Looking for GBA recommendations

[shadowmanwkp]

I always ended up running out of cards, especially in longer battles or boss fights, since it seems cards can only be refreshed a certain number of times per battle. What was I doing wrong?

You can run out of cards if you constantly use sleights. You utilize them by using L+R to add them to a stack and then launch an attack by either pressing L+R after adding the third card, or pressing L+R while highlighting the reload card. If you use a sleight your first used card will be lost[/u], thus you can run out. Note that this also counts with sleights that contain two or even one (!) card. Item cards are special: use them and they can't be used for the rest of the battle, even if put in a sleight and it wasn't the first card added.

You can however, retrieve those cards later in the game by using special item cards or sleights. Do note that these are hard to come by, or have a very high CP cost. Some item cards also add in the bonus of resetting your reload counter. Another note: enemy cards (black) and item cards themselves cannot be retrieved in a battle EVER. You can only use them once a battle and you'll have to go into another battle to use them again.

For boss strategies: Don't spam sleights if you go up against a boss. You will run out of cards FAST. If a boss uses sleights, use 0 numbered cards to block sleights and make them run out of cards (note: this strategy is really slow, but it is fun to watch those bosses reload constantly). I prefer using a full deck of attack cards when going against bosses, while having five or so 0 numbered kingdom keys because of their low CP cost and because the attack is over in a second, leaving you not too open. For random encounters you can go nuts on those heartless, they don't carry zero numbered cards

[Mew seeker]

For boss strategies: Don't spam sleights if you go up against a boss. You will run out of cards FAST. If a boss uses sleights, use 0 numbered cards to block sleights and make them run out of cards

Your mileage may vary on this. In the PS2 version of the game, the Ragnarok Sleight pwns the giant shadow Heartless boss,
especially considering he doesn't use Sleights and thus can hardly counter Ragnarok.
Made even better by filling your deck with Keyblade cards of value 3 has a cheap cost and does wonder for Ragnarok.
Also, if you want to abuse Sleights in boss battle, make sure the first card of it is a Premium card or whatever it is called.
The card cost less but dissappear once used, perfect for starting a sleight that would have used it up anyway.
Even if you use all of your premium cards using sleights in a boss battle,
you can fall back on your regular cards when you reshuffle your deck. ^^

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Also, if you want to abuse Sleights in boss battle, make sure the first card of it is a Premium card or whatever it is called.

The party member cards? I would do that too. In fact, there's an incentive for you to pull off a sleight with three of the same character's card. They end up using stronger attacks. I liked summoning Donald.

[shadowmanwkp]

The party member cards? I would do that too. In fact, there's an incentive for you to pull off a sleight with three of the same character's card. They end up using stronger attacks. I liked summoning Donald.

You're confusing things. Premium cards are cards that have an orange number, use it in battle and it is gone for the rest of that battle, unless you retrieve it in a special way. They are only useful because they have a reduced CP cost. I totally forgot about those, because I hate them and I sparingly use sleights against bosses (boy am I creative), I could use sleights but they can be a huge hassle to deal with. I only played the gba game though, I don't know how the PS2 version controls. 

Friends cards however are special, they depend on who are with you. They only pop up randomly and they don't exist in your deck. You can only obtain them in battle and their number is totally random as well (good luck using those 0 cards).  They summon people like goofy, donald and other friendly disney characters. They are gone after use for good, and you don't get them back after battle. Exceptionally useful to use in sleights because there is no real loss anyways. There's also the joker card (the one with the mickey silhouette) that works like an enemy card: play it and a beneficial effect occurs, but it does not count as a card that you usually play.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Ah, yeah, I confused them. The premium ones are the ones that are like regular cards, but have some "gloss" over them, right?

Everytime I try to play this game again, I keep bored by the time I get to the whale... :/ (I beat it and Riku's side for GBA when it first came out and I still held out hope that Final Fantasy would have a bigger presence and the fanbase wasn't so full of weirdos).

[granz]

Well, it looks like I've filled up my SD card! Thanks again for the recommendations, guys.