Raw Deal is an out-of-print collectible card game published by Comic Images and licensed from World Wrestling Entertainment. It was released in August 2000. It was designed to replicate the action of a professional wrestling match. The game was designed by Michael Foley and Barron Vangor Toth. On November 14, 2007, Comic Images released a press release stating that they had lost the WWE License due to declining sales. The game ceased production in December 2007. As of 2008, many of the players banded together to continue the game in what is now called the Virtual era. To date, 10 Virtual sets have been released, adding over 2,000 new cards to the game. Game play The game is intended to be played in a one-on-one or two-on-two setting (a tag team match), but multi-player variants are common and popular. Raw Deal uses a 60-card deck, called "Arsenal". On this deck, players may represent their favorite superstars and moves of professional wrestlers. In addition, Raw Deal uses a 20-card mini deck, called "Backlash Deck". Cards for the game are available in starter decks and booster packs. Expansions were released two to three times a year. Update sets called “Survivor Series” have also been released, which contain the most popular cards from the preceding sets. Basics of the game A typical game of Raw Deal can include cards representing everything from the venue in which the match takes place to outside interference in the match. Each player reveals their chosen wrestler (referred to as a Superstar card) before the game commences. Information on the Superstar card is used to determine the number of cards in a player's opening hand (starting hand size) and who will start the game (superstar value). Every superstar card also has a superstar ability, which reflects the wrestler's in-ring attributes and often forms the basis of the deck. Some superstar cards are referred to as “remakes”. This is because they represent the same WWE persona as an existing superstar card, but with a different title, hand size, superstar value and ability. They also do not count as the same superstar as the original superstar card for that WWE performer, as they are conceptually distinct and are often played quite differently. Almost every card other than Superstar cards has two values on it: Fortitude, and Damage. Fortitude represents the courage or strength of mind of the Superstar, while Damage