The official name of the card game
is Tetra Master. Many people all over the world play Tetra Master.
The only way to find out who plays is by challenging them. Tetra
Master players never back down from a challenge. To challenge people,
walk up to them and press the Square button. If you challenge a
person who isn't a player, he or she will probably just talk
to you.
You need to know how to play the
card game to finish FINAL FANTASY IX, since the player must
compete and become a finalist in the Treno Card Tournament event.
You can find cards in hidden treasure chests throughout the game,
and you receive them after defeating monsters. Not all monsters
will yield their own card after a battle; some monsters drop the
card of another monster after a battle.
CARD BASICS
Describing Tetra Master is actually
more complicated than playing it! When the card game begins, you
must select five cards to play. You can't play the game unless
you have at least five cards. You should choose cards based on the
number of arrows they have, and by the statistics shown on the card.
Both features of cards are explained later.
After
selecting five cards, a 4x4 grid appears. Anywhere from 0 to 6 tiles
on the game table can be blocked off, preventing you and your opponent
from placing a card there. A coin toss determines whether you or
your opponent goes first.
CARD
GAME BASICS
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Cards are placed on the grid.
Your cards are blue and your opponent's are red. Put down
a card next to or diagonal to your opponent's in an attempt
to capture their card.
Each card has up to eight
arrows pointing outward, positioned on the sides or the
corners of each card. These arrows determine what happens
when a card is placed next to an opponent's card. If the
arrow on your card points to your opponent's card, you can
convert the enemy's card to blue. If there are no arrows
on the two sides or corners of the two opposing cards that
are touching, nothing happens. If the enemy card
has an arrow, but the card you just played does not,
then nothing happens. However, if a card is placed so that
an arrow is pointing at a side or corner of an enemy card
that does not have an arrow, you capture the enemy card.
If an arrow on your card
faces an arrow on your opponent's card, a card battle begins.
If your card wins the card battle, you capture the opponent's
card and it changes to blue. If your card loses, the opponent
captures your card and it changes to red. If you have to
battle two or more cards, you must choose which of the opponent's
cards to battle first.
NOTES
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- When you win a card battle, you also automatically
capture any card to which the captured card's arrows
point.
- Use the strategy of leaving down a weak card wth
multiple arrows next to a strong enemy card. The
weaker card loses, but on your next turn you can
defeat your precious card in a card battle and easily
capture the strong card as well
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The game ends once all the
cards are played, and the player with the most cards on
the grid, captured or placed, is the winner. The winner then gets to pick one of the loser's
captured cards. If a Perfect is scored, where the player
or the opponent captures all of the cards on the grid, then
the winner gets to take all of the loser's cards!
If both players have the same number of cards on the grid,
then a Draw is called and a rematch is usually suggested.
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CARD STATISTICS
Each card has a combination of four
letters and numbers on it. These numbers and letters display the
strength of the card, and determine which card wins in a card battle.
[lb] The first number
is the card's attack power in hexadecimal, from 0 to E, with
E being the highest.
[lb] The second statistic
is the card's attack type. P is Physical, M is Magical, X
attacks the lowest defense number, and A attacks the lowest
number on the card.
[lb] The third number
is the card's physical defense in hexadecimal. The fourth
number is the card's magical defense in hexadecimal.
When two cards battle, the just-placed
card attacks using the attack number (the first stat on the card)
and the attack type (the second stat on the card). The just-played
card's attack number is compared to the corresponding defense number
on the enemy card. The card with the highest number usually wins,
although there is a small chance that a weaker card can still beat
a stronger card.
You can raise the statistics on cards
by playing with certain cards over and over and winning numerous
Tetra Master games with them.
COMBO ATTACKS
When
a card is captured in a battle, that card will then capture any
cards at which its arrows point to. This is called a "Combo,"
the art of capturing multiple cards at once. Mastering combos is
key to winning the card game. A card with many arrows, while being
very versatile, is also more vulnerable to counter combo-attacks.
CARD INVENTORY

You
can view your catalog of cards at any time by selecting the Card
option from the Main Menu. You can never carry more than 100 cards.
You should always discard weaker cards in the hopes of finding stronger
or "rare" cards. A weaker card is one that has few arrows
and low stats.
If you end up with more than 100
cards after a game of cards, you must throw away cards of your choice
until you have 100. If you want to collect all 100 cards, you can
only carry one of each card.
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