Beginner Guide to Capcom’s Teppen Card Game

Capcom’s newest card game Teppen is out right now, and here’s a handful of basics players should know to get an edge on the competition while the game is still young

Yesterday, Capcom’s newest mobile card game, Teppen, released to everyone’s surprise. Capcom had only previously hinted at with only the name Project Battle attached to it, and then near the end of June, we had brief glimpses of gameplay that gave fans an idea of what they could look forward to playing. With the game out now, many are eagerly getting into the real-time strategy of Teppen. For those getting started with the game, here’s a break down of essential things to know when first jumping into Teppen.

Beginner Guide to Capcom’s Teppen

Play All of the Stories

When you go into the game, all players have to go through Ryu’s series of story missions. There are only three of them, so running through those is a piece of cake, and it doesn’t take up too much time. Additionally, while going through them, there’s a brief tutorial to show you the basics. You’ll want to pay attention while you’re playing these to get an idea of the game and get used to the new mechanics.

After you finish Ryu’s missions, you’re going to gain access to his deck. That’s the main reason you want to run through the other character’s story missions, too, so you can unlock their decks and customize one for yourself. Much like Ryu’s, all of the characters are going to have three story missions. However, only Ryu’s comes with the tutorial, making the characters you do after him significantly quicker.

Understand Active Response

There are two types of cards to every deck. There are unit cards that both players place on the field to attack the enemy, and then there are action cards. Action cards uniquely take place only during the Active Response mode. If a player wishes to initiate Active Response mode, they need to play an action card. During this mode, the game’s real-time timer freezes, players no longer gain action points (AP) over time, and players now have turns to react.

The player who initiated the Active Response already has an action card going, so the opponent goes. They can choose to play an action card for themselves using a certain amount of AP to use it, or they can choose to hit the button “Resolve.” Resolve ends Active Response, and the game goes through the loop of the action cards, in the sequence they got played. Players can continue placing action cards until they have no more action points. However, whenever one player hits the “Resolve” button, Active Response goes away, and the game returns to regular play.

Save Your AP For Multiple Cards

The game takes place in real-time, meaning players do not have to wait for turns thinking about what play they want to make and let their opponent react. Teppen is all about players responding as quickly as possible to counter their opponent. A great way to outplay a player is to focus on optimizing the number of units on the field. There are three slots players need to watch the entire game, and if an opponent has a card in the different slot without one protecting yours, your character’s health is going to take damage.

You want to craft a deck with multiple unit cards with various amounts of AP. While the ones that take lower costs of AP to place are not going to stack up to the ones with higher AP, they’re going to provide optimal use in defending your character during the early game. Placing them down buys you time to earn more AP for the more powerful cards later in the match. A great way to overwhelm your opponent is putting more than one unit on the field at a time. Doing this causes them to have to focus on two different attackers, protecting their health from getting hit.

Get Ranked

After you’ve played a few matches, find a character deck you like, and customize your own deck, you’re ready to face-off against other players in more advanced play. You’re going to want to jump into ranked matches when you feel ready to tackle those challenges. These matches are not going to be easy, and are going to test the skills you’ve learned. However, because Teppen has only been out a little over a day it’s a great time to jump into the ranked play early and find what works within the community.

For those not as eager to jump into ranked play immediately, make sure to check out the Teppen Channel tab, which we talk about below.

Catch the Teppen Channel

On the far right on the in-game menu, you’re going to see an option called “Teppen Ch.” For any player wanting to get invested in Teppen, you’re going to want to visit this section often. In it, you can watch matches of other players and get an idea of how the community is progressing through the game as a whole. While watching individual professional players’ channels on YouTube or Twitch remain a good idea, this is a great way to see how players, in general, are handling the game. Because Teppen is brand new, many are still learning what sort of playstyle is going to work and what doesn’t.

These are some great things make sure you start doing for anyone who wants to make Teppen their mobile game of choice. It’s still early, so players still have time to find a playstyle that fits them.