Trails Card Game

Trails Trading Card Game (軌跡TRADING CARD GAME) is an official competitive Japanese card game featuring characters, organizations, battles, locations, equipment, and major story events from Nihon Falcom’s interconnected Trails RPG series. Released by TCG Co., Ltd. under license from Nihon Falcom, the game launched in Japan on November 29, 2024 as part of the Trails series’ 20th-anniversary celebrations. Players deploy units, establish bases, use items and events, form tactical links between allied organizations, and attempt to reduce the opponent’s Bond total to zero.

Trails TCG supports both an accessible BlitzShield format, played using all 40 cards opened from five booster packs, and a constructed Strategy format using a customized 50-card deck. The Japanese product line currently focuses on booster packs, booster boxes, Remastered cards, box-purchase promos, shop-distribution cards, tournament rewards, foil parallels, and official event cards rather than conventional pre-constructed Starter Decks. Standard Japanese packs contain eight cards and are officially priced at ¥550, while a 20-pack booster box is priced at ¥11,000.

Popular Trails Trading Card Game product types

Explore the main Japanese Trails TCG products available for beginners, constructed players, sealed-product collectors, and fans collecting characters from different arcs of the Zemurian story:

• Japanese Booster Packs: Each standard pack contains eight randomly selected cards. A single pack can include Units, Items, Events, Bases, regular rarities, foil cards, and other set-specific treatments.
• Japanese Booster Boxes: One standard box contains 20 packs, providing 160 cards before accounting for separately included box bonuses. Booster boxes are suitable for BlitzShield events, deck construction, trading, and collecting a broader selection from one release.
• Trails TCG Remastered Packs: The Remastered edition revises the first product wave while remaining playable with the original cards. It updates selected card text, artwork, foil specifications, Secret cards, box-purchase promos, the play sheet, and the Quick Start Guide.
• Unit Cards: The main characters and combatants placed onto the field. Units have CP costs, Strength, Defense, organizations, abilities called Crafts, and other information that determines how they attack, defend, support, or combine with allies.
• Item Cards: Equipment, machines, artifacts, weapons, or other objects that remain on the field and support the player or allied Units. Some Items can also function as Units through specific abilities.
• Event Cards: One-time tactical cards representing actions, techniques, incidents, and story moments. Events use EP and resolve their printed effect when played.
• Base Cards: Ongoing cards placed in the Base area. A Base has an establishment level rather than a standard play cost and can influence the game while it remains face up.
• Arts Cards: Selected Units can be played for their Arts text instead of entering the field as ordinary Units. Arts resolve in a manner similar to Events, giving character cards an additional tactical function.
• Foil Cards: Premium versions using reflective or enhanced surface processing. The Remastered release updated the foil specification used for its card pool.
• Secret Cards: Each current booster release includes two SEC cards outside the main 119-card checklist. These are among the highest-rarity collector cards in the product line.
• Box-Purchase Promo Cards: Sealed booster boxes include promotional cards separate from the normal randomized pack checklist. The exact promo lineup differs between releases and was replaced for the Remastered edition.
• Shop Distribution Promos: Participating Japanese trading-card shops periodically distribute PR cards through official monthly campaigns, beginner meetings, and supported events.
• Tournament Prize Cards: Official competitions may award specially marked versions carrying designations such as CHAMPION, FINALIST, or TOP8.
• Event Participation Cards: Grand Prix events, Martial Arts Tournaments, teaching sessions, free-play events, and other official programs distribute participation promos or card sets unavailable in standard booster packs.
• Single Cards: Individual Japanese cards help players obtain specific Units, organizations, Items, Events, foil versions, SEC cards, or promos without opening additional sealed packs.
• Official Card Accessories: Trails-themed sleeves, playmats, storage products, deck cases, and related supplies can be used to protect cards and build displays around favorite protagonists or game arcs.

How Trails Trading Card Game is played

• BlitzShield Format: Each player opens five booster packs and uses all 40 cards as their deck. No other cards may be added, and there is no limit on duplicate cards produced by those five packs.
• Strategy Format: Players construct a deck containing exactly 50 cards. A deck may normally contain up to four cards sharing both the same name and subtitle.
• Forty Bond: Each player begins with 40 Bond points. Damage reduces this total, and the primary objective is to bring the opponent’s Bond to zero or below.
• End-of-Turn Victory Check: The game does not immediately end when Bond reaches zero. The current turn continues, and victory is checked at the end of the turn.
• Opening Hand: Each player begins by drawing four cards and may replace any number of them once by placing the selected cards at the bottom of the deck and drawing the same number.
• Base Area: During the turn, a player may place a card from their hand face down in the Base area. The number of cards in the Base helps determine available CP and which Base Cards can be established.
• CP Resources: At the beginning of the deployment step, the active player gains one CP for every card in their Base. CP is spent to play Units and Items and disappears at the end of the deployment step.
• EP Resources: A player may action a card in their Base to gain one EP. EP is used to play Events and Arts and disappears at the end of each phase.
• Unit Combat: Units compare Strength and Defense during battle. A Unit whose opposing Strength meets or exceeds its Defense becomes stunned.
• Stun Damage: When a Unit is stunned, its controller loses Bond equal to that Unit’s CP cost.
• Overkill Damage: When an attacker’s Strength exceeds a defending Unit’s Defense and the defender lacks Support, the difference can be dealt as Overkill damage to the defending player.
• Direct Attacks: When no eligible opposing Unit can be selected as the attack target, a Unit may attack the opposing player and deal Bond damage equal to its Strength.
• Scrum Attacks: Multiple allied Units sharing the same organization can attack together. Their Strength is combined for the attack, recreating team tactics from the Trails games.
• Scrum Support: A Unit sharing an organization with an allied Unit can be actioned to grant Support, helping protect the target from Overkill damage.
• Tactical Link: Selected Units can link with allies from compatible organizations and temporarily function as one Unit with combined information.
• Initiative System: Players alternate initiative between turns, affecting who performs actions first during deployment and battle phases.

Trails Trading Card Game featured series & booster sets

• Trails Trading Card Game I: Released in Japan on November 29, 2024, the first booster began the anniversary TCG with characters and events from the Trails series, including strong representation from the Liberl and Crossbell story arcs. The set contains 119 standard card types plus two SEC cards.
• Set I Rarity Breakdown: The main checklist contains 46 Normal cards, 35 Rare cards, and 38 Super Rare cards. Two Secret cards and separate box-purchase promo cards sit outside that main distribution.
• Trails Trading Card Game II: Released on February 28, 2025, the second booster expands the game with additional characters, organizations, crafts, equipment, and events, with a major emphasis on the Trails of Cold Steel arc.
• Set II Rarity Breakdown: The release contains 48 Normal cards, 33 Rare cards, 38 Super Rare cards, and two SEC cards, for 119 standard types plus the Secret lineup.
• Trails Trading Card Game III: Released on July 25, 2025, the third Japanese booster broadens the constructed card pool and introduces more Units, organizational combinations, Arts, Items, Events, and Base strategies.
• Set III Rarity Breakdown: The booster contains 46 Normal cards, 35 Rare cards, 38 Super Rare cards, and two SEC cards.
• Trails Trading Card Game IV: Released on January 30, 2026, the fourth booster continues the cross-series card pool and provides further support for established protagonists, factions, combat systems, and organization-based decks.
• Set IV Rarity Breakdown: The main checklist contains 49 Normal cards, 32 Rare cards, and 38 Super Rare cards, plus two Secret cards.
• Trails Trading Card Game Remastered: Released in Japan on July 23, 2026, this revised version of the original card pool can be mixed with existing Trails TCG cards. It updates selected text and artwork, changes the foil finish, replaces both SEC cards, replaces all three box-included PR cards, and refreshes the learning materials.
• Future Remastered Expansion: TCG Co. has stated that it plans to expand the game and organize events using card pools covered by the Remastered product range. Collectors should rely on future official announcements rather than assuming that every earlier booster will automatically receive a Remastered version.

Popular Trails characters, arcs & themes

Trails Trading Card Game draws from Nihon Falcom’s interconnected Zemurian saga rather than one isolated game. Collectors commonly organize their cards around a protagonist, nation, academy, guild, military group, or story arc:

• Trails in the Sky: Estelle Bright, Joshua Bright, Cassius Bright, Scherazard Harvey, Olivier Lenheim, Kloe Rinz, Agate Crosner, Tita Russell, Kevin Graham, Ries Argent, and other characters from the Liberl arc.
• Crossbell Arc: Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowell, Tio Plato, Randy Orlando, KeA, Wazy Hemisphere, Rixia Mao, Noel Seeker, and characters connected to the Special Support Section and Crossbell State.
• Trails of Cold Steel: Rean Schwarzer, Alisa Reinford, Laura S. Arseid, Elliot Craig, Machias Regnitz, Jusis Albarea, Emma Millstein, Fie Claussell, Gaius Worzel, Crow Armbrust, Altina Orion, and other members of Class VII.
• Trails into Reverie: Cards and collector interest can center on Rean, Lloyd, the masked protagonist C, Lapis Rosenberg, Swin Abel, Nadia Rayne, and the intersecting routes that conclude major Crossbell and Erebonian storylines.
• Trails Through Daybreak: Van Arkride, Agnès Claudel, Feri Al-Fayed, Aaron Wei, Risette Twinings, Quatre Salision, Judith Ranster, Bergard Zeman, Elaine Auclair, and characters associated with the Calvard Republic.
• Bracer Guild: Units and events associated with Bracers emphasize partnerships, investigations, travel, civilian protection, and recognizable teams from the Liberl and later arcs.
• Special Support Section: Crossbell decks and displays may focus on the SSS, police work, local organizations, political conflicts, and the group’s close personal bonds.
• Class VII: Old and New Class VII members provide a broad character pool connected by Thors Military Academy, the Erebonian military, Divine Knights, and the events of the Cold Steel saga.
• Arkride Solutions Office: Calvard-era characters combine Spriggan work, underworld connections, martial arts, technology, and the political organizations of the Republic.
• Ouroboros: Enforcers, Anguis, Aions, artifacts, and schemes of the secret society provide villain-focused cards and cross-arc narrative connections.
• Jaeger Corps: Groups such as Zephyr and the Red Constellation support combat-oriented themes built around mercenaries, rivalry, military equipment, and battlefield pressure.
• Septian Church: Characters such as Kevin and Ries connect the card game to the Gralsritter, Dominion, thaumaturgy, holy artifacts, and the Church’s role throughout Zemuria.
• Orbments and Technology: Items and Events may represent tactical orbments, combat shells, vehicles, artifacts, weapons, laboratories, and technological developments from different regions.
• Crafts and S-Crafts: Character abilities and Arts recreate signature attacks, support techniques, magical skills, and coordinated combat actions from the RPG series.
• Organizations: Organization labels are important for Scrum Attacks, Scrum Support, Tactical Link, and other card effects, encouraging decks based on relationships and affiliations from the games.

Hot tie-in cards & promotional releases

• Trails 20th Anniversary: The card game was created as an officially licensed product celebrating two decades of the Trails series and its interconnected cast and story.
• 20th Anniversary Exhibition Promos: Selected Japanese Trails anniversary exhibitions distributed promotional cards with qualifying Nihon Falcom purchases or reservations.
• Box-Purchase Promo Cards: Each booster product includes a release-specific promo selection separate from the main pack checklist. Remastered replaced the original box-promo lineup with new cards.
• Trading-Card Shop Promos: Participating Japanese stores distribute monthly PR cards through official campaigns and supported play programs.
• Beginner Meeting Cards: Beginner sessions teach the BlitzShield or Strategy formats and may provide promotional cards or allow participants to keep the cards used during the event.
• Grand Prix Rewards: Major official tournaments have distributed participation cards, specially marked finalist and champion cards, and other prizes.
• Martial Arts Tournament Cards: Bushutsu Taikai events use the Strategy format and offer participation promos as well as CHAMPION, FINALIST, and TOP8-stamped cards.
• Championship Products: The ongoing organized-play program includes championships, certified judges, tournament rules, deck restrictions, and official event cards.
• Card-Text Revisions: TCG Co. publishes corrections and text changes for selected cards. Competitive buyers should check the latest official wording rather than relying only on the text printed on an early card.
• Remastered Alternate Cards: Revised artwork, updated foil, replacement SEC cards, and new box promos make Remastered cards distinct collector versions even when they correspond to an earlier gameplay concept.

Collectors should distinguish between ordinary booster cards, Remastered versions, box-purchase PR cards, shop promos, event participation cards, stamped tournament cards, and cards affected by official text revisions. Cards showing the same character may have different subtitles, artwork, effects, foil finishes, or distribution methods.

Trails Trading Card Game prices and rarity guide

The current Japanese products use a consistent booster configuration:

• Japanese Booster Packs: One pack contains eight cards and has an official suggested retail price of ¥550.
• Japanese Booster Boxes: One box contains 20 packs and has an official suggested retail price of ¥11,000.
• Japanese Booster Cartons: The original first release was distributed with six boxes per inner carton and four inner cartons per outer carton. Carton arrangements may differ by distributor or later release.
• Remastered Packs and Boxes: The Remastered edition uses the same official ¥550 pack price and ¥11,000 box price.
• International Pricing: Store prices outside Japan may differ because of import costs, exchange rates, shipping, taxes, availability, and release status.

The main Trails TCG rarity classifications are:

• N — Normal: Standard cards forming the most accessible portion of each set. Normal cards include playable Units, Items, Events, and Bases.
• R — Rare: Cards with a lower inclusion frequency than Normal cards and generally more prominent characters, effects, artwork, or strategic uses.
• SR — Super Rare: Higher-rarity cards representing important characters, stronger effects, premium treatments, or collector-focused versions.
• SEC — Secret: Two Secret cards are included outside the standard 119-card checklist of each current booster product.
• PR — Promotional: Cards distributed outside ordinary booster collation through boxes, shops, events, exhibitions, teaching sessions, campaigns, and tournaments.
• Foil Versions: Reflective card treatments may be used across selected rarities and promos. The Remastered edition uses an updated foil specification.
• Stamped Tournament Cards: Special versions marked CHAMPION, FINALIST, or TOP8 are awarded according to official event placement rather than ordinary pack rarity.

Individual Trails TCG card values may be influenced by the featured character, source arc, rarity, foil treatment, artwork, competitive effect, organization, box-bonus status, tournament stamp, promotional distribution, card condition, print availability, language, and collector demand. A Secret, foil, promotional, champion-stamped, or discontinued original-version 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 Trails Trading Card Game cards

Trails Trading Card Game has official Japanese and English physical product lines. The Japanese edition launched first and currently has the larger released card catalog, while the English edition follows a separate international schedule.

• Japanese Launch: The original Japanese first set launched on November 29, 2024, followed by Set II in February 2025, Set III in July 2025, and Set IV in January 2026.
• Japanese Remastered Edition: The revised first product wave launched in Japan on July 23, 2026 and can be played together with the original Japanese cards.
• English Set I: The first official English booster product launched on August 29, 2025.
• English Set II: The second English release launched on March 25, 2026.
• English Set III: The third English booster is scheduled for August 25, 2026.
• Pack Configuration: Official English boosters use eight cards per pack and 20 packs per box, matching the standard physical configuration listed for Japanese products.
• English Rarity Structure: English Sets I–III each contain 119 standard card types plus two SEC cards, divided among N, R, and SR rarities.
• Card Language: Japanese cards use original Japanese character names, organizations, Craft terminology, flavor text, and packaging. English cards provide translated effects that are easier for many international players to read.
• Release Timing: The Japanese edition currently provides earlier access to later sets and the Remastered product line.
• Promo Differences: Box-purchase promos, shop campaigns, tournament cards, event bonuses, and Remastered replacements may differ by language and distribution region.
• Text Revisions: Players should check the latest official card information because product translations, corrections, and revised wording may affect how a printed card is interpreted.
• Tournament Legality: Buyers should not assume that Japanese and English cards can automatically be mixed in every sanctioned event. The permitted languages and card pool should be confirmed with the organizer.
• Collector Preference: Japanese cards appeal to collectors seeking the original domestic release, earlier set access, Japanese packaging, Japan-based promos, and the Remastered versions.
• Player Preference: English cards may be more convenient for players who prioritize immediate rules comprehension and English-language organized play.

Collectors who value original Japanese text, early releases, domestic promotional cards, Nihon Falcom packaging, and the Remastered card pool may prefer the Japanese edition. Players who mainly want to understand every ability without using a translated reference may find the official English edition more practical. Both are licensed products, but release timing, promotional distribution, and tournament eligibility should be checked separately.

Japan Figure offers a curated selection of authentic Japanese Trails Trading Card Game products sourced directly from Japan. Explore Japanese booster boxes, booster packs, Remastered cards, foil SR and SEC cards, box-purchase promos, tournament releases, singles, sleeves, and collector products featuring Estelle, Joshua, Lloyd, Rean, Crow, Altina, Van, Agnès, and characters from across the Liberl, Crossbell, Erebonia, and Calvard arcs. Shop Japanese Trails TCG cards at Japan Figure and build a deck or display around your favorite protagonist, organization, game, or story arc.