Sample cards: Lorraine, Wandering Warrior
Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was the first Grand Archive sample card to be printed and distributed. Several iterations of the card exist – this article breaks them all down.
Table of Contents
Illustrated by Hori and featured prominently alongside opposing champion card, Rai, Spellcrafter, the level 1 champion, Lorraine, Wandering Warrior, is one of the first cards anyone who visited Grand Archive’s website or Kickstarter page before the campaign finished will have seen.
The card was produced as a physical sample card available through various giveaways prior to, during and after the Kickstarter campaign, receiving several tweaks along the way.
Preface
Before reading any further it’s worth establishing that this is not a complete list of when and where Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards were distributed.
Not every giveaway has been publicly documented, and counts for things like promotional packs handed out at events is not something the developers have been sharing with the community.
This article documents what has been previewed and released. It also includes a Printed but not publicly released section which documents physical Lorraine, Wandering Warrior cards which were printed but not distributed to the public.
The official figure for each of the below Lorraine, Wandering Warrior cards is as follows:
- CMT-013 (non-foil): 300 to 500;
- CMT-013 (foil): 300 to 500 (split between matte foil and oil foil);
- DOAp 1st · EN-000 C (foil): 300 to 500;
- DEMO22 · EN-002 C (non-foil): thousands.
Distribution
Individual cards
Up until 19th March 2022 all sample cards had been sent out in clear toploaders - anyone who was lucky enough to win a card would know for sure which card they were getting.
For the sake of this article that only applies to the CMT-013 Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample. A list of the events which saw those sample cards distributed in this way can be found in the Individual card giveaways section at the end.
Promotional packs
On 19th March 2022 the developers announced that they would award new Promotional Packs instead of distributing specific cards directly.
Below lists which promotional packs contained which Lorraine, Wandering Warrior cards and the odds of them being pulled. A list of events which awarded these packs can be found in Promotional Packs.
Two packs have been released containing the CMT-013 Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample card:
- Identifier code:
SAMPLE(1/3 chance of non-foil; 1/3 chance of foil); - Identifier code:
SAMPLE2(1/6 chance of non-foil; 1/6 chance of foil).
Similarly, two packs have been released containing the DOAp 1st · EN-000 C Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample card:
- Identifier code:
SAMPLE2(1/6 chance); - Identifier code:
SAMPLE3(1/3 chance).
Demo decks
The DEMO22 · EN-002 C Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was a guaranteed pull from demo decks given out at events.
Without further ado, let’s break down the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards…
CMT-013
Officially identified as the 1st iteration, the first Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample card to be released was marked as “CMT-013”. It isn’t as refined as the later sample cards, with a darker background and less crisp artwork.
With only 16 life, all CMT-013 samples have the lowest life count of all of the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards.
Trivia: The Dawn of Ashes set has an Arthurian theme. CMT was code for Camelot - the castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur.
Variants
2 main variants exist for the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior CMT-013 sample: non-foil and foil. A third variant can also be derived from the foil copies of the card, as there is a 50:50 split between matte foil and oil foil variants of these cards.
Matte Foil and Oil Foil
The developers use the term “foil” to synonymously refer to both of the matte and oil foil variants. They were both available from the beginning and should have a 50:50 split in distribution.
Matte foil is subtle whereas oil foil is very prominent. The oil foil variant also sees the rainbow pattern bleeding outside of the artwork and into the text regions of the card.
Going down the rabbit hole…
On 18th January 2022 one of the Grand Archive developers shared some very subtle differences in the gloss and foil finishes on the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior (CMT-013) samples.
Here Base.png is the non-foil version and foiltest1.png through foiltest5.png are the 5 different foil variants (which apply to both matte and oil foil).
Here we have 5 different gloss variants on the backs of the cards.
The front and back variants have a many-to-many relationship with one another, meaning each of the 6 front variants map up to each of the 5 back variants and each of the 5 back variants map up to each of the 6 front variants.
What this means is that there are:
- 5
Base.png(non-foil) gloss variants; - 5
foiltest1.png(foil) gloss variants; - 5
foiltest2.png(foil) gloss variants; - 5
foiltest3.png(foil) gloss variants; - 5
foiltest4.png(foil) gloss variants; - 5
foiltest5.png(foil) gloss variants.
This gives a total of 5 different non-foil variants and 25 of each of the matte and oil foil variants (50 total).
DOAp 1st · EN-000 C
Officially identified as the 6th iteration. This Lorraine, Wandering Warrior is denoted as DOAp 1st · EN-000 C, moving away from the previous CMT-013 numbering towards something more final:
DOAp- Dawn of Ashes Prelude set;1st- 1st edition variant;EN- English language;000- the card’s number within the set;C- common rarity.
There was no digital image of this particular version of the card shared.
Variants
The 6th iteration Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was only released in a single foil variant.
The foil is similar to that of the older matte foil samples, with additional foil added to the foreground emphasising the reflective parts of Lorraine’s armor.
Differences (compared with CMT-013)
There were several changes made between the CMT-013 and 6th iteration variants, including in the artwork, the text and the layout:
- Artwork: Background lightning angle tweaked
- Artwork: Lorraine’s hair lightened
- Artwork: Lorraine’s sword hilt reduced in size
- Artwork: Sword in lower left corner blurred
- Text: “Warrior” ⟶ “Warrior Human”
- Text: “You may reveal a Warrior card from your hand. If you do, search your material deck for a Weapon card with memory cost 1 or less and put it into the field.” ⟶ “Materialize a weapon card with a memory cost of 0 from your material deck.”
- Text: “16” ⟶ “17” (life)
- Text: “CMT-013” ⟶ “DOAp 1st · EN-000 C”
- Layout: Icon added to class box
- Layout: Life heart icon more prominent
Along with all of those, this version of the card was printed on thicker card stock and has a more vibrant palette.
DEMO22 · EN-002 C
Officially identified as the 8th iteration, the original DEMO22 · EN-002 C Lorraine, Wandering Warrior cards were intended to be the final product and not samples. These were included as part of demo decks handed out at Collect-a-Con (Dallas; May 28th 2022) and Anime Expo (LA; July 1st 2022).
This ended up being given post-print sample status, however, due to issues with the print:
After manufacturing thousands [sic] demo decks, it has become apparent that a quality control issue exists that is related to the cutting of the cards. We have identified that the issue was because the card stock we were using was too thick and was using a stiffer material than normal.
— Kickstarter Update #22
Kickstarter Update #22 continues…
Because the card thickness will be lowering, the demo decks which were printed on thicker card stock, will not be legal for organized play. ... These demo decks will not be distributed to local game stores through distributors. They will only be given away by the GA team from events. After solving the quality control issues, we will be reprinting the demo decks as real cards, which will then be distributed to stores.
— Kickstarter Update #22
As such, the DEMO22 · EN-002 C Lorraine, Wandering Warrior included in the Collect-a-Con and Anime Expo demo decks are printed on thicker card stock than the intended final release.
Variants
This version of the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was only released in non-foil. Unlike the CMT-013 non-foil, however, this card is much closer to the final product and has a lot higher quality artwork.
Differences (compared with DOAp 1st · EN-000 C)
Featuring a 4x smaller rosette pattern than the DOAp 1st · EN-000 C sample, the artwork quality overall is in line with the 7th iteration test prints (which are covered in the below Printed but not publicly released section).
This is by far the most refined sample Lorraine, Wandering Warrior card to have been released.
- Text: “Enter Effect” ⟶ “On Enter”
- Text: “Sleep did not honor me with its presence, so the night will be productive elsewhere.” ⟶ “This beautiful world we have been tasked to save… It carries such a stench of smoke and ash.”
- Text: “17” ⟶ “20” (life)
- Text: “DOAp 1st · EN-000 C” ⟶ “DEMO22 · EN-002 C”
- Text: “©2021” ⟶ “©2022”
Differences GIF (compared with CMT-013)
There was no digital image produced for the DOAp 1st · EN-000 C sample, so this compares the older CMT-013 sample against this DEMO22 · EN-002 C version.
Printed but not publicly released
CMT-013 - #13 of 100 Collector Rare
On 12th November 2021, 4 days before the Kickstarter campaign started and before the non-foil and foil CMT-013 samples were revealed, the Grand Archive developers shared a video of the front and back of a sample print Collector Rare.
This card was not publicly released, but gave the first teaser of how the foil pattern looks and how the 1 in 360 pack collector rare cards would be stamped.
DOAp 1st · EN-000 C - 7th iteration
The 7th iteration Lorraine, Wandering Warrior improved upon the overall quality of the 6th iteration sample, featuring a 4x smaller rosette pattern but otherwise no layout, artwork or text changes.
With a promise to burn the cards once done, content creator Tyler Lee (@onceinluv) was sent a pack of 7th iteration Lorraine samples (including Blademaster and Crux Knight) as well as a 4th iteration Crux Sight in order to create a card stock testing video.
One of the Grand Archive developers shared this quality comparison between the 6th iteration (left) and 7th iteration (right) to emphasise the difference:
The 7th iteration was intended to be the final iteration of the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior before the official release. However due to cutting issues discovered after print the thick card stock DEMO22 · EN-002 C was officially deemed to be the 8th iteration of the sample cards.
DOAp 1st · EN-000 C - Cold foil test (uncut sheet)
On 19th March 2022 one of the Grand Archive developers shared a video of an uncut cold foil sheet of Lorraine, Wandering Warrior, Blademaster and Crux Knight samples they’d been using to test how the foil worked.
This sheet and the cards from it have not been publicly released. Kudos to the development team for putting in the time to try different things.
Not printed
This section documents known variants of the Lorraine, Wandering Warrior card which are not known to have been printed.
DOA-021
The very first close-up sighting we had of Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was in a post on Instagram from the Grand Archive team on 2nd November 2021. At the exact same time what appeared to be an identical post was shared in a tweet.
Presumably as a small mistake by the development team, however, the version shared on Twitter was numbered “DOA-021” instead of CMT-013.
The move away from CMT to DOA likely happened shortly after the CMT-013 cards had been sent for manufacture.
DOA-013
When the Grand Archive Kickstarter went live on 17th November 2022, several of the graphics show a Lorraine, Wandering Warrior numbered “DOA-013” instead of CMT-013. This version of the card also featured on the Grand Archive TCG Quick Starter Guide video the developers shared on YouTube.
This features the same text seen in the CMT-013 sample, but has the updated artwork seen in the DOAp 1st · EN-000 C sample.
DOAp TEST CARD
Versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 of the print and play Lorraine Starter Deck featured a Lorraine, Wandering Warrior numbered “DOAp TEST CARD”.
This card was similar to the DOA-013 card above, but features a reworded enter effect similar to that of the DOAp 1st · EN-000 C sample.
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th iterations
You may have noticed a big jump between the 1st iteration CMT-013 sample and the 6th iteration DOAp 1st · EN-000 C sample Lorraine, Wandering Warrior.
The 3rd iteration was printed and distributed publicly, but it wasn’t a Lorraine, Wandering Warrior card; it was the Lorraine, Festive Night Christmas promo.
The 2nd, 4th and 5th iterations did exist, but they were never made public. When queried, one of the Grand Archive developers responded:
The iterations that weren't publicized from iteration 1 to 5 were probably samples that were so bad, we didn't want to show
— Grand Archive developer response
A lot of work went in to refining the gameplay and artwork between the releases of the 1st and 6th iterations that there probably wasn’t any need for fans to be shown how the progress of this one card was shaping up.
DOAp · EN-003 C
Version 1.3 of the print and play Lorraine Starter Deck featured a Lorraine, Wandering Warrior numbered “DOAp · EN-003 C”.
This has similar text to the DEMO22 · EN-002 C sample, but is not associated with the DEMO22 deck, is number 003 instead of 002, and has 17 life instead of 20.
DEMO22 · EN-002 C (17 life)
When the Grand Archive Index first launched on 24th March 2022 it included almost all of the changes seen in the DEMO22 · EN-002 C card except for the life count which was still at 17.
On 21st April 2022 all champions received a buff to their life count, and Lorraine, Wandering Warrior was updated to have 20 life instead.
APR 1st · EN-000 C
As a tribute to the older Doodle Art placeholder cards included in the early versions of the print and play Lorraine and Rai Starter Decks, on April 1st 2022 the Grand Archive team shared this:
We have decided to change the art direction for our cards.. We hope you guys enjoy it! 😄
— @grandarchivetcg
This one is said to have been illustrated by the young Tamer champion Silvie — here’s to hoping she graces us with more of her talent in future.
Individual card giveaways
This section notes events which directly awarded cards to winners/participants. This does not include cards distributed within Promotional Packs, which has its own dedicated page.
Before 19th March 2022
All of the events listed here awarded one or more CMT-013 Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample.
Discord Giveaway #1: Survey
A day after the Collector Rare card was revealed, on the 13th November 2021 a giveaway competition on Discord was announced which would award 25 non-foil and 5 foil Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards.
To win, a survey had to be completed letting the Grand Archive developers know some useful information about their early fan base, including what other TCGs they play or collect, how they found out about Grand Archive, and how much time they typically spend interacting with TCG products.
Discord Giveaway #2: Discord Top 10
AmariBot on the Grand Archive Discord server features an RPG-esque level system whereby each messaged shared awards the poster experience points. Included with this bot is the ability to view a leaderboard.
On the same day as the survey giveaway was announced (13th November 2021), the developers also announced that the top 10 posters on their Discord server would be awarded non-foil Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards.
The event was ended early on the 16th November 2021, and to compensate for the early finish the samples were awarded to the top 20 instead of the top 10.
Discord Giveaway #3: Game Store flyers
On 14th November 2021 the developers announced that they were looking for fans to help advertise the upcoming Grand Archive Kickstarter in their local game stores. A flyer was provided and fans were instructed to print at least 50 for each store they’d be able to provide the flyers to. To motivate people, Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards were being awarded: for putting flyers in 1 store a non-foil sample would be awarded; for 3 stores a non-foil and foil sample would be awarded, and for 6+ stores a non-foil and foil sample would be awarded alongside a Grand Archive playmat.
Discord Giveaway #4: Survey #2
On 1st December 2021 another survey was announced which would award 20 non-foil and 10 foil Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample cards.
After reaching all stretch goals on Kickstarter within the first 48 hours of the campaign going live, this survey quizzed fans on which products they may be interested in, including deck boxes, metal cards and a Grand Archive light novel.
Discord Giveaway #5: Card doodle event
Another giveaway was announced on 1st December 2021: the Card Doodle Event. The developers would share the templates of cards which had not been seen before, however each had missing artwork. To enter, fans had to fill in the artwork themselves.
Multiple artworks could be provided per person, with a 6 hour cooldown between each. For each template, an overall winner would be selected on how identifiable the doodle is in relation to the template, and a second winner would be selected at random. In each case a foil Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample would be awarded.
From the 1st December through 14th December 2021, 6 different card templates were shared: Library Witch, Weaponsmith, Banner Knight, Dungeon Guide, Impassioned Tutor and Dream Fairy.
Grand Archive Community Tournament #1
On 28th December 2021 the first Grand Archive Community Tournament was announced. The tournament would run on Tabletop Simulator using version 1.1 of the print and play Lorraine and Rai Starter Decks.
Signups were open until 7th January and the tournament took place between 14th and 16th January 2022. The players in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place each received a foil Lorraine, Wandering Warrior sample, and 3 non-foil samples were awarded randomly to participants.
This was the final event to award Lorraine, Wandering Warrior directly. All subsequent Lorraine, Wandering Warrior cards were obtained through Promotional Packs.
authored by James (PichuFan)
silvie.org developer — also a Silvie fan.
