FROM THE FILES OF THE CARD ENFORCEMENT AGENCY:
[The following file is a selection from the required readings of Casting 101, a lower division class at the National Card Academy of Cascadia. These readings are offered within the first week, with Cadets expected to have a full understanding of the cards and casting by their first quiz.]
Types of Casting Cards - Part 1
In order to understand and properly enforce the current landscape of Card Use, you must first understand the cards themselves. This includes knowledge of the cards on a theoretical level, as well as their practical applications. This reading is meant to acclimate you to the major types of Card types; if you have any questions contact your professor before your first qualification quiz.
No matter where you source them, functional casting cards come in four known varieties: Creature Cards, Spell Cards, Snare Cards, and Equip Cards. These have been organized in their explanation based on the likelihood you are to encounter them in the real world, both in competitive and illegal casting scenarios. Each type of card has its own uses and counters, which you will be tested on before being allowed to cast at the Academy. This reading specifically discusses the most varied card type - Creature Cards - with the other card types covered in the next reading.
Creature Cards:
Creature Cards summon Creatures when they are cast, which can be commanded by the caster to do a variety of tasks. The primary task used for Creature cards is to use them in matches, where they can be used to fight other creatures or casters. Every creature has a few key features you need to be aware of in casting, as they affect how well your Creature will perform in the real world. Those features are: Strength, Defense, Type, and effect.
Strength
The Strength statistic of a Creature determines its ability to conduct an action; the higher the strength, the greater action that it is able to do. The most obvious action a creature can conduct with this stat is to attack something; in this context Strength can be used to determine a creature’s destructive power. It is important to note: Creatures are not only used to destroy. High strength creatures can be found in illegal card actions ranging from unsanctioned matches, to illegal replacement of human labor (you’ll find a significant amount of infractions of the latter in construction sites).
Within matches, a creature’s Strength stat determines how much force they can use to attack another card or caster. If they have a greater Strength stat than an opposing entity’s Defense stat, then the opposing card or entity is defeated. If the opposition is another card, the card is destroyed. If the opposition is a living being, then they will receive significant bodily injury - which may result in being fatal (Reminder injuries or fatalities from cards may not be used as legal evidence of illegal card casting under Cascadian Civil Code 11923.06.11; while it does provide probable cause to initiate an investigation, it cannot be used as a form of evidence within that investigation).
The majority of creature cards have a Strength stat somewhere between 1000-2000 points, with those cards having a Strength of over 2000 being considered officially dangerous under Cascadian Law (and thus subject to illegal casting regulations). The most powerful creature cards have a Strength over 4000-5000 points; treat casters of these cards with extreme caution if encountered. These creatures are rare, but need to be properly prepared for in enforcement actions. Finally there are rumors of cards with even higher Strength stats that have been uncovered during illegal casting enforcement operations. The Card Enforcement Agency classifies such cards as feasible, though there is no concrete evidence at this current time of their existence. Regardless, always act with extreme caution when encountering illegally cast creatures - for your safety and that of the illegal caster.
Defense
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Similarly to Strength, a creatures Defense statistic is a determination of their ability to do something - though instead of relating to conducting an action, this relates to resisting one. In the most practical sense the statistic determines how much damage or exertion a creature can withstand before that creature is defeated or destroyed. As mentioned in the section on Strength, if a creature is attacked by something which has a greater Strength statistic than their Defense, that creature is destroyed. If on the other hand, the attacking entity has less Strength than a creature has Defense, the attacking creature is destroyed while the defending creature will have its Defense statistic lowered by the amount of points equal to the attacking entity’s Strength. While this is most frequently encountered in matches - both official and illegal - it can be encountered in non-match contexts, and some scholars have utilized the unique destruction/Stat Reduction mechanic to test the unproven theory that non-card real world elements have their own hidden Strength and Defense statistics that cannot currently be viewed or accessed; No conclusive evidence has yet been found to support this theory.
Effects
Some creatures upon casting have special effects they can use that allow a creature to conduct an additional action. Most of these effects are activated either during a specific time written upon a card, or during the end of a casting round. In an official match these effects are activated during the Special Phase of the turn (for turn structure of official matches please refer to class readings on Official and Historical Tournament Rulesets). There are some effects which allow the caster to choose when and how the effect can be activated, and there are a few cards with effects that are activated when an opponent conducts a specific action. It is incredibly important to understand the effects of the cards available to you as well as the effects of creatures you are encountering from other casters, as they have a significant impact on casting in the real world and are a critical part of casting strategy.
In rare instances, you may encounter a card that has a secondary effect. These effects are typically discovered via trial and error; these effects are unlisted on the cards but can be recognized by most casting systems. Uncovering new secondary effects is an important sub-field of federal card enforcement operations; for those interested in the research of secondary effects it is encouraged that they take Casting 207: Practical Research into Card Casting. The majority of cards do not have secondary effects, and most low level equippers - while recognizing the effect when it is available - will not notify the caster of the secondary effect’s presence. Most card effects revolve around the boosting of attack and defense statistics, however there are a variety of effects you may encounter.
Types:
The Final feature all Creature Cards contain is their Type, which describes the general group of Creatures a Card belongs to. At present it is unknown how many types of Creature exist, with over 30 categorized and classified in the current unlocked and known cards. Every creature has at least one Type that classifies the form of creature it is, with some of the most common in present casting being Spirit, Stone, Demonic, and Fire types. While every creature has one type, there are some creatures which have multiple - the most recorded types on a single creature card at present is four, for the card Spirit of the Fae Queen of the Lost Kingdom, which is a Spirit/Fae/Ice/Stone type.
Type is an often underutilized statistic in casting and deck construction, however it is an important one in the considerations of most highly competitive and successful casters. The vast majority of all present highly skilled casters are what are known as Type Specialists - Casters who organize their deck on a single type or group of Types. Organizing a deck around a specific Type or group of Types allows a caster to utilize cards with more specialized effects that only work on a specific creature type, and allow for stacked effects that can increase the effectiveness of cards being cast. Additionally decks with a singular type have been known to be more likely to result in the discovery of new and unique Secondary Effects, as the majority of known Secondary Effects revolve around cards of the same type being cast at the same time. Type is often one of the last considerations newer casters take into account when building their first decks, but is obversely one of the first considerations taken into account by experienced Casters.
Overall, Creature Cards are the most common forms of cards you will encounter in both official and illegal casting operations, and have a variety of stats and considerations to be aware of in their use. While a lot to remember in the moment these statistics become almost second nature upon significant experience in Casting; additional techniques for memorizing them will be discussed in future lessons. Any remaining questions should be directed to your professors before the first quiz; the next reading shall cover the remaining 3 types of Cards: Spell, Snare, and Equip. Mastery of the four types of cards is critical for understanding and conducting basic card enforcement operations, and will prove foundational to your future role in the Cascadian government.
Spell, Snare, and Equip Cards. For those who are confused about this chapter, please check the announcement chapter posted on the 28th. The next chapter of the regular story will post tomorrow, January 1st, 2026. If there’s anything you’re curious about, please post about it in the comments and I might write a lore post about it in the future! Happy New Year everyone!
trust in the cards.
