# Matches: cards, who wins an exchange, damage and finishes How a match works in Wrestle Angels Survivor: the controls, the cards, how the game decides whose move happens, damage, pins and submissions, tag matches, the CPU, and unwatched matches. **Nothing on this page has been checked in the game yet** unless marked. Findings are marked *code* (read from the executable; RAM address given, = file offset + 0xfff80 in `SLPM_662.39`), *text* (on-screen text), *fans* (Japanese strategy sources from 2006-2009, some quoting the official guide) or *inferred*. The fans' description of the system agrees with the code wherever both cover the same point. The SNES ancestor's rules are in the Super Wrestle Angels project's docs/MATCHES.md; this game is the same card battle at heart, with the differences in §13. ## Contents - [In plain words](#in-plain-words) - [1. Before the match](#1-before-the-match) · [2. Controls and the screen](#2-controls-and-the-screen) - [3. The cards](#3-the-cards) · [4. Who wins an exchange](#4-who-wins-an-exchange) - [5. Which move happens](#5-which-move-happens) · [6. Damage and health](#6-damage-and-health) - [7. Pins, cradles and submissions](#7-pins-cradles-and-submissions) - [8. Time limits](#8-time-limits) · [9. Tag and six-woman matches](#9-tag-and-six-woman-matches) - [10. The CPU](#10-the-cpu) · [11. Matches you don't watch](#11-matches-you-dont-watch) - [12. Strategy](#12-strategy) · [13. Differences from the SNES game](#13-differences-from-the-snes-game) - [14. Quirks and possible bugs](#14-quirks-and-possible-bugs) · [Reference](#reference) ## In plain words A match is a card game played one round at a time. Each round is an **exchange**. - **You hold 5 cards.** Each card is a **move type** - Throw, Hold, Power, Strike, Aerial, or the rarer Finisher, Double and Other - with a **number from 1 to 10** (10 shows as **A**). Each exchange both corners play one card, and you pick which move of that type to try. - **The higher score wins the exchange, and only the winner's move happens.** A card's score is **its number + your attack rating in that type − the opponent's defence rating in that type.** The Atk/Def ratings on the match screen are exactly these numbers. There is **no dice roll**: the only luck is in the cards you're dealt. - **Big moves are hard to land on a fresh opponent.** If the move's level is higher than how much health she has *lost* (in tenths of her bar), the whole level is taken off your score. At full health every move pays; once she's down to 70%, level 1-3 moves are free, and so on. **Small moves early, big moves late.** - **A Finisher card always wins**, and it can't be reversed. If both corners play one, the one who lost the previous exchange wins. Finisher cards only start coming once your wrestler is hurt; high **grit** makes them likelier. - **Taking a beating builds a comeback:** after the opponent wins 3, 4, 5, 6, 7+ exchanges in a row, your card gets +1, +3, +5, +7, +9. **Ties** go to whoever lost the last exchange. - **Some big moves can be reversed** by the loser (a Backdrop into a Body Press, a Moonsault into raised knees). Low cards and big moves get reversed more often. - **To win, pin her or make her give up.** A pin almost never works while she has health left; at **0 health** only her grit can save her. Cradles are the exception: they can steal a win once she's below 40%. In a hold, she chooses each round to crawl to the ropes or try to break free. There's **no KO, count-out or disqualification**, and if the exchange limit runs out the match is a **draw**. - **Matches you choose not to watch aren't played at all**: the game compares the two sides' ratings and rolls the result. --- ## 1. Before the match *Code* (0x484a30 control table) and *text*. - On the match-up screen, move the cursor onto a wrestler and press **L1/R1** to change who controls her: - **COM** - the computer plays her. - **1P-S-AUTO / 2P-S-AUTO** - you pick the card; the game picks the move and shows it as you browse your cards. - **1P-MANUAL / 2P-MANUAL** - you pick the card and the move. - One controller can't run both corners. Fans warn that choosing 2P while holding pad 1 leaves you unable to control the match (*fans*). - On the top button, L1/R1 switch **Watch / Skip**; Skip decides the match without playing it (§11). Then press ○ on **Start Match**. - **Special Match levels** (LEVEL 1/2/3) set each wrestler's growth stage (ages 15/18/20); they don't change how the CPU plays (*code*). ## 2. Controls and the screen *Code* (input states 0x1ddc10-0x1de990) unless marked. | Where | Button | What it does | |---|---|---| | Your cards | LEFT / RIGHT | browse the hand | | | ○ | play the highlighted card | | | □ | command list: **Pin**, **Tag**, **Return** | | | R1 (hold) | hide the cards and gauges to see the wrestlers; the match waits *(R1 also hides the message window during events - verified in game)* | | Move list (MANUAL) | UP / DOWN, ○ / × | choose the move / back to the cards | | Command list | UP / DOWN, ○ | toggle Pin or Return for this exchange; Tag asks which partner | | Double card | UP / DOWN, ○ | choose the partner, then the double-team move (□ = her details) | | Caught in a hold | UP / DOWN, ○ | **Reach the Ropes** or **Break Free** (§7.3) | | Messages | ○ | move the commentary along | - **Commands only happen if your card wins the exchange** (certain for Tag; *inferred* for Pin and Return). In the ring you get Pin (and Tag in team matches); outside you only get Return. - There is **no START menu** in a match and no way to skip it once started (*code*). - **The screen** (*text*): each wrestler's health bar with LEG and ARM meters under it; both wrestlers' **Atk / Def ratings** for Throw, Hold, Power, Strike and Aerial (1-9, then A-E = 10-14, S = 15); the two cards played this exchange; a small ring showing where the wrestlers are; and during a move, its name with the attacker's name and "OFFENSE". ## 3. The cards *Code* (deal 0x1dbcb0; hand in the match block, 8 bytes a card) unless marked. | Type | Score uses | Notes | |---|---|---| | **Throw, Hold, Power, Strike, Aerial** | your attack − her defence in that type | the normal cards | | **Other** | your Speed − her Speed | weapons, dirty tricks (outside the ring, or wrestlers who use them) | | **Finisher** | always wins | §4.2 | | **Double** | +2, plus your team's winning streak | tag and six-woman only (§9) | **The deal.** A played card is replaced with a new one: - **Type** follows your wrestler's attack ratings, ranked: **25%** her best type, **21%** second, **17%** third, **15%** fourth, **14%** fifth, **8%** Other. So specialists see their best moves most (fans quote the same odds from the guide). - **Number** comes from a shuffled 180-card deck per side, weighted toward **7-8**; 10 shows as A. - **Finisher cards** appear once she's hurt: chance = grit + 7 − 2 × (her health in tenths). At most **two per match**, and the second only when she is 6 or more tenths behind. - **Double cards** (1 in 6) only in tag and six-woman matches, once she has taken damage and while the opponent is below 80% health. ## 4. Who wins an exchange *Code* (0x1e0e60, scores 0x1e8590 / 0x1e8c40). ### 4.1 The score ``` score = card number + attack rating in the card's type − the opponent's defence rating in that type − the move's level, if level > (10 − the opponent's health in tenths) "level cost" + comeback bonus +1 / +3 / +5 / +7 / +9 after the opponent won 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7+ in a row + 3 to +6 for some moves against a downed opponent; −1 for some against a standing one (Guillotine Drop, Moonsault, Shooting Star Press, Missile Kick, Boston Crab, Scorpion, Dragon Screw and others) + the tag bonus when you ask to tag (§9) Other cards: Speed − Speed instead of attack − defence. Double cards: +2, +2 per exchange your side has won in a row (up to +8), −2/−4/−6 after the opponent's streak. ``` - **The higher score wins**; only the winner's move happens. **Ties** go to the side that lost the previous exchange (a coin flip at the start). - **No random term, no difficulty bonus**, no advantage for the CPU (*code*; fans long suspected the CPU draws better cards - the deal is the same for both). - The success % the game shows you is a rough guide only (§14). ### 4.2 Finisher cards - A finisher card **beats any other card** and can't be reversed. If both sides play one, the side that lost the previous exchange wins (0x1e8b50). - Its move does **+40 damage** (+15 for a hold) and ignores the level cost - so it is best saved for a big move that would otherwise be too costly (*code*, *fans*). ### 4.3 Reversals About 25 big moves can be turned around by the loser (0x1e8dd0), e.g. Backdrop → Body Press, Powerbomb → huracanrana, Moonsault → raised knees or a crash. Chance: ``` reversal % = (move level + 3) − (10 − the loser's health in tenths) + 2 × the loser's Dexterity + a bonus if the loser is down + (10 − the winner's card number) ``` Big moves and low cards are reversed more; a badly hurt wrestler reverses less. A reversal counts as the reverser's win. ## 5. Which move happens - **MANUAL:** after the card, you choose from your moves of that type that can be done from the current position (standing, down, at the ropes, outside...). - **S-AUTO and the CPU** (0x21fcb0): the biggest move that avoids the level cost, sometimes a bigger one when the card is far ahead. - The level cost (§4.1) is why **small moves win early** and big moves become possible as the opponent wears down: at full health every move pays its level; at 70% levels 1-3 are free; at 50% levels 1-5; at 0, everything. - Each learned move also adds 10 to the wrestler's rating (docs/MANAGEMENT.md §6). ## 6. Damage and health *Code* (damage 0x1e9460). - **Health** = 50 + 10 × Strength + 30 × Stamina. Two hidden **body meters**, upper body (ARM) and legs (LEG), are each half that. - **Damage** = the move's damage at its level + the attacker's Strength. Extras: - **finisher card +40** (+15 for a hold, first round only); - **outside the ring**, Strength counts twice; - against a **bleeding** wrestler, + (10 − her health in tenths). - **Holds** take a little health and a lot from the ARM or LEG meter, every round they last (§7.3). - **Knockdown**: chance (damage − 40) / 80 when one exchange does more than 40. - **Outside**: a move that pushes past the ropes can take both wrestlers outside (5-35% by their alignments). There is **no count-out**; use **Return** to go back in. - **Recovery each exchange**: your Recovery stat (1-10 health) in singles; half in tag; none for the legal wrestler in a six-woman match. Partners on the apron recover only below half health. Bleeding halves it. Kicking out of a pin gives a one-time burst (×1.5 at 2, ×2 at 2.5, ×3 at 2.8). ## 7. Pins, cradles and submissions *Code* (pin 0x1ea120, count 0x1ea300). ### 7.1 Pins - Each move has a **pin type**: never, only with **PIN** chosen, **automatic** (big suplexes, bombs, flying presses), or **cradle**. - **PIN with an ordinary move** goes for the cover with this chance, by the opponent's health in tenths: 0 → 100%, 1 → 90%, 2 → 40%, 3 → 20%, 4 → 10%, 5 → 5%, 6 → 2%, 7 → 1%, higher → never. - **During the count** she can kick out at 1 or 2 (chance from her health), grab the ropes if you're beside them, or be saved by a partner. **While she has any health left she kicks out at least 89% of the time.** - **At 0 health only grit saves her**: 2 × grit % in singles, 1.4 × in tag, 1 × in six-woman. Fans call the last-second escapes "2.9 kick-outs" (*fans*). ### 7.2 Cradles Small Package, Inverted Cradle, Rolling Cradle and La Magistral can't win at 40% health or more; below that they win with **10 × level / (her health in tenths + 1) %**, health left or not. The classic upset finish. ### 7.3 Submissions Each round of a hold, the wrestler caught in it chooses: - **Reach the Ropes** - crawl one step toward the ropes; at the ropes, the hold is broken (a hold at the ropes is always broken). - **Break Free** - Dexterity / 2 + her health in tenths + 2d6 + 2 per earlier try, against the holder's Hold attack + 2d6. If she stays in, she may **give up**: chance (Hold attack − Hold defence + level) / 2, growing fast once her health or the attacked body part (ARM/LEG meter) drops below 30%. A hold lasts at most (level + 1) / 2 rounds. Submissions can win with health left. ## 8. Time limits *Code* (table 0x582d90). The limit counts **exchanges**, not minutes: | Match | Exchanges | |---|---| | Singles | 40 (48 for the main event, *inferred*) | | Tag | 50 / 60 | | Six-woman | 66 / 80 | | Tournaments | none | **Time up is a draw.** In matches that can't be drawn, the lower-rated side is given the win. Code for deciding a time-up on points exists but nothing switches it on. ## 9. Tag and six-woman matches - One **legal** wrestler per side holds the cards; the controller follows whoever is legal, so partners can be on different pads (*code*). - **Tag** (from the command list) happens only if your card wins the exchange. Asking to tag adds the gap between your partner's health and yours, in tenths, to your score - doubled when it's 5 or more, and subtracted if your partner is more hurt than you. - **Double cards** (in the ring only): choose the partner and a double-team move. The five double-team moves have requirements on the pair (fans: a morale gap and combined rating). - Partners can break up pins; the ARM/LEG meters aren't reduced in team matches. ## 10. The CPU *Code* (cards 0x21f710, moves 0x21fcb0). - Plays the card with the best **number + advantage**, plus a bonus for its favourite types (each wrestler has a "card strategy"). No randomness except the finisher: it plays one with a 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100% chance at exchanges 1-5 and later - in practice almost at once. - Moves: the biggest that avoids the level cost. - **Pins** whenever the opponent is at 70% health or less; **tags out** to a fresher partner; returns to the ring after a few exchanges outside. - **No difficulty setting** changes how the CPU plays. ## 11. Matches you don't watch *Code* (0x203470). Nothing is simulated. Each side gets a score: ``` score = rating + 10 × her best style advantage over the opponent + 5 × grit (+50 for the champion in a title match) ``` and the gap picks the winner from a table: even → 50/50, +51-100 → about 62%, +251 → certain. These matches are never drawn. The fans' "auto-win unwatched matches" code skips this roll. ## 12. Strategy From the mechanics above and the fans (*fans* marks theirs). 1. **Early on, throw away weak cards** while the opponent lands small moves: early damage is low, and you build the comeback bonus. Then **rush with your best cards** once her health is down and big moves no longer pay the level cost (*fans*). 2. **Play to your strengths:** your best types come most often (25%), and a card wins on attack − defence. Off-specialty cards are best in the type where her **defence** is lowest (*fans*). 3. **Save the finisher card** for a big move that would otherwise be too costly; don't waste it on a submission at the ropes, which is always broken (*fans*). 4. **Pins need her near 0.** Don't count on a pin above 20-30% health; use a cradle to steal a win when she's below 40%. 5. **Submissions**: hold in the centre, after a knockdown, with high-level holds; target a worn ARM or LEG meter (*fans*). 6. **Tag**: let the weaker partner take the hits, then tag in the fresh one for the tag bonus; play Double cards after a run of wins (*fans*). 7. **Against stronger opponents**, expect "2.9" kick-outs from high grit; cradles and automatic-pin moves are your best chance (*fans*). 8. **Growth** (docs/MANAGEMENT.md §6): matches against much stronger opponents teach the most, even in a loss; the fans' "+210" and "tag method" tricks book trainees against sides rated 210+ (singles) or 410+/610+ (tag / six-woman) higher (*fans*). ## 13. Differences from the SNES game Compared with Super Wrestle Angels' docs/MATCHES.md (*code* in both games): - **You can choose the move** (MANUAL). In the SNES game the card's type alone decided it: the game took the biggest move the opponent was worn down enough for, as S-AUTO does here. - **The level cost is the same rule**, but the SNES game added the difficulty to human players' side of it; here there is no difficulty term anywhere in a match. - **There is a time limit** (§8); the SNES game had none. Neither has a count-out. - **The Guillotine/Moonsault bug is fixed**: in the SNES game they got +255 against a standing opponent and won almost every exchange; here they get −1, as intended. The SNES CPU's +255 on double-team cards is gone too. ## 14. Quirks and possible bugs *Code* readings; none checked in the game yet. - **The success % shown** while choosing ignores how far the card is from the midpoint, so it is only a rough guide. - **Lariat reversal** compares the winner's Hold rating where the loser's was probably meant. - **Pin kick-out roll** applies only when the move's level is below half the pinner's attack rating, which looks inverted. - **Unwatched tag/six-woman matches** give +20 both to the side above and the side below the other (looks like a slip). - Fans report some wrestlers always lose ties because of their card strategy (*fans*); the code's tie rule (the loser of the last exchange wins) doesn't show such a case. ## Reference - **Match state** (*code*): 0x8e51a0 (sides 0x42b8 apart; each wrestler's hand of 5 cards, 8 bytes each: type at +2, number at +4). Match random numbers come from their own generator (0x1c9d30). - **Card types:** 0 Throw, 1 Hold, 2 Power, 3 Strike, 4 Aerial, 5 Finisher, 6 Double, 7 Other. - **Ratings** (per wrestler): Throw/Hold/Power/Strike/Aerial attack and defence, then Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Recovery, Speed; 1-15 (15 = S). Links: Throw-Strength, Hold-Dexterity, Power-Stamina, Strike-Recovery, Aerial-Speed (docs/MANAGEMENT.md §5). - **Ring position**: 0 centre, ±2 at the ropes, ±3 outside. - **Moves**: 105 (names 0x47d760, data 0x4a4cec): type, level 1-9, damage per level, pin type, where it can be done, reversal. docs/HIDDEN_CONTENT.md lists the unused ones.