about the shin megami tensei tcg

The Shin Megami Tensei TCG was published by Enterbrain from 1997 through 2003. It includes demons, characters, items and magic spells from the following games:

• Shin Megami Tensei (JP SFC 1992, JP PSX 2001, JP GBA 2003)
• Shin Megami Tensei II (JP SFC 1994, JP PSX 2002, JP GBA 2003)
• Shin Megami Tensei if... (JP SFC 1994, JP PSX 2002)
• Devil Summoner (JP SAT 1995)
• Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (JP SAT 1998, JP PSX 1999)
• Megami Ibunroku Persona / Revelations: Persona (JP PSX and US PSX 1996)
• Persona 2: Innocent Sin (JP PSX 1999)
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (JP PSX and US PSX 2000)
• Shin Megami Tensei NINE (JP XBX 2002)
• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (JP PS2 2003, US PS2 2004)

Most cards were sold as part of "expansion packs" or "sets" - basically, each set was released in timed waves. Certain promotional cards were exclusively available through other channels: cards sold inside Famitsu magazine, for example, or that could only be found packaged with certain videogames. And in addition to the cards themselves, other game-related products were released, such as a specialized binder and a guidebook; you can find more about these on the Other Goods page.

Wave 1
Wave 1 was released on December 12, 1997 and contained 180 cards; it focused on Devil Summoner, although it included some cards taken from Megami Ibunroku Persona.

Wave 2
Wave 2 was released on August 10, 1998 and contained 245 cards; it focused on Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, although it included some cards from Megami Ibunroku Persona and Shin Megami Tensei if...

Wave 3
Wave 3 was released on March 12, 1999 and contained 134 cards; it focused mostly on the demons from Devil Summoner.

Neo Genesis (Wave 4)
Neo Genesis was released on September 30, 1999 and contained 180 cards; it introduced cards from Persona 2: Innocent Sin as well as cards from Shin Megami Tensei I and II featuring newly computer-colored illustrations.

Apocalypse War (Wave 5)
Apocalypse War was released on July 7, 2000 and contained 180 cards; it introduced cards from Persona 2: Innocent Sin as well as cards from Shin Megami Tensei I and II featuring newly computer-colored illustrations.

Chaos Masquerade (Wave 6)
Chaos Masquerade was released on March 16, 2001 and contained 180 cards; it introduced cards from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment as well as cards from Shin Megami Tensei I and II featuring newly computer-colored illustrations.

Seventh Sanctuary (Wave Eins)
Seventh Sanctuary was released on September 22, 2001 and contained 153 cards. At this point Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card (its official title) becomes the Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card Game - the card design gets a major overhaul, the serial numbers of the cards also start over at G0001, and they began renumbering the set releases in German ("eins," "zwei," etc.).

Artificial Life (Wave Zwei)
Artificial Life was released on March 7, 2003 and contained 176 cards.

Monument of Goddess (Wave Drei)
Monument of Goddess was released on November 28, 2003 and contained 108 cards; it introduced cards from Shin Megami Tensei NINE and Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, and was the final set of cards released for the Shin Megami Tensei TCG.

Information on release waves from JP Wikipedia