The game in one minute

1. You and a friend each bring a deck of monster and magic cards.
2. On your turn, you play cards, then send your monsters to attack.
3. When a monster loses a fight, its owner loses life.
4. You both start with 40 life. Bring your opponent to 0 and you win.

What you need

1. Your deck
40 to 60 monster and magic cards. This is the pile you draw from.
2. Your fusion deck
Up to 8 fusion cards, kept to the side. You never draw these. More on fusions later.
3. A way to track life
Paper, dice, or an app. You each start at 40.
4. A friend
With their own deck. The game is for 2 players.

Two kinds of cards

Monsters
Creatures that fight for you. They stay on your side of the table until they are destroyed.
Magic
Spells that help you. Some work once, some stay out for a while, and some are hidden traps.

Reading a monster card

1. Art What the monster looks like.
2. Name Who the monster is.
3. Ability What makes it special. Do what it says.
4. Power Its strength in a fight. The number by the sword.
5. Type Its family. The dark circle.
6. Attribute Its element. The light circle.
7. Tier 1 to 5. Higher is stronger and harder to get.
8. Life Life you lose if this monster loses a fight.
9. Set number For collectors. At the very bottom.

Every monster has a tier

The tier is the number in the bottom bar. It tells you how the monster gets onto the field. Fusions show a linked rings sigil right before the tier.
Tier 1
Starts in your hand. Play it straight onto the field.
Tier 2
Goes on top of a Tier 1 to make it stronger.
Tier 3
A fusion: 2 monsters combined into 1.
Tier 4
A bigger fusion.
Tier 5
The biggest fusion in the game.

Four monster families

Warrior
Attacks hard with a big team.
Beast
Defends well. Hard to break through.
Dragon
Fewer, bigger monsters. High risk, high reward.
Ethereal
Tricky. Brings cards back from the graveyard.
A deck can stick to one family or mix them. Each family plays a little differently.

The icons

Dark circles show the family: Warrior, Beast, Dragon, or Ethereal.
Light circles show the element: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, Poison, or Shock. Elements only matter when a card's text mentions one.
A diamond means the card is Neutral. Any deck can run Neutral cards. Neutral monsters aren't any family, and a Neutral Tier 2 can only evolve onto a Neutral Tier 1.
A mushroom means Fae, a new family coming later. Only 1 card has it in release 1: Changeling. (The rest of the Fae deck, cards 208 to 243, is built for playtesting only, October 14.)
A gold LIMIT 1 tag in the bottom border means you can only have 1 copy of that card in your deck.

Icon key: Types (dark circles): Warrior, Beast, Dragon, Ethereal, Neutral, Fae. Attributes (light circles): Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, Poison, Shock. Also on cards: Power, Life, Fusion, Normal, Reaction, Lasting, Summon, Blood magic, Limit 1.

Four kinds of magic

Normal
Use it once, then put it in the graveyard.
Lasting
Stays on the field for as many of your turns as it says.
Reaction
Set it face down. Play it when its trigger happens, even on their turn.
Summon
Puts a fusion onto the field. Pearly opal gem. If it says "Lasts," it stays in a magic slot for that many of your turns. It isn't Lasting, so cards that hit Lasting magic don't touch it.
Good to know
The gem color and the sigil in the bottom bar tell you which kind it is.
The text box tells you what it does. Read it and do exactly that.
Lasting cards, Summon cards that say "Lasts," and face down cards keep their slot until they leave.
If magic destroys a monster, its owner loses no life.
Reactions are optional. Play one when its trigger happens, or wait for a later one. You can't go back to an earlier one. If a card says "you must," you have to play it.
Blood magic: a cracked heart means the card costs you life. The card says how much.

Setting up your side of the table

Monster
Monster
Monster
Monster
Monster
Magic
Magic
Magic
Deck
Fusion deck
Graveyard
5 monster slots: your monsters, face up. An evolved monster stacks in 1 slot.
3 magic slots: Lasting cards and Summon cards that say "Lasts" face up, Reactions face down. Normal magic is used, then goes to the graveyard.
Deck: face down. You draw from here.
Fusion deck: face down, next to your deck. See the next page.
Graveyard: your discard pile, face up.
Together, your slots are called your field. Your opponent sets up the same way across from you.

Your fusion deck

1. Before the game, pick up to 8 fusion cards.
2. Keep them face down next to your deck. You never shuffle them in or draw them.
3. Look through them any time to see what you're working toward.
4. When your field has what a fusion needs, take it out in your Fuse step (step 4 of your turn).
A destroyed fusion goes to your graveyard, not back to your fusion deck.

Starting the game

1. Set both life totals to 40.
2. Shuffle your deck. Your opponent cuts it.
3. Draw 5 cards. Can't play any of them? Shuffle them back and draw 5 new ones. Start of the game only, once.
4. Pick who goes first. That player can't attack on their first turn.
Put your fusion deck to the side, face down. Now you're ready to play.

Your turn has 5 steps

1. Draw
Draw 1 card from your deck.
2. Play
Play magic cards and 1 monster, in any order.
3. Attack
Each of your monsters can attack once.
4. Fuse
Combine 2 monsters into a fusion. Once per turn.
5. End
Discard down to 5 cards in hand.
Do them in this order, then it's your opponent's turn. The next pages walk through each step.

Step 2: Play your cards

Play cards from your hand in any order you like. You get:
1 monster action
Do one of these:
Play a Tier 1 from your hand into an empty monster slot.
Or evolve: put a Tier 2 on one of your Tier 1s.
Any number of magic cards
Play as many as fit in your 3 magic slots.
Play them before or after your monster.
Monsters you play this turn can attack this turn. Some Tier 2s are played without evolving. Those can't go on top of a Tier 1.

Evolving a monster

Match bonus
If the Tier 2 names the Tier 1 under it, it gets stronger:
Power 5 → 6
Life 2 → 1
1. Pick 1 of your Tier 1s on the field (it can be one you played this turn).
2. Put a Tier 2 of the same family on top of it.
3. That's your 1 monster action this turn.
* The Tier 2 keeps the Tier 1's ability. Its card says so.
Some Tier 2s are played without evolving. Those can't go on top of a Tier 1.

Step 3: Attack

vs
Sir Garrick (5) beats Hoofguard (4). Hoofguard goes to the graveyard. Its owner loses 2 life.
1. Pick 1 of your monsters and 1 of your opponent's monsters. Say it out loud first: which monster is attacking and what it's attacking.
2. Higher power wins. The loser goes to the graveyard.
3. The loser's owner loses life equal to its Life number.
Tie? Both go to the graveyard. Nobody loses life.
Each monster can attack once. You don't have to attack. Attack 1 monster at a time. Finish each fight before you say the next attack.

Attacking your opponent directly

No monsters in the way? Attack your opponent directly. They lose life equal to your monster's power.
Cleared the way? If you destroy their last monster, your other monsters can attack them directly that same turn.
Sneak attacks. A few cards can attack directly even when monsters are in the way. Those deal half their power, rounded down.
The Scarecrow can sneak past monsters. At 5 power, he deals 2.

Step 4: Fuse

+

Lord Garrick's card says: Sir Garrick + any Warrior Tier 1.
1. Find a fusion in your fusion deck that you can make.
2. Have both monsters it needs on the field? Put them in the graveyard.
3. Put the fusion in their place.
Good to know
You can fuse once per turn, after you attack.
Its ability works right away. It can attack starting next turn.
It only has the ability printed on it.

Fusion recipes

Every fusion card tells you exactly what it needs. Just match it.
Tier 2 + Tier 1 = Tier 3
The Stone Priestess: any Beast Tier 2 + any Beast Tier 1
Tier 2 + Tier 2 = Tier 4
Vorgath: any 2 Ethereal Tier 2s
Tier 4 + Tier 4 = Tier 5
Twilight Sovereign: 2 named Tier 4s
Good to know
"Any" means any card of that family.
A name means that exact card, like Sir Garrick.
"Made by" means a magic card makes it. Example: Golgoron Chain Breaker turns Golgoron the Chained into Golgoron the Unchained.

Step 5: End your turn, or pass

Ending
Have more than 5 cards in hand? Discard down to 5. Then it's your opponent's turn.
Passing
Each turn, you must do at least 1 thing, or pass.
You can pass on any turn. Decide right after you draw. Passing skips the rest of your turn: no playing, attacking or fusing.
When you pass, you may put any cards from your hand on the bottom of your deck, then draw the same number.
The game ends when
A player's life hits 0.
Or a player needs to draw and their deck is empty. That player loses.

When two cards disagree

It doesn't happen often. When it does, check these 2 rules in order.
1. "Can't" always wins.
vs
Sunder destroys a monster. Brother Hollow can't be affected by magic cards. Hollow wins, even on your turn.
2. If not, the player whose turn it is wins.
vs
Maiden says attack her first. The Scarecrow sneaks past. On his turn, he wins. If 2 things happen at once, the turn player's goes first.

Building your own deck

40 to 60 cards in your deck
Up to 8 cards in your fusion deck
3 copies max of any monster
1 copy of each magic card. Run as many different ones as you like
1 copy of each fusion
1 copy of any card with the gold LIMIT 1 tag in its bottom border
Mix any cards you like. There are no rules about which cards go together. New to the game? Try 24 monsters and 16 different magic cards.

Words to know

Field: Your side of the table, where your monsters and magic cards sit.
Graveyard: Your discard pile for destroyed and used cards.
Monster action: Your 1 monster play per turn: play a Tier 1 or evolve.
Evolve: Put a Tier 2 on top of a Tier 1 of the same family.
Fusion: A monster made by combining 2 monsters.
Life: Life you lose when that monster loses a fight.
Owner: The player who brought the card. If your opponent takes your monster, it is still yours. If it's destroyed, it goes to your graveyard.
Ambush: Can attack directly past monsters, at half power.
Resilience: A comeback ability. Some Tier 1s get +3 power while your opponent has more monsters. Some Tier 2s can evolve without using your monster action when you start your turn with no monsters.
Blood magic: A magic card with a cracked heart sigil. It costs you life to play.
Search: Look through your deck for a card, then shuffle. Your opponent cuts.

Now go play.

Stuck on a card? Read it out loud and do exactly what it says.

How to play