Sometimes you can find rewarding and special things by looking in strange corners and asking questions like 'what's in the box?'. There has been a mystery box behind the counter at my local games store for ages, I wasn't sure if it held anything for sale because it was all closed up, but on the off-chance I asked if it contained any promo cards for board games. There were no promo cards inside but there was a collection of unopened decks and booster packs of the game Wyvern, an out of print two player card game that came out in 1994. This was one of the first collectable card games to pop up after the success of Magic; The Gathering, yet for some reason Wyvern has not stood the test of time as strongly as Magic. Magic cards are dominating the counters and Wyvern is shut up in a box, so it felt good releasing those decks from the box...and into my bag for a bargain price!
Wyvern is officially classified as a fantasy collectable trading card game, but I see elements of deck building and bluffing. You are, in essence, building a deck to play with and trying to trick your opponent into unearthing the hidden terrain whilst throwing gold at your dragons to tempt them into doing your bidding. The dragons represented on the cards are based on dragons from mythology, and the cards have a real 90s fantasy aesthetic pleasure.
I have been playing lots of friendly tournaments of this game. My dragons have been wiped out a lot, but they have held out for a long time and I've managed to get a couple of wins in. Maybe I would do better if I weren't so tight with my gold. It is a solid game, with lots of unexpected turns, you get really involved with your opponent - watching each other like hawks! Here is a little guide to the game play:
Players have 25 gold pieces and two decks of:
15 plus Dragon Lair draw pile
35 plus Action/Treasure cards
* terrain cards belong in the dragon lair
To set up the game players shuffle the dragon lair pile and the treasure horde pile separately. Both players take the top six dragon cards from their lair pile and look at them secretly, then arrange them face down to create the battlefield, putting them in two rows of three cards. Front row dragons can attack your opponent's first row, only flying dragons can fight over one row, and super flyers can attack over two rows - so bear that in mind when selecting where your dragons (and secret terrain) will go. Both players also draw a hand of seven cards from the treasure horde draw pile.
Terrain can be mischievously placed in the rows to deter your opponent, as terrain cards have negative effects for the other player if they reveal it, hurrah! Another bonus is that after your terrain card has been revealed and used, it can be replaced with a fresh card from your dragon lair. The new card is placed face down in your battlefield. However, if the terrain is revealed using a Scout dragon then the tables are turned and the terrain card is discarded with no effect.
There are seven phases of the game, it is turn-based but some phases allow both players to participate:
Phase One
Draw a card from the treasure horde pile.
Phase Two
Place a treasure card with special effects by one of your battlefield rows. If it costs gold then pay the price from your precious gold pile, depositing the spent gold into a collective 'gold mine' pile.
Phase Three
You may change positions of any two cards in the battlefield, including treasure. You can always peek at your own face down cards if you need to remind yourself what is hiding there, I do all the time!
Phase Four
Action! No matter whose turn it is, both players may play as many action cards as they wish starting with the player whose turn it is. Action cards are played one at a time. It is hard to reign in the greed here, as it is so tempting to bombard the round with action cards that pump up your dragons or weaken your opponent in advance but remember you only draw one card per turn, you don't draw back up to seven after your go. There are cards in the deck that allow you to draw more, but it is a gamble.
Dragon Slayer Action cards may also be used during this phase, if it is your turn. These are handy and can be used to block your opponent from using certain dragons.
Phase Five
Battle it out or swap a dragon! You can either attack one of your opponent's dragons by paying one of your dragons to swoop in, or you can swap one of your dragons/terrain for a fresh one from your lair. When you awake a face down dragon you pay gold equal to its strength, plus any extra if the card shows the gold coin symbol. Once the dragon is face up, you don't need to pay for it again to fight (unless someone turns him over). Indicate to your opponent which one of their dragons you want to fight. If it is face down then they must pay the price to reveal it. Whoever has the highest strength, including any modifiers from treasure cards in play, is winning here. Battle Action cards may be played in this phase to help out, some cards add strength to your dragon or decrease your opponent's strength.
Phase Six
After the battle or terrain exposure is resolved, there is a second action phase.
Phase Seven
The player discards back down to seven cards, if they had more.
The game ends when one player has no dragon or terrain cards in their battlefield. The winner scores 25 points plus one point for every remaining dragon and terrain on the battlefield and one point per remaining gold pieces. The loser scores half of their leftover gold.
Wyvern is a great two player game, that gets even more in-depth when you start trading, adding extra cards and swapping out old ones. It is fun trying out the different set-ups and the deck content. As the decks don't seem to have a limit in cards, you can get pretty epic with this one. I think I do prefer it to Magic. I know there is more variation in themes in Magic (I have a vampire deck, woohoo!), and lots more scope for future deck building as the game is still going strong, but there is something satisfying about playing a retired dragon card game. Maybe I like feeling archaic.
Right now I am still playing around with the combos. Terrain cards are great traps unless a scout reveals them, but it's all part of the risky dragon business! Gold is my Achilles heel, The stronger the dragons are, the more expensive they are to field in battle, and I'm still trying to find a good balance between dragon strength and gold expenditure. I either rinse out my gold too early or hold onto it so it is too late to use it effectively. I will be playing this a lot more to find my groove!
If you like the sound of this game then ask your local shop keeper if they have any decks knocking about from the 90s :)
Marisa x
