Preparation Phase

The Preparation Phase (準備フェイズ, Junbi Feizu) is a term used in Genso Suikoden Card Stories. It is a phase that only occurs at the beginning of a game, before any player's turn.

Overview
Three things happen during the Preparation Phase, in this order:


 * 1) The player's Mastermind card, if one is to be used, is announced and placed face up. Players should be careful to ensure their Mastermind card has not accidentally been shuffled and that their deck does not break the camp rules for the Mastermind card.
 * 2) The player order (i.e. which player starts the game) is determined. Rock-paper-scissors or a coin toss are the most common way to determine this but as going first yields no real advantage, the manner of determining this is not important.
 * 3) Each player shuffles their own deck, before passing it to the other player to be shuffled again and returned to the deck owner.
 * 4) Cards are drawn until each player has reached their hand limit (6 cards by default). The player may discard 3 of these cards in order to draw 3 new cards if they find their hand is unsatisfactory. The discarded cards are mixed back into the player's deck, which is reshuffled.

Once these actions have been met, the first player's Main Phase begins.