Overview

Win the most great battles at the end of 3 rounds or immediately win early under certain conditions

Clan Selection

To begin, players will choose their 3 clans as such:

Player 1 picks 1 clan

Player 2 picks 2 clans

Player 1 picks 2 clans

Player 2 picks 1 clan

The two clans not picked will be flipped and their ongoing abilities will affect both players

After which the players shuffle their 3 clans together and draw 7 cards

If a player has less than 2 Troops in their starting hand, they may shuffle their whole hand back into their deck and draw 7, this can be repeated as many times as a player wishes so long as each time they have less than 2 Troops

Each clan has 8 Troops (level 1), 5 Heroes (level 2), 2 Immortals (level 3) for a total of 24 Troops, 15 Heroes, 6 Immortals per player

Turn

Players take turns until one player passes, at which point the remaining player can take up to 3 more turns

On a turn, a player can take one of the following actions:

Play a Card

Make a Shift

Spend Activation Tokens

Pass

At the end of each turn, a player cannot hold more than 7 cards in hand

Play a Card

Your play area is split into 3 rows of 5 spaces each

Each row represents a type, Troop/Hero/Immortal from bottom to top

Each card must be "supported" by having one below it, e.g. you cannot play a Hero if the Troop space below it is empty

From this, the first card you will ever play is a Troop and this first one only is free

Going forward, to play another Troop, if it matches the same clan as another Troop already in play, it is free to play. If it does NOT match a clan with another Troop in play, discard 2 other cards from your hand to play it (note that discards are public knowledge)

If you find yourself in a situation with no Troops or all face down Troops, the next Troop you play is free.

To play a Hero, you must have a minimum of one Troop from the matching clan.

To play an Immortal, you must have a minimum of one Troop AND one Hero from the matching clan

It may seem wrongly obvious that if you have a Hero of the clan you can play the Immortal, but you may have played the Hero when the corresponding Troop was face up, however now a new game state has the Troop face down so now you only have the Hero in the matching clan and can NOT play the Immortal until you also have a matching face up Troop.

Once you have played a card that adheres to the above rules, apply its effect if any

Make a Shift

The number on the left of the card is its Shift Cost

Discard cards from your hand equal to the played card's shift cost minus Activation Tokens on it to swap it out for another card from the same row

The new card does NOT have to be valid per the Play A Card rules, i.e. you do not have to have cards of the same Clan to Shift

The only restriction is that you cannot Shift a card with a card of the identical name

Resolve the new card's effect, if any

Spend Activation Tokens

You can spend activation tokens to perform ONE of the following effects:

Spend one token to draw one card

Spend two tokens to draw three cards

Place a token on a card with space for it to trigger its effect

As a reminder, at the end of each turn, you may not have more than 7 cards in hand

Pass

If you still hold Activation tokens, you may NOT take the Pass action

If you have no Activation tokens, and decide to Pass, your opponent gets 3 more turns until end of round

The Great Battle

Once one player has passed and the other has finished their third extra turn, The Great Battle commences

Each player adds up the military value of their cards (number on the right)

Each player enacts any keywords like Veteran effects

Whoever has the highest military value takes a Supremacy token

If tied, whoever holds the Wonder Token takes it, otherwise both take a Supremacy token each

If this is a player's second Supremacy token, they win!

Otherwise, continue to Song for the Dead

Song for the Dead

Release any captured cards and do not trigger their effects

Starting with the player who won the Great Battle, each player sacrifices half their cards in play, rounded up

Each player draws to a hand of 7

Each player takes back 2 activation tokens + any gained through special effects

Return the Wonder Token to the supply

Whoever lost the Great Battle is the new first player

Game End

If you hold 2 Supremacy tokens, immediately win

If you hold 5 Activation tokens, immediately win

If you have 15 face up cards, immediately win

If you're playing Goan Sul or Justice, they provide another win condition.

Glossary

Bounty

When a player captures or destroys an opposing card with the Bounty keyword, they may draw a card.

Byun Hyung Ja

There is 1 Byun Hyung Ja card in each clan, allowing you to unlock an Activation token and therefore helping you closer to the corresponding victory condition.

Capture

Choose any card and turn it over so that it faces down. A captured card loses its military value and its effect, and does not belong to any clan.

¤ A captured card may be destroyed later if it is OPEN.

¤ You may not make a shift on a captured card.

¤ A player may play a card above a captured card.

Any Activation tokens resting on a card when it is captured are returned to their controller’s spent tokens area.

Discard pile

Cards in discard piles are always placed face up. Any player may look through any discard pile at any time.

Destroy

Choose any OPEN card and place it in their controller’s discard pile.

Any Activation tokens resting on a card when it is destroyed are returned to their owner’s spent tokens area.

Draw

Place the top card of your deck into your hand. If you need to draw and there are no cards in your deck, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then draw.

Echo

When a player plays a card with the Echo keyword, they may resolve its effect one additional time. They may choose another target for the second resolution if they wish to. Echo is not triggered when you place an Activation token on a card with this keyword.

Effect

When a card enters play, you must resolve its effect (white text), unless the text implies it is optional (Example: “you may…”).

Ethereal

A card with the Ethereal keyword or with an Ethereal (white) token on it cannot be captured or destroyed. However, it can still be sacrificed.

Force of will

When the requirements of a card with Force of will are met, you may discard it from your hand during the turn of any player to resolve its effect.

Goan Sul

As long as Goan Sul is in play, he provides his controller with an additional victory condition.

If the Goan Sul clan has not been selected during the Clan selection phase, that condition is offered to both players.

Justice

When Justice enters play, and only at that moment, she provides you with a new, immediate victory condition.

Immortal tiles flipped by Justice’s effect become active.

If the Justice clan has not been selected during the Clan selection phase, use both Ethereal (white) tokens to indicate which highest OPEN card is Ethereal.

Mirror card

A mirror card is the card located in the same spot as your card in your opponent’s army.

Ongoing effect

A text written in italic represents an ongoing effect: this effect applies as long as the card is in play face up.

OPEN card

An OPEN card is a card that has no cards above it and to its right.

This keyword is used in various card effects, such as “destroy an OPEN card”. While any card can be captured, only OPEN cards can be destroyed.

Recruiter

Any card you play (does not work when you make a shift) to the immediate right of a card with the Recruiter keyword can be played for free, regardless of its clan. Only Troops (level I) have this keyword.

Release

Turn any captured card over so that it faces up. This card can be activated again later in the game. Releasing a card does not trigger its effect, unless the effect specifies so.

Remove from the game

Return the card that is removed from the game to the box: this card is no part of the game anymore, unless a card effect says it can be retrieved.

Reveal

Take that many cards from the top of your deck and turn them face up.

However, revealing cards cannot cause you to shuffle your discard pile back into your deck. For example, if there are only 2 cards left in your deck and you should reveal 4, you reveal only 2.

Sacrifice

Choose an OPEN card (captured or not) from your army and place it into your discard pile. This card is not considered destroyed.

Same name, different card

Some cards share the same name, with additional information between parentheses. These cards are considered to share the same name but they are not identical cards.

Secret shift

When you make a shift on a card with the Secret shift keyword, it may be replaced with a card from your discard pile instead of a card from your hand, but still not with an identical card (this applies to Troops only).

Veteran

When an Activation token is placed on a card with the Veteran keyword, turn this token over to its x2 side. During the Great Battle, this card’s military value will be doubled if the token is still there.

Wondrous

When you play a Wondrous card, take the Wonder token from the board or from your opponent and place it in front of you.

The Wonder token has 2 abilities

¤ During your turn, you may spend the Wonder token (by returning it to the board) to discard 1 card less when playing a new card or making a shift.

¤ In the case of a tie during the Great Battle, the tie is broken in favor of whoever controls the Wonder token.

X

This value corresponds to the number of Activation tokens you own: in your hand, on your cards, in your spent tokens area.

At the beginning of the game, X is equal to 2. You will have the opportunity to increase this value up to 4 by meeting the requirements of your Byun Hyung Ja cards.

Abunakkashii expansion

Akasha

When an Akasha card is removed from the game, its permanent effect affects you until the end of the game. Note: its permanent effect also works if the card is played in the game.

Corruption

When a player plays a card with Corruption by placing it normally or with a shift, their opponent can immediately choose to take a corruption token to play the effect of the card instead of its controller.

Each corruption token you possess reduces the maximum size of your hand by 1, but increases your military value by 1.

Important: If the Corruption card has the keyword Echo, it is the player who plays the effect of the card (its original controller or the opponent who corrupted it) who decides whether to trigger the Echo; they can then resolve the effect a second time.

Important: The effect of Corruption cannot be triggered by the opponent when the controller reactivates their card with an activation token; it is triggered only upon entering the game (normal placement or shift).

Abomination

To play a card with the Abomination keyword, you must have one corruption token for each Abomination in play. That is to say, to play an Abomination, you will need one corruption token, if you want to play a second one (while the first is still in play), you will need a second corruption token. This rule applies when the Abomination is played normally or with a shift.

Kuma token

The Kuma token can only be placed on a card named Kuroakuma. This card then gains +2 military value and cannot be targeted by cards from the Galmi clan.

Rukgnarl Bonesreaper

Shadowstep

A card With Shadowstep can be played according to the usual playing rules. However, it also has the following abilities:

¤ It can be played for free in replacement of a captured card. ln this case, the player does not pay a card from their hand to play it at level 1, even if their clan is not present in the line. Moreover, if a card is thus played in the level 2 (or 3) line, its clan does not need to be present at level 1 (and 2) to be put into play (as for a Shift). It's important to note that the captured card which is replaced by a Shadowstep card is placed in the discard pile and is not considered as being destroyed by this action.

¤ During your turn, instead of your action, you can "Attempt a Shadowstep". To do this, choose a face-up card in play with Shadowstep (or with a Shadowstep token), then announce that this card will "Attempt a Shadowstep". Then, reveal the next card from your deck:

¤ If the revealed card has the same level as the card that "Attempts a Shadowstep", then the revealed card immediately replaces the card that "Attempted the Shadowstep" and activates its comes into play effect, if it has one. The replaced card is placed in the discard pile, without being considered as destroyed by this action.

¤ If the revealed card has a different level from the card that "Attempts a Shadowstep", then the revealed card is placed in the discard pile and the card that "Attempted a Shadowstep" is captured.

The Shadowstep token gives the card the Shadowstep power. When this card "Attempts a Shadowstep" whether successful or not, the Shadowstep token on it is returned to the neutral zone. A Shadowstep token cannot be placed on a captured card. If you were to take a Shadowstep token and there are none available, then you do not take one.

Solo

During the Great Battle, if a Solo card is OPEN, its army value is doubled

Umbra

During your turn, instead of your action, you can take a Corruption token to activate a card with Umbra. The Umbra token grants the card the power of Umbra. An Umbra token cannot be placed on a captured card. If you were to take an Umbra token and there are none available, then you do not take one. If the Umbra effect of a card is activated through an Umbra token on it, discard the token after use, as Umbra token are for single use.