How Tetra Master works in FFIX - Speedy Basics to get you Started

[@Jugdjay]

Quick explanation of the letters: P = Attack Stat vs Physical Defense M = Attack Stat vs Magical Defense X = Attack Stat vs Weaker Defense Stat A = Strongest Stat vs Weakest Stat

[@dominicdunn2579]

Strongest stat of all the three numetical values Vs lowest stat all three numbers as well?

[@Odincdaj522004]

​​​@@dominicdunn2579 P /M / X / A (the second stat on each card) is the card's "battle class." P and M are direct, first stat (attack) on attacker vs 3rd stat (phys def) or 4th (mag def) stat of defender, respectively. X is "flexible," 1st stat of attacker vs lower of the 3rd or 4th stat of defender. A is "Assault," highest stat of all three on attacker vs lowest of all three on defender. The P/M/X/A of the defender never matters. The three stats (not counting battle class) can go from 0 to F (in hexadecimal). 1P23 vs 1()23 = 1 vs 2. 1M23 vs 1()23 = 1 vs 3. AX23 vs 0()14 = A vs 1. 1A1C vs 0()3F = C vs 0. Each stat represents a range of outcomes, like the guy describes as "rolling dice." 0 is 0-15 (00-0F in hex), F is 240-255 (F0-FF). So a 1 on a card represents 16-30, not "1." There are invisible stats and RNG rolls that determine the actual numbers used in the fight, which makes it even less clear during the game, but those are the "visible" stats.

[@TruMaverick]

Finally after 20 years of playing FF9.. I understand the card game.

[@skysetblue9578]

Lol … me too right

[@jeffwhite6281]

for real.

[@genderdystopia019]

Triple Triad: 8>2 Tetra Master: X/3F(A2-100)^3 + 3AXF/40000 = LMNOP (solve for Q)

[@KawaiiRuby]

I just bought this game yesterday and was really confused how the card game worked. This really helped

[@Leedipus]

Glad to help!

[@JerodStorm]

This is the 1st time I've had this game explained to me in a way I can understand it this is incredible Thank you!!!

[@Leedipus]

Glad it helped!

[@chikasole]

My whole world is suddenly a lot brighter. Thank you

[@Yarumasi]

Watched a few videos and you made the simplest, clearest way to understand it. I made sure I already knew how to play it before I watched the video to judge how you taught, and yup, you did a great job.

[@Leedipus]

This..... means an awful lot. My career is in education, and the fact that this was an unplanned livestream tutorial that I just explained on the fly, to get that feedback really is a testiment to the craft I've worked so hard on. So big big thank you :)

[@Settess]

finally an easy way to learn tetramaster, never really understand the minigame until now.

[@brendanrichardi2535]

Thank you for saving the Wollie Vs playthrough.

[@Leedipus]

Wait... I DID?! THAT'S AWESOME! Super glad I could help!

[@philiptucker7590]

I actually really loved the card game and collecting them lol. During the time this game came out, Yugioh was at its peak and people were playing MTG as well.

[@Leedipus]

I was absolutely playing YuGiOh when this came out, Pokemon Cards were still in their early prime as well.

[@kalecraft8906]

Thank you for this. The opening tutorial basically doesnt explain anything lol

[@PepperoniMage]

Finally a decades old mystery from my childhood is solved. Thank ye kindly stranger!

[@Leedipus]

The pleasure is all mine sir! Glad I could help, at least a little bit!

[@Oppurtunafish]

lol I can't believe how well you explained this, I could NEVER understand wtf was going on with the numbers

[@Leedipus]

I'm a qualified teacher, explaining things is kinda my forte :) Glad I could help!

[@Harutjun]

Damn i Played this game for many years, this is the only video that made me finally understand how it really works XD

[@Leedipus]

YAY! Glad I could help! Some online guides can be really overwhelming when all you need is the basics.

[@Harutjun]

@@Leedipus yea man that stuff is confusing

[@yen6170]

Back then I didn't finished the game, now I'm trying to finish it 100%...thank you for the tetramaster explanation

[@Meatallic]

Thank you so much for this. I can make peace with the RNG if it means I finally understand this game after decades ;

[@AgeOfSpin]

Thanks sir this is the briefest and best explanation I've found.

[@prodigalsongames]

I love this game so much, but it can be confusing (you did a good job explaining). Because of how challenging it is, we made a more accessible version of Tetra Master called "Attack on Hex Island." There's a free demo. Hope y'all check it out.

[@BrandydocMeriabuck]

Mate, I've owned this game since like 2004/5, and I'm only now understanding this fucking card game lmao. Cheers lad

[@Leedipus]

You are very, very welcome :)

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

Something to add is that stats don't apply if the arrows on the cards aren't pointing at each other. If you place a card pointing towards an empty side or corner of another, it is instantly captured, so even the weakest cards can capture the strongest through this method.

[@Leedipus]

Oh completely, this was just an ad-hoc tutorial I delivered off the cuff during a livestream.... Most people knew about this fact beforehand, but its the numbers and the battles that stump most players.

[@rinaldus4512]

Once you explained the numbers as d6's, it immediately caused Tetra Master to overtake Triple Triad as the better card game.

[@Leedipus]

It's not a wholly accurate example... but it helps to explain it a little bit more... you know?

[@cday1323]

It finally makes sense thank you 🙏

[@icyboy771z]

This game too freaking random. Triple Traid is much better.

[@Leedipus]

I agree, except at least this game stays consistent throughout. Triple Triad throws in SO many different rules it can feel overwhelming or unfair when you feel like you've got it down and then .... Nope. (Looking at you PLUS and SAME)

[@icyboy771z]

@@Leedipus Plus and Same and the other rules makes it interesting. Recently started trying out TT online with human players and got my ass trashed. It's a simple game to pick up but there's deep skill involved in it.

[@haqu123321]

I like both, I think, if Tripple Triad had the "cards can upgrade over time" system, it would be the perfect combination of both card games best feature.

[@urahara246]

Agreed!!

[@davidfortuin4146]

Way better. I miss TT.

[@BigBaz1921]

Simply… thank you 🙏 👍🏻

[@DjDreamcastle]

Two decades later, I can finally play Tetra Master and know whats going on

[@Leedipus]

Ay! Glad I could help!

[@RoseNZieg]

I never understood the letters and numbers on the cards but with trial and error I recognized which card can beat which card.

[@mocuno]

Loved this game. FFXI had an online version. Guess it's coming back soon!

[@Leedipus]

Will be interesting to see what they do with this in a remake kinda situation, for sure!

[@Maes777]

Tremendous help! Thank you

[@ChristineMason87]

My god this really helps thank you brother (:

[@Leedipus]

Happy to help

[@GaZlovesGames]

That does make sense, thanks.. clueless otherwise haha. End up losing all cards in trial and error otherwise. Ta man.

[@SolidOwl]

Simple and clean! Thanks.

[@JohnSmith-ef2rn]

FFIX is my favourite FF (probably due to it being the first one I played at a young age), but I have never and will never play Tetra Master outside of the MANDATORY tournament (which, thankfully, you can lose without consequence). It’s far too random,and the game doesn’t even explain how to play it properly. One suspects it was included to boost sales of the official game guides.

[@Leedipus]

There are elements of randomness, it's true.... but the game DOES explain it in detail if you go back to Dali. The shop has the detailed instructions on the wall from Disk 2(?) onwards. - Not that thats an excuse for the bad tutorial at the start! The official game guide for FF9 was a joke... it was the one they linked with PlayOnline.... so basically half of the guide was missing. It wouldn;t surprise me if they didnt explain it very well in there either! (I have a copy but it's in storage at the moment so I can't check...)

[@xRussianbishop]

Holy shit thanks for making sense of this wtf of a game

[@alexanderradaiczak2543]

4 d6 roll and you get an attack of 74? (4*6=24) how can that be?

[@Leedipus]

It's not ACTUALLY a D6 roll... that was just an example to try and explain how it works roughly.

[@TheMusicman238]

Logically that makes total sense. However, at the start of the game the cards are all the weak monsters you encounter early on. And it’s 0P00 and 0M00 for them all I have played a game against one person and rematch rematch rematch with 10/0 as the score each time. All the battles their number is either higher than mine or my number depleted faster (when the battle starts the numbers that show once the battle begins and they gradually reduce to 0). So it never appears to be a 50/50 split for equal stats as their cards were 0P00 or 0M00. It just seems really unbalanced.

[@Leedipus]

From my experience... it really is a 50/50 when the numbers are all 0. But, bad RNG is totally a thing :( I'm sorry you're experiencing that :(

[@TheMusicman238]

Auch I’m not going to loose sleep over it just would be nice to have a sporting chance 😂. Incidentally I had a thought Zahgnol card was 0P00 and my Fang card was 0P00 and lost. Wouldn’t those monsters in a fight lead to the same outcome. Do you think there is maybe a bit of that. Again think of the frozen jelly monster (Flan) vs steroid buffed ox with tusks (zaghnol). I know which I would put money on in a real fight. So them being same stats is it maybe a bit of…which one would actually win applied in the background?

[@Leedipus]

@@TheMusicman238 as much as that's a great idea.... No. There's none of that going on. The more you use a card, it's numbers can actually grow... So I'm certain that isn't at play. Totally get how it could feel like thi though!

[@thecrimsonraven707]

@@Leedipuswhat does RNG mean?

[@Leedipus]

@@thecrimsonraven707 Random Number Generation

[@Chadimusprime87]

Thank you!

[@Egryn]

Simple You play your card then the computer combos the fuck out of you and takes your cards.

[@tomgu2285]

Ahahahaha yeah

[@wonderwiseS2]

Thanks!

[@Leedipus]

No problem!

[@MatteeTheRogue]

23 years... and I finally understand lol

[@ThaetusZain]

I dunno... it feels more like you add stats to a d10 roll. It's a bit too swingy (especially at low numbers) to be a dice pool.

[@Leedipus]

I *think* it's ACTUALLY a random number between 1 and 16..... but this was just an off the cuff tutorial I threw out in my livestream so I used a D6 just for simplicity in the explanation. The real number doesn't matter for a basic understanding, you just need to understand there's RNG involved.

[@greycat111]

Still don’t get how two cards with equal stats of 0P00 win over one another. Is it random rolls?

[@Leedipus]

Yeah. I don't know the exact range, but I think it's like a random range between 1-16 for a 0. The easiest way to think of it I guess is that if the attack and def stats are the same, it's like a 50/50 chance of if you'll win or lose.

[@ayymeow9984]

good video, helped alot

[@Leedipus]

Glad to hear!

[@CaeruleanWren]

What do the numbers mean in battle though? I kept thinking the higher number would win, but then I keep getting into situations where, say, I'll have 15 and they''ll have 12 and I'll lose. And in that last battle in your video, your opponent lost but their number didn't even go down to zero. Like I get that getting a bigger number is generally better, but why is it not just a bigger or smaller at that point? There's RNG in how the card's numbers turn into the battle number, is there also RNG in which battle number will deplete the fastest?

[@Leedipus]

Great questions and I wish I knew! There's a reason I only covered the basics here....

[@CaeruleanWren]

@@Leedipus haha, fair enough. The more I play the more I don't understand. I'm out here losing a card that rolled a 21 with better base stats to a card that rolled a 7. I do appreciate the video a lot! Made it much more fun to play for sure

[@kamron_thurmond]

You forgot to mention that if you play enough the stats on the cards grow.

[@Leedipus]

I didn't forget, this was just a quick breakdown of how to get started playing and winning games. There's lots of things I missed out! :)

[@ArchonZach]

You're a legend

[@Leedipus]

No u

[@gibbs2097]

Finally. At 40yrs of age. I understand

[@Leedipus]

You're welcome :)

[@FriteVerte]

Finally! I still dont understand why an oponent 1P00 can win vs my 0P67

[@Leedipus]

RNGesus my friend. Apparently he hates you :( I'm sorry. There should be an INSANELY low chance of that happening :(

[@sofigameplay]

Interesting

[@__G__-]

Now I just need to learn what a D6 is

[@Leedipus]

A six sided dice :)

[@SpicyRess808]

Thats kind of HARD to know that in game 😂 Jack the one who teaches the game dont seem to know any of this!

[@Leedipus]

Soooooooo.... the game DOES tell you this.... but not via Jack. Jack's tutorial is just to kind of get you started.... but I agree with you, any comptetent gamer is going to want to know more at that point. The rest is told to you via a very easily missable poster in the shop in Dali. And the poster is updated with more info on how the card game works as you progress through the game. Which is less than ideal. :(

[@Arcanum-t2r]

is there a way to just play tetra master?

[@Leedipus]

Sadly not. I mean... once you're in the endgame you can just fly round the world playing whoever you want, or you can use the Card Tournament place in Treno to play lots of games one after another I guess.

[@Arcanum-t2r]

@@Leedipus Bummer, im hoping one of these days someone makes a direct port of the card game, sadly tetramaster doesnt get nearly as much love as triple triad

[@thijsvanruissen1800]

Ok dominos with Yu-Gi-Oh logic got it

[@Leedipus]

Essentially

[@connorwillmore3527]

.... Still not understanding 😅 but i think im mopping up what youre spilling

[@Leedipus]

Haha, this is ripped straight from a livestream where someone just asked me to explain it.... so it was all improvised and on the spot... so I'm not exactly the most articulate or clear. Hopefully the general gist of it will be enough to see you winning a few games :)

[@connorwillmore3527]

@@Leedipus well I'm 2/2 so far so I think you did a pretty good job explaining.

[@danielpowers5891]

Keep going...

[@burstlight4559]

I should've looked for that video sooner, I lost so many times to Jack, I only have 4 cards now.

[@Leedipus]

You'll get it! It's a lot simpler when you know the basics!

[@88swordmaster]

"X" means?

[@Leedipus]

Yeah, apologies, this was an ad-hoc tutorial I just ripped straight out of my livestream... X = Your Attack Stat vs Their Weaker Defence Stat of the two.

[@88swordmaster]

@@Leedipus thank you so much, finally I've understand that crazy card game (: (Im playing again ff9 in these days, trying to complete it and obtain all weapons). I have a question, excalibur II deserves that crazy speed run? There are some easier ways to obtain it?

[@Leedipus]

It's easier to get now in some of the remasters because you can cheat your way to getting it with no encounters/invincibility... but sadly no, there's not other way of getting it aside from letting the game run for over 2 years and letting the gameclock tick over. At least, that's my understanding.

[@88swordmaster]

@@Leedipus thank you for this explaination, I have another question, excalibur II is a lot better than ragnarok or that speedrun is just fancy?

[@MartinX192]

I got FF8 when it first came out, this card game was infuriating. Made no sense

[@bobjackson4287]

From card game being OP and simple in FF8 to card game being trash and completely optional in FF9.

[@Subfightr]

D6? RNG? ... Wtf? Thank you none the less.

[@Leedipus]

Oh crikey, lots of lingo to translate here. A D6 is a standard six-sided dice RNG is Random number generation Essentially, the game generates a random value based on the face value of the number, but its all probability based. So a 5 SHOULD lose to a 6.... but just like if you rolled 5 dice you could roll 5 sixes, and if you rolled 6 dice you could roll 6 ones.... a 5 on a card can still beat a 6 on the card based on the RNG thats assigned. I hope that helps a bit more. Sadly it's not straightforward

[@Subfightr]

@@Leedipus 🫂

[@Khilo_Oh]

A shame that the game doesn't really give this information or at least hides it really well

[@Leedipus]

It definately hides it... but it IS there. A lady in Dali kinda explains it, and she goes into more detail depending on how far into the game you are. Would have certainly been more handy if Alleyway Jack spilt the beans at the very beginning as well tho!

[@Khilo_Oh]

yee or if one of the mogry turorials would cover it in more depth

[@Zack_Wildfire]

That explains why I never heard of this card game it died before it can begin Also fun fact FF14 chose Triple triad instead of this If you ask me this FF9 card game reminds me of modern yu-gi-oh.

[@christalbott450]

√√√√√√√√√√ Hi. God made everything. His son, Jesus, died to pardon us of all wrong doing. He rose to life 3 days later. Breathe air.

[@DudeDoodDude]

Feela completely random. I hated it (playing FF9 for the first time) FF8 was 100 tines cooler and more fun

[@Leedipus]

Yeah, your opinion is shared by a lot of people. I kinda like both of them for different reasons.... some of the rules in FF8 got a bit much, whereas at least the randomness in FF9's game stayed the same.

[@SteveJenkins-p9k]

Tr is all this Dsixes you're talking about lol

[@SeiyaSoiya-un4jj]

God, what an AWFUL mini game.

[@Leedipus]

There are worse..... there are way WAY worse.

[@jodu626]

nope. not a clue

[@EvilJ069]

Tf is RNG? This is irritating

[@Leedipus]

RNG is Random Number Generation. Sometimes it's included in games to make things a bit more unpredictable and fun.... but int his game it just made the whole thing a little bit pointlessly confusing :/

[@EvilJ069]

@@Leedipus For real, I put the game down. Not only is the mini game hard to understand, I found the game itself to be pretty boring

[@Leedipus]

Each to their own! @@EvilJ069

[@EvilJ069]

@@Leedipus Yep, great video though, thank you for the assist

[@franksterhugspug6879]

No

[@Amarteezy]

Made no sense D6 wtf is that

[@Leedipus]

OH crap, sorry. A D6 is a standard dice. It was just the easiest way to try and explain the randomness involved.

[@tomgu2285]

Thanks for the guide. I still get my ass kicked 😂😂😂😂. But hey atleast I understand it.

[@sytsmr]

Wow thank god i found this. I hated this card game so much.