The Azuki TCG’s first set, Gates Awakened, has launched. It fuses many familiar mechanics, impressive production values and a beautiful, anime-inspired aesthetic into a brilliantly satisfying trading card game experience. Players new to modern TCGs (or trading card games) may need a little assistance with how the various mechanics of Azuki work, however. With that in mind, let’s check out how the IKZ system works in the Azuki TCG.
What is IKZ in Azuki?
Veteran trading card game players will be familiar with Land cards (which provide Mana) in Magic: The Gathering. Perhaps Energy cards in Pokémon, Ink in Lorcana, DON!! cards in One Piece or Runes in Riftbound. These are all examples of resource systems in TCGs, used to pay to bring cards into play from your hand, or elsewhere, and onto the tabletop. IKZ is the Azuki TCG’s resource system, and broadly functions most similarly like DON!! cards in One Piece, or Runes in Riftbound.
How Do I Use IKZ Cards During Play?
Each player will have their own IKZ deck, which will contain 10 cards at the start of a game of Azuki. These are placed in the appropriate area of The Field, which is the name of the play area. Space will be needed to place IKZ cards over the course of a game of Azuki. The game’s play mats, as well as the suggested layout in the Azuki rules, show a row to the right of the Azuki deck as the best place for your line of IKZ cards.
Each turn during the resource phase, the active player will draw 1 card from the top of their IKZ deck and place it face up in their IKZ area on The Field. When an IKZ card is used, it is tapped (turned sideways). A tapped IKZ card cannot be used again on the same turn; however, it is untapped on the following turn’s Start of Turn phase.
When playing a card from your hand to The Field, you’ll need to ensure you have enough untapped IKZ cards to pay for it. For example, the above Alley Guy card has an IKZ cost of 2 in the top left, which means that you’ll need to tap 2 IKZ cards to bring it into play.
What is the IKZ Token in Azuki?
You’ll notice that, along with IKZ cards, there’s also an IKZ Token in Azuki. This is used as a temporary catch-up mechanism for the player who goes second, on their first turn of the game. On this turn only, they draw an IKZ card as normal, but also add the IKZ Token to The Field.
This can then be used as if it is a normal IKZ card in paying the cost of a played card; however, instead of being tapped, it is removed from the game entirely once used.
Do Different IKZ Cards Have Different Effects in Azuki?
Most of the IKZ cards you’ll see in Azuki will look identical, with a distinctive, graffiti style illustration on a black background. However, you may see IKZ cards with different illustrations, such as the cards shown above. These don’t have any different effects on your game, and perform exactly the same fucntion as any other IKZ card. The same is true of the IKZ Tokens shown below; they are just visual variants on the standard card, with no difference in-game:
So that should be all you need to know about IKZ cards in the Azuki TCG. For more on how to play Azuki, check out the official tutorial and rules at the game’s official website. You can also check out our look at Azuki’s first set, Gates Awakened!
