Scrye 12 - 85 - NXT Games & Donruss: Red Zone Feature, Inside NXT Games
be yellow. The same holds true for an offen-
sive run, where the OR will be red and the
OP will be green, or both will be yellow.
Run defense and pass defense work the
same way. If the card has a pass defense, the
RD will be red and the PD will be green, or
both will be yellow. If the card has a run
defense, the RD will be green and the PD
will be red, or both will be yellow. The pat-
tern of the colors on the OR, OP, RD, and PD will be a red-
green or green-red result accompanied by a yellow-yellow
result. Therefore, the running play card relies on its counter-
part, the passing play card, for a positive result. Again, the
same holds true for the defenses.
What this all means is that a running team should put
more passing plays in its deck, a passing team should put more
running plays, etc. We suggest you have 40 percent of the cards
that you intend to use as your primary plays (running/passing)
in your deck, and 60 percent of the cards that you intend to
use for positive results. Defenses work the same way. The tricky
part is choosing between favorable offensive or favorable
defensive results on the same card. When this happens, it is
usually best to take the double yellow results on defense since
a mediocre defense is still valuable, but a mediocre offense will
be ineffective. The exception to this is when you have very
good defensive players (see #1). Defensive plays that you
intend to use should be on offensive cards that you won't be
using, such as the ones that are only in your deck to give you
positive results.
sive run, where the OR will be red and the
OP will be green, or both will be yellow.
Run defense and pass defense work the
same way. If the card has a pass defense, the
RD will be red and the PD will be green, or
both will be yellow. If the card has a run
defense, the RD will be green and the PD
will be red, or both will be yellow. The pat-
tern of the colors on the OR, OP, RD, and PD will be a red-
green or green-red result accompanied by a yellow-yellow
result. Therefore, the running play card relies on its counter-
part, the passing play card, for a positive result. Again, the
same holds true for the defenses.
What this all means is that a running team should put
more passing plays in its deck, a passing team should put more
running plays, etc. We suggest you have 40 percent of the cards
that you intend to use as your primary plays (running/passing)
in your deck, and 60 percent of the cards that you intend to
use for positive results. Defenses work the same way. The tricky
part is choosing between favorable offensive or favorable
defensive results on the same card. When this happens, it is
usually best to take the double yellow results on defense since
a mediocre defense is still valuable, but a mediocre offense will
be ineffective. The exception to this is when you have very
good defensive players (see #1). Defensive plays that you
intend to use should be on offensive cards that you won't be
using, such as the ones that are only in your deck to give you
positive results.
3. Yardage is everything. Look at the lower
right-hand corner of the card. You will see
four sections: K/KR (kick/kick return), P/PR
(punt/punt return), FG (field goal), and LG
(long gain). K and KR are inversely related.
A high K will have a low KR and vice versa.
It is generally better to take a higher KR
result than a K result. The same inverse rela-
tionship holds true for the P/PR result. In
this case, it is probably better to take a result that balances the
P/PR result more evenly. FG and LG also share this inverse rela-
tionship. In this case, take the LG over the FG (unless you're
trying to make a kicking team). If you're building a deck in
anticipation of playing in a tournament, then take no FG less
then 32 yards or LG greater than 26 yards.
4. Beware of penalties. Putting too many special cards in your
deck will result in severe penalties to your
team. When designing your deck, try to take
only about 10 percent in Special Plays. If
you take more than that, you'll find your-
self moving backwards on the field a lot.
With the large number of Special Plays
available, choosing the one that will help
you most will be challenging. Remember to
take Special Plays that enhance your deck
concept in some way (if you have a passing
team, take the Go Deep card to throw a long bomb with a one-
color grade increase).
right-hand corner of the card. You will see
four sections: K/KR (kick/kick return), P/PR
(punt/punt return), FG (field goal), and LG
(long gain). K and KR are inversely related.
A high K will have a low KR and vice versa.
It is generally better to take a higher KR
result than a K result. The same inverse rela-
tionship holds true for the P/PR result. In
this case, it is probably better to take a result that balances the
P/PR result more evenly. FG and LG also share this inverse rela-
tionship. In this case, take the LG over the FG (unless you're
trying to make a kicking team). If you're building a deck in
anticipation of playing in a tournament, then take no FG less
then 32 yards or LG greater than 26 yards.
4. Beware of penalties. Putting too many special cards in your
deck will result in severe penalties to your
team. When designing your deck, try to take
only about 10 percent in Special Plays. If
you take more than that, you'll find your-
self moving backwards on the field a lot.
With the large number of Special Plays
available, choosing the one that will help
you most will be challenging. Remember to
take Special Plays that enhance your deck
concept in some way (if you have a passing
team, take the Go Deep card to throw a long bomb with a one-
color grade increase).
If you follow these basic steps you should start dominating
the field - at least until the other coaches in your league dis-
cover these strategies! Good luck!
* Look for tournament rules and deck-building advice for
Top Of The Order in the next issue of SCRYE.
INSIDE NXT GAMES
A Brief Look at the Creators of
Red Zone and Top Of The Order
NXT Games was
started by Duncan
Macdonell in 1994.
Inspired by Wizards
of the Coast's
Magic: The
Gathering, Duncan,
both a sports fan
and a hobby gamer,
realized that the collectible card
game market would make an ideal
medium for sports card games. He
designed a set of rules for both foot-
ball and baseball. Joining him in this
task were Ron Kent, who contributed
design concepts and coordinated
playtesting; Ryan Vener, the designer
of the NXT Games web site; Brett
Fishburne, the computer specialist;
Bob Mitchell, the strategic planner
for business affairs; Mark Hinds, who
handles the day-to-day operations of
the company; Les Kollegian, the
graphic designer; and Randy Osuna,
head designer of
educational
games.
the field - at least until the other coaches in your league dis-
cover these strategies! Good luck!
* Look for tournament rules and deck-building advice for
Top Of The Order in the next issue of SCRYE.
INSIDE NXT GAMES
A Brief Look at the Creators of
Red Zone and Top Of The Order
NXT Games was
started by Duncan
Macdonell in 1994.
Inspired by Wizards
of the Coast's
Magic: The
Gathering, Duncan,
both a sports fan
and a hobby gamer,
realized that the collectible card
game market would make an ideal
medium for sports card games. He
designed a set of rules for both foot-
ball and baseball. Joining him in this
task were Ron Kent, who contributed
design concepts and coordinated
playtesting; Ryan Vener, the designer
of the NXT Games web site; Brett
Fishburne, the computer specialist;
Bob Mitchell, the strategic planner
for business affairs; Mark Hinds, who
handles the day-to-day operations of
the company; Les Kollegian, the
graphic designer; and Randy Osuna,
head designer of
educational
games.
Duncan
knew that NXT
Games would
require a partner
in the sports
card field in
order to be suc-
cessful in this
venture. He met Bob Clouston, presi-
dent of Leaf North America, Inc., of
which Donruss Trading Cards, Inc. is
a subsidiary corporation. After an
initial five-hour meeting, NXT
Games obtained an exclusive licens-
ing agreement with Donruss.
knew that NXT
Games would
require a partner
in the sports
card field in
order to be suc-
cessful in this
venture. He met Bob Clouston, presi-
dent of Leaf North America, Inc., of
which Donruss Trading Cards, Inc. is
a subsidiary corporation. After an
initial five-hour meeting, NXT
Games obtained an exclusive licens-
ing agreement with Donruss.
The next three months were a
blur as NXT Games and Donruss
went into overdrive in an attempt to
release the games during their nor-
mal seasons. Incredibly, they man-
aged to do it. The official press
release for Red Zone, the football
CCG, took place in New York City,
N.Y. on October 10, 1995. Attending
the release were star players such as
Mike Singletary, Herschel Walker,
Henry Ellard, Greg Lloyd, Neil
O'Donnell, Gus Ferrotte, and
Herman Moore. The press release
went very well, and the players gen-
uinely liked the game. If one
instance, Ryan Vener played Henry
Ellard, and Ellard drafted his own
card into his team. Ryan related how
humorous the situation was, "Mr.
---
NXT Games founder Duncan Macdonell (right) plays
Herschel Walker at the Red Zone press release.
---
Ellard Kept passing to himself and -
when he did he would say, 'I pass to
me and run for 30 yards, I pass to
me and score' It was so cool to be
able to see an NFL star using his
own card in our game!"
blur as NXT Games and Donruss
went into overdrive in an attempt to
release the games during their nor-
mal seasons. Incredibly, they man-
aged to do it. The official press
release for Red Zone, the football
CCG, took place in New York City,
N.Y. on October 10, 1995. Attending
the release were star players such as
Mike Singletary, Herschel Walker,
Henry Ellard, Greg Lloyd, Neil
O'Donnell, Gus Ferrotte, and
Herman Moore. The press release
went very well, and the players gen-
uinely liked the game. If one
instance, Ryan Vener played Henry
Ellard, and Ellard drafted his own
card into his team. Ryan related how
humorous the situation was, "Mr.
---
NXT Games founder Duncan Macdonell (right) plays
Herschel Walker at the Red Zone press release.
---
Ellard Kept passing to himself and -
when he did he would say, 'I pass to
me and run for 30 yards, I pass to
me and score' It was so cool to be
able to see an NFL star using his
own card in our game!"
The press release for Top Of The
Order, the baseball CCG, was on
October 24, 1995, the day of Game
3 of the 1995 World Series in
Cleveland, Ohio. Attending this
press release were such Hall-of-
Famers as Johnny Bench, Lou Brock,
Willie Stargell, and Jim Palmer.
Other players in attendance were
Sandy Alomar, Jr., Mark Wohlers,
Dave Valle, Andy Van Slyke and Jeff
Torborg. One memorable situation
occurred when Mark Hinds was
teaching Jim Palmer and Johnny
Bench how to play the game. Jim
Palmer had Sandy Alomar, Jr. in his
starting line-up. While trying to
decide what type
of swing to use
with Alomar's
card, he looked up
and saw Alomar a
few tables away.
He called him over
and said "Sandy,
you're up, what do
you want to
swing?"
Unfortunately, Sandy struck out
(better luck next time), but everyone
laughed and had a good time.
Order, the baseball CCG, was on
October 24, 1995, the day of Game
3 of the 1995 World Series in
Cleveland, Ohio. Attending this
press release were such Hall-of-
Famers as Johnny Bench, Lou Brock,
Willie Stargell, and Jim Palmer.
Other players in attendance were
Sandy Alomar, Jr., Mark Wohlers,
Dave Valle, Andy Van Slyke and Jeff
Torborg. One memorable situation
occurred when Mark Hinds was
teaching Jim Palmer and Johnny
Bench how to play the game. Jim
Palmer had Sandy Alomar, Jr. in his
starting line-up. While trying to
decide what type
of swing to use
with Alomar's
card, he looked up
and saw Alomar a
few tables away.
He called him over
and said "Sandy,
you're up, what do
you want to
swing?"
Unfortunately, Sandy struck out
(better luck next time), but everyone
laughed and had a good time.
NXT Games hopes that these
sports card games will appeal to
sports enthusiasts who would not
normally be interested in adventure
gaming. They also believe that their
games will actually bring more peo-
ple into the hobby and game indus-
try. For up-to-the-minute
information on frequently asked
questions or Red Zone/Top Of The
Order tournaments in your area,
check out the NXT Games web site:
http://www.nxtgames.com
You can also reach them at their
email addresses:
nxtgames@aol.com and
nxtgames@cts.com
Hope to see you at a Con soon!
