Genshin Impact: Genius Invokation TCG (known simply as Genius Invokation TCG) is an online Trading Card Game that debuted in Version 3.3 of Genshin Impact, featuring numerous characters, objects, and locations from the latter game.
The cards are divided into two categories known as Character cards and Action cards. Using three of them, Character cards are your main attacking force, all of which have their own unique abilities to deal damage and/or aid allies. Action cards are divided into three sub-categories: Equipment Cards that can be equipped to characters to apply effects that buff them, Event Cards that can immediately trigger their effects, and Support Cards that can be placed in the Support Zone to continuously apply supporting effects. You can have 30 Action cards in each of your decks.
Before the gameplay begins, you'll randomly draw 5 Action cards from your deck; you can choose to swap any of them for another random card(s) in your deck. The game's flow consists of "rounds" and "turns"; at the start of each round, you enter "roll phase" where you roll 8 dice to obtain elemental energy, and you can choose to reroll a select number of the dice to your leisure once. Then you enter "battle phase" where, like in the main game, you have 1 "active character" and the rest as "standby characters"; the dice will be consumed for either using your characters' abilities or switching them around (considered "combat action" and will end your turn), or activating Action cards (considered "fast action" and will not end your turn). You can also choose to perform "elemental tuning", by sacrificing one of your Action cards to change one dice's element to that of your active character's. Whether due to dice depletion or other reasons, you can choose to end your round; once both sides end their round, the game enters "end phase" where the players draw 2 more Action cards on their hand; a player can hold up to 10 at their hand at once. The next round will then begin; the game ends when all three Character cards on either side are defeated.
You can gain Character cards by either "inviting" the character in question to play with you, or (for cards based on enemy units) completing the "tavern challenges". You can gain Action cards by purchasing them from Prince in Cat's Tail with the special currency you earned by playing the card game.
Tropes:
- Card Cycling:
- Before the game begins, after you draw 5 action cards, you have 1 chance to swap any of them with another random set of cards from your deck.
- The effect of the "Nature and Wisdom" event card (can only be played when at least 2 of your characters are from Sumeru) will make you draw 1 card, then you can get to choose which cards to be swapped with other cards drawn randomly from your deck.
- Character Customization: You can purchase card backs and tables from the shop either through Lucky Coins or consumables like Crystal Chunks to further customize your deck. Said tables also come with their own respective battle themes from the regions they're based on.
- Cosmetic Award: You can get "Master" and "Adept" card backs by leveling up your TCG's progress. A few events also have limited card backs as a reward.
- Draw Extra Cards: Some cards and other effects allow you to draw more cards, such as:
- The event card "Strategize" lets you instantly draw 2 cards from your deck.
- Chang the Ninth support card accumulates "Inspiration" whenever Physical or Piercing damage is dealt, or whenever an Elemental Reaction occurs, on either side of the field. Once it gathers 3, you can draw 2 cards from your deck, then said card expires.
- When Yelan manages to perform her Normal Attack when she has 2 Breakthrough stacks, said attack's attribute changes from Physical to Hydro, and you can draw a card afterward.
- Elemental Fusion: Like in the main game, elemental effects can be combined to trigger Elemental Reactions for extra damage or other effects.
- Field Power Effect: Support Action cards are placed in the Support Zone, where they continuously apply their effects.
- Limit Break: Once they attain enough Energy through attacking or other means, a Character is capable of utilizing their Elemental Burst.
- Literal Wild Card: Omni Elemental dice can be treated as any other element.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Some Action cards allow you to reroll dice in order to obtain elements better suited for activating your Characters' effects. Some other Action cards give ways to guarantee some of the dice roll to be that of a specific element.
- Mook Maker: Several Character and Action cards have the ability to call forth Summon cards to the field, which can provide useful effects and/or deal damage to enemies.
- Olympus Mons: Venti, Zhongli, Raiden Shogun, and Nahida were made playable Character Cards in Version 3.7. While they have powerful abilities styled after their main game selves, they're also balanced so as to not break the game.
- Promoted to Playable: In a sense. Some enemies and bosses such as the Stonehide Lawachurl and Jadeplume Terrorshroom are playable Character cards with their own powerful effects. The only downside is that they are unable to utilize Weapon-type Equipment Action cards due to their weapon type being classified as "Other Weapons."
- PVP Balanced: As the card game is meant to be played against other players, the characters' abilities are tweaked for the card game, making them either stronger or weaker than in the main game in the process. Many complex abilities also get simplified as a result.
- Reduced Mana Cost: Many card effects in the game allows you to reduce the cost of elemental dice for performing certain actions. Such as the "elemental artifact" equipment cards (Crimson Witch of Flames, Deepwood Memories etc) which reduces the cost of the respective elemental dice for performing skills (once per round), or Yayoi Nanatsuki support card, which reduces the dice cost of equipping artifact cards by 1, and additional 1 per artifact cards already equipped by the characters.
- Set Bonus:
- Like in the base game, "Elemental Resonance" occurs when you put at least 2 character cards of the same element in a deck. For this game, this mechanic enables "Elemental Resonance cards" to be put inside the deck. There are 2 kinds of such cards: one of them gives you one free Elemental Dice of the resonant element, the other one grants effects thematically appropriate with the element in questionnote
- There are also cards that can only be used when 2 of your characters share the same attribute/faction; e.g "Thunder and Eternity" (2 Inazuma characters) turns all your dice into Omni-dice for the round, while "Fatui Conspiracy" (2 Fatui characters) grants a random "Fatui Ambusher" effect where, after your opponent performs their abilities, they take 1 DMG of a "swirlable" element (Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro), once per round for 2 rounds.
