Card battlers and deckbuilders encompass two related but distinct designs. Collectible card games like Hearthstone have you build a deck before the match and play against opponents. Deckbuilding roguelites like Slay the Spire have you construct your deck during a run, choosing from random card rewards. Both genres thrive on strategic depth, combinatorial creativity, and the thrill of discovering powerful synergies between cards. The digital format enables card effects that would be impossible to track in physical games, leading to increasingly creative designs.