block as soon as possible. While this card only absorbs the first three Damage points from an Attack, most early-game Attacks won't be much stronger than that, so this card can save all or most of the Damage they would otherwise inflict. In addition, this card can help prevent early Pin/Continue the Hold or "Out of the Ring" attempts. After a couple of turns have passed, consider Strong Blocks and Practiced Dodges since your opponent's Attacks will normally get stronger as the game Progresses.

Plan Your Turns

Unless you intend on playing a card which will use up all three of your APs, you should plan ahead for how you wish to use your APs during your turn. APs are a precious commodity in the game, so it is advantageous not to waste them (and remember that you are required to use all of your APs each turn, i.e., you can't "pass" on any of them). If, for example, you have only 2 APs worth of cards that you wish to play (or are allowed to play), it is almost always better to use the 3rd AP to draw another card prior to playing any cards. If you wish to play both Attack and Corner cards during the same turn, it is almost always a good idea to play the Corner card(s) first. The reason for this is because there are Thunder/Corner cards (e.g., Stopped Cold or Full Stop) which your opponent can use to force you to end your turn after an Attack. If you have APs remaining, they would be lost if your turn is stopped. If you use the excess APs before playing the Attack, you don't have to risk losing them. Also, you might get lucky with that initial draw and pull a valuable card that could change the rest of your turn's plans. If possible, you don't want to spend your last point drawing and then not be able to take advantage of a good card for lack of APs.

Taking Damage

Remember that most Corner cards can only be used to absorb the first Damage points from an Attack, so you must make the decision whether or not to use them before turning over any cards from your deck or playing cards from your hand. Also, you should not play cards from your hand to absorb Damage until absolutely necessary. In other words, give the Thunders in your deck a chance to be turned up and do their jobs and use the ones in your hand as a last resort if you need to ensure that at least one Damage point from the current Attack gets stopped in order to thwart Pin, Continue the Hold, or "Out of the Ring" cards.

Don't waste powerful Corner cards (such as Practiced Dodge) to absorb the Damage from small Attacks unless absolutely necessary. Just having them in your Corner can provide a deterrent to your opponent breaking out his finishing maneuver or other ugly combo.

Ensure that your deck has a mix of the various Dodges and Blocks. Dodges are stronger, but there are several cards which can ignore them. Therefore, you'll need Blocks to defend against those Attacks. It should go without saying that Reversals are valuable cards since they can turn damage back onto the original Attacker.

Finally, take a moment to notice which cards you are overturning while taking Damage. If you notice an important card going into your discard pile, you will either have to change your game strategy or plan on doing something to recycle that card back into your hand or deck. (See "Recycling" below).

Dealing Damage

To win the game, you must force your opponent to exhaust the supply of cards in his deck. This is done by launching successful Attacks. These Attacks can range anywhere from 1 point for a simple Fast Punch or Dropkick to 30 or more points for massive combinations. Playing big-point Attacks does not always mean that you'll inflict that much Damage on your opponent since there are several ways available for him to stop some or all of the Damage. Normally, this will happen as a result of your opponent overturning Thunder cards from his deck during Damage resolution.

Ideally, you want to maximize the Damage from each Attack. Cards such as Resistance is Useless, Making It Look Easy, Aysa, and Aysa at Work will reduce or eliminate Thunder (or Corner) cards which could stifle your Attack. You should always try to have one of these cards available to play with any Attack which would do 10 or more Damage points or allow a Pin, Continue the Hold, or "Out of the Ring". Also, remember that you can play White Attack modifier cards (such as Running Start or Jump from the Top Rope) to add Damage points to any Attack and that it is legal to play more than one of these cards with any single Attack. There are generally two good times to play these modifier cards. First would be to augment a big Attack or finisher, but they can also take a normally weak Attack (like Kick or Arm Bar) and add enough points to it to make it hurt.

Of course, the flip side of the discussion in the "Taking Damage" section above is to use small Attacks when your opponent has strong Corner cards. This will force him to decide whether or not to burn those cards (which opens the door for subsequent bigger Attacks) or eat the Damage and hope that Thunder cards will save him. Of course, he'll hate to lose a Dodge card on a 3-point Attack.

There are certain Thunder cards that every Attacking player greatly fears. Nothing hurts worse than seeing your opponent overturn such cards as Crowd Chants "Goldberg", Kidman Gets Help, Hogan's F.U.N.B. or Reversal as one of the first few cards overturned while taking Damage from a big Attack. If you know or suspect that your opponent has these cards available, it is strongly advisable to use Resistance is Useless to allow your big Attack to ignore all Thunders.

Recycling

Every deck has important cards. "Recycling" is a strategy which will allow you to return those cards (including your finishing maneuvers) to your deck or your hand and be able to play them more than once during the Round. Cards like Instant Replay, Seeing Red?, We're Going Outside Again!, 4 Percent Body Fat, and Second Wind will allow you to retrieve important cards from your discard pile and put them back into either your hand or your deck. Use the recycling cards which will bring back the Moves, Corners or other cards which will be of the most help to you. This strategy effectively increases both the size and power of your deck and helps ensure that your key cards aren't lost in Damage resolution.

If you have multiple Second Wind cards in your deck, it's usually a good idea to hold one of them in your hand until you see one or more of the others in your discard pile. Then, you can play the one from your hand to get back the others which would otherwise have been lost.

To counter an opponent's ability to recycle cards, consider adding Doug Dillinger to your deck. This card allows you to use one AP once per turn to permanently remove any one card in your opponent's discard pile from the Round. The Total Package's special ability to place three cards from his opponent's deck into his opponent's discard pile can be combined with Doug Dillinger's ability to help get the most dangerous cards out of play.

Bret Hart's Special Ability is equal to a built-in Second Wind card. Norman Smiley's Special Ability allows him to recycle four weapons cards back into his hand.

Fog of War

"Fog of War" is a term which indicates the tactical or strategic uncertainty which results from a lack of complete or reliable information. In game terms, it comes from holding cards in your hand and keeping your opponent guessing about your intentions and abilities until you are ready to act.

Unless you have a pressing need to play a particular card, it should be held until such a need arises. Every card should be played with a clear purpose in mind rather than just to burn APs or launch trivial Attacks. One of the best "Fog of War" examples is Jeff's Guitar. This is a weapon which requires no APs to play into your corner. Since it can be played essentially for free, and since a played Corner card is vulnerable to an opponent who could play such cards as Corner Chaos, this card should be held in your hand until Jarrett is ready to use it to augment an Orange Attack. Just like in reality (or, at least, what passes for "reality" in the world of professional wrestling), Jarrett's opponent will never see it coming and will be all but helpless against it.

Rey Mysterio, Jr.'s Special Ability helps to combat a "Fog of War" strategy by allowing him to look into an opponent's hand and force the discard of two dangerous cards. Sid Vicious can play Sid Wins the World Title to force his opponent to discard his entire hand!

Set Up Your Finisher

A "finisher" is a big Attack which causes lots of Damage (normally 13+ points), is often unstoppable, and usually results in winning the Round or putting your opponent in a very precarious situation. It is strongly advised that your overall game plan includes saving up key cards in your hand until all the pieces are in place to launch this Attack. An extremely effective tactic is to save up at least two Extra Effort cards and a Resistance is Useless (RiU) in your hand. This will allow you to gain the extra APs necessary to play the RiU card along with your big Attack card or combo in the same turn and make your Attack unstoppable. Since many finishers include the ability to play a Pin, Continue the Hold or "Out of the Ring" card if none of the Damage from the original Attack is stopped, your opponent will be in deep trouble if you set up the finisher properly.

To help set up the finisher, use cards like Corner Chaos, You Can't Stop Me and/or Chaos in the Ring to remove Blocks and Dodges from your opponent's Corner in the turn(s) prior to the big Attack. You can also use Making It Look Easy to ignore those Corner cards rather than removing them completely. When you play the finisher, be sure to include all cards which will add extra Damage points to the Attack. This is not a time to hold back!

Finishers include not only cards like Goldberg's Jackhammer or Sting's Scorpion Death-Lock, but can also be lethal combinations of several cards played in the same turn. Some of these are listed below along with some suggestions for the best Wrestlers to use with each finishing strategy.

Orange Attacks and Weapons

These are the "hardcore" and/or "illegal" tactics in the game. You should avoid using any Orange Attack card or weapon whose text says that it is "illegal" unless you have a No Holds Barred card in play to save you from the possibility of a DQ Thunder card costing you the Round. Weapons normally require the referee to be distracted before they can be used. There are two important things to remember when using weapons. First, Jimmy Hart distracts the referee for both opponents while he is in play. Second, you may add multiple weapons from your Corner to any Attack card which permits their use. Loading up on Folding Chairs, Tables, Baseball Bats, etc. can produce a huge finishing Attack. Needless to say, before launching such an Attack, you should also have a Resistance is Useless or Aysa card in play to help prevent your opponent from stopping any of the Damage.

Several Wrestlers have Special Abilities and/or Unique cards which assist them in using weapons or hardcore tactics. Almost any Wrestler who has a +1 Orange bonus should consider such a strategy. Foremost among them would be Diamond Dallas Page. DDP's Special Ability to ignore Dodges and Reversals and distract the ref will allow him to set up a crushing combination involving several weapons and Orange Attack bonuses which will be very hard for his opponent to stop or survive. Brian Knobs, Terry Funk, and Norman Smiley are also good choices for hardcore/weapons decks.

To defend against weapons decks, consider using "Rowdy" Roddy Piper Takes Charge and Keeping It Clean to force your opponent to discard weapons from his Corner.

Punches

There are several Green Attack cards (and one Orange Attack card, Punch in the Nose) which have the word "Punch" in their title. Most of these cards will give you a +1 Damage bonus for every other Punch card which has previously been played during the current turn. As such, this leads to the "Punch deck" strategy of loading up with various Punches along with cards which will give you extra APs. The proper tactic with such a deck is not to play Punches as soon as you draw them. Instead, you want to save up several of them and launch them all in the same turn to maximize their cumulative effect.

Let's assume you have saved a Fast Punch, two Face Punches, two Top-Rope Punches, and one Down-on-the-Mat Punch in your hand along with any combination of three Extra Effort and Down but Not Out cards. On your turn, you will have up to six APs available and can launch all six Punches (assuming that your turn is not stopped in any way).

Playing the Fast Punch followed by the two Face Punches and finishing with the two Top-Rope Punches and the Down-on-the-Mat Punch (in that order and assuming your Wrestler gets the +1 Green modifier), this combination will produce six Attacks which will, consecutively, be worth 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 points for a total of 31 Damage points. If you have also added White modifier cards (such as Running Start) to your deck, these can also be played with an added extra punch (no pun intended) to any of the Attacks in this series. Having Brass Knuckles in your Corner adds +1 to all Punches, but makes them illegal, so you should also have No Holds Barred in play if you break out the knucks.

Jeff Jarrett is easily the best candidate for a Punch deck with his Green and Orange colors and bonuses, his Special Ability to gain extra APs, and his Unique Jeff's Punch card. Ric Flair (or even, surprisingly, Hollywood Hogan) could also pull off this strategy successfully.

Defense against Punch decks involves not allowing your opponent to get off a long string of Punches. This is done by using cards such as Stopped Cold, Full Stop or Desperate Dodge which will cause your opponent's turn to end after the current Attack.

A Little Help From Your Friends

You may include up to 4 Wrestler cards in your deck. These Wrestlers can be played from your hand into your Corner at no cost in Nitro or APs to assist your cause in a variety of ways. They can add their Reputation as extra Damage points to an Attack, absorb that number of Damage points from an opponent's Attack, provide bonus Attack points to shared-color Moves, and/or contribute their Special Ability for your betterment. This opens up the possibility for a "Strength in Numbers" or "interference deck" strategy.

To take advantage of Corner Wrestlers, the first card you will want to have in your deck is Ringside Reinforcements. With this card in your Corner, any time a Wrestler is overturned from your deck while taking Damage, he can be placed directly into your Corner at no cost. Also, you may wish to add More New Blood. This card will allow you to search your deck and retrieve a Wrestler card. Next, you'll want to have Help cards which will allow you to use a Corner Wrestler's Special Ability. (You can do this only once per Round for each Corner Wrestler.) Other useful cards with this deck strategy are Mentor, Taking One for a Friend, Outside Interference and Call for Help. In addition, you'll probably want to use Second Wind to recycle discarded Wrestlers and Instant Replay to put Help cards back into your hand.

Playing Wrestler cards from your hand into your Corner is free, so there is no need to play them immediately (unless you need them for defensive purposes or to take advantage of a Mentor card). Since Help and Call for Help also cost no APs to play, these can be saved up and sprung suddenly on your opponent. Choose your friends carefully so as to have ones which have useful Special Abilities, colors which match yours, and/or high Reputations to contribute towards your Attacks and defenses. If you have Outside Interference in play, you can use it to add all your available friends into one massive finishing Attack.

With the addition of David Flair Joins Vince Russo in the Hardcore expansion, it becomes even more advisable not to play Wrestlers from your hand into your Corner any sooner than necessary. Otherwise, you may find them turning against you! Also, your opponent may play One on One and force you to remove all other Wrestlers from your Corner.

The best candidates for interference decks are those Wrestlers who don't have specific and strong Special Abilities. Billy Kidman and Buff Bagwell might be the two best choices. Disco Inferno has a Unique card (Disco, Manager of Champions) which would help him play this strategy by allowing him to retrieve a Wrestler card from his discard pile. You might also consider this strategy for Scott Steiner or Sid Vicious.

Fan Support

There are several cards which contain the word "Fans" in their title. The "Fan deck" strategy involves loading up your deck with these cards and trying to get several of them into your Corner simultaneously. Then, near the end of a Round, use Come From Behind to discard all of these cards and receive a +3 point Attack bonus for each Fan card discarded. This can often produce an Attack worth 20-30 points.

In addition to helping set up a big Come From Behind finisher, Fan cards also put the squeeze on your opponent by making it more expensive for him to play Move cards and by reducing the Damage from his Attacks. This will slow the game down and help you get more Fan cards into play. This can be especially important for Wrestlers with small hand sizes. The Hardcore expansion introduces many new Fan cards which give various Attack or Nitro bonuses and introduce new possible combinations for Fan decks.

Another devious strategy which can be employed via Fan cards is the "cheap Pin". This involves getting several Loud Fans and Heckling Fans into your Corner. These cards lower the Damage caused by Attack cards. However, since cards containing the Pin provision say that you can play a Pin if no Damage is stopped from this Attack, the reduced Damage value of those cards via Fan effects actually makes it easier to use them to deliver Pins! In fact, if there are seven Loud/Heckling Fans in play, a Vertical Suplex card becomes an automatic Pin since it will be reduced to a zero Damage Attack -- which can't, of course, have any Damage stopped and will allow a Pin to be played.

Defense against Fan decks basically comes down to one card -- Nitro Girls, Center Stage. Hang on to this card until your opponent gets several Fans in his corner. Then, play the card and remove them all in one stroke! Fan decks can also be hampered by Corner removal cards such as Corner Chaos, Chaos in the Ring and Outta Here. A more elegant defense would be to employ the "cheap Pin" strategy against the Fan deck.

Fan decks seem to work best for Wrestlers who don't have powerful offensive Special Abilities. Rey Mysterio, Jr. does it well and Buff Bagwell can pull it off since he has a Unique Fan card. Since almost all Fan cards are either White Corner cards or Thunders, any Wrestler could implement this strategy. With the Hardcore expansion, more Wrestlers will be using Fan cards since there are many new ones which provide strong benefits.

Multiple 1 or 2 AP Attacks

Cards like Snap Suplex and Eye Rake are deceptively dangerous. Since they require only 1 AP to play, you can string 2 or 3 (or more with Extra Effort) together in one turn and produce Attacks which are equal or superior to any single Attack card like Goldberg's Jackhammer. Save these up until you can play more than one in the same turn.

Also, look for the chance to play an Extra Effort card to allow you to get off two strong Attacks which each require only 2 AP in the same turn (such as Vertical Suplex, Piledriver or Clothesline) -- especially if each can be augmented by the play of a White modifier card like Jump from the Top Rope.

A "low AP" theme deck can be made in which all or most cards require only 1 AP to play. This will allow you to get off multiple Attacks or card plays on most turns. If you build such a deck, you must ensure that all cards work together so your hand doesn't stagnate through the accumulation of unusable cards. Include Gut Check and Take the Microphone in your deck to help draw lots of cards and give you a lot of options with this strategy.

I like The Total Package with this strategy since he has a good hand size and a special card (TTP's Flex Posedown) which allows him to draw 4 cards. This card is also recyclable with Instant Replay, so he can use it more than once and keep the card flow going. Getting cards into your hand is the key to pulling off this strategy successfully.

Out of the Ring

This is a new strategy introduced by the Hardcore expansion set. This involves two sets of new cards. The first includes cards such as Toss over the Ropes which include text which says "If none of the Damage from this Attack is stopped, the action is out of the ring until the end of your turn." These cards may or may not also grant you additional APs for that turn. The second set includes cards such as Meet the Announcers Up Close which can only be played if the action is out of the ring. This means, for example, that you must successfully play Toss over the Ropes (and have none of its Damage stopped) before you can play Meet the Announcers Up Close. Often, this will require using Resistance is Useless to ignore all Thunder cards and set up the strong card(s) which can be played only when the action is out of the ring.

Having a couple of Extra Effort cards available when the action goes out of the ring can prove to be very effective. Most cards which are playable outside the ring require only 1 or 2 APs, so Extra Effort can help you get off more of them. Since many of these Attacks do a fair amount of Damage, stringing them together can produce the equivalent of a finisher.

For example, successfully playing Toss from the Turnbuckle will cause 8 points of Damage, gain 2 APs, and send the action out of the ring. If two Extra Effort cards are available, the Wrestler will then have 5 APs to use outside the ring. He could then play two Meet the Announcers Up Close cards (2 AP and 11 points each) and a Toss over the Railing (1 AP and 6 more points) for a total of 28 more points. This would make a potential grand total of 36 Damage points -- not counting any available bonuses for Magenta attacks.

You shouldn't expect to get more than one or two opportunities per Round to take it outside the ring, so save up the good cards until the opportunity presents itself for a big turn. This also means that you probably shouldn't devote more than 6-8 cards in your deck to this strategy unless you want to go all or nothing with it. If you want to go for it, make sure to include the special weapons cards (Announcer's Table and Metal Steps to the Ring) which can only be used out of the ring. You may also want It Gets Dangerous for the Fans to add bonus Damage points to these Attacks.

Tank Abbott is the obvious first choice for this strategy given his strength and his Special Ability to take the action out of the ring at a time of his choosing. Terry Funk is also a good choice. Any Wrestler who gets a +1 Magenta bonus might consider this strategy since the strongest "out of the ring" cards are Magenta Moves. Wrestlers who are strongest in Blue Moves should probably forego this strategy due to a lack of good cards.

Defending against the "out of the ring" strategy requires that you be able to stop at least one point of damage from any Attack card which threatens to take the action out of the ring. Holding an appropriate Thunder card in your hand until needed will do the trick.

Nitro-Hosing

"Nitro-hosing" is a term which refers to the strategy of removing Nitro cards from your opponent's Corner. Without Nitro cards, your opponent will be hard-pressed to get his strongest cards (or any cards at all) into play and you'll have an easier time defeating him. The primary cards used in a Nitro-hosing strategy are Good Night, Everybody! (which specifically targets Nitro cards) and Outta Here (which allows the removal of any 1 card from the opponent's Corner). Combine these with the recycling ability of Instant Replay and you may be able to keep your opponent's Nitro to a bare minimum for much of the Round. Also, if you play a successful Pin card, your opponent is forced to discard 3 Nitro or lose the Round immediately. The Hardcore set adds Surprise Guest-Referee's ability to increase this penalty to 4 Nitro per Pin. When your opponent is helpless, you can take your time and set up crushing Attacks at your convenience.

Kevin Nash's Unique Nash's nWo Support can lead to a tough Nitro-hosing deck which would be backed up by his ability to deliver strong power moves. Bret Hart's recycling ability can keep the Nitro-hosing cards coming back into play.

To defend yourself against Nitro-hosing, consider using cards such as The Artist (which allows you to search your deck for two Nitro and play them) and Mix in Some Nitro (which is a "free" card play and allows all cards during the current turn to be played for two less Nitro). Keep a Thunder card in your hand which will stop at least one point of damage in order to stop Pins.

Pin/Continue the Hold

Several cards state that if none of the Damage from the Attack is stopped, you may play either a Pin or a Continue the Hold card. Playing a Pin forces your opponent to discard 3 Nitro cards (4, if Surprise Guest-Referee is in play) or lose the Round immediately. Continue the Hold allows you to do the Damage of the original Attack again. Since these provisions are most often associated with finishing Moves or other strong Attack cards, the combination can be devastating to your opponent.

The Pin/Continue deck strategy involves attempting to set up as many of them as you can. You will need Resistance is Useless, Aysa, or other cards which can ignore the opponent's defensive cards in order to increase your chances that the initial Attack will proceed unstopped. Strangely enough, it is not always the strongest Pin/Continue Attack cards which make the best choices for the initial Attack. Remember that the initial Attack must go unstopped in order to follow it up with the Pin/Continue. Therefore, if you don't have Resistance/Aysa available, you will actually want a low-Damage initial Attack card to increase the chances that none of its Damage points will be stopped. This also means that, unless you can guarantee that the Attack is unstoppable, you shouldn't play cards which add Damage points to these Attacks. The more cards that the defender has to overturn from his deck, the greater the chance that an undesirable Thunder will come up and stop the Attack before the Pin/Continue can be played.

Sting's built-in Resistance is Useless and brutal Scorpion Death-Lock makes him easily the best choice for a Continue deck. Hollywood Hogan has a built-in Continue which is always a danger. The ultimate Pin deck would have to belong to Goldberg. Not only does he have the biggest hand size -- which will make it easier for him to accumulate the necessary Pin combo cards -- but his unmatched "take another turn" Special Ability can allow him to launch a devastating double-Pin or follow up a Pin with another brutal Attack before the opponent can answer. Scott Hall's built-in Making it Look Easy can free him from concern over an opponent's Corner cards while setting up Pins.

Defending against Pin/Continue decks requires a fair amount of defensive cards to help ensure that no Attack goes without at least one point of Damage being stopped. Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett have Unique cards which allow them to ignore Pins and Continues, respectively.

The Best Offense Is a Good Defense

This deck strategy (sometimes called a "technical deck") downplays Attacks in favor of slowing the game down to a virtual crawl and hamstringing your opponent's ability to fight. It combines Nitro-hosing, Recycling and Fan Support with other deck control tactics such as Corner Chaos and Chaos in the Ring to strip away the opponent's Corner. Such decks also normally include more than the usual number of defensive Thunder cards to help ensure that an opponent's big Attacks do little Damage. Also important is AP management and ensuring that you go through your deck as slowly as you can. This can be accomplished by using cards like Larry Zybysko, Doug Dillinger, Bischoff on Your Side, and ***Chameleon to burn up APs examining and rearranging decks, permanently removing dangerous cards, and returning the best cards to your own hand. Attack cards in these decks are normally those which require 3 APs so as to keep the pace slow. If your opponent is forced to draw down his deck more quickly than you, you will win by attrition. I've seen technical decks draw a game out to 20 turns (with a normal game being 8-11 turns), so this strategy requires a patient and focused player.

Bret Hart can pull off this strategy extremely well due to his unmatched recycling ability, large hand size, and ability to ignore Pins with Bret Shows His True Allegiance. "Excellence of Execution", indeed! Disco Inferno might also be a candidate for a defensive deck given his Special Ability which essentially makes him capable of shrugging off one big Attack.

When playing against a technical deck, you'll want to make all of your Attacks count. It will be better to launch many smaller Attacks than try for a few big ones. You need to get cards out of your opponent's deck to win and big Attacks which get cut off short won't get the job done.

Discard Decks

A "discard deck" is another new strategy introduced by the Hardcore expansion set. This one features numerous cards which force the opponent to discard one or more cards from his hand. Since the three primary cards in this strategy -- Crossface, Front Face-Lock, and Wicked Hair-Pull -- are all Yellow cards, this is best employed by Wrestlers who are strong in that color. The three aforementioned cards say that the first Damage point from these Attacks which is not stopped must come from the opponent's hand rather than from his deck. This strategy is enhanced by including Thunder cards such as Quick Hit and Human Shield and the White Move card, Stunned. By removing cards from the opponent's hand, his options will be reduced, his chances of saving up the important cards needed for combos will be lessened, and he may be forced to draw several extra cards to replenish his hand -- which will accelerate the reduction of his deck and eventual defeat. Needless to say, if he's drawing cards, he's not playing them against you. Use Recycling tactics to keep putting the necessary cards for this strategy back into your hand and keep on nuking your opponent's hand.

Scott Steiner is an excellent candidate for a discard deck due to his +1 Yellow bonus and lack of an offensive Special Ability. The versatile Bret Hart can also use this strategy successfully.

Balls to the Wall

This is a deck strategy which concentrates almost exclusively on Attack cards. Fill your deck with Attack cards and cards which will add Damage points to those Attacks. Get off as many Attacks as you can as quickly as you can deliver them and wear down your opponent before he can do the same to you. It can be a wild ride, but can also be surprisingly effective. Defensive cards are kept to a bare minimum in this strategy and would normally not be more than 4 Dodge/Block Thunders.

Berlyn works very well as a "Balls to the Wall" deck with his excellent Attack-oriented Special Ability and Unique cards. Plus, his Rep of 5 means that he could blitz one of the "big boys" (Rep of 9 or 10) and gain 2 points for winning a round while never being forced to give up two points for losing a round to any Wrestler in the game. Brian Knobs might adopt a hardcore version of this strategy.

Another interesting candidate would be Vampiro. His Unique cards enable Vampiro to add points to his Attacks while weakening his opponent's Attacks and he also has a good Attack card in Vampiro's Knee-Drop. But, his Special Ability to put two cards from his hand back on top of his deck before taking Damage from an Attack will allow him to do ugly things like overturning a Payback plus Reversal combination on demand in response to an opponent's attempted finisher and send lots of Damage back to the opponent. In effect, this adds another finisher to Vampiro's arsenal and fits right in with an overall Attacking strategy.

Other Strategies

The game allows for the employment of other miscellaneous and fun strategies, as well. One is the "Low Nitro" deck in which you use no cards which require more than 3-4 Nitro to play. This strategy would allow you to use a minimum number of Nitro cards and free up some space for other cards. Good choices for these extra cards would be the White Attack modifier cards like Running Start. These will help boost the power of your cheap Attack cards. Wrestlers with small starting hand sizes can benefit the most from this strategy since it will allow them to play their cards more quickly.

Another interesting strategy is the "Nitro Girls" deck. Here, you include all or most of the different Unique cards which feature one of the Nitro Girls. Since each of these benefits your efforts or hinders your opponent's, having several of them in play at once can give you a significant advantage throughout the Round. Any Wrestler could do this, but for those of us who remember Ric Flair from his classic "Space Mountain" days, we might enjoy building a deck around him using this strategy.

Strategy Guide Questions

(MB) Here's a great combo for Goldberg that can result in a first-turn victory! Goldberg begins by playing 3 Nitro cards. Then, he uses his Special Ability, discards 2 Nitro and takes another turn. On his extra turn, Goldberg plays 2 Mix in Some Nitro (giving him 5 Nitro for this turn). He follows with 2 Extra Efforts to get a total of 5 Action Points. Then, Goldberg plays Resistance is Useless followed by Backbreaker (discarding RiU). If the opponent fails to stop any damage, Goldberg continues by playing a Pin. If the opponent does not have 3 Nitro in his corner, he loses the round immediately! Disco Inferno can use his own Special Ability to avoid this combo. Any other wrestler will need to have played a Practiced Block on his first turn to avoid it.

Here is a series of strategy questions submitted to the WCW Nitro TCG mailing list for the input of list members:

Q: 1. How many Nitro cards should one have in a good deck?

• 22-24. Gotta have it to do anything.
• About 18-22. Depends on the Nitro costs of the other cards you use.
• 18-22, depending on if I'm going for a pinging deck or monster moves.
• (MB) I tend to use 18 Nitro cards (30% of the deck) plus one or two Nix in Some Nitro (more if the wrestler has several expensive Move cards). I've experimented with using only 12 Nitro in a Thunder-heavy Rey Mysterio deck where only three of his cards required more than 3 Nitro to play and have had some success with it.

Q: 2. What's the best mix of Corner defensive cards vs. Thunders?

• I run with 6-7 Thunders and 2-3 Corners.
• About Half-Half 6-8 of each type.
• I usually use 7 Thunder and 5 Corner.
• (MB) I'll normally only use more than 5-6 Thunders if I throw in lots of Paybacks, Late Nitro, or Down but Not Out. 3-4 defensive Corners seems optimum.

Q: 3. What are your most-favorite and least-favorite Attack cards (other than Rares) of each Move color?

Most Favorite:

• Blue
  • Flying Body-Press
  • Flying Knee Drop (Good damage for Nitro ratio and Ignore Dodges even if it costs 3 Actions)
  • Big Splash
  • (MB) Flying Knee Drop (ignoring Dodges often helps a lot)
• Green
  • Clothesline
  • Arm Toss or Boot to the Head (again good Nitro/damage ratio)
  • Punch
  • (MB) Missile Dropkick (lots of damage for only 3 Nitro)
• Magenta
  • Vertical Suplex
  • Backbreaker
  • Backbreaker
  • (MB) Snap Suplex (stringing three of them is a lethal play)
• Orange
  • Closed Fist
  • Head Stomp
  • Eye Rake
  • (MB) Hidden Damage (big damage with lots of toys in your corner -- and not illegal)
• Yellow
  • Figure-Four Leg Lock
  • Figure-Four Leg Lock
  • Figure-Four Leg Lock
  • (MB) Bear Hug (huge damage for a sacrifice of one deadweight card)

Least Favorite:

• Blue
  • Flying Head-Butt
  • Flying Elbow From the Top Rope
  • Flying Elbow From the Top Rope
  • (MB) Flying Elbow From the Top Rope (too expensive for only 2 points damage)
• Green
  • Fast Punch
  • Kick
  • Fast Punch
  • (MB) Kick (nearly useless)
• Magenta
  • DDT
  • DDT or European Uppercut
  • European Uppercut
  • (MB) DDT (good damage, but too costly in discards)
• Orange
  • Anything that doesn't allow weapons
  • Rope Burn
  • none, I love Orange
  • (MB) Rope Burn (even with several weapons in your corner, it will likely not do as much damage as other Orange cards)
• Yellow
  • Arm Drag and Twist
  • Arm Bar
  • Arm Drag and Twist
  • (MB) Tongan Death Grip (weenie and expensive)

Q: 4. What are your three favorite "Unique" (e.g., Aysa) cards?

• Only ever use Jimmy Hart
• Aysa, Larry Zybysko, Spice (My favorite Nitro Girl)
• Jimmy Hart, Doug Dillinger, Larry Zybysko
• (MB) Jimmy Hart (absolute requirement for hardcore decks), Aysa (use it to help land the big attacks), Nitro Girls (every +1 to your attacks is precious)

Q: 5. Do you prefer to "ping" an opponent to death with numerous small attacks or set up one or two monsters?

• I like to "ramp up" at the start, laying 2 Nitros and a Move, until I can play from the set the deck is built around.
• As I normally play Sting, I like to soften my opponent up with some small Green or Blue Moves (mostly Green) and then go for the Big Yellow attacks that can be Continued. My sister favors a Jeff Jarrett Punch deck -- lots of small Punches that accumulate damage in chains.
• I'm torn here. I have 2 solid decks of each type. The pinger is Jarrett. The monster is Bret Hart.
• (MB) "Ping"/Punch decks can totally frustrate an opponent who has big defensive cards in his Corner. Who wants to waste Practiced Dodge or Strong Block on small attacks? Even at that, the threat of a devastating monster attack can change an opponent's entire approach to his game plan. "Pings" likely won't kill him, but a 15-30 point assault backed up by Aysa, Resistance is Useless, Pin/Continue, etc. can end the round.

Q: 6. If you were playing in a tournament using the official Match Play rules, which wrestler(s) would you prefer to build a deck around?

• Sting. It's my best deck yet, and the built-in RiU is very useful.
• A Sting submission (Continue the Hold) deck or a DDP Illegal/Weapons deck.
• Regardless of his Rep working against him, Bret Hart.
• (MB) Match play is conducive to low-Rep wrestlers pulling off upsets. Scott Hall has only a 3 Rep (which will give him the "upset advantage" against 8 different opponents) and his Making It Look Easy special combined with RiU or Aysa can help set up a winning Outsider's Edge. Also, one can build a strong defensive deck around Disco Inferno that can cause major problems for opponents who rely on big attacks. In fact, Disco just went undefeated and won a double-elimination single-round tournament I played with all 14 wrestlers (beating Goldberg once and Hart twice). Maybe not as much fun to play as Sting, but certainly a match-play threat.

(Comment) Larry Zybysko is a great card. Think of it this way, you KNOW that your opponent is sitting on some Block or Dodge Thunders (or God forbid Crowd Chants Goldberg or Nash's NWO Support), and you don't want to waste that big attack late in the game. Ask Larry what's on top of the deck. If a Thunder is waiting in the first three cards, put the thunder on top and wait a turn for him to pick it up. If not, give him a beating! I don't care what deck you're playing or playing against, thunder's in your opponent's hand is much better than in their deck to knock you back. Or even better. The game is early and your opponent is desperate for Nitro. If he doesn't get any, you're up a huge advantage. Now how do I know he won't get any Nitro? Talk to Larry. If there's no Nitro there, let him keep it. If there is, make him shuffle it up. Better that he doesn't get the easy pull of Nitro than a random one. Simple as that.

Basic Point. Larry gives you knowledge of your opponents future, which can only be good for you.

(MB) After some initial skepticism, I'm coming around to appreciate what Larry Zybysko can do. However, I'm still not sold on it being an essential card. Action Points are precious and too few in number. Since Larry only looks at the first three cards, he won't protect you from a Reversal, Crowd Chants Goldberg, Kidman Gets Help, or other nastiness that might be lurking after those first three cards. If you are launching a big attack, you're still going to have to sweat those cards -- and might not be able to get the attack off at all if you have to spend an AP using Larry. I've found that his best use is when the game is coming down to the last couple of turns and decks are getting very low. You can rearrange your own deck to bring up a key card at a critical moment or remove a key card from the top of your opponent's deck when he might most need it.

Q: Which wrestler is the best one to play the game with? Figuring higher reputation, their unique moves, the types of moves they can use, and which ones they get a bonus to, who do you think is the strongest wrestler?

A1: I believe that Sting is the best wrestler in the game. In my mind his special ability is one of the best. I also like DDP. Especially if you have DDP gets help from Kimberly in your corner, then DDP would get the best attack. I don't have either of the wrestlers, but Aztec_91 has a DDP deck and it is great. He can deal a total of like 44 for just one attack. Also he lays a Resistance is Useless and then your doomed unless you have a Practiced Dodge.

A2: Good question! I would have to say the most lethal wrestler I have seen is Goldberg. With two high powered special moves and Crowd Chants Goldberg (need I say more?). However, his ability isn't the greatest of all. So far, the only wrestler I think that is every bit as good as Goldberg is Kevin Nash. His special ability is awesome! Also, the Powerbomb is good and the elbow deals 9 and ignores dodges! I got your practiced dodge.... hee hee....

A3: I have to go with Sting or Goldberg. Sting with a ok rep. a corner that is basically a Practice dodge. One of the 2 move that deal 15,16 with a +1,and a continue may be played. Stinger splash that dose 9. And a built in resistance is useless for a special ability. Now to Goldberg, Goldberg's Jackhammer 16 may pay a pin. Spear does 10 draw a card I think pretty good. Crowd Chants Goldberg Discard a Nitro you opponents takes double you stopped(one time I made DDP take 60 damage with that card no lie.) A Goldberg and Sting deck's are really awesome decks.

A4: Time for me to jump in on this topic of wrestler choices. Clearly there are a lot of good wrestlers to choose from, and also a lot of sucky ones too! Below I have compiled a list of the top five wrestlers that I feel are the best. This decision is based on several things (rep, special ability, special cards for that wrestler, etc..). I have also compiled a list of the worst wrestlers, also based on the criteria above.

Best There Is (no pun intended... heh heh)

1. Sting
2. Goldberg
3. Kevin Nash
4. Bret Hart
5. Diamond Dallas Page

Honorable Mention: Lex Luger

Reasons?

1. Sting - Sting is clearly the best wrestler thus far. He has a built in 'Resistance is Useless' in his special ability. Since he makes use of submission moves (at a +1), his special ability can really come in handy for 'Continuing the Hold'. Best thing is Deathlock for 16 while waving the black bat! He has one of the only two moves that do 16 damage! Another reason is his rep of 8, gives you a good selection of cards at the beginning but not too many to really hurt yourself. Stinger's Mask, great card, another Practiced Dodge that can get past those moves that can ignore dodges! Stinger's Splash? Ouch! Ignores Dodges? Awesome! Plain and simple!

2. Goldberg - Goldberg was my number two choice. His special ability works great late in the game when a little more damage just needs to be done. Another reason is that he has the other move dealing 16 damage! Jackhammer! Plus his Spear is a great card as well! Spear, take an extra turn using his special ability, and Jackhammer! Ouch! (Better have a couple Resistance is Useless laying around!) Crowd chants Goldberg? What a rough card... This thing can really turn the tables if it comes up at the right time.

(MB) I agree with these assessments, although I would personally rank Goldberg as the better of the two. Putting two turns back-to-back can be absolutely devastating and is something that no other wrestler can match. Add Resistance is Useless and Goldberg also gets the equivalent of Sting's Special. Add Goldberg's three unmatched Special cards and you have a dominant deck.

3. Kevin Nash - First off, love the special ability! Choose two cards from the discard pile and put them back in your hand! Invaluable! Nice rep of 9 gives you good assortment of cards at the beginning. +1 to yellow? sweet.... love those submission moves! Special cards... Nash's Jacknife Powerbomb = great damage, Nash's Elbow = great damage and ignores dodges!, Nash's NWO support? = It's ok, but I don't bother using it.

4. Bret Hart = The best there is? Well the fourth best maybe according to my list. Great submission finisher in the old Sharpshooter! I'd like to continue the hold for some more pain, thanks! His special ability? Built-in Second Wind? Coolness! This really helps late in the game! Rep of 10 is a slight downfall I think though. 9 is pushing it and 10 is a little over the line. If he had some other good cards.... (I can't even recall what his other card does)

(MB) Bret's other special is Bret's the Best There Is. Combine this with other cards which dismantle an opponent's corner and Bret can be very difficult to beat. Actually, I find that my Bret and Kevin Nash decks are very close in strength. Hint: Add a 1 Nitro attack card like Arm Toss to Bret's deck. Since Bret will go first due to his 10 Rep, if he gets Arm Toss in his initial draw, he can play 1 Nitro and the Arm Toss to get off a 6-point attack on the very first turn.

5. DDP - DDP comes it at #5 mainly for one reason, his additional cards. Diamond Cutter gives good damage, Help from Kimberly almost always proves highly useful, and Rapid Fire Punches can be deadly in the right deck (heh heh). But his main downfalls are his rep (6, I prefer at least 7) and his bonus to orange (+1). I had a DDP deck, and I was very fond of it, but I just can't get use to orange attacks. Weapons can be brutal, but DQs can hurt!

Sample Games: Championship Chase

Bring your best decks and compete for championship gold! Rules for championship eligibility are given in the section for each belt. All belts other than the "Match Rules" title will be contested as best 2-of-3 falls matches for wrestlers of all Reputations. The "Match Rules" title will be contested in accordance with the official Match rules which take wrestler Reputations into account.

I've run a tournament with my own wrestlers to determine initial title holders. To challenge and compete for any championship belt, check the rules for the belts and e-mail me with your contender(s). I will play out all title matches and record the results on this site. Good luck!

World Championship

Format: Best 2-of-3 Falls Eligibility: Any wrestler. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Must have previously won at least one match while competing for the U.S. Championship. Special Rules: None.

Current World Champion: Goldberg (Mark Bakke)

U.S. Championship

Format: Best 2-of-3 Falls Eligibility: Any wrestler. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Must have previously won at least one match while competing for the TV Championship or Cruiserweight Championship. Special Rules: None.

Current U.S. Champion: Bret Hart (Mark Bakke)

TV Championship

Format: Best 2-of-3 Falls Eligibility: Any wrestler. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Special Rules: None.

Current TV Champion: Sting (Mark Bakke) #1 Contender: Kevin Nash (Mark Bakke)

Hardcore Championship

Format: Best 2-of-3 Falls, No DQ Eligibility: Any wrestler who can use Orange Moves. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Special Rules: No Referee distraction necessary to use Weapons or Corner Wrestlers.

Current Hardcore Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (Mark Bakke) #1 Contender: Sid Vicious (Mark Bakke)

Cruiserweight Championship

Format: Best 2-of-3 Falls Eligibility: Any wrestler weighing 225 pounds or less. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Special Rules: No Weapons permitted.

Current Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (Mark Bakke) #1 Contender: Rey Mysterio, Jr. (Mark Bakke)

Match Rules Championship

Format: Official Wizards of the Coast Match Rules. First to 3 points wins. Eligibility: Any wrestler. Must first win a #1 Contender match. Special Rules: None.

Current Match Rules Champion: Disco Inferno (Mark Bakke) #1 Contender: Bret Hart (Mark Bakke)

General Rules

All wrestlers begin their championship pursuit by competing for either the TV or Cruiserweight Championships and must work their way up to the Main Event. Contenders must first win a #1 Contender match in order to challenge the current champion for the belt. If a defending World or US champion is defeated, he will automatically be placed in the rotation for the next #1 Contender match for that same belt. If he fails to win this match, he must go down a level (World to US, US to TV) and earn his way back up.

Wrestlers may hold only one belt at the same time. If any title holder wins another title, he must relinquish his previous belt. The vacated title will be awarded to the winner of the next #1 Contender match for that belt.

Wrestler Reputations are only taken into account in competition for the "Match Rules" title. All other competitive matches will be best 2-of-3 falls.

Sample Games: Shorthand System

Shorthand Game Recording System

Recording a game as it is being played can be a tedious procedure since many things can happen in a turn and many cards have rather lengthy full names. Yet, you may find it useful to record games in order to replay them or relive them later in order to analyze strategies or show off your big wins for friends. You may even wish to write up full narrative descriptions of your matches along with storylines and other details in order to enhance a simulation of championship matches or full wrestling cards such as PPV events

The system comes easily with only a little practice and should add only a few minutes to game play time. To illustrate the system, the following is a sample of how it would be used to record a typical game. In each case, the actual shorthand recording each turn is listed first. This is followed by a description of the turn's action and any other explanations which may aid in learning the system. You'll quickly see that the shorthand method is a very quick and concise way of recording the play-by-play of a game.

GOLDBERG (10/M+1/Y+1/G) vs. JEFF JARRETT (8/O+1/G+1/B)
G: Sleep, N, DBlok, N, N, Spear, CtHld, Block, N, RUsls
J: FsPun, Chop, GutCk, Punch, N, DBlok, N, IWhpR

The game begins with each wrestler drawing his initial hand. (Note: Goldberg is a power move/Continue the Hold deck built around Yellow cards. Jarrett is a Punch deck.)

Goldberg (Reputation of 10, Magenta+1, Yellow+1, Green) has a starting hand of Sleeper Hold, Nitro, Desperate Block, Nitro, Nitro, Goldberg's Spear, Continue the Hold, Block, Nitro and Resistance is Useless.

Jeff Jarrett (Reputation of 8, Orange+1, Green+1, Blue) has a starting hand of Fast Punch, Chop, Gut Check, Punch, Nitro, Desperate Block, Nitro and Irish Whip to the Ropes.

G1[50/0]: ~CKaos, N, N, N [49/3]
J1[52/0]: ~N, N, N, N [51/3]

Goldberg begins Turn 1 (indicated by the first letter of the wrestler's first or last name followed by the number of the turn being played) with 50 cards in his deck and 0 Nitro in play (indicated by the slash-separated numbers inside square brackets). His initial draw is Corner Chaos. (Put a tilde '~' in front of a card symbol to represent a drawn card.) He spends his Action Points (APs) to play 3 Nitro cards and ends the turn with 49 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play. (Indicate card plays by listing the card symbols in the order in which they are played.)

Jarrett begins Turn 1 with 52 cards in his deck and 0 Nitro in play. His initial draw is Nitro. Jarrett also plays 3 Nitro cards. He ends his turn with 51 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play.

G2[49/3]: ~LNtro, ~F4Leg, ~LNtro, N [46/4]
J2[51/3]: ~RStrt, FsPun+IWhpR!1G+5 \G*7[39/4]\, Chop+RStrt!5GP+2
\G*5(Dodge)[34/4]\ [50/3]

Goldberg begins Turn 2 with 49 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play. His initial draw is Late Nitro. He draws two more cards and gets Figure-Four Leg Lock and another Late Nitro. His last AP is spent playing a Nitro card. He ends his turn with 46 cards in his deck and 4 Nitro in play.

Jarrett begins Turn 2 with 51 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play. His initial draw is Running Start. This sets up a nice combination attack, which he begins by playing Fast Punch along with Irish Whip to the Ropes. (Indicate an attack by listing the attack card played. If the attack card is modified by one or more other cards, list them each after a plus '+' sign. Follow the list of cards used in the attack with an exclamation point '!'.) This attack has a base value of 1 point. Jarrett gets a bonus for Green Moves and adds +5 for the Irish Whip to the Ropes. (Immediately after the ! symbol, record the base value of the attack card, followed by single letters for the source of each applicable +1 bonus for move colors, "Most Nitro", and/or previous Punches. Finally, list any modifiers earned from other Move cards or Corner cards.) Goldberg ends up taking all 7 points of damage (indicated by the wrestler's one-letter ID followed by an asterisk '*' and the total number of damage cards drawn) as he draws no Thunder cards and ends the attack with 39 cards in his deck and 4 Nitro in play (all damage resolutions are marked off by putting them between backslash '' characters). Jarrett continues by playing a Chop along with Running Start. This attack has a base value of 5 points. Jarrett gets a bonus for Green Moves plus an additional bonus for having already played a Punch card this turn. Finally, he adds +2 for the Running Start. Goldberg ends up taking only 5 points of damage as he draws a Dodge and stops the rest of the attack (indicate Thunder draws which affect damage resolution or which will go into the player's corner by listing them in parentheses). Goldberg ends the attack with 34 cards in his deck and 4 Nitro in play. Jarrett ends his turn with 50 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play.

G3[34/4]: ~Aysa, F4Leg!7YN \J*8(Paybk,^DBlok)[42/3]\\G*2(^Block)[31/4]\
J3[42/3]: ~N, ~MixIn, ~N, N [38/4]

Goldberg begins Turn 3 by drawing Aysa. He attacks by playing a Figure-Four Leg Lock which has a base value of 7 and is improved by Goldberg's bonus for Yellow Moves along with the "Most Nitro" bonus. Jarrett draws 8 damage cards from his deck and has to discard a Desperate Block from his hand to avoid a potential Continue the Hold (indicate cards discarded either from the hand or the corner by listing them after a caret '^'). Jarrett ends the attack with 42 cards in his deck and 3 Nitro in play. During Jarrett's damage draw, he pulled a Payback card. Goldberg takes 2 damage from his deck and discards a Block from his hand to end the attack and the turn with 31 cards in his deck and 4 Nitro in play.

Jarrett begins Turn 3 by drawing Nitro. He draws two more cards and gets Mix in Some Nitro and another Nitro. He plays a Nitro card to end his turn with 38 cards in his deck and 4 Nitro in play.

G4[31/4]: ~PDodg, PDodg, Aysa [30/4]
J4[38/4]: ~DNOut, ^DNOut(~FcPun), N, Punch!0GN \G*2[28/4]\, FcPun!1PGN
\G*4[24/4]\ [36/5]

Goldberg starts Turn 4 by drawing Practiced Dodge. He strengthens his corner by playing Practiced Dodge and Aysa and ends the turn with 30 cards and 4 Nitro.

Jarrett starts Turn 4 by drawing Down but Not Out. He immediately discards that card to draw another card -- a Face Punch (indicate a "free" action or other card play done as a result of another card play by listing it in parentheses following the initial card play). He plays a Nitro card to set up another combo. Jarrett plays a Punch card, base value 0 plus Green and Nitro bonuses. Goldberg takes 2 points of damage, ending with 28 cards and 4 Nitro. Jarrett follows up with a Face Punch, base value of 1 plus Punch, Green and Nitro bonuses. Goldberg takes all 4 points and now has 24 cards and 4 Nitro. Jarrett ends the turn with 36 cards and 5 Nitro.

G5[24/4]: ~Dodge, ~Dodge, ~N, ~N [20/4]
J5[36/5]: ~FcPun, ~Gouge, Gouge!4ON \G*4(^Dodge,^Dodge)[16/4]\ [34/5]

Goldberg starts Turn 5 by drawing a Dodge card. He continues to try to draw attack cards and pulls another Dodge followed by 2 Nitro. He ends the turn with 20 cards and 4 Nitro in play.

Jarrett draws a Face Punch followed by Gouging. He attacks with the Gouging card, base value 4 plus Orange and Nitro bonuses. Goldberg takes 4 damage points and discards 2 Dodge cards from his hand. Goldberg now has 16 cards and 4 Nitro. Jarrett has 34 cards and 5 Nitro.

G6[16/4]: ~N, ~CCG, ~Dodge, ~SWind [12/4]
J6[34/5]: ~Dodge, ~Punch, Punch!0GN \G*1(Dodge)[11/4]\, FcPun!1PGN \G*4[7/4]\
[32/5]

Goldberg is desperately trying to pull attack cards, but draws Nitro, Crowd Chants Goldberg, Dodge and Second Wind. He now has 12 cards and 4 Nitro.

Jarrett draws Dodge. He continues wearing down Goldberg by playing Punch, base value 0 plus Green and Nitro bonuses. Goldberg draws a Dodge as his first damage card. Jarrett follows up with a Face Punch for 1 point plus Punch, Green and Nitro. Goldberg takes 4 more damage and is down to 7 cards and 4 Nitro. Jarrett ends the turn looking good with 32 cards and 5 Nitro.

G7[7/4]: ~N, N, SWind(4 Dodge, SWind) [11/5]
J7[32/5]: ~N, ~N, ~DTopR, ~JeffG [28/5]

Suddenly, Goldberg sees his chance for victory and begins by drawing and playing a Nitro card. He now plays Second Wind to put 4 Dodge cards and a Second Wind back into his deck. His deck is up to 11 cards and is now very resistant to attacks. He also evens up the Nitro cards by having 5 Nitro in play.

Jarrett has no attacks to play and spends his turn drawing cards. He pulls 2 Nitro, a Dive from the Top Rope and Jeff's Guitar. His turn ends with 28 cards and 5 Nitro.

G8[11/5]: ~Sleep, N, Spear+CCG+^Aysa!10N+1 \J*10(DNOut,Block)[18/5]\, ~Dodge
[9/6]
J8[18/5]: ~Missl, Missl!7G \G*0(^PDodg)[9/6]\ [17/5]

Goldberg draws a Sleeper Hold and launches his plan for victory. He plays a Nitro card to gain the upper hand in Nitro cards and then breaks out a sudden Goldberg's Spear along with Crowd Chants Goldberg and discards Aysa from his corner. Jarrett has to eat 10 damage points before drawing a Block and sees his deck dwindle down to 18 cards. During damage draws, Jarrett gets a Down but Not Out for his corner. Goldberg's Spear allows him to draw another card. He gets a Dodge and ends the turn with 9 cards and 6 Nitro.

A reeling Jarrett draws and then plays a Missile Dropkick. This forces Goldberg to discard the Practiced Dodge from his corner to stop the attack and remain at 9 cards. Jarrett ends the turn with 17 cards.

G9[9/6]: ~N, ~Dodge, RUsls [7/6]
J9[17/5]: ~Punch, ~RStrt, N, N, Special(+2AP), ~AToss, Punch+DTopR!0GN+5
\G*2(Block)[5/6]\ [14/7]

Goldberg draws a Nitro. Then, he continues his plan by drawing a card (a Dodge) and playing Resistance is Useless into his corner. He now has 7 cards and 6 Nitro.

Jarrett knows this might be his last chance for a win, so he prepares a turn that will use his Special ability. He draws a Punch followed by a Running Start. He plays 2 Nitro and uses his Special to gain 2 APs. These are used to draw another card (an Arm Toss) and attack by playing a Punch along with a Dive From the Top Rope for a potential 7 damage points. But, Goldberg draws a Block on his second card to stop the last five points and keep 5 cards in his deck. Jarrett has 14 cards remaining.

G10[5/6]: ~N, N, Sleep+LNtro+^RUsls!6Y+1 \J*8[6/7]\, Special(+1Turn,^N,^N)
G10[4/5]: ~N, N, Sleep+LNtro!6Y+1 \J loses\

Goldberg prepares the potential finisher. He draws and plays a Nitro and then attacks with a Sleeper Hold plus Late Nitro and discards the powerful Resistance is Useless. Jarrett can do nothing about it and eats all 8 points to be reduced to 6 cards. Goldberg now uses his Special to take another turn (discarding two Nitro). He begins the bonus turn by drawing and playing a Nitro and applying another Sleeper Hold along with another Late Nitro. Jarrett starts drawing his remaining cards and hopes for a timely Thunder card, but his deck is all out and he doesn't have enough in his hand to absorb the remaining damage, so Jarrett loses to a tremendous comeback by Goldberg!

Wrestler Cards

The Symbol column is the card's abbreviation as printed. "(XX)" appears after some names in the source with no legend in the text; it is reproduced as printed. The Stats column is reproduced as printed.

Symbol	Wrestler's Name	Special Ability	REP	Stats
BERLN	Berlyn	Distract Ref, +8 damage	5	B1/Y/O
STINR	"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner (XX)	Always goes first	7	B/O/Y1
KIDMN	Billy Kidman	+1 damage/discard	6	B1/G/O
BRET	Bret Hart	5 discards into deck	10	Y1/G1/M
KNOBS	Brian Knobs (XX)	Ignore DQ once	6

Wrestler Unique Cards

Type is the card category as printed. N/A/D is the card's Nitro/Action Point/Damage figure as printed ("-" where none). Where a Thunder card has two faces, the Hand face is marked "H:" and the Deck face "D:".

Type	Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
OMove	BChan	4/2/6	Berlyn's Chain	Use weapons, ignore DQ
YMove	BNeck	8/3/14	Berlyn's Neckbreaker (XX)	no stop/Cont
Thndr	BFrnd	-	Berlyn's Old Friend	H: stop 1 / D: stop 9
YMove	BShrp	8/3/14	Bret's Sharpshooter	no stop/Cont
WCrnr	BrAlg	4/2/-	Bret Show His True Allegiance (XX)

Blue Moves

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
DrKik	1/1/1	Dropkick	-
FlyHB	2/2/5	Flying Headbutt	Discard 1 Nitro per Block
FlyFr	2/3/6	Flying Forearm	-
HRBPr	2/3/7	High-Risk Body-Press (XX)	If Block/Dodge, discard 1 Nitro
FlyEl	3/1/2	Flying Elbow from the Top Rope	-
Mnslt	3/2/5	Moonsault	-
FlySA

Green Moves

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
Punch	0/1/0	Punch	+1 damage per other punch this turn
IWhpC	0/2/3	Irish Whip to the Corner	-
Snpmr	0/3/4	Snapmare (XX)	-
Kick	1/1/1	Kick	-
ArmTs	1/2/4	Arm Toss	-
BtHed	1/3/5	Boot to the Head	-
FsPun

Magneta Moves

The colour heading is printed as "Magneta Moves" in the source.

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
BSplx	3/1/2	Belly-to-Belly Suplex	-
SMSup	3/1/3	Shoulder-Mounted Suplex (XX)	Discard 1 from deck
CKaos	4/1/-	Corner Chaos	Discard 1 Opp. non-Nitro Corner
EnjPn	4/1/2	Enjoy the Pain (XX)	Draw 1
MilPD	4/1/3	Military Press-Drop (XX)	-
SNeck	4/2/5	Swinging Neckbreaker	-

Orange Moves

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
RBurn	1/1/0	Rope Burn	+1 per weapon
Gouge	2/2/4	Gouging	use weapons
LoBlo	2/3/5	Low Blow	use weapons
SlmRl	3/1/4	Slam into the Railing (XX)	Only if out of ring
TThrt	3/2/6	Thrust to the Throat	illegal
ORChk	3/3/7	Over-the-Rope Choke (XX)	-
AyWrk

White Moves

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
Help	0/0/-	Help	Discard Nitro, use Wrestler Special, discard Wrestler
Artst	0/3/-	The Artist	2 Nitro from deck to Corner, shuffle deck
RStrt	2/0/+2	Running Start	-
Piper	2/1/-	"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Takes Charge	Discard 1 Opp. O corner, draw 1
Stund	3/0/-	Stunned (XX)	last Attack not stopped/opp. doesn't draw start card next turn
TrWrk	3/0/-	Torrie at Work	if ref distracted, use and discard Opp. weapon

Yellow Moves

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
ArmBr	1/1/1	Arm Bar	-
LTOut	2/2/3	Let's Take This Outside (XX)	no stop/out of ring, +1 AP
ArmDT	2/2/6	Arm Drag and Twist	discard 1
WHPul	3/2/4	Wicked Hair-Pull (XX)	First point not stopped comes from opp. hand
BrHug	3/3/9	Bear Hug	discard 1
CTH	4/0/*	Continue the Hold	repeat last attack if allowed

Thunder Cards

Each Thunder card has a Hand face (H), which is the effect when played from the hand, and a Deck face (D), which is the effect when overturned from the deck during Damage resolution.

Symbol	Card Name	Notes
4Pcnt	4 Percent Body Fat (XX)	H: Stop 1 / D: Discard 1 Nitro, 3 cards from discards to deck
BkPln	Always Have a Backup Plan (XX)	H: Stop 1 / D: Discard 1, put Corner cards into your corner
AFans	Angry Fans	H: -1 Nitro / D: Corner, Opp +1 Nitro
Block	Block	H: Stop 1 / D: Stop 5
BlkHB	Block and Hope for the Best (XX)	H: Stop 1 / D: discard 2, stop 12
ChgMo	Change of Momentum (XX)	H: +1 damage / D: Discard 1 Nitro, next Attack card playable for free
DBlok	Desperate Block	H: Stop 1 / D: discard, stop 7
DDodg

Orange Corner Cards

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
FChar	2/1/+4	Folding Chair	weapon
BKnux	3/1/+1	Brass Knuckles (XX)	weapon, Punches +1
JHart	4/1/-	Jimmy Hart	unique Ref distracted
NHBar	4/1/-	No Holds Barred	Ignore DQ
GbgCn	4/1/+5	Garbage Can	weapon
Table	4/2/+8	Table	weapon
BsBat

White Corner Cards

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
N	-/1/-	Nitro	-
MixIn	0/0/-	Mix In Some Nitro	cards played this turn cost 2 less Nitro
JNGrl	1/1/-	Jealousy among the Nitro Girls (XX)	Unique cards +2 Nitro
PBlok	1/1/-	Practiced Block	Stop 3
PrEvl	1/1/-	Pretty Evil (XX)	Unique. +1 damage/Nitro discarded
Reinf	1/1/-	Ringside Reinforcements	Wrestlers drawn in damage go to corner

White Corner Cards (continued)

Symbol	N/A/D	Card Name	Notes
Starr	4/1/-	Starr (XX)	Unique. Yellow cards -2 Nitro
Tygrs	4/1/-	Tygress	unique, Yellow attacks must discard 1 card from hand
Baby	4/2/-	Baby (XX)	Unique. Provides 2 Nitro.
Chqta	4/2/-	Chiquita (XX)	Unique. Orange cards -2 Nitro
GvFan	4/2/-	Giving the Fans What They Want (XX)	+1 each attack
GDFan	4/2/-	It Gets Dangerous for the Fans (XX)	+1 damage if out of ring

Hardcore Expansion Moves (Premium)

The Hardcore expansion is numbered out of 114 cards. Rarity is "Prem" in the source for this group.

Card #	Rarity	Type	N/A/D	Title	Card Text
1/114	Prem	White Corner	4/2/-	Baby	Unique. Provides 2 Nitro.
2/114	Prem	Wrestler	Rep 7, B/O/Y1	"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner	You always "holler" and go first in a round.
3/114	Prem	Wrestler	Rep 6, O1/G/M	Brian Knobs	Once a round, if a DQ comes up from the other player's deck, you may "get nasty" and ignore it.
4/114	Prem	White Corner	4/1/-	Cat, the Commissioner

Hardcore Expansion Moves (Rare)

Card #	Rarity	Type	N/A/D	Title	Card Text
17/114	Rare	Thunder	-	4 Percent Body Fat	H: Discard this card to stop 1 damage from this attack. D: You may discard 1 Nitro card from your corner. If you do, remove this card from the round and shuffle up to 3 cards from your discard pile into your deck.
18/114	Rare	Yellow	8/3/14	Berlyn's Neckbreaker	Only Berlyn may use this card. If none of the damage from this card is stopped, you may play a Continue after this attack.
19/114	Rare	White Corner	4/2/-	Bret Shows His True Allegiance	Only Bret Hart may use this card. Ignore Pins played by other players.
20/114	Rare

| 34/114 | Rare | Thunder | - | Ric Is the Dirtiest Player in the Game | Only Ric Flair may use this card. H: Play this card with an orange Attack card. That attack does +2 damage. D: Put this card into your corner. While this card is in play, the referee is distracted. | | 35/114 | Rare | Green | 4/1/5 | Ric's Chops to the Chest | Only Ric Flair may use this card. Does +2 damage if you've already played a Punch this turn. | | 36/114 | Rare | Yellow | 8/3/14 | Ric's Figure-Four Leg-Lock | Only Ric Flair may use this card. If none of the damage from this card is stopped, you may play a Continue after this attack. | | 37/114 | Rare | Orange | 8/3/14 | Screamin' Norman | Only Norman Smiley may use this card. If none of the damage from this card is stopped, you may play a Pin after this attack. | | 38/114 | Rare | White Corner | 6/3/- | Sid Wins the World Title | Only Sid Vicious may use this card. Remove this card from the round. The other player discards his or her hand and redraws as many cards as he or she discarded. | | 39/114 | Rare | Yellow | 8/3/14 | Steiner Recliner | Only "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner may use this card. If none of the damage from this card is stopped, you may play a Pin after this attack. | | 40/114 | Rare | Thunder | - | Steiner, Genetic Freak | Only "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner may use this card. H: Play this card with an orange Attack card. That attack does +2 damage. D: You may randomly discard 1 card from your hand. If you do, put this card into your corner. You may discard this card during your turn to take the action out of the ring until that turn ends. | | 41/114 | Rare | Thunder | - | Sting Gains Momentum | Only Sting may use this card. H: Play this card with an attack card. That attack does +1 damage. D: You may randomly discard 1 card from your hand. If you do, after this attack, the other player takes damage equal to the number on the next attack card that comes up from your deck, after this card, during this attack. | | 42/114 | Rare | Orange | 6/1/5 | Tank's Knockout Punch | Only Tank Abbott may use this card. You may use Weapons with this attack. If none of the damage from this card is stopped, you may play a Pin card after this attack. | | 43/114 | Rare | White Corner | 4/2/- | Terry Is Middle-Aged and Crazy | Only Terry Funk may use this card. You may discard this card from your corner to put 2 Weapons from your discard pile into your corner. | | 44/114 | Rare | White Corner | 5/2/- | Terry Is the Hardcore Icon | Only Terry Funk may use this card. If the action is out of the ring, you may ignore DQs and the referee is distracted. Comment printed in the source: "Great card which makes the powerful 'out of the ring' weapons easier and safer to use." | | 45/114 | Rare | White Corner | 3/1/- | TTP's Elizabeth | Only TTP may use this card. On your turn, you may spend 1 Action Point to reveal the top card on your deck. If it is a Nitro card, ignore Dodges and Reversals during your next attack this turn. | | 46/114 | Rare | White Corner | 1/1/- | Vampiro Turns on Sting | Only Vampiro may use this card. Each Orange attack you play does +1 damage. | | 47/114 | Rare | Orange | 7/1/7 | Vampiro's Knee-Drop | Only Vampiro may use this card. Ignore Dodges for this attack. | | 48/114 | Rare | White Corner | 4/1/- | Vampiro's "Red Liquid" | Only Vampiro may use this card. Each attack the other player plays does -1 damage. | | 49/114 | Rare | Thunder | - | Years of Experience | H: Discard this card during your turn to draw 1 card. (This doesn't cost any Action Points.) D: The next card that comes up from your deck during this attack goes into your hand. |

Hardcore Expansion Moves (Uncommon)

Card #	Rarity	Type	N/A/D	Title	Card Text
50/114	Unc	Orange	5/1/3	Always Bring an Extra Weapon	Put 1 Weapon card from your discard pile into your hand.
51/114	Unc	Thunder	-	Always Have a Backup Plan	H: Discard this card to stop 1 damage from this attack. D: You may discard 1 card from you hand. If you do, put any Corner cards, other then Nitro cards, that come up from your deck during the rest of this attack into your corner.
52/114	Unc	White Corner	3/2/+7	Announcer's Table	Weapon. You may use this card only if the action is out of the ring. If the referee is distracted and you play an Attack card that allows you to use a Weapon, you may discard this card from your corner. If you do, that attack does +7 damage and is illegal.
53/114

| 66/114 | Unc | Green | 3/2/4 | High-Impact Kick | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends and you gain 1 extra Action Point this turn. | | 67/114 | Unc | Blue | 2/3/7 | High-Risk Body-Press | If a Dodge or Block Thunder card comes up from the other player's deck during this attack, discard 1 Nitro card from your corner (if you have any). | | 68/114 | Unc | Yellow | 4/2/4 | Hold and Shove through the Ropes | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends and you gain 1 extra Action Point this turn. | | 69/114 | Unc | White Corner | 5/3/- | Humiliating Block | You may discard this card from your corner to stop the first 12 damage from an attack. | | 70/114 | Unc | White Corner | 4/2/- | It Gets Dangerous for the Fans | If the action is out of the ring, all of your attacks do +1 damage. | | 71/114 | Unc | Yellow | 2/2/3 | Let's Take This Outside | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends and you gain 1 extra Action Point this turn. | | 72/114 | Unc | White Corner | 6/2/+9 | Metal Steps to the Ring | Weapon. You may use this card only if the action is out of the ring. If the referee is distracted and you play an Attack card that allows you to use a Weapon, you may discard this card from your corner. If you do, that attack does +9 damage and is illegal. | | 73/114 | Unc | Orange | 4/1/2 | Punch in the Nose | Does +1 damage for each other Punch you've already played this turn and is illegal. | | 74/114 | Unc | Orange | 4/1/2 | Shove out of the Ring | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends. | | 75/114 | Unc | White Corner | 5/1/- | Surprise Guest-Referee | Any player must either discard 4 Nitro cards from his or her corner instead of 3 or lose the round, when the other player plays a Pin. | | 76/114 | Unc | Green | 2/1/1 | Tackle over the Ropes | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends. | | 77/114 | Unc | Yellow | 4/1/2 | Throw 'Em Out | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends. | | 78/114 | Unc | Magenta | 8/2/8 | Toss from the Turnbuckle | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends and you gain 2 extra Action Points this turn. | | 79/114 | Unc | Magenta | 6/3/9 | Toss over the Ropes | If none of the damage from this card is stopped, the action is out of the ring until your turn ends and you gain 2 extra Action Points this turn. | | 80/114 | Unc | White Corner | 3/0/- | Two-Count | Draw 1 card when you play this card. When the other player plays a Pin, you may discard this card and 1 Nitro card from your corner. If you do, the Pin has no effect. | | 81/114 | Unc | White Corner | 5/1/- | We're Going Outside Again! | Choose up to 2 Move cards from your discard pile that say "you may play this card only if the action is out of the ring" and put them into your hand. | | 82/114 | Unc | Yellow | 3/2/4 | Wicked Hair-Pull | The first point of damage that this card does that is not stopped comes randomly from the other player's hand instead of his or her deck. When that player has no cards left in his or her hand, the rest of the damage comes from his or her deck. |

Hardcore Expansion Moves (Common)

Card #	Rarity	Type	N/A/D	Title	Card Text
83/114	Common	White	6/2/-	Bischoff on Your Side	Search your deck and choose 3 cards. Shuffle the rest of your deck, then put those 3 cards on top in any order.
84/114	Common	Thunder	-	Block and Hope for the Best	H: Discard this card to stop 1 damage from this attack. D: You may discard 2 cards from your hand. If you do, stop the next 12 damage from this attack.
85/114	Common	White Corner	3/1/+1	Brass Knuckles	Weapon. If the referee is distracted, each Punch does +1 damage and is illegal.
86/114	Common	Yellow

| 99/114 | Common | Magenta | 8/2/11 | Meet the Announcers Up Close | You may play this card only if the action is out of the ring. | | 100/114 | Common | Magenta | 4/1/3 | Military Press-Drop | No text on card. | | 101/114 | Common | White | 6/3/- | One Ring Can't Contain these Two | Until your next turn ends, the action is out of the ring. | | 102/114 | Common | Orange | 3/3/7 | Over-the-Rope Choke | No text on card. | | 103/114 | Common | Blue | 6/1/4 | Savate Kick | No text on card. | | 104/114 | Common | Magenta | 3/1/3 | Shoulder-Mounted Suplex | You must discard 1 card from your deck to play this card. | | 105/114 | Common | Orange | 3/1/4 | Slam into the Railing | You may play this card only if the action is out of the ring. | | 106/114 | Common | Magenta | 7/2/5 | Slammed by a Girl | Draw 1 card when you play this card. | | 107/114 | Common | Green | 0/3/4 | Snapmare | No text on card. | | 108/114 | Common | Orange | 4/1/5 | Stick Check outside the Ring | You may play this card only if the action is out of the ring. | | 109/114 | Common | White | 3/0/- | Stunned | If none of the damage was stopped from the last Attack card played this turn, you may use this card. The other player does not draw a card to start his or her next turn. | | 110/114 | Common | Blue | 6/2/6 | Swinging DDT | Ignore Dodges for this attack. | | 111/114 | Common | White | 7/1/- | Take the Microphone | Draw 3 cards. | | 112/114 | Common | Magenta | 5/1/6 | Toss Over the Railing | You may play this card only if the action is out of the ring. | | 113/114 | Common | White Corner | 5/2/- | Wearing 'Em Down for the Fans | Each yellow attack does +1 damage. | | 114/114 | Common | White Corner | 5/2/- | What a Display of Power for the Fans! | Each magenta attack does +1 damage. |

End of the source text. The manual's printed glossary lists the sections above; the core turn-sequence and setup rules are not part of this file.