Air, Land, & Sea FAQ
63 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Playing the Game
- Does a flipped card still use its ability when it sits in a theater that doesn't match its color?
- What counts as an adjacent theater?
- Does a Support card's +3 strength count in an adjacent theater that has no cards?
- Can one player end a round with more cards than the other player?
- In team play, can teammates describe their hand to each other by referring to one card?
Battle Cards
Tactical Abilities
- When a card is flipped face-up, whose instant ability is used?
- Does an instant ability trigger again when a card is flipped face-up a second time?
- Does flipping a face-down card trigger its instant ability, even when an opponent's card does the flip?
- Are flips and returns from tactical abilities mandatory when the card doesn't say "may"?
- If Maneuver has no face-down card of yours to flip, must you flip your opponent's card?
- If Maneuver is played with no card in an adjacent theater, does its ability wait to resolve later?
- Can Ambush flip a card and then cover that same card with Ambush in one turn?
- If a card is destroyed right after it is played, such as by Blockade, does its tactical ability still happen?
- If an instant ability's card is flipped before the ability finishes, does the ability still resolve?
- When do you take the extra turn from Redeploy?
- Does the Land card Ambush flip only one uncovered card?
- Does Escalation's Strength 4 effect on face-down cards apply in every theater?
- Does Cover Fire make covered face-down cards Strength 4, including cards higher than 4?
- Can Redeploy return an opponent's face-down card to hand?
Tactical Ability Key Terms
- Can a covered card ever be flipped?
- Does Blockade's three-card limit count both players' cards?
- What does "destroy" do to a card?
- When a card is moved to another theater, does it keep its face-up or face-down state?
- When you flip a card, does it move to the theater that matches it?
- Does a "flip a card" ability have to be used in a specific theater?
- Can Maneuver or Ambush flip one of my opponent's cards?
- Does an ongoing ability still work when its card is covered by another card?
- Do a card's ongoing effects stop when it is flipped face-down?
- When you can play to a non-matching theater in more than one way, must you use Supply Lines?
Additional Card Clarifications
- Can Transport move a covered card, including the card it covers?
- Is the uncovered-only Transport rule official?
- Can Transport move itself after it is played?
- Where can Transport move a card?
- Does Blockade stop a card from being moved into a blocked theater, such as by Transport?
- Do Blockade and Containment's "any player" wording apply to my own cards?
- What happens if you play a card into a theater blocked by Blockade?
- Would you ever deliberately play a card that Blockade or Containment will discard?
- Does Containment destroy face-down cards that are already in play when it comes into play?
- Does Containment destroy a card that is flipped face-down, such as by Maneuver?
- Does Containment destroy face-down plays in every theater, including cards played from the non-player deck?
- Does the Ultimatum promo card belong to a theater, and what happens if Requisition reveals it?
- Can the Ultimatum promo's ability be retriggered when it is played with its ability side showing?
- Is a face-down Ultimatum destroyed when Containment is in play?
- In the revised edition, can you look at the card Reinforce draws?
- Where can the face-down card that Reinforce plays go?
- If Reinforce draws a card you cannot sensibly play, what happens to it?
- If you choose not to play the card that Reinforce drew, where does it go?
- When can Aerodrome let you play cards into non-matching theaters?
- Can Disrupt flip itself, including when it is the first card played?
- In what order do instant abilities resolve when a Disrupt flip sets off other flips?
- Can Ambush flip the card underneath it after it covers a card?
- Can Redeploy return a face-down card that is covered by another card?
- After Redeploy returns a card to your hand, can you play it right away, face-up or face-down?
- Does Support's +3 strength also apply to the opponent's cards in an adjacent theater?
- Who flips first when Disrupt is played?
Ending Battles and Winning
- Who controls a theater with no cards on either side, or one where the Strength is tied?
- Can you withdraw with zero cards in hand?
- If you withdraw from one theater, does it end only that theater's battle?
- Who scores victory points when a battle ends by a withdrawal or by winning two theaters?
- How are the theaters rearranged between battles?