Fight your way across vast expanses, conquer enemy batallions, and survive in this world of immense Mechas - wild combat machines commanded by the best pilots this side of the catastrophe. ::: mobileOnly - [Basic Rules](#basic-rules) * [Phases of a Turn](#phases-of-a-turn) - [Types of Cards](#types-of-cards) * [Towers](#towers) * [Mechas](#mechas) * [Commands](#commands) * [Pilots](#pilots) - [Types of Counters](#types-of-counters) * [Durability](#durability) * [Armour](#armour) * [Time](#time) - [List of Keyword Mechanics](#list-of-keyword-mechanics) * [Armour X](#armour-x) * [Pierce](#pierce) * [Flight](#flight) * [Reach](#reach) * [Speed X](#speed-x) * [Range X](#range-x) * [Haste](#haste) * [Provide Xu](#provide-xu) - [Other Rules and Corner Case Rulings](#other-rules-and-corner-case-rulings) * [Mulligans](#mulligans) * [Maximum Hand Size](#maximum-hand-size) * [Pilot Idiocy](#pilot-idiocy) * [Duplicate Phase Skipping](#duplicate-phase-skipping) ::: Basic Rules === The goal of the game is to attack your opponent directly five times. Each time a player is attacked directly, they place the top card of their deck in the damage zone. Once there are five cards in a player's damage zone, that player loses the game. The game takes place on a 5*7 grid (wider than it is long). Players start the game with a deck of 40 cards, with no more than 3 copies of any one card, except for Basics (no limit) and Singletons (maximum of 1). Players draw 5 cards, decide to mulligan or not (see [Mulligans](#Mulligans)), then take turns by placing certain cards on the closest row of the board, known as their entry zone. If there are no empty spaces in a player's entry zone, excluding movable units that player owns, then the player cannot play a new card and loses the game. A player also loses the game if they cannot draw a card from their deck. When combat between units is initiated, the attacker's power is subtracted from the defender's durability. When a unit's durability reaches zero, it is destroyed and discarded. A unit cannot move or attack in the same turn it was played, unless it has haste. Phases of a Turn --- * Start Phase (Do nothing unless told otherwise) * Draw Phase (Draw a card) * Main Phase (Play cards, move, attack, etc) * End Phase (Do nothing unless told otherwise) Types of Cards === Towers --- Tower cards generally cannot move, but provide “bandwidth”, which can be used to play Mecha cards (Radio Tower is a Basic Tower, therefore it has no limit on the number of copies you can have in your deck). Towers may be placed anywhere in your entry zone, or in a free space next to an existing Tower you control. Mechas --- Mechas are cards which act as playing pieces. A Mecha card has three numbers down the side: their cost, their power and their durability. Players can play as many Mechas as they want, as long as their Mechas' total cost does not exceed that player's current bandwidth. If enough Towers are destroyed that the bandwidth drops below the current cost, then nothing special happens; the player simply can't play any more Mechas until enough bandwidth is available again. Mechas may only move one orthogonal space at a time. If a Mecha can move more than one space, such as with the “Speed” keyword, then they must move along each space one at a time, and they cannot pass through other Mechas or Towers. Commands --- Command cards are cards with miscellaneous abilities, and they can be played at any time, before being placed in the graveyard. Some Commands may have unique requirements to be played, such as being placed on the battlefield. If this is the case, they can occupy the same space as a unit, and they do not count as a unit. Trigger Commands are a unique type of Command. If a Trigger Command is placed into a player's damage zone, it's ability takes effect as though it was played. Otherwise they can be played from a player's hand like any normal Command. Pilots --- Pilots are cards representing characters in the game's storyline. Pilots attach to Mechas, reducing that Mecha's bandwidth cost to zero, as well as granting various different abilities and power boosts. Pilots must be attached to a Mecha in your entry zone. Once this is done, a Pilot's power and durability modifiers are immediately applied to that Mecha, and remain for as long as the pilot is attached (durability doesn't change if the Pilot is removed). Each Mecha can have a maximum of one attached Pilot, and each Pilot can attach to only one Mecha at a time. Also, you may control at most one copy of each Pilot at any time. If you control more than one copy of a Pilot, you must sacrifice one. Types of Counters === Various cards on the battlefield may have different types of “counters” on them. These counters mark various properties as listed below. Durability --- Durability counters represent how much damage a unit can take before being destroyed. When a unit enters the battlefield, they begin with a number of durability counters equal to their base durability. When another unit attacks with a power of X, then you remove X durability counters from this unit. When the number of durability counters on any unit drops to zero, the unit is destroyed and discarded. Armour --- Armour counters protect a unit's durability. Each time a unit is attacked, if it has armour counters, remove one armour counter instead of any durability counters. Therefore, a unit with two armour counters can be attacked twice before taking damage. Time --- Time counters represent the amount of time remaining before some action takes place. If a permanent you control has a time counter on it at the beginning of your turn, then remove one time counter. List of Keyword Mechanics === A keyword is a word or phrase listed below which appear on cards to indicate a commonly used game mechanic. Some keywords are followed by an “X”, which represents a number used by that mechanic. For example, Armour 2 means that the mecha enters the battlefield with 2 armour counters on it. Multiple instances of certain keywords stack. Armour X --- If a permanent has the Armour ability, then it enters the battlefield with X Armour counters. Remove one Armour counter each time that permanent is attacked rather than having that permanent take damage. Pierce --- Pierce is the opposite of Armour, allowing an attacker to ignore Armour counters. Instead of removing an Armour counter from the target of an attack, remove durability counters as normal. Flight --- Flight represents units with some kind of areal movement. They cannot be attacked by other units unless the attacker also has Flight or Reach. Reach --- Reach Allows you to attack units with Flight. Speed X --- Speed represents the distance a unit can move. All units normally have a movement distance of 1, but a unit with Speed 3 can move up to three spaces in a turn, one at a time. They can also change direction mid-travel. Range X --- Range represents the distance that a unit can attack. Normally, a unit can only attack adjacent units, but an attacker with Range can attack up to X spaces away. When counting spaces for Range, count in orthogonal directions only; therefore attacking one space diagonally requires Range 2. Range allows a unit to fire "over the top of" friendly units, but not enemy units; do this by ignoring friendly units when counting the distance to a target. Haste --- A unit with haste can move and attack on the same turn that it was played. Provide Xu --- Not strictly a keyword, but Towers usually provide a number of units ('u' for short) towards your total bandwidth. Other Rules and Corner Case Rulings === Mulligans --- When you first draw five cards at the beginning of the game, you have the option to "mulligan", where you set aside your hand, draw five new cards, and shuffle your original hand into your deck. You can only do this once, if you are unhappy with your opening hand. Maximum Hand Size --- At the end of your turn, if you have more cards in hand than your maximum hand size, then you must discard cards, one at a time, until you are left with no more than your maximum hand size. The normal maximum hand size is 5. Pilot Idiocy --- Some Pilot abilities and durability modifiers may instantly destroy a Mecha as soon as it's attached. In this event, the Pilot's and Mecha's abilities take effect for a moment before the Mecha is destroyed. Therefore, in the case of Jason "The Looks" Brannan being attached to a Mecha with 1 durability, both players reveal their hands and allow their opponent to take notes as needed, then the Mecha is destroyed, and finally both players hide their hands again. Duplicate Phase Skipping --- Some abilities may require you to skip a phase of your turn, or your entire turn to activate. If you do, you cannot activate multiple abilities with a single action this way. Therefore, in the case of having multiple copies of Pheonix in your graveyard, you may only skip your draw steps one at a time, and return one Pheonix to your hand at a time.