Vantage Masters



Vantage Masters (ヴァンテージマスターズ) is a minigame introduced in. It is also available in and.

Background
Vantage Masters is a turn-based collectible card game that has become increasingly popular around the continent. It serves as a replacement for the formerly popular game Blade. A game of strategy, each player forms a deck from the many cards available and plays until their Master card is defeated. Cards can be bought in shops or earned from defeating other opponents as the games progress.

Rean Schwarzer is first introduced the game in Leeves in the Carnegie Books & Games store. The owner and inhabitants of the town are fond of the game and Rean compares its popularity with that of Blade, which he used to play in his own days as a student. He is soon given a starter deck and plays against some of the children within the store, and begins his own Vantage Master Journey. As Rean and new Class VII travel around, he gradually builds his deck and meets many more opponents introduced to the game.

Vantage Masters is used to try and win some information about the Palatinate Knight by means of a wager against Rutger Claussell. Rean, Claire Rieveldt and Sara Valestein play against Rutger, Leonidas and Xeno on the top floor of Raquel's Casino Alisha. Following their instructor, new Class VII enter the casino and Musse Egret and Ash Carbide take over from Claire and Sara, seeing the state of the game. Restarting, They each take on one of Zephyr's members, With Rean facing off against Rutger. Rean manages to win, and obtains some information, but less than he hoped for as Rutger reveals he had the means to win in his original hand through three 'Vanish' cards which would allow him to instantly kill Rean's Master.

Rean's Vantage Master progression comes to a temporary conclusion after defeating Aurier Vander, an incredibly proficient player during the Heimdallr Summer festival.

In the chaos at the Gral of Erebos, New Class VII's decks are mostly mixed up, forcing them to almost start their collections anew. They once again build their decks, facing ever-increasing difficult opponents, earning more powerful cards, and increasing their skills. Rean takes over upon his return. Eventually, he comes face to face with Victor S. Arseid, the strongest opponent in the game.

Rean also has the chance to introduce Crow Armbrust to the game, after his long absence from card games during his time as Azure Siegfried. Even though he did not play during this time, it was revealed he picked up many of the strategies and tactics used by observing Zephyr and others play it in the Black Workshop. Expecting to hustle Rean after he offers to teach him the game, Crow did not anticipate Rean was in turn expecting it and was outplayed. Stark also later plays against him to show how far he has come along, and to wager the old deck of cards belonging to crow's grandfather against Crow promising to have a meal with him and Rean in Jurai, following the Great War. Despite this being a seemingly impossible proposition, Stark nevertheless states that crow would never settle for giving in to his fate, and eventually gets through to him and wins the game.

Vantage Masters returns as a playable game in the Infinity Corridor with new opponents including Sonya Baelz, Michael Irving and Matteus Vander.

Gameplay
Vantage Masters is a turn-based game of strategy. There are three types of cards, Master, Magic and Natial. The information, skills, abilities and attributes of a card are all listed on it during play.


 * Master  cards are the focus in the game. Each deck has one master which may have an ability and/or skill it can use at a cost of mana. each Master has a fixed mana starting value which will increase by one each turn. The objective of the game is to reduce your opponents' Master's HP to zero.
 * Magic cards can be summoned at a mana cost to produce a certain effect, after which they are used up and cannot be used again. Magic cards may affect different attributes of cards in different ways.
 * Natial cards can be summoned to the board via a mana costs. They come in four elemental varieties and can be used to attack other Natials or masters. Each Natial has a ATK and HP score of their own. If their HP is reduced to 0, they are removed from play.

Actions and Summoning

 * On your turn, each of your cards can perform move, skill and attack options. There are some cards which do not have a skill.
 * When summoning a Natial, you can choose any open space on your side of the field. If there are no open spaces, you cannot summon. Most cards cannot perform actions in the same turn they are summoned. they'll be able to take actions starting the turn after. However, Natials with the Flying trait are able to ignore this rule.

Movement and Attacking

 * You can only move to spaces in your side of the field. If you choose a spot that already has a card in it, the two cards will swap places. After using an attack or skill, you cannot move for the rest of the turn.
 * There are three types of attacks, all of which have different areas of effect and damage. Normal attacks can only be performed from the front row and target a single enemy. The enemy will then counterattack for damage equal to their ATK -1. Ranged normal attacks can target any space on the opponent's side of the field. If your attacker is more than 1 row away from their target, the target can't counterattack. Skill attacks are offensive skills. They can target any space and cannot be counterattacked.

Attributes and Magic Crystals

 * There are four different attributes: Earth, Water, Fire and Heaven. Damage dealt will differ depending on the matchup. An attack against a weaker elements deals +1 damage. An attack against a stronger element deals -2 damage. Master cards have no attribute.

" Earth -> Water -> Fire -> Heaven -> Earth "


 * The player who goes second will have a Magic Crystal appear on their side of the field on the first turn. Additionally, a Magic Crystal will appear on a random open space for each player every three rounds. (if there are no open spaces, it will not appear.) These Magic Crystals have the same effect as the Magic Crystal Spell card. Moving a summoned card on top of them grants this effect.

Skills and Abilities

 * Some cards have skills. There are two different types of skills. Natial card skills can only be used once per card. However, they cost no mana and can be restored with a Magic Crystal. Master card skills have unlimited uses but each use costs mana.
 * abilities are different from skills in that they activate automatically. There are many different types of abilities. For example, some cards automatically protect the two cards adjacent to them from enemy attacks (this does not work on cards that grant a similar effect), whereas others allow you to draw an additional card upon their death.

Getting Cards and Building Decks

 * When you win a Vantage Masters duel, you'll receive a card from your opponent. You may also purchase cards from the store. Whenever you get new cards, you can add them to your deck via the deck building screen, either before the match on on the Cards section of the notebook. Master cards are especially powerful and the game encourages you try them out with a new deck.

Starting a Game
Vantage Masters can be played by pressing a specific button near an eligible NPC, which brings up the game menu. It is a game between two players, who must first choose a deck made up of up to 20 cards. This deck can be managed and altered from the Class Notebook, and up to three separate decks can be saved. The player is prompted to choose one of these decks prior to the game starting. It is a turn based game, with a random coin flip being used to decide who will have the first turn. If Rean flips Mishy, he will go first, whereas he will go second if Evil-Mishy is flipped. You are then shown three cards for your starting hand of which you can choose up to three which can be randomly exchanged with other cards in your deck. This action cannot be undone. Each turn, mana is refreshed an additional card from your deck is drawn. The game will continue even if no cards are left to be drawn. Wins and losses are recorded in the notebook.

Trivia

 * This game is based upon an older property of Falcom by the same name.