Exceed Fighting System
The Exceed Fighting System (usually shortened as Exceed but not to be confused with the game's name-sake mechanic) is a competitive board game which shares much of its DNA with fighting games. Its spiritual predecessor, BattleCon, has an online application, while Exceed does not. Exceed is most known for its plethora of game licenses starting with Season 3, including Street Fighter, Shovel Knight, Dead Cells, and more.
Since 2020, Exceed has mostly been played online, though local events are now making a comeback. Exceed is played online using Tabletop Simulator.
- The Breakfast Club is the Discord for the unofficial Tabletop Simulator modules for the game, XFS: Balanced Breakfast and XFS: Light Lunch. They're also one of the main competitive hubs for Exceed.
- Level 99 Games is the official Discord for Level 99 Games, the publishers and developers of Exceed. It's a good place to be if you want to keep up with news about Exceed-related products.
Basic Strategy
From fastest to slowest;
- Grasp: A niche defensive option at Range 1, Grasp only beats things that are already unsafe and loses to many Range 1 options. It's an OK tool since it can keep opponents from pulling fast ones on you, but if you're not fighting at Range 1 then this is better off Boosted.
- Cross: One of the safest Normals. At Range 1, this only loses to Grasp, and at Range 2 only another Cross beats a Cross (and only on speed tie!). It's reward is incredibly low but its main use is in denying your opponent their scary attacks. This is only Boosted in zoning matchups or as a grappler.
- Assault: An inherently risky attack that loses to slow ones like Sweep and Focus, Assault is universally important for taxing the opponent's resources. Even if it hits one of these cards, getting to take another turn lets you set up or lay the pressure on. It is the only universal way to gain Advantage, and is nearly invaluable because of it. As such, the Boost is only important when playing as a zoner or against a grappler.
- Dive: A very niche attack meant for cracking Sweep and Focus, two very powerful and normally hard to stop Normals. That is one of its only purposes. Its Boost is also niche, but getting rid of an opponent's Boost can be very important in the late game.
- Spike: A high-power, slow card that defeats anything with less Speed than it. With Boosts, Spike doesn't lose, and as such Spike tends to be valued for its consistency at closing out games. The Boost is usually played in the early game to make a Strike safer.
- Sweep: Likely the best Normal, Sweep has a lot of power and lets you take a lot of momentum if it lands. At Range 1, it's incredibly safe and rewarding while only "Losing" to Cross. The reason it's hard to play Sweep every time you have it is that its Boost is one of the best ones in the Normals, allowing you to make other slow attacks exponentially more threatening.
- Focus: Unlike Sweep, which is mostly used for its crazy 2-for-1 potential, Focus is used for its safety. By letting you draw a card and maintain positioning, Focus is a good way to hold the advantage on your opponent's turn. The Boost for Focus sees little use when you're getting used to the game but is essential in high-level play, as hand knowledge can easily lose you the game in Exceed.
- Block: Very straightforward. Play Block, spend Force to mitigate damage. It's mostly used against Specials, since most of the Normals aren't worth blocking (Cross, Grasp, Assault, Focus) or destroy it (Spike, Sweep). The Boost is essential in a matchup-to-matchup basis, as knocking an opponent's threat out of hand or knowing they don't have it is incredibly important.