It’s time to chrome up and make a name for yourself in Night City with the latest game on the market, Cyberpunk TCG! Set in the world created by Mike Pondsmith, Cyberpunk TCG draws inspiration from the 2077 video game, the Edgerunners anime, multiple TTRPGs, comics, and beyond to bring the vibrant and deadly Night City to life. Iconic characters, locations, cyberware, and more come together in this thrilling and tactical card game. This guide will give you a basic understanding of the game and its community to help you cement your spot as a Night City Legend!
The Gameplay Basics
In Cyberpunk TCG, you face off against your Rival to become a Legend in Night City by fighting over control of Gigs. Each turn you will roll a new Gig Die, then play your cards to attempt to steal your Rival’s Gigs or protect your own. Manipulate the values on your Gig Dice and your total Street Cred to get the most out of your abilities. If you hold seven dice at the start of your turn, you claim victory. Your choice of Legend cards determines what units, gear, and programs you can play, and will drastically change how you take down your Rival.
So how do you decide what deck to build? A Legend's color reflects its playstyle and philosophy; Red cards “Maximize”, going aggressive, loud, and pushing big numbers in almost every way; Blue cards “Minimize”, looking to go under the radar and subvert your Rival’s plans to steal victory; Green cards “Align”, wanting to create “value pairs”, match card traits, and unite your units for a coordinated takedown; Yellow cards “Diverge”, going for variety and chaos, but ultimately flexibility to find the win. By mixing and matching different color Legends, you change the pool of cards that deck has access to, adding a new twist to deck building that you won’t see in the other major players in the market.
Jacking In - The Best Ways to Get Started
Demo Sessions
If you are unsure if Cyberpunk TCG is the right fit for you, there is no better way to find out than by attending an official demo session. While the WeirdCo team has been hosting demos at large conventions recently, your best method for finding a demo is with the Store Locator on the CTCG website. This will show you all game stores that host and sell Cyberpunk TCG in your area. There are two options of demo decks, which are simplified versions of the retail starter decks. Demo sessions are free to participate in, and you even get to keep your demo deck when you are done. Even better, the cards are entirely legal for all levels of Organized Play, getting you a jump-start on your Cyberpunk TCG collection.
Starter Decks
Starter Deck: Embracing Power - Retail
Embracing Power - Retail Starter Deck
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There are currently two starter decks available for Cyberpunk TCG: “The Heist” and “Embracing Power”. Both decks include a 40-card, ready-to-play deck and a full set of Cyberpunk TCG Gig dice. There is also a beginner’s rule guide that doubles as a zoned paper playmat, which is fantastic for learning the game. The two starter decks feel like a great showcase of what Cyberpunk TCG has to offer, while leaving plenty of room to expand on its deeper systems.
Of the two decks, the Arasaka focused “Embracing Power” deck seems to have stronger finishing options, as long as you can keep the pressure on in the early rounds. “The Heist” deck can feel like it is at a disadvantage while it sets up, but it does a fantastic job of teaching players the power of manipulating the values of Gig Dice in order to limit your opponent’s options.
Overall, I feel the decks are well balanced to each other, with a slight advantage to “Embracing Power” when it comes to very new players. As a starting product, these decks do an amazing job teaching you the core of what makes Cyberpunk stand out amongst the other TCGs on the market.
Launch Dates
Welcome to Night City - Retail Booster Box
Welcome to Night City - Retail
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While the Beta wave of products for Kickstarter backers was released back in early September, it is still a fantastic time for new players to join in on Cyberpunk TCG. The first set, “Welcome to Night City” is scheduled to release on November 6th this year, with pre-release events held at local game stores as early as October 30th. In addition, we just got an announcement for set 2 “Edgerunners: Burn Bright” that will be released in spring 2027.
Ready your Eddies - How Much Does Cyberpunk TCG Cost?
One of the biggest things players ask when considering a new TCG is “how much does it cost?” Fortunately, Cyberpunk TCG gives players a variety of entry points depending on how you want to engage with the game.
Starter Decks (Continued)
The simplest way to get involved is with one of the previously mentioned Starter Decks. Each deck has an MSRP of $29.99, and while that is a bit higher than similar products from their competitors, the value does seem to hold up.
Each deck includes a set of dice, likely the largest contributor to the price tag, and contains five cards that currently cannot be obtained from other products, at least at base rarity. Three of these cards are the Legends, which you only need one copy of for your playset.
It is worth noting that you can get a non-foil version of these in the demo decks, as well as an alternate art version from box toppers in the Beta “Welcome to Night City” booster boxes. The other two cards of each starter deck are uncommons that you will get two copies of. Again, you do get access to these in the demo deck, but only one copy of each will be included there.
At the time of writing, the exclusive cards for “The Heist” totals USD $72 market value ($4 from non-legends) and “Embracing Power” totals $51 market value ($33 from non-legends). At MSRP, both decks give you a solid return in value without even factoring in the other staple cards included. If you have the option to, I would recommend doing a demo session and then grabbing the matching starter deck to get your full playset of three for each of the exclusive cards.
Buying Singles
If you are looking to expand beyond the starter decks, or play on a budget, then buying singles is the way to go. And with the massive wave of booster boxes that were opened by the Kickstarter backers, singles are extremely affordable. Below are two examples of competitively-viable decks that have been priced out with the lowest-rarity printing of each card. These lists were sourced from prominent creators in the CTCG space, credited below.
BBG Hanako Control by KP Cyberpunk - $47 at the time of writing
BBRaindance by Snapquester Mage - $68 at time of writing
These decks coming in just below $70 despite being competitive threats is a welcome sight to players who want to save money, or TCG fans looking for a side game that won’t eat into their budget as much. Compare this price to:
Magic: The Gathering Standard format averaging $261
One Piece averaging $175
Magic: The Gathering Modern averaging $829
Pokemon Standard averaging $42
Yugioh averaging $181
Cyberpunk is currently situated on the lower end of the price scale, making it a great budget-friendly option, and the upcoming “Welcome to Night City” printings should help bring down the base prices even further.
Sealed Product
Everyone in the TCG scene loves ripping packs, so how approachable is Cyberpunk TCG when it comes to sealed product? At the time of writing, a “Welcome to Night City - Beta Booster Box” has a market value of $320.62, while the “Welcome to Night City - Retail Booster Box” is running at $184.61. These average out to $8.90 per pack for Beta, and $7.69 per pack for retail. While these aren’t the worst prices on the market, it is a noticeable upcharge from the Kickstarter, which priced additional boxes at $179, giving a per-pack price of $4.97. If you can afford the upfront cost, or can split with friends, a case of six boxes goes for $1728.27 for Beta ($8.00 per pack) and $1299.99 for Retail ($9.03 per pack).
Before buying any sealed Cyberpunk products though, there are two major differences between the Beta and Retail releases that you need to know. First, the Beta booster boxes are larger, coming with 36 booster packs as opposed to a Retail box’s 24 packs. Second, the 31 Icon Rare alternate arts, including the Iconic Secret Rares, have different artwork across their Beta and Retail printings. I would highly recommend looking at the artwork on the CTCG website to see if you have a general preference for one version’s Iconic Rare prints over the other before committing to a purchase.
That being said, I can’t quite say I would recommend purchasing sealed Beta boxes at this time, whether you are a player or collector. There are only five Beta cards that can break even on the value of a box; The four Iconic Secret Rare cards, and the Iconic Legend print of Judy Alvarez - Braindance Maestro. Outside of any of these pulls, or hitting an extremely rare God pack, you are more likely to save money buying any high-value singles you are interested in.
As far as Retail boxes go, there won’t be much market data for another week or two, but if you manage to find the boxes at or near $120 (assuming an MSRP of $5 per pack), you will probably get better value than a Beta box, on average.
Finding Gigs - Organized Play Events for Cyberpunk TCG
There are two main categories of events for players to check out; Locally hosted events that WeirdCo calls the “Night City Gauntlet”, and competition level events.
Night City Gauntlet - Local Play
These events are perfect for all players. Whether you are looking for a casual experience, a routine break from your main game, or you want to get your reps in to hone your skills and decklists, these events will be the cornerstone of the CTCG community. The events in this category are:
Pre-Release
A sealed format where you make a 30 card deck from the cards you get from within six packs. You will also get some stamped promos from your kit that can be used in your deck if you wish, as well as a set of dice to use for gameplay.
Night City Brawl
This is your weekly tournament play. Some stores are already running weekly events, but following the official release of “Welcome to Night City”, you will have a chance to obtain special promos for participation and for placing at the top of your store.
Night City Showdown
This event is designed to bridge the gap between casual and competitive play. Night City Showdowns are scheduled to run near the end of a set’s release cycle and feature exclusive promos and foil cards that you won’t be able to get anywhere else. “Welcome to Night City” will get an additional run of the Showdown events not long after the November 6th launch date, giving you more chances to scrap with your Rivals over these preem alternate-art cards and more.
Competitive Level
If the “Night City Gauntlet” can’t scratch the itch for intense gameplay on its own, stepping up into the major leagues might be the thrill you are looking for. The “Competition-Level” events are:
Night City District Open
A larger event hosted by certain game stores picked by WeirdCo, these will have prizing described as “in line with official competitive tournaments”, and will be open to 64-128 players. There isn’t too much information out there yet, as these events won’t spin up until the Set 2 cycle starts, but it is designed to be a competition that is a bit closer to home that can offer a path to even higher levels of competitive play.
Edgerunners Open Regional
These are the major events that the Cyberpunk TCG competitive scene will be built around. Thousands of players get the opportunity to become a Night City Legend, with exclusive promos and accessories, a prize wall, side events, and even the chance at the “Encrypted Legend” serialized cards. Place well enough, and you can even earn an invite to the next step of the competitive scene.
Black Sapphire Invitational - As the name implies, this event will be invite-only based on placements in previous events. So far, the only known method to get an invite is by placing in the top 64 of an Edgerunner Open Regional. Not much else has been revealed but WeirdCo describes the prizing as “reflective of the performance required to secure your qualification.”
World Championship
Again, WeirdCo is keeping the details of this event under wraps for now, but this will be the highest level of competition. Considering the prize options we have seen for lower tiered events, the Championship is likely to make itself the envy of the entire CTCG scene.
Holophone - Shape the future of Night City, and the TCG
In addition to the typical Organized Play structure, WeirdCo and CD Projekt Red are adding a new narrative-based experience that will add to how you play the game. Cyberpunk TCG: Holophone will be a companion web app where players can align with one of three factions: Arasaka, Aldecaldos, or Maelstrom. In Holophone, you will get jobs to complete at tournaments of all sizes, earning you rewards and advancing an exclusive narrative that primarily takes the form of text conversations. Not too much has been shared about the rewards that will be available, but Holophone will launch in Alpha on October 30th alongside the retail pre-release events for the “Welcome to Night City” event. This system will provide a unique community aspect to Cyberpunk TCG that hasn’t been seen in the main TCG market since “Legend of the Five Rings’s” story system.
Night City is Waiting
You now have all you need to know to get involved with the Cyberpunk TCG. So grab some cards, prep your signature cocktail for the Afterlife’s menu, and start facing off to add your name to the list of Legends in Night City! See ya out there, choom.
