Gundam Card Game Adds BO3 Rules

Gundam Card Game has released its official Best-of-Three match rules, giving competitive events a more familiar structure for players coming from other TCGs.

In the new format, matches can go up to three games with a 60-minute time limit, and the first player to win two games takes the match. Game 1 uses a random method to decide who goes first, while the loser of the previous game chooses for Game 2 or Game 3. Nothing new there.

The biggest addition is the 10-card sideboard. Players can swap cards between games, but the deck must always return to exactly 50 cards, and the main deck plus sideboard still has to follow the usual color and copy limits.

Competitively, this is a nice addition to the game. Sideboards make matchup knowledge matter more, and BO3 usually gives stronger players more room to adapt after Game 1. It also helps reduce the feeling of losing a whole match to one bad opening.

The one "concern" is time. To me, one of the nicest things about Gundam locals has been how quick they can feel. You can sit down, play your rounds, and be done in two or three hours. BO3 is better for serious competition, like Newtype Challenges, but if it becomes the default for smaller local events, that short local experience could change.

For big tournaments, BO3 makes a lot of sense. For locals, hopefully stores still have room to choose the format that fits their player base.

Source:

• https://www.gundam-gcg.com/en/news/best-of-three.html