Summary

.hack//ENEMY (pronounced "dot hack enemy") was a collectable card game from Decipher set in the .hack universe, which itself is based around an MMORPG called "The World". In the game, you play monster cards to fight player character (PC) cards, defeating them to earn victory points depending on the monster. The game was distributed in starter decks, preconstructed decks, 11-card booster packs, a "GIFT" pack, and tournament and promotional cards.

Card Types

• PC (Player Character) - Cards representing various characters in The World, each in one of six "classes": Blademaster, Heavy Axeman, Heavy Blade, Long Arm, Twin Blade, and Wavemaster. PCs can also be tagged as "Knight"s or "Queen"s. These classes (and tagging) affects what cards and effects can be used with the PC. Each also has a strength, and may have a play requirement and a game effect.
• Monster - The most crucial cards in the game, representing monsters in The World that will attack the PCs. Each has one of six elements (fire, water, earth, wood, thunder, and darkness) or can be non-elemental, a number of victory points they will score in a successful battle (ranging from 0 to 6), a strength, and victory effect, and a play requirement and play effect. Monsters can also be "storable", allowing you to build up an army of multiple monsters before unleashing them all at once upon your opponent(s).
• Item - Cards representing gear worn by PCs. Attaches to PC cards to add strength, defense, or other effects. In later sets, items could allow you to play Action cards from your hand. Also has one of the six elements (or is non-elemental).
• Action - Cards that are typically played face-down and flipped during combat to add strength, defense, or other effects to PCs. Also has one of the six elements.
• Event - One-time effect cards that have various effects when played. Also has one of the six elements.
• Field - Ongoing effect cards representing the battle environment. Also has one of the six elements.
• Grunty - Small creatures you "feed" cards to for effects. Six exist in the game, each aligned with an element.
• Level Up! - A special effectless card only obtained from tournaments, which are spent as a cost to play powerful event cards (also only obtained from tournaments).

Sets and Decks

The game saw a total of five sets released: Contagion, Distortion, Epidemic, Isolation, and Breakout. It also had a special set GIFT (with alternate art versions of extra-rare PCs from Contagion), tournament-specific cards, and various promotional cards.

The first three sets (Contagion, Distortion, and Epidemic) had starter decks released with the sets. Isolation had preconstructed decks instead. Breakout did not have any decks associated. Booster packs were available for the standard five sets.

(Also worth noting is that starter and extra-rare cards in the first four sets were all foiled, while Breakout extra-rares were not foiled.)

Deck Composition and Contents

Starter Decks

The six starter decks were each themed around a specific PC (Kite and BlackRose for Contagion, Terajimo Ryoko and Sanjuro for Distortion, and Mia and Elk for Epidemic). Each came with a 60 card deck (each including 5 foiled cards found only in the starter decks, including the namesake PC), a rulebook, and a playmat. The deck boxes also had a unique shape, being stretched hexagons in profile.

Starter deck contents were fixed, and the boxes indicated which deck you would get. The decks themselves are a mix of common and uncommon cards, together with the 5 foiled starter-only rarity cards.

Preconstructed Decks

Two preconstructed decks (Gardenia and Marlo) were released with the fourth (Isolation) set. Like the starters, they came with a 60 card deck, each including 5 foiled cards found only in the decks (including the namesake PC). Unlike the starters, these decks did not include a rulebook or playmat, and were regular rectangular shaped.

Preconstructed deck contents were fixed, and the boxes indicated which deck you would get. The decks themselves are a mix of common and uncommon cards, together with the 5 foiled starter-only rarity cards.

Resources

• Unofficial Fan Site (includes rules, info, and a full card listing)
• Starter Deck Card Lists (AlanvDotOrg Randomjunk)