Grand Archive Fundamentals: A Complete Beginner's Guide
Welcome to Grand Archive TCG — one of the most exciting trading card games to launch in recent years. Whether you're coming from Magic: The Gathering, Flesh and Blood, or picking up a card game for the first time, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get started.
What is Grand Archive?
Grand Archive is an anime-inspired trading card game developed by Weebs of the Shore. It launched in 2022 and quickly built a passionate community drawn to its:
- Beautiful anime-style artwork
- Deep strategic gameplay
- Strong collector appeal
- Transparent, player-friendly development team
The core premise: you play as a champion — a powerful character with a unique ability — and build a deck of memories and actions to defeat your opponent.
Card Anatomy
Understanding what's on each card is your first step. Here are the key zones:
The Champion Card
Your champion sits in front of you and is always in play. It has:
- Level — champions can level up during the game
- Health — if this hits zero, you lose
- Ability — a unique passive or activated effect
Action Cards
These make up the bulk of your deck. Each has:
- Cost — how much memory you need to play it
- Power — how much damage it deals in combat
- Durability — for equipment cards, how many hits it can take
- Effect — any special text that triggers
The Memory System
The memory system is what makes Grand Archive unique. Every card in your hand can be played face-down as a memory to generate resources — or played face-up for its effect.
This means every card in your deck is useful — nothing is ever a dead draw.
Core Game Phases
A turn in Grand Archive follows these phases:
- Prepare Phase — draw up to your hand size, reset your memories
- Main Phase — play cards, use champion abilities, set memories
- Battle Phase — attack with your champion or allies
- End Phase — discard down to hand limit
Combat Explained
Combat is straightforward but has hidden depth:
- Declare an attack targeting an enemy champion or ally
- Your opponent can block with one of their allies
- Both sides deal damage equal to their Power
- The defending unit is destroyed if damage meets or exceeds its health
Building Your First Deck
A standard Grand Archive deck contains:
| Component | Count | |-----------|-------| | Champion card | 1 | | Main deck cards | 50 | | Level cards | Up to 3 per level |
The Golden Rule: Know Your Champion
Every deck is built around your champion's strengths. Before adding any card, ask:
"Does this card support what my champion wants to do?"
For example, if your champion rewards you for playing many cheap actions, you want lots of low-cost cards. If your champion rewards big attacks, you want high-power cards with good pitch value.
Pitch Curve
One of the most important deckbuilding concepts is your pitch curve — the distribution of memory values across your deck. You want:
- Enough 1-cost cards to have plays every turn
- Enough 2-3 cost cards for your mid-game power turns
- A few expensive finishers for when you're ahead
Champion Spotlight: Lorraine
Lorraine, Wandering Warrior is one of the most popular beginner champions for good reason:
- Her ability is easy to understand but rewards good play
- She has strong defensive tools
- Her card pool is well-supported
Here's a simplified example of how her turn might look:
- Set two cards as memory (generate 2 memory)
- Play a 2-cost attack action → deals 4 damage
- Use Lorraine's ability → draw 1 card
- Attack with Lorraine → deals 3 damage
In a single turn, you've dealt 7 damage, drawn a card, and set up your next turn.
Floating Memory
When you play a card and don't spend all your memory, the leftover floats to your next turn. This is called Floating Memory and it's one of Grand Archive's most strategic elements.
Example:
- You have 3 memory available
- You play a 2-cost card
- 1 memory floats to your next turn
- Next turn you start with 1 memory + however much you generate
Learning to float memory efficiently separates good players from great ones.
Common Beginner Mistakes
❌ Pitching your best cards too early
When you need memory, it's tempting to pitch your strongest cards. Don't — pitch cards with effects you can live without in that moment.
❌ Over-committing to the board
Playing every ally you draw feels good, but it leaves you vulnerable. Keep cards in hand as a buffer.
❌ Ignoring the level-up track
Levelling up your champion is almost always correct the moment you can afford it. The power boost is significant.
✅ What to do instead
- Plan your memory generation 2 turns ahead
- Keep at least 2 cards in hand at the end of your turn
- Level up as soon as possible
Where to Play
You can play Grand Archive in several ways:
- Local game stores (LGS) — find events at the Grand Archive website
- Tabletop Simulator — free fan-made mod for online play
- Proxied play — print cards to test decks before buying
Further Reading
Now that you have the fundamentals, explore these topics next:
- Champion-specific deckbuilding — each champion has its own playstyle
- Regalia equipment — powerful items that modify your champion
- Metagame analysis — what's winning at competitive events
Check out the Grand Archive category here on TCG Times for deeper theory content.
This is a living document — it will be updated as the game evolves. Last updated: March 2026.