Genshin Impact Genius Invokation TCG Guide

New permanent gameplay in version 3.3 (Image via HoYoverse)

Genius Invokation TCG (Trading Card Game) is the new permanent gameplay that will be added to Genshin Impact in version 3.3. In this new gameplay mode, you can invite different characters and NPCs to play. In addition, you can also play games against friends for fun (PVP mode) without any leaderboard or rewards.

Last but not least, all cards can be acquired through gameplay without needing to spend any money. But this information is not enough for those who want to know more about the new card game in Genshin Impact. So I took it upon myself to compile all the available and officially released information for the brand-new gameplay in Genshin Impact here.

Table of Contents

1 Gameplay
2 Cards
- 2.1 Character Cards
- 2.2 Action Cards
3 Elemental Dice
4 Player Level
5 Card Shop
6 Extra

Gameplay

Challenge NPC for Player EXP and Lucky Coins (Image via HoYoverse)

Genius Invokation TCG is a game where you use a constructed deck of cards to duel against an opponent. The objective is to defeat all of your opponent’s Character Cards! Conveniently, there are many features and mechanics in the game that resonate with Genshin Impact’s gameplay, such as Elemental Reactions, Skills, and Bursts.
There will be 2 types of opponents: NPCs in PVE, and other Travelers in PVP. The former will reward you with Player EXP, but the latter will give absolutely nothing except for casual competition between you and your friends.

Cards

The most important thing to know in the TCG is the cards. There are two types of cards in TCG: Character Cards and Action Cards!

Character Cards

Character cards are the most important ones in TCG gameplay. Based on the live stream footage, you need to equip 3 Character Cards before you can challenge any characters to a duel.
These Character Cards have a Normal Attack, an Elemental Skill, and an Elemental Burst. In addition, when a Character Card deals elemental damage to an enemy, it will cause them to be affected by that element.

Overload deals 5 DMG to Maguu Kenki (Image via HoYoverse)

Then, you can switch to a Character Card of a different element and use their abilities to trigger an Elemental Reaction!

HP can be seen on the top left corner of each card (Image via HoYoverse)

Based on the image above, it is safe to assume that the number on the top left corner of the card is the HP number. Since your objective is to defeat the opponents’ Character Cards, you need to make sure all their cards reach 0. You can get Character Cards by playing and winning against characters in the game.

Elemental Burst bar can be seen on the top right corner of each card (Image via HoYoverse)

Now we go to the Elemental Skill and Burst for Character Card. In the live stream, we can see that once Diluc uses his Elemental Skill, one yellow star will light up on the right side of the card (I will call this Burst Bar for the time being). Then, in earlier footage, we can see Keqing use her Elemental Burst once she gained all three yellow stars on her card.
But as we see in the image above, there are also Character Cards that only need to charge 2 yellow stars like Kaeya and Sucrose.
In other words, you need to use Elemental Skill first to charge the Burst Bar. And once it is full, only then can you use the Character Card’s Elemental Burst.

Action Cards

There are 3 types of Action Cards: Equipment Cards, Support Cards, and Event Cards.

Equipment Cards: Used to strengthen specific characters
Support Cards: Used to continuously provide buffs
Event Cards: Immediately take a one-time effect when used

Action Cards can be seen at the bottom (Image via HoYoverse)

I can’t tell what is the minimum or the maximum amount of Action Cards can be deployed, but we do know that these Cards will be at the bottom of the screen, and you can’t see what your opponents’ Action Cards are (and vice versa).

Elemental Dice

You have one chance of rerolling (Image via HoYoverse)

In Genius Invokation TCG, all actions require you to spend Elemental Dice. In each round, both you and your opponent will roll 8 Elemental Dice. After throwing these dice, you will have 1 chance to choose any number of Elemental Dice and reroll them.
Each of these Elemental Dice can have any one of 8 elemental attributes. In addition to the 7 standard elements, there’s also one called the “Omni Element.” In other words, there will be Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro, Dendro, Anemo, Geo, and Omni-Element.

Diluc’s Elemental Skill needs 3 Pyro Dices (Image via HoYoverse)

The Elemental Dice required a Character Card to perform an action corresponding to the character’s element. So for example, a Pyro character like Diluc needs either Pyro or Omni Elemental Dice to perform an action. (In the footage, we can see Diluc needs 3 Pyro Dice, but he uses 2 Pyro Dice and 1 Omni-Element).
Elemental Dice can also be used to switch characters or use a variety of other cards such as Equipment Cards, Event Cards, and Support Cards.

Sacrifice one Action Card to change one Dice element (Image via HoYoverse)

Another thing I manage to catch from the live stream is that you can use your Action Cards to change elements for one of the dice. One card can be used for one dice.

Player Level

While playing Genius Invokation TCG, Travelers can earn Player Experience which will increase their Player Level.
As your level increases, you’ll be able to challenge more characters and NPCs. By completing challenges, you may earn Lucky Coins, new cards, or other rewards.

You can either Invite Teammate or Match with a random player (Image via HoYoverse)

You can also invite a friend to duel only after reaching a high enough Player Level. You’ll even unlock a matchmaking mode (invite a random player)!
Travelers should note that playing against their friends or other Travelers won’t count towards any leaderboard or provide any rewards.

Card Shop

Lucky Coins can be exchanged in the Event Shop at The Cat’s Tail to purchase cards, card backs, and unlock Dynamic Skins for certain cards. Based on the live stream, there are three sections in the shop: Purchase Cards, Purchase Provisions, and Dynamic Skin.

Dynamic Skin has an awesome animation (Image via HoYoverse)

Dynamic Skins are cards that have moving illustrations, and all Character Cards can unlock a Dynamic Skin! After unlocking that, there’ll even be a cool bonus animation whenever you cast that character’s Elemental Burst.

Extra

The inside of Cat’s Tail (Image via HoYoverse)

The image above shows the inside of the Cat’s Tail bar, where we will play most of the TCG duel. It is not released during Genshin Impact live stream, but instead, it was revealed in the PlayStation’s blog from the following link.
Since the Genius Invokation TCG will be permanently available in version 3.3, it is normal to think that we can also access this location in the next version, as we can see Traveler talking to Prince in the image above.

That’s all for the official information that was released by Genshin Impact in their previous live stream and preview page.