One new games for me on Board Game Arena (BGA) in the past couple of weeks is a game called Wizards Cup. This is a game from Pandasaurus games and Seiji Kanai is a wizard dueling game where players take in a team of wizards to see who can beat the other over three rounds. The game is pretty simple, so let’s dive into how Wizards Cup is played and what works or maybe doesn’t about the game.

How To Play Wizards Cup

Wizards Cup is a two player game where players create teams of wizards to defeat their opponents team. Each player is given one wizard to add to their team, either from the five used per round or their reserve one. Then players take identical sets of wizards and create a team of five plus one reserve wizard from them. The players then set the order that they want their team of five to be in.

The Battle

Then the wizards battle for the Wizards Cup. To do this each player is going to flip over their first wizard. The first thing players compare is elements or attributes. There is a nice little chart that shows which is strong to week to which other attribute. If they are of the same type or if there is a void or neutral wizard played, then you look at the number, the magical power, of the wizard to determine the winner. If your wizard wins, it stays to fight your opponents next wizard. Whomever empties their opponents stack first wins the round.

Special Abilities

Now, more is added to the game the wizard powers. These powers include things like the lower powered wizard wins. Or if this wizard is in your discard and the top card there, you gain extra power for your wizard. This element is going to lead into how you create your stack of wizards to battle with.

After the Battle

After the battles are complete, you check and see if someone is the winner. If you win two rounds of wizard battles you are the Wizards Cup winner. You see if someone has won two rounds and if not you battle again. You pick and swap up to one card from your wizards, in your deck and the reserve, to change up your decks composition. And then you create your group of five wizards again. and repeat the battle.

What Doesn’t Work

First thing that doesn’t work about this game is playing it asynchronously on BGA. Now, just a reminder what asynchronously means. It means I take my turn and then you take your turn when you get online. This is a game where there isn’t much in the way of turns. It is fine for picking and setting your wizard line-up. But when you get to the battle, each opponent needs to confirm that they see the battle. That is going to lead to a lot of downtime with nothing happening. You need to know what wizards your opponent has though.

The game is also a game that plays itself. And this is an issue with it whether you are playing asynchronously on BGA, in real time on BGA, or in person. I choose my order of wizards and you simply flip wizards after that. The only choice you potentially have is one wizard allows itself to be swapped with you wizard in reserve. Otherwise you flip and see who wins

What Works

Now those seem like fairly big negatives, especially for BGA. So what is the positive for the game? The first thing that stands out is the simplicity and speed of the game. On the box it says that Wizards Cup is a 15 minute game, and I believe that. It is only two player and there is not that much to know in the game. So it is an easy filler as you wait for people to join a game night.

I like the powers and abilities as well. There are interesting elements that you can do to mess with your opponents deck of wizards. One wizard is simply going to take itself and your opponents wizard out. And you also have another who gives itself one more power against certain types of cards. Or another where it is the lower that wins and another gives cards extra power when it is defeated. There is a lot going on with those powers.

I also like that there are different ways that you win fights. The fact that sometimes the number doesn’t matter is fun. It is tricky to time it up, but when you can and you win with a weaker card, that is a lot of fun to do. I say weaker, I mean lower power number but you play the stronger element between the pair of wizard cards.

Finally, I like that it is first to two. If Wizards Cup were a game where it was just, set your group and play once it would be a bad game. But the game is nice in that you get a chance to adjust to your opponents strategy. And adjust the order of your wizards in your deck. You might run the same wizards but the other makes a difference.

Who Is Wizards Cup For?

So who is Wizards Cup for? I think people who want a light filler game for an evening, this is a fun one. It is only a two player game, so that is going to limit who the game is for. And it is a very light game, so that is also going to limit who the game is for. But if you like the sound of a quick battler game, this one is solid for that. I think it is one that a couple who find limited time to play games could enjoy a lot.

Final Thoughts and Grade on Wizards Cup

This is an interesting game to try and figure out my thoughts around it. I like elements of the game quite well. I also find elements of it to be a bit simple in what you are doing. Now, I think some of that is because I mainly have played it on BGA asynchronously. And as I explain above, it is not great that way. Too much of the game is just watching the game playout.

In person, I think it is better. Because I like reading what a person is going to do. I think it is fun to try and outsmart someone. And even if I lose the first round, I know most of, if not all of, what you have, so I adjust my deck to counter that. At the same time, you know what I have, so you adjust to counter me too. After that first round it is a fun mind game. And I like that I know one card. That information is nice even if you don’t put it in your deck.

My Grade: C
Gamer Grade: D
Casual Grade: B
Strategy (out of 10): 3
Luck (out of 10): 7

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