GI JOE TCG CUSTOMS

 

Balancing Custom GI Joe TCG Cards

 

When you create a card for the GI Joe TCG, it is important to keep your card balanced.  It should not be so weak that it is never used, but it should not be too strong for its cost.  When a game starts to include cards that are too good for their cost, that is called inflation.  Inflation hurts games.  Some types of inflation are bound to happen: certain abilities are simply better than others.  Other types of inflation are much easier to prevent.  Stat/cost inflation is one of those. 

 

In the interest of protecting the game from stat/cost inflation, our playgroup has instituted a rule that we only allow fan-made cards into our games if they fit into the table below.  While others are free to disagree with the table below, we find it helpful to have a fairly firm rule for stats, so we can be a little more lenient when it comes to most abilities.

To see if a card fits in the table, first look at the cost of the soldier, and look at the appropriate table (there is one table for each cost of soldier).  Then look at its power and hits.  That will put your card in a specific box.  Now look at the boost on your card and compare it to the boosts of the other cards in that box.  Is your boost at or below the boost listed in bold at the top of the box?  If so, then your card is balanced for stats/cost.  If not, then we suggest you modify the card so that it fits into the table.  Now you can print your card and test it to see if the abilities are balanced.

 

In the tables, you will notice that the cards made by the Mission: FACES group are labeled (MF), and the cards made by Call to Valor are labeled (CtV).  If one of those cards fits the table, it is highlighted in green.  If it exceeds the appropriate stats, it is highlighted in red.  If it is a borderline card, it is highlighted in yellow.  In our playgroup, we don't allow a card with red highlight.  Yellow highlighted cards are limited to 1-per-deck.  It is our hope that alternate versions of the red and yellow highlighted cards will be released so that we can enjoy them.  In the meantime, some of the red and yellow highlighted (MF) cards have been reworked on this site (See Footloose, Leatherneck, Tollbooth, and Deep Six on the Joe Soldiers page).

 

Special notes about 1SP soldiers:

 

A 1SP unit is the ideal card for a firefight deck because so many firefight cards can be flipped.  For balance, it is very important to keep the hits and boosts in the range set by Wizards of the Coast.   Wizards of the Coast made 193 cards (including the promo).  Of those, only 3 units (of any kind) were ever printed with 1 SP and 3 hits – one white soldier, one red soldier, and one purple soldier.  Keeping the amount of those units small is very important as it really keeps a firefight deck in check.  Since less than 2% of their cards had that trait, I think it is wise to limit fan-made cards to about that percentage as well.  (For example, if you are making a set of 60 cards or fewer, then you should not make more than one soldier with cost 1SP and 3 hits.  A 120-card set should have no more than 2 such soldiers, etc.)

  • Gold, Gray, and Blue 1SP soldiers should never have three hits.

  • 1SP vehicles should never have three hits.

Also of note:

  • Gray soldiers never have more hits than their cost (though gray vehicles may have hits exceed cost by 1).

1 SP Soldier

1 hit

2 hits or Direct hit

No Gray

3 hits

Red, White, and Purple only

Less than 2% of any set

1 power

+9

SAW Viper Recruit +9

Lamprey Defender +9

GS Mechanic +7

GS Coast Guard +6

GS Rifleman +5

BAT v 1.0 +5

Armored BAT +4

 

 +9 with no ability

Greenshirt Communications +9

GS Infantry +8

 

+7

Secto-Viper (MF) +7

+7 with no ability

 

+6/draw

 

2 power

+9

Psyche-Out +9

BAT v 2.0 +9

Sea Slug (MF) +9

Cobra Infantry Trooper +8

GS Medic +6

GS Ranger +3

+7 with no ability

GS Sailor +7 (no ability)

 

+6/draw

Shadow Viper +6 (hurt)

Tripwire draw

Sideswipe +5

Night Vulture +5

Surefire +4

Laser Viper +4

Depth Charge +4

 

(+7 Short-Fuse only)

 

+6/draw with no ability

Laser Viper Rec. +6

 

+5

Sure Fire +4

3 power

+7

Cobra Coils +7

Dr. Link Talbot (MF) +7

Strato-Viper (MF) +7

Zanya (MF) +7

Doc (MF) +7

GS Commando +7 (no ability)

Recondo +6

Electric Eel (MF) draw

Cobra Soldier (CtV) +5

Scalpel +5

Greenshirt Diver +4

GS Marine +4

GS Paratrooper +4

 

Tollbooth (MF) +6 w/ ability

 

+6/draw with no ability

Moray Infiltrator draw

Grand Slam +6

 

+5

Recoil +5

Barrel Roll +5

Cross Country (MF) +5

Barbecue +4

Snow Serpent +3

 

Not allowed

4 power

(+7 Copperhead only)

HISS Driver (MF) +6

 

+6/draw w/ harmful ability

Spearhead +6 (fury)

 

+5

Night Creeper Initiate +5

Crimson Guard +4

Neo-Viper +3

 

Not allowed

Footloose (MF) +7

Not allowed

5 power

Only allowed w/hurtful

+6/Draw w/1 self-discard

Major Bludd draw

 

Not allowed

Not allowed

     

  

2 SP Soldier

1 hit

2 hits or Direct hit

3 hits - No Gray

1-4 power

+10

Lifeline +8

Hard Drive +8

Heavy Water +7

Lift-Ticket (MF) draw

Cutter +5

Grunt +4

Big Ben +3

Outback +3

+10

Ace +10

Vypra +10

Jungle Viper (MF) +9

Dr. Mindbender (MF) +8

Crimson Guard Driver +8

Dr. Mindbender +7

Dart +7

Slip Stream (MF) +7

Wild Weasel +6

Range Viper Recruit +5

Frostbite (MF) +5

Lamprey +4

Stinger Driver (MF) +4

 

+9 with no ability

Cobra CLAWS +9 (no ability)

 

+8

Red Spot +8

Sand Viper (MF) +8

Viper +7 (no ability)

Tele-Viper +7 (no ability)

Spirit +6

Dial Tone +6

Zanzibar (MF) draw

Cover-Girl +5

Annihilator +3

5 power

+10

Agent Faces +10

Firefly +8

Night Creeper +8

Kamakura (MF) +8

Baroness (CtV) +7

SAW Viper +6

Mainframe (MF) +6

Undertow +6

Airtight (CtV) +5

+9

Interrogator +9

Shipwreck +9 (no ability)

BAT v 2.1 +8

Range Viper +8

Topside (MF) +7

Dusty +6

Tomax +6

Xamot +6

Red Star (MF) draw

Monkeywrench (MF) draw

Gnawgahyde (MF) +6

Quick-Kick (CtV) +6

Mega-Armored BAT +5

Scarlett (CtV) +5

Iron Grenadier Sentry (MF) +5

Thrasher (MF) +5

Keel-Haul (MF) +5

Mirage +5

Ripper (MF) +4

Desert Cobra CLAWS +4

Clutch +3

 

Schrage (MF) +8

Mistress Armada (MF) +8

 

+7 with no ability

Iron Grenadier +7 (no ability)

 

+6

Low Light +4

Rip Cord +4

Wild Bill +4

Tunnel Rat +3

Wet-Suit +3

6 power

+8

Slice +8

Dice +7

Lt. Gorky (MF) +7

Agent Jinx Draw

Roadblock +6

Coil Crusher (MF) +6

Sgt. Major +5

Bazooka (MF) +5

Sand Scorpion (MF) +5

Snow Wolf (MF) +5

Lady Jaye +4

(+9 Sgt. Hacker only)

Deep Six (MF) +9

Zandar (MF) +7

 

+7 with no ability or +/- ability

Muskrat +7(w/good + hurt ability)

 

+6

Snake-Eyes (CtV) draw

Storm Shadow (CtV) draw

Ferret (MF) +6

Decimator +6

Hi-Tech +5

Baroness +5

Crimson Guard Vet. +5

Metal-Head (MF) +5

Cobra Squad Leader +5

 

Firefly (CtV) +7

Leatherneck (MF) +6

 

+5

Scrap-Iron +5

Rock-n-Roll +4

7 power

+7

Storm Shadow +7

Cobra Commander +6

Scarlet +5

Croc Master +5

Airborne (MF) +4

Snake-Eyes +4

Zap +4

Shipwreck +3

Alpine (MF) +3

 

Roadblock (CtV) +7

 

+4 with no ability

Rock Viper +4 (no ability)

 

+3

Sci-Fi +3

Not allowed

 
   

3 SP Soldier

1 hit

2 hits or Direct hit

3 hits

1-5 power

+10

Buzzer (MF) +7

Viper Grunt +6

Scoop +4

Snow Job +4

Cobra Commander +4

Neo-Viper Commander +4

Alley Viper +4

Backblast +3

Cross Hair +3

Snow Serpent Commander +3

 

+10

Hotwire +10

Zartan +9

HEAT Viper +7

Flak-Viper +5

Daina (MF) +5

Rampart +4

+10

Blackout +10

6 power

+10

Mutt & Junkyard (MF) +9

Nunchuck +8

Breaker (MF) +6

Salvo +5

TARGAT +5

Viper Thug +5

Horror Show (MF) +5

Aleph +3

Scrap-Iron +3

 

+10

Low Light +6

Agent Jinx +5

Free Fall +5

Zartan +5

Flint +3

Flash (MF) +3

+9

Inferno BAT +9

Torch (MF) +7

Shipwreck draw

7 power

+10

Baroness (MF) +9

Moray Officer +8

Serpentor (MF) +7

Zartan (MF) +7

Wide Scope +6

Chief Torpedo +4

Razor Trooper (MF) +4

 

+10

Heavy Duty +10

Law and Order +9

Nullifier (MF) +9

Lt. Falcon (MF) +7

Serpentor (CtV) +7

CLAWS Commander +6

General Hawk (MF) +6

 

+9

General Hawk (CtV) +9

Baroness (CtV) +8

Cobra Commander +7

Duke draw

Scarlett (MF) +5

Laser-Viper Leader +3

8 power

+10 with no ability

 

+9

Stalker (MF) +9

Duke (CtV) +9

Destro +9

Storm Shadow (MF) +8

Beach Head +7

Blowtorch +7

Destro +6

Overkill +6

Gung-Ho (CtV) +5

Crimson Guard Immortal +4

+10 with no ability

Duke +10 (no ability)

Skullbuster +20 (hurtful)

 

+9

Roadblock +9

Copperhead +8

Big Boa +7

Heavy Duty +7

Major Bludd +7

Zarana (MF) +6

Kwinn (CtV) +6

Colonel Brekhov (MF) +5

Dragonsky (MF) +4

 

+9

Duke +9

Flint +9

Gung Ho +8

Big Bear (MF) +6

Snake-Eyes (MF) +6

Voltar (MF) +6

Cobra Commander (CtV) +5

9 power

+9

Venonous Maximus (MF) +9

Snake-Eyes +8

Sgt. Slaughter (MF) +6

+9

Storm Shadow +9

Road Pig (MF) +8

Storm Shadow (MF) +8

Destro (MF) +5

 

Only allowed w/hurtful

 

(+10 w/ 2 hurtful abilities)

Gung Ho +10 (w/2 hurtful)

 

(+5? w/1 hurtful)

 

10 power

+5 w/no ability

Venomous Max. +5 (no ability)

 

Not allowed

Destro (CtV) +5

Not allowed