Article written by our North Phoenix Grand Archive Ambassador, Huy Huynh
Grand Archive TCG is an indie card game with western game design and anime artwork/aesthetics. The game launched on Kickstarter back in November 2021 and had its official retail release in April 2023. In the past few years, we’ve seen many independent TCGs come and go yet Grand Archive remains to be one of the few outliers.
Coming into the market seen as “just another anime TCG”, it had to fight many battles to see its success across the world today. During the releases of popular TCGs like Lorcana and Altered in 2023, Grand Archive proved itself to be a worthwhile TCG, standing out and even competing with popular titles.
The team behind Grand Archive TCG is based in Houston, Texas, and consists of just around 10 individuals. Even as a small team, they’ve pushed Grand Archive across the world and brought new and refreshing innovations to the TCG industry. Grand Archive prides itself on amazing artwork, smooth gameplay, and easy-to-read card layouts; making it suitable for both playing and collecting. There are currently 12,000+ Grand Archive players registered on the official Grand Archive organized play platform, Omnidex, and 12 major tournaments/events, with three new set releases planned for the rest of 2025.
Countless factors contribute to Grand Archive’s success but here are some of the main reasons for this game’s success as well as some innovations the game has brought to the TCG industry:
One of the main reasons Grand Archive started on Kickstarter was to fund the artwork that goes into the game. This might be a biased take but I think Grand Archive has some of the best art right now among all the popular TCGs on the market. About 60% of their budget for developing the game goes into the artwork alone. The main reason why lots of players like myself got into Grand Archive TCG is because of the game’s amazing artwork. You can check out more on the GA Index but here are some of my personal favorite Grand Archive artworks:
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After looking past the amazing art Grand Archive has to offer, the gameplay of Grand Archive is the reason players return and play every week at their local game stores. Grand Archive’s resource system is something new and refreshing that reliably eliminates the issue of having no resource system at all or having a resource system that is prone to “mana screw” (not having enough of the right mana to pay for card costs). Games like Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, and Shadowverse often pace games through the fact that you gain one mana each turn or can accelerate that using certain cards.
In Grand Archive, the cards in your hand are essentially your mana. To play cards from hand, you would put away X amount of cards from hand into a buffer zone called “memory” where X is the “reserve cost” of that main deck card (the yellow circle on the top left of the card). The cards that are down in your “memory” are unavailable to you that turn but you will be able to pick them up the following turn. You will most likely be starting with 6-8 cards in hand from the first turn so unlike most games, the number of cards you can play each turn can be similar based on how you are managing your card draw. This type of resource system promotes turn-one plays that aren’t boring and allows for the pacing of each game to be heavily dependent on the player’s deck and skill instead of luck.
Cards down in your memory are used to pay for the “memory cost” of cards in your material deck (the blue circle on the top left of a card) by banishing them at random. This resource system supports the game’s two-deck style and allows for very high levels of skill expression. Certain cards in the game have the keyword “Floating Memory” which can pay for “memory cost” by banishing itself from the graveyard, saving the trouble of having to randomly banish cards down in your “memory”.
This article is not meant to be a how-to-play manual but if you are interested in learning how Grand Archive plays or would like to see the reserve/memory cost system explained, click here to learn more!
I can go on and on with compliments to Grand Archive for the effort they put into product design and card printing but to keep it short, I’ll highlight just a few things:
https://x.com/grandarchivetcg/status/1879326006840045656
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From local-level events to major international tournaments, Grand Archive knocks it out of the park with prize support. Stores and tournament organizers receive free Event Packs to supplement tournament rewards, a practice common among other games. However, what truly sets Grand Archive apart is its exclusive playmats and prize cards, offering winners a unique and highly coveted incentive to compete.
In Grand Archive, different “Nationals Qualifier” cards are awarded to winners at Regionals and Store Championships and serve as a player's ticket to Nationals for each competitive season. These events then determine the top 8 or 16 players who will advance to the World Championships. Players who earn multiple Nationals Qualifier cards can trade duplicates to help others enter Nationals or redeem them for a Collector Super Rare (CSR) version of the card.
This system not only fuels competition but also fosters teamwork. Throughout Grand Archive’s competitive history, teams of friends have formed to grind for these sought-after qualifier cards. Since these cards can be traded or lent, they encourage teamwork among players wanting to compete at the highest level of play. Having multiple teammates qualify for Nationals allows them to collectively redeem more CSRs, making this exclusive promo a must-have for Grand Archive TCG collectors!
Here are some pictures of the National Qualifier cards and Playmats for this current competitive season:
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Store Champion National Qualifier Card |
Store Champion 1st Place Playmat |
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Regionals Top 8/16 National Qualifier Card |
Regionals 1st Place Playmat |
Grand Archive TCG regularly hosts major open-invite tournaments known as “Ascents” throughout the competitive season. These two- to three-day events see an average of 300+ players and offer more than just competition. Besides the main tournament, attendees can enjoy side events, cosplay contests, guest artist appearances, and more!
From personal experience, Ascents are among the most enjoyable major TCG events I’ve ever attended. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. Entry to the event itself is free, but participation in the main tournament requires prepaid tickets.
Here are some of the previous prize cards for these major events:
Ascent Chicago
Ascent Ontario
Ascent Santa Clara
Ascent Singapore
There are many, many more prize cards and participation promos for Grand Archive events at all levels. If you’re interested to learn more about these major events, check out the event site for:
Ascent Worlds (upcoming event in June 2025)
Ascent Seattle (upcoming event in March 2025)
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Gamers Guild Tempe Community |
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Whether you're collecting or playing, Grand Archive has always been about the community. That’s what makes this game special and why it continues to grow—the amazing people who have come together over the past four years, from players all across the world.
Here in Arizona, our Grand Archive community started out tiny when the game first hit local game stores in April 2023. Back then, it was just another indie TCG release, but somehow, it brought us together to build something bigger. What started at Gamers Guild Tempe has grown into a thriving scene, with over six stores in the Greater Phoenix Area now selling, playing, and housing an incredible community. More than just a game, Grand Archive has become a shared passion and it’s been amazing to watch it bring so many people together. I’d like to feature the opinions of some of our players here. The Arizona community for Grand Archive couldn’t have been possible without our players and their love for the game.
“I love that the game has a very in-depth rules system. The game goes out of its way to make sense to its
players and judges alike. There aren't any weird interactions that arise because a card was worded slightly weird.”
- Jonah Hagan
“The game is complex but simple at the same time. Deckbuilding is one of the reasons I appreciate the game. The same deck isn't always built the same and it brings out the creativity of players to build a structurally sound deck with space for imagination and creativity. Pick a champion build a deck around them and see what you can come up with. I remember when I got into the game, I liked both Zander and Vanitas, both are awesome-looking champions. When Mortal Ambitions spoilers were happening, I was building a premature version of "Razorgale Vanitas" at the time, and it was so cool that a champion that was deemed bad was able to make a comeback into the metagame. The game is a great mix of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic the Gathering, and the learning and understanding of the game is easy, anyone new to card games and veterans alike can get into this game!”
- Tanner Disney
“I've been playing Grand Archive since the game launched its 'Dawn of Ashes: Alter Edition' and haven't stopped playing weekly since then. The gameplay, art, and most importantly the lore behind every card and artwork have captivated me and many others for an extensive period of time. From my own beginning of the game, I have seen it grow and excel in a multitude of ways that I have not quite experienced playing other trading card games. The gameplay rewards extensive game knowledge, creativity, and decision-making on so many layers you'll be reminiscing back to the games you've played and always thinking about the different routes and choices you could have made. The 'meta' changes often and is quite diverse, and any 'problem' decks are dealt with in a healthy way, via expedient and responsive developer commentary regarding the decision and thought processes behind balancing updates as well as very fair forewarning to cards that might be getting restricted in the future. The developers truly care and try their absolute best to cater to all types of players, collectors, competitors, casuals, and lore fanatics and it shows through the events and content they produce to target every audience. If you're looking for a superb game with a stellar supportive community, Grand Archive may just be the game you are looking for, please give it a try!”
- Haydn Fulkerson
TCGs often implement bans and restrictions to balance out a card game’s meta. Grand Archive brings forth an exciting innovation to BnR updates. Alongside removing cards from standard constructed formats, they can also add cards. Proxia’s Vault are cards that can be immediately released on ban list updates and can be proxied for any tournaments (including major events). These cards can only be slotted into the material deck and serve the purpose of answering meta issues. Although released sparingly, these Proxia’s Vault cards have been able to resolve issues that banning cards couldn’t have solved. You can read more about Proxia’s Vault here! If you don’t prefer playing with proxies, these cards are printed officially and handed out at major events in large quantities.
As a way to promote and incentivize collectors of Grand Archive TCG, their major events include a tournament just for collectors called Path of Silver. In this competition, collectors submit a collection of any 50 Grand Archive cards. Cards have a “thema” score on Index and your goal is to create a 50-card collection that would score you the most points. Throughout the competition, set bonuses are revealed through many creative ways to give certain cards in your collection a boost in points! Path of Silver rewards collectors and gives them something to collect for just as players have something to play for! Learn more about Path of Silver by clicking here.
Grand Archive TCG has given us a roadmap for what the rest of 2025 looks like and it’s brewing up lots of excitement among the community:
8 major open-invite tournaments
3 new first-edition sets
2 alter edition sets
4 printings of Re:Collection decks
3 nationals tournaments
And many more…
Make sure to join the Gamers Guild Discord to get the latest news on local Grand Archive events.
If you’re interested in Grand Archive TCG and would like to keep up with what’s to come, make sure to check out the Grand Archive TCG website and follow their social media accounts(X, Instagram, Discord)!
Thanks for checking out GG’s first-ever community article! It’s been a pleasure working with the Arizona Grand Archive community and getting the chance to share our love for this game with all of you. Huge thanks to Gamers Guild for giving us this opportunity to spread the word about Grand Archive. If you haven’t tried the game yet, now’s the perfect time!
We would love to see you at one of our local events soon!
Tempe - Grand Archive Weekly Meetup
Saturdays at 12:00pm
North Phoenix - Grand Archive Weekly Meetup
Fridays at 6:00pm
You can find starter decks and booster boxes here at Gamers Guild to get started:
https://gamersguildaz.com/collections/grand-archive
