Exceed Fighting System/Season Mechanics

Throughout Exceed Fighting System's life most seasons have released and introduced new mechanics to the game.

Transformations

Season 2's Seventh Cross characters feature Transformations. Transformations are effects that replace the Boosts on some specials. You can gain the effects of a Transformation by hitting the Special it's attached to and choosing to put the card into your Transform area (instead of Gauge), or by expending both copies of the card from hand to gain its Transformation effect as an action. Transformations are permanent once put into effect, and are not Boosts.

Overloads

Season 2's Carl Swangee features Overloads. Carl's Overloads may be placed face-down with any Normal attack to form an EX attack.

Critical

Season 3's Street Fighter characters feature Critical effects on their cards. Street Fighter characters can spend 1 Gauge upon setting their attack to gain all Critical effects they have.

Force Specials

Season 4's Shovel Knight characters and some of Season 5's BlazBlue characters feature Force Specials. Force specials have a force cost that must be paid upon reveal to validate them, functioning similarly to Ultras (but with Force instead of Gauge). Force Specials always cost exactly 1 Force.

Overdrive Exceed

Season 5's BlazBlue characters feature Overdrive Exceed modes. When Exceeding, BlazBlue characters place the Gauge they spent into a special "Overdrive" area instead of discarding it immediately. At the start of each of their following turns, they discard 1 card from their Overdrive area and perform their Overdrive effect (in the bottom section of the Exceed side of their character card). When they spend the last card from their Overdrive area, they flip their character card back to its normal side.

Astral Heats

Season 5's BlazBlue characters feature Astral Heat Ultra Attacks. These start the game out of play. When a BlazBlue character takes the Reshuffle action (a "manual reshuffle"), they place their Astral Heat into their hand instead of drawing from their deck at the end of their turn. This does not apply if they reshuffle by drawing/striking from an empty deck (an "automatic reshuffle"), or if an effect allows them to reshuffle without taking the Reshuffle action.

UNIB Normals

Season 6's Under Night In-Birth characters feature changed boosts on their Normal Attacks.

Veil Off Exceed

Season 6's Under Night In-Birth characters interact with the traditional Exceed mode mechanics in an unusual way. Under Night In-Birth characters can Exceed without spending Gauge by playing the Boost on Focus, called Veil Off. They can also Revert at any time after Exceeding, refunding a Gauge and regaining their action for the turn.

Nonstandard Deck Sizes

Some of Season 6 and 7's Under Night In-Birth and Guilty Gear Strive characters feature nonstandard deck sizes. Generally, there are two reasons a character will have a nonstandard deck size:

• More or less than two copies of an existing card. Enkidu is a particularly notable example of this, having six copies of his Special Three Precept Strike.
• Having additional Specials or Ultras past the standard 7 Special and Ultra slots available to an Exceed character. Sol Badguy is an example of this, having six Specials and two Ultras.

Most characters with nonstandard deck sizes have more than 30 cards in their deck. Season 6's Gordeau is an exception to this rule, as he has a 29 card deck. Season 5's Nine the Phantom is also an exception to this rule; see her character page for more details.

Cancel

Season 7's Guilty Gear Strive characters feature Cancelable Boosts. By spending 1 Gauge after resolving a Cancelable Boost (marked with a blue clock icon), they can regain their action for the turn.

GGST Normals

Season 7's Guilty Gear Strive characters feature changed boosts on their Normal Attacks.