Fire Emblem Cipher Card Game

Fire Emblem Cipher Card Game, officially titled TCG Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) — TCGファイアーエムブレム0（サイファ）, is a Japanese trading card game based on Nintendo and Intelligent Systems’ Fire Emblem tactical RPG series. Released in Japan on June 25, 2015, Cipher allows players to assemble heroes from different Fire Emblem worlds and place a favorite character at the center of their deck as the Main Character. The product line concluded with Booster Series 22 on October 1, 2020, and official game support ended in March 2022.

Fire Emblem Cipher translates familiar video-game mechanics such as unit deployment, class changes, support relationships, attack ranges, bonds, front and rear formations, and character growth into a two-player card battle. Its Japanese product catalog includes booster packs, booster boxes, constructed Starter Decks, promotional cards, rare foil parallels, anniversary cards, sleeves, playmats, card-storage products, and official artwork books. Because every Cipher product is discontinued, current prices vary according to the featured character, set, rarity, artwork, condition, sealed availability, promotional source, and collector demand.

Popular Fire Emblem Cipher card and product types

Fire Emblem Cipher products appeal to active players, Fire Emblem fans, sealed-product collectors, artwork collectors, and buyers building character-focused displays:

• Japanese Booster Packs: Standard Cipher booster packs contain ten randomly selected cards. Each expansion introduces characters from selected Fire Emblem games together with new skills, class versions, support abilities, artwork, foil cards, and premium parallels.
• Japanese Booster Boxes: A standard booster box contains 16 packs, providing 160 cards from one expansion. Boxes may also include promotional preview cards, character-marker cards, anniversary reprints, or small packs of original sleeves, depending on the series.
• Starter Decks: Fixed 50-card constructed decks designed around one Fire Emblem game, faction, or group of protagonists. A typical Starter Deck also includes a Main Character marker, paper playmat, rulebook, and selected holographic cards.
• Character Cards: Every playable card in Cipher represents a Fire Emblem character. There are no separate weapon, spell, item, or location card types in the Main Deck; character skills reproduce those effects within the unit-card system.
• Main Character Cards: One deployment-cost-one character is selected as the player’s Main Character before the game begins. The deck can contain stronger versions of the same character so the Main Character can level up or class change during play.
• Base-Class Cards: Lower-cost versions commonly depict characters in their starting classes, early-game outfits, younger appearances, or initial story roles.
• Promoted and Advanced-Class Cards: Higher-level cards represent class changes, promoted jobs, legendary weapons, royal forms, time-skip appearances, alternate routes, or later stages of a character’s story.
• Class-Change Cards: A card with a class-change cost can be placed over a matching unit to strengthen it. Successful class changes may provide an immediate class-change bonus in addition to the card’s normal skills.
• Support Cards: Support is not a separate product type; every Character Card has a support value and may have a Support Skill. During battle, each player reveals the top card of their deck to add support power or activate a supporting effect.
• Symbol-Based Cards: Cipher organizes cards by symbols connected to different Fire Emblem worlds. Decks can use one symbol or combine several symbols when their bond requirements and card effects work together.
• Promotional Cards: PR cards were distributed through tournaments, magazines, video games, guidebooks, store campaigns, product reservations, Cipher events, livestream programs, box bonuses, and other official promotions.
• Marker Cards: Non-deck cards used to identify the Main Character, represent special game states, or provide decorative character artwork.
• Single Cards: Individual Japanese Cipher cards allow collectors to target a particular hero, villain, artwork, class, rarity, set code, or promotional release without opening discontinued boxes.
• Official Card Sleeves: Character sleeves feature Fire Emblem heroes, heroines, factions, game logos, and commissioned Cipher illustrations. Some small sleeve packs were included as booster-box bonuses.
• Playmats and Storage Products: Official rubber playmats, deck cases, storage boxes, binders, and event supplies were released for players and collectors.
• Cipher Artwork Books: The official Fire Emblem Cipher Artworks series collects card illustrations by booster expansion. These books are useful for fans who value the commissioned artwork but do not need every physical card.

How Fire Emblem Cipher Card Game is played

• Main Deck: A legal deck contains at least 50 cards and must include at least one card with a deployment cost of one. Most constructed decks use exactly 50 cards for consistency.
• Four-Card Name Limit: A deck may normally contain no more than four cards sharing the same card name, even when the cards have different classes, artwork, costs, or card numbers.
• Main Character: Before shuffling, each player selects one deployment-cost-one card from the deck and places it on the battlefield as the Main Character.
• Five Orbs: Each player places five cards face down in the Orb Area. When the Main Character is defeated, one Orb is generally added to that player’s hand.
• Victory Condition: After all opposing Orbs have been removed, defeating the opponent’s Main Character again wins the game.
• Opening Hand: Each player draws six cards and may perform one complete redraw before placing five Orbs and beginning the match.
• Bond Phase: A player may place one card from their hand into the Bond Area each turn. Bonds act as the resources required to deploy and class-change units.
• Deployment Phase: Characters are deployed by meeting their symbol requirements and paying costs based on the number of cards in the Bond Area.
• Front and Rear Areas: Units occupy either the Front Line or Rear Line. Their weapon range determines which opposing characters they can attack.
• Movement: An unused unit may move between the Front Line and Rear Line, allowing players to protect ranged units, open attack paths, or reposition an important character.
• Class Change: A stronger version of a character can be placed over a matching unit. Stacked cards represent that character’s growth and may interact with Level Up, Class Change, Growth, or other skills.
• Support Check: During combat, both players reveal the top card of their deck. Its support value is added to the attacking or defending unit unless the revealed card has the same unit name as the unit it supports.
• Critical Attack: A player may discard another card with the same unit name as the attacker to double the attacker’s combat power for that battle.
• Evasion: A defending player may discard another card with the same unit name as the defender to avoid the attack completely.
• Character Relationships: Skills often reward combinations based on family, armies, kingdoms, support partners, classes, weapons, generations, or story relationships from the original games.

Fire Emblem Cipher featured booster series & sets

• B01 “The Heroes’ Blade of War” — 英雄たちの戦刃: Released on June 25, 2015, the first booster introduced heroes from Shadow Dragon, New Shadow Dragon, and Awakening. Marth, Caeda, Tiki, Chrom, Lucina, Robin, and Tharja were among the important early characters.
• B02 “Divine Flames of Light and Darkness” — 光と闇の神焔: Focused on Fire Emblem Fates, particularly the opposing Hoshidan and Nohrian kingdoms. The set introduced Corrin, Azura, Ryoma, Xander, Camilla, Takumi, Leo, and related royal families.
• B03 “Twin Swords of Hope” — 希望への雙剣: Expanded Cipher with characters from Path of Radiance and the Revelation route of Fire Emblem Fates. It introduced Tellius heroes such as Ike, Mist, Soren, and Elincia.
• B04 “Glimmering Concert of Illusions” — 煌めき幻奏: Combined characters from Archanea, Awakening, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. Itsuki Aoi, Tsubasa Oribe, Kiria Kurono, and their Mirage partners received dedicated Cipher cards.
• B05 “Surpassing Rivalry” — 相剋を越えて: Introduced major characters from The Binding Blade and Radiant Dawn, including Roy, Lilina, Micaiah, Sothe, Sanaki, and later Tellius forms.
• B06 “Storm of the Knights’ Shadows” — 閃駆ノ騎影: Added characters from Genealogy of the Holy War alongside further Fates support. Sigurd, Deirdre, Seliph, Julia, and the conflicts of Jugdral became central deck themes.
• B07 “Rise to Honor” — 士道を征く: Brought The Blazing Blade into Cipher through Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, Ninian, Nino, Jaffar, and other heroes from Elibe.
• B08 “Life and Death: Beyond Fate” — 生と死－運命の先へ: Expanded the casts of Genealogy of the Holy War and Awakening, allowing generational and family-based strategies to develop further.
• B09 “Roaring Echoes” — 響地轟轟: Introduced characters from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia while also adding cards from Elibe and Tellius. Alm, Celica, Berkut, Rinea, and other Valentian characters entered the game.
• B10 “Crossroads” — クロスローズ: Added Thracia 776 and the first dedicated Fire Emblem Heroes cards, alongside further Fates support. Leif, Nanna, Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, and Veronica were among the featured characters.
• B11 “Glorious Twinstrike” — 赫赫たる双撃: Expanded Magvel, Archanea, and related series representation with characters such as Eirika, Ephraim, Lyon, Marth, and other returning heroes.
• B12 “Raging Deluge” — 荒れ狂う破濤: Developed Tellius, Jugdral, and other existing symbols through new classes, character versions, and higher-rarity artwork.
• B13 “Flame, Steel, Thought and Grief” — 炎と鋼と想と哀と: Added further support for The Blazing Blade, The Sacred Stones, and other represented worlds, including new deck options for established protagonists and supporting characters.
• B14 “Eyegazing Future” — 瞳の見つめる未来: Expanded characters from Awakening, Fates, and other titles through alternate timelines, future generations, royal families, and character relationships.
• B15 “The Glimmering World” — 輝く世界: Revisited several popular Fire Emblem casts and introduced new artwork, promoted forms, premium cards, and competitive support for older strategies.
• B16 “O, Courage! O Soul Aflame!” — 勇気よ燃ゆる魂よ: Continued Cipher’s cross-title approach with new cards for established lords, heroines, villains, armies, and symbol combinations.
• B17 “The Advance of All Heroes” — 英雄総進軍: Released on June 27, 2019, this all-star expansion featured characters from every Fire Emblem game represented at the time, including Heroes and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. It also previewed the arrival of Three Houses.
• B18 “Oratorio of Embarkation” — 雄飛のオラトリオ: Released on September 26, 2019, this set introduced the first large Fire Emblem: Three Houses card pool together with new Awakening and The Sacred Stones cards.
• B19 “The Holy Flames of Sublime Heaven” — 覇天の聖焔: Focused on Three Houses and Genealogy of the Holy War. It introduced post-time-skip characters and class forms for Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Byleth, and other students or leaders.
• B20 “The Guiding Hand of Dawn” — その手が導く夜明け: Released on March 19, 2020, this expansion revisited Fates, Path of Radiance, and Radiant Dawn, including advanced forms of Corrin, Ike, Micaiah, and related characters.
• B21 “Tempest of Apocalyptic Flame” — 劫火の嵐: Released on June 25, 2020, the set contains cards from Three Houses, The Binding Blade, The Blazing Blade, and Fire Emblem Heroes.
• B22 “The Heroes’ Paean” — 英雄たちの凱歌: Released on October 1, 2020, the final Cipher booster brings together characters from across Fire Emblem history. It contains 115 standard card types and eight SR+ parallels, covering the main games represented in Cipher as well as Heroes, Warriors, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE.

Fire Emblem Cipher Starter Decks

• S01 War of Darkness: A Marth-centered deck based on the Archanea games.
• S02 Awakening: A constructed deck featuring Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and the Shepherds.
• S03 Birthright: A Hoshidan deck centered on Corrin and the royal family of Hoshido.
• S04 Conquest: A Nohrian deck featuring Corrin, Xander, Camilla, Leo, Elise, and their allies.
• S05 Path of Radiance: A Tellius starter built around Ike and the Greil Mercenaries.
• S06 Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE: A crossover deck featuring Itsuki, Tsubasa, and other Mirage Masters.
• S07 The Binding Rebellion: A Roy-centered deck based on The Binding Blade.
• S08 Genealogy of the Holy War: A Jugdral deck featuring Sigurd, Deirdre, and associated characters.
• S09 Land of the Gods: A starter connected to Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
• S10 The Blazing Blade: A constructed deck built around Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, and their companions.
• S11 Warriors of Bonds: An all-star deck combining characters and symbols from several Fire Emblem titles.
• S12 Three Houses: The final Starter Deck, featuring Byleth, Sothis, and students from Garreg Mach Monastery.

Popular Fire Emblem Cipher characters & themes

• Archanea and Valentia: Marth, Caeda, Tiki, Minerva, Navarre, Kris, Alm, Celica, Berkut, and other characters from the earliest Fire Emblem worlds.
• Jugdral: Sigurd, Deirdre, Seliph, Julia, Leif, Nanna, Finn, Ayra, Arvis, and characters spanning the generations of Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776.
• Elibe: Roy, Lilina, Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, Ninian, Nino, Jaffar, Zephiel, and characters from The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade.
• Magvel: Eirika, Ephraim, Lyon, L’Arachel, Tana, Innes, Myrrh, and other heroes or villains from The Sacred Stones.
• Tellius: Ike, Micaiah, Soren, Sothe, Elincia, Mist, Sanaki, Zelgius, the Black Knight, Laguz leaders, and characters from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.
• Awakening: Chrom, Lucina, Robin, Lissa, Frederick, Cordelia, Tharja, Owain, Morgan, and characters from different generations or timelines.
• Fire Emblem Fates: Male and female Corrin, Azura, Ryoma, Xander, Camilla, Takumi, Leo, Sakura, Elise, retainers, children, and characters from the Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation routes.
• Three Houses: Male and female Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Sothis, Rhea, the Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, and Ashen Wolves.
• Fire Emblem Heroes: Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, Veronica, Fjorm, Laegjarn, Peony, and other original mobile-game heroes appear as colorless Cipher cards.
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE: Itsuki Aoi, Tsubasa Oribe, Kiria Kurono, Touma Akagi, Eleonora Yumizuru, Mamori Minamoto, and their Mirage partners receive cards with performance and entertainment themes.
• Fire Emblem Warriors: Rowan, Lianna, and selected Warriors characters appear within the later all-series Cipher lineup.
• Cipher Original Characters: Emma, Shade, Yuzu, and Randal were created for Cipher as recurring guide and story characters. They later crossed into Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia through official downloadable content.
• Lords and Main Characters: Many collectors build displays around Fire Emblem protagonists, royal families, tacticians, avatars, dragon characters, legendary heroes, or characters who wield a version of the Fire Emblem.
• Class Progression: The same character may appear as a trainee, base-class unit, promoted fighter, legendary ruler, fallen form, alternate-route version, or post-time-skip design.
• Support Relationships: Card illustrations and skills frequently reference friendships, siblings, parents and children, romantic supports, retainers, armies, houses, and battlefield partnerships.
• Villains and Fallen Heroes: Medeus, Arvis, Julius, Lyon, Ashnard, the Black Knight, Grima, Anankos, and other antagonists appear alongside heroic forms and opposing factions.

Hot tie-in cards & promotional releases

• Fire Emblem Fates Launch Bonuses: Selected launch-period Starter Deck and booster purchases included downloadable codes or promotional content connected to the Nintendo 3DS game.
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Promo: Physical copies and purchase campaigns for the Wii U title included or promoted a limited Tsubasa Oribe Cipher card.
• Fire Emblem Echoes Collaboration: The Cipher Companions DLC introduced Emma, Randal, Yuzu, and Shade as playable characters in Shadows of Valentia, creating a direct crossover from the card game into the main video-game series.
• Fire Emblem Heroes Cards: Original mobile-game characters received physical Cipher cards, allowing collectors to display Askr, Embla, Nifl, Múspell, and dream-world characters alongside heroes from the console games.
• Fire Emblem Warriors Cards: Cipher included characters and artwork connected to the Warriors crossover title in its later releases.
• Magazine Promo Cards: Japanese gaming and manga magazines distributed exclusive cards, alternate artwork, character promos, and deck-support cards.
• Guidebook and Artbook Promos: Strategy books, official guides, artwork collections, and other publications occasionally included promotional cards unavailable in standard booster packs.
• Booster-Box Preview Cards: Selected boxes contained promotional versions of cards scheduled to appear in the following booster series.
• Anniversary Reprints: Later booster boxes included anniversary versions of popular older cards using new artwork or commemorative treatments.
• Cipher Festival Cards: Official Fire Emblem Cipher festivals and major events distributed participation cards, event promos, markers, sleeves, and limited merchandise.
• Shop Tournament Cards: Japanese card shops distributed monthly participation and winner cards through officially supported tournaments.
• Illustrator and Voice-Actor Designs: Selected R+, SR+, and secret cards use foil-stamped reproductions of illustrator or Japanese voice-actor signatures.

A foil-stamped signature is a printed decorative treatment and should not be described as a personally hand-signed autograph unless the individual card has been separately signed and authenticated. Collectors should also distinguish between a standard booster card, Starter Deck card, box bonus, magazine promo, tournament card, anniversary reprint, and limited event release.

Fire Emblem Cipher Card Game prices and rarity guide

Historical Japanese suggested retail prices provide a reference, but all Cipher products are now discontinued:

• Standard Japanese Booster Packs: One ten-card pack was generally priced at ¥350 plus tax.
• Standard Japanese Booster Boxes: A 16-pack box was generally priced at ¥5,600 plus tax.
• Early Starter Decks: The first constructed decks had an official suggested retail price of ¥1,300 plus tax, equivalent to ¥1,430 including Japan’s ten-percent tax rate used in later listings.
• Later Starter Decks: Products such as Warriors of Bonds and Three Houses were officially priced at ¥1,480 plus tax.
• Current Collector Pricing: Sealed boxes, discontinued Starter Decks, high-rarity singles, promotional cards, and complete collections are now sold according to secondary-market availability rather than their original retail price.

The primary Fire Emblem Cipher booster rarities include:

• N — Normal: The most frequently included rarity. Normal cards commonly depict base classes, early forms, or lower-cost versions of characters.
• HN — High Normal: Less common than Normal cards and often used for promoted forms, supporting characters, alternate classes, or additional versions of popular heroes.
• R — Rare: Holographic cards featuring more prominent characters, stronger effects, or important deck pieces.
• SR — Super Rare: Premium holographic cards with textured processing, major protagonists, legendary weapons, advanced classes, or central strategy effects.
• R+ — Rare Plus: Parallel versions of selected Rare cards. They may use alternate artwork, gold decoration, border changes, quotes, or foil-stamped signatures.
• SR+ — Super Rare Plus: Premium parallels of selected Super Rare cards. SR+ cards are especially popular among collectors because they may feature alternate artwork or foil-stamped Japanese cast and illustrator signatures.
• HR — Hero Rare: A secret-style rarity used in later booster series for notable Main Character cards from games not otherwise central to that expansion.
• +X Secret Cards: Product-specific secret variations such as N+X, HN+X, R+X, and related treatments. Their artwork, border, effect text, or presentation may differ from the ordinary version.
• ST — Starter: Cards printed for constructed Starter Decks.
• ST+ — Starter Plus: Holographic or enhanced versions of Starter Deck cards.
• PR — Promotional: Cards distributed through events, magazines, video games, campaigns, tournaments, books, and product bonuses.
• Marker Cards: Decorative or functional non-deck cards used to identify Main Characters or special game states.

Rarity structures differ between booster seasons. Not every expansion contains R+, HR, or the same type of secret card, so buyers should check the complete card code and rarity suffix rather than relying only on character artwork.

Individual Cipher card values may be influenced by the featured character, source game, rarity, artwork, foil-stamped signature, illustrator, competitive usefulness, card condition, promotional distribution, product age, sealed availability, reprint history, grading, and collector demand. A discontinued, SR+, HR, signed-design, secret, or event card is not guaranteed to retain or increase its resale value. Prices may vary depending on product type, rarity, manufacturer, and release status.

Japanese vs English Fire Emblem Cipher cards

Fire Emblem Cipher was officially produced as a Japanese-language trading card game. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems did not release a complete commercial English edition with English booster boxes, Starter Decks, promotional cards, or organized-play support.

• Japanese Card Text: Official Cipher cards use Japanese character names, class names, skills, support effects, quotes, symbols, and rules terminology.
• Japanese Product Packaging: Booster packs, boxes, Starter Decks, sleeves, books, and promotional products were created for the Japanese market.
• No Official English Booster Line: English card translations produced by fan communities are reference materials and are not officially printed English Cipher cards.
• Community Translation Resources: International players commonly use translated card databases, deck guides, printed references, or online play tools to understand Japanese card effects.
• Original Artwork Appeal: The lack of an English edition does not prevent the cards from being collected for their artwork, characters, foil treatments, and Fire Emblem history.
• Japan-Only Promotions: Magazine cards, game-purchase bonuses, Cipher festivals, shop tournaments, box promos, and publication bonuses were distributed mainly in Japan.
• Different from the Older Fire Emblem TCG: NTT Publishing released a separate Fire Emblem Trading Card Game from 2001 to 2004. Those older cards use different rules, card designs, numbering, and product sets and cannot be used in Cipher decks.
• No New Engage Cards: Cipher ended before Fire Emblem Engage and later Fire Emblem releases, so those characters do not appear in the official Cipher card pool.
• Discontinued Official Play: Local communities may continue playing Cipher, but there is no current official tournament circuit, new booster schedule, or active manufacturer rules support.
• Collector Recommendation: Japanese Cipher cards remain the only official edition for collectors seeking the complete booster series, Starter Decks, high-rarity parallels, and promotional card history.

Collectors who value commissioned Fire Emblem artwork, original Japanese card designs, cross-title character lineups, premium SR+ cards, discontinued sealed products, and Japan-distributed promotions may prefer Fire Emblem Cipher even without an English edition. Players should be prepared to use translated references, while collectors should carefully confirm the set code, rarity, artwork, condition, and promotional source of each card.

Japan Figure offers a curated selection of authentic Japanese Fire Emblem Cipher Card Game products sourced directly from Japan. Explore discontinued booster boxes, booster packs, Starter Decks, rare foils, SR+ cards, promotional releases, singles, sleeves, artwork books, and collector products featuring Marth, Ike, Lucina, Corrin, Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Lyn, Roy, Micaiah, and heroes from across the Fire Emblem series. Shop Japanese Fire Emblem Cipher cards at Japan Figure and build a deck or display around your favorite hero, game, kingdom, class, or commissioned illustration.