Clash of Decks: Starter Kit
Clash of Decks: Starter Kit Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Each player receives a "Bastion/Fort" card. Place the 2 "Bridge" cards in the play area.
Before starting a new Clash of Decks game, choose the format and game mode you wish to play.
First, select a play mode: Solo mode if you wish to play as a single player, or Duel mode if you want to play with two players. Additional play modes (Cooperative, 2v2, Free-for-all, Legacy…) will be available shortly.
Then, select a format: Preconstructed, Draft, Constructed. Note: if you play in Solo mode, you cannot choose the Constructed format.
PRECONSTRUCTED: We recommend this format for your very first plays. Each player selects one of the four preconstructed decks. If you play in Solo mode, the cards from the three remaining decks form the AI's deck. You only need a single copy of the Starter Kit for the Preconstructed format. Below are the lists for the 4 Preconstructed decks:
- DECK 1: Annihilation, Baron, Boom!, Brute, Carapace, Partisan, Revenant, Troll
- DECK 2: Abomination, Alpha, Combustion, Lieutenant, Microctopus, Ogre, Scribe, Shaman
- DECK 3: Brigand, Disciple, Gnome, Grrr, Martyr, Meteorite, Parasite, Vortex
- DECK 4: Aberration, Assassin, Carnivore, Cyclone, Machine, Mutant, Reptile, Zombie
DRAFT: We recommend the Draft format after you have tried each of the preconstructed decks. In this format, players choose cards from a shared deck to build their hand of 8 unique cards. Shuffle all the cards into a draw deck. Then, reveal the four topmost cards of that deck. Player A first selects a card from the 4 thus made available. Player B then selects 2 of the 3 remaining cards. Player A then takes the remaining card. Repeat this operation, but this time player B selects the first card. Repeat until each player has 8 cards. You only need a single copy of the Starter Kit for the Draft format.
CONSTRUCTED: The Constructed format is destined for experts who perfectly master the game's mechanisms and special abilities synergies. Before starting the game, players build their own deck by selecting 10 cards from all the available cards. Player A first reveals the 10 cards from their deck, face up, and player B chooses one to remove from the deck for the duration of the game. Player B then reveals the 10 cards from their deck, and player A chooses one to remove from the deck for the duration of the game. Player A then selects a second card among the 9 remaining cards in Player B's deck to remove for the duration of the game. Lastly, player B chooses a second card among the 9 remaining cards in player A's deck to remove for the duration of the game. After two cards have been banished from each deck, each player owns a deck of 8 cards. Each player needs a copy of the Starter Kit for the Constructed format.
Each player shuffles their cards, constituting their hand. They then place their "Bastion" card in the leftmost place in their hand. Flip a coin to determine the starting player. For his first turn, he begins the game with only 6 Mana.
Gameplay
Players play their turn one after another. A turn consists of 3 phases:
Phase 1 – Mana Regeneration
The player gains as much Mana as the number of cards in their hand (including the "Bastion/Fort" card). Mana is used to pay cards costs. The player can use it during phase 2 and 3 to play Creature cards and Incantation cards.
Phase 2 – Summoning
The player can spend the Mana gained during phase 1 to play cards from their hand. A player can only play the 4 leftmost cards in their hand (ignoring the "Bastion/Fort" card).
A card's Mana cost is indicated in their upper left corner. Mana that isn't spent during a turn is lost. A player cannot spend more Mana than they gained during their previous phase 1.
The play area consists of two lanes. When playing a card, the player chooses in which lane to place it.
Players only summon creatures in their respective Realm: player A places their card on the left of the "Bridge" cards and player B places their cards on the right of the "Bridge" cards. There is no limit to the number of cards in a lane. A summoned creature is placed from the player's hand in the play area, face up, in the lane of their choice, behind their other creatures already in play. The card remains in play as long as it isn't destroyed.
Phase 3 – Assault
A creature has Health Points and an Attack Value.
A creature cannot attack the turn it enters play. Each creature a player controls inflicts their Attack value to an opposing creature. Attacking creatures automatically activate in a predetermined order: first the upper lane, from the creature further away from to the creature closest to the "Bridge"; then, the lower lane, from the creature further away from to the creature closest to the "Bridge".
When a creature suffers at least as much cumulative damage as its Health Points value, the creature is destroyed. It suffers the entirety of the damage caused by the attack and the card returns to its owner's hand, in the rightmost place.
Then, move all the creatures on the lane closer to the "Bridge" so they fill the gap. Creatures attacked don't retaliate, and those that were not destroyed regenerate all of their Health Points at the end of the turn.
During an assault, a creature inflicts its Attack value to the closest opposing creature on the same lane. If no opposing creature can be attacked, the creature then inflicts its damage directly to the opponent's "Bastion/Fort".
When a "Bastion/Fort" suffers damage, shift it that many places to the right in the player's hand.
When a "Bastion" reaches the rightmost place in a player's hand, it is destroyed: rotate it to its "Fort" side and return it to the leftmost place in the player's hand. Excess damage inflicted to the "Bastion" does not carry over to the "Fort". When a "Fort" card reaches the rightmost place in a player's hand, that player loses the game.
End of the Game
The game ends as soon as a "Fort" card reaches the rightmost place in a player's hand. Their opponent then wins the game.
Types of Cards
Creatures are put into play and remain there until they are destroyed.
An Incantation card can be played during one's turn, in the Summoning phase and during the Assault phase. An Incantation can target any creature. An Incantation's effect applies immediately after the card is played. Then place the Incantation card to the rightmost place in its owner's hand.
List of Special Abilities
These icons represent the special abilities of some creatures. These special abilities should only be considered when the creature is in play.
Splash: Inflicts its damage to both the targeted creature AND the creature in the same place in the adjacent lane.
Perforation: Inflicts its damage to both the targeted creature AND the creature behind it in the same lane (not to the Bastion/Fort).
Rage: Can attack opposing creatures (not the Bastion/Fort) the turn it enters play.
Protection: Reduces to 0 the first source of damage targeting this creature each turn.
Indestructible: Does not suffer effects or damage from Incantation cards.
Berserk: Each time this creature attacks and destroys an opposing creature, it attacks again.
Sprint: Each time this creature attacks, move it until it is the closest creature to the Bridge. For this attack, it inflicts +x damage, where x is equal to the number of creatures it moved over.
Aura: Aura is always associated with another special ability. Adjacent creatures on the same row benefit from this associated special ability. The creature that has the aura does not itself benefit from this associated special ability.
Solo Mode – Quick Play
The Solo Mode allows you to play Clash of Decks alone, through a Quick play or a Custom play. Apply all the rules of the base game. If the rules of the base game and the rules of the solo mode contradict each other, always apply the rules of the solo mode. AI refers to the Artificial Intelligence you will face in this mode.
Setup:
You receive a "Bastion/Fort" card. Place the 2 "Bridge" cards in the play area.
Shuffle 32 cards into a draw pile.
Then, reveal the top 4 cards of this draw pile. Pick a card among the 4 available ones. The AI gains the 3 remaining cards. Repeat the operation until you have 8 cards and the AI has 24 cards.
Shuffle your 8 cards and place your "Bastion" card in the leftmost place in your hand.
Shuffle the AI's 24 cards into a facedown deck. Place a "Bastion" card at the very bottom of this deck. You start the game. For your first turn, you only gain 6 Mana.
Gameplay:
Your turn plays strictly the same as in the rules of the base game. When your turn is over, the AI plays its turn:
Phase 1: Mana Regeneration
The AI gets a fixed amount of Mana and a varying amount of Mana. For Quick play, the fixed amount is 6 and the variable amount is +1 Mana for each creature you have in play.
Phase 2: Summoning
Reveal the top card of the AI deck and place in the AI Realm, in the upper lane, behind creatures already in play.
If the total value of the cards summoned this turn does not equal or exceed the AI's total mana amount, reveal the next card of the AI deck. Then place it in the AI Realm, in the lower lane, behind creatures already in play.
Keep summoning cards, alternating between upper and lower lane, until the value of the cards summoned by the AI equals or exceeds their available Mana.
If the AI reveals an Incantation card, the card systematically targets the creature closest to the "Bridge" in the lane. If there is no target, the Incantation card has no effect and is discarded into the AI discard pile. The AI does not spend Mana on an Incantation card that has no target. The AI discard pile is located next to its deck and is composed of its destroyed creatures and its used Incantations.
Phase 3: Assault
When an AI creature is destroyed or when an Incantation is played, put the card into the AI discard pile. When the AI suffers an attack from one of your creatures, put as many cards from the top of their deck as the damage inflicted and place these cards, face up, in its discard pile.
When the AI deck is empty and its "Bastion" card is visible, rotate it on its "Fort" side. Then, shuffle all the cards from the AI discard pile into a new deck and place it on top of its "Fort" card.
End of the game and victory conditions:
The game ends when one of these two situations occurs. If your "Fort" card reaches the rightmost place in your hand, the AI immediately wins the game. You lose.
If the AI deck is empty and its "Fort" card is visible, the AI plays one last turn. If you survive that last turn, you win the game.
Solo Mode – Custom Play
Fine-tune the AI difficulty level and try to reach level 5! Before playing Custom Games, we recommend you practice with a few Quick games to learn and discover the rules and the peculiarities of Clash of Decks's solo mode.
1 / After drafting, select a difficulty level:
- Easy: 1 difficulty points
- Medium: 2 difficulty points
- Hard: 3 difficulty points
- Heroic: 4 difficulty points
- Mythic: 5 difficulty points
2 / Then, customise the AI according to the chosen difficulty level:
Determine the varying amount of Mana during the AI's Mana Regeneration phase:
- +1 Mana for each creature you have in play (+0 difficulty point).
- +2 Mana for each creature you have in play (+2 difficulty point).
Determine the fixed amount of Mana during the AI's Mana Regeneration phase:
- 6 (+0 difficulty point)
- 7 (+1 difficulty point)
- 8 (+2 difficulty point)
- 9 (+3 difficulty point)
- 10 (+4 difficulty point)
Determine the first player:
- The player (+0 difficulty point)
- The AI (+1 difficulty point)
Determine the AI's resilience:
- With no "Bastion", the AI begins the game directly with the "Fort" (-1 difficulty point)
- With a "Bastion" (+0 difficulty point)
Determine the AI's resistance:
- Your attacks on the AI deck inflict as much damage as the attack value of your creatures (+0 difficulty point)
- Your attacks on the AI deck are reduced by to 1 damage (+2 difficulty points)
Determine a unique special ability gained by all the AI creatures:
- None (+0 difficulty point)
- Splash (+1 difficulty point)
- Perforation (+1 difficulty point)
- Rage (+1 difficulty point)
- Protection (+1 difficulty point)
- Berserk (+1 difficulty point)
3 / Now play!
Have rules questions or suggestions? Contact us at [email protected]
FAQ – General
Can I play Clash of Decks with a single Starter Kit? You only need a single copy of the Starter Kit to play the solo mode or the duel mode (Draft format). To play the duel mode (Constructed format), each player must have a copy of the Starter Kit.
If a creature that was closer to the bridge was destroyed, must I move the remaining creatures closer to the bridge or should they remain where they are until end of turn? When a creature is destroyed (and thus sent back to the rightmost place in its owner's hand), all other creatures must immediately be moved toward the bridge so as to fill up the space.
Is it possible to summon no creature during one's Summoning phase? Yes, it is possible not to summon anything, either by choice or lack of Mana.
Can I play all the cards in my hand (with the exception of the Bastion/Fort card)? No, you must keep at least one. If the only card remaining in your hand is the Bastion/Fort card, it becomes the rightmost card in your hand and you therefore lose the game.
Considering I can only play the 4 leftmost cards in my hand (not accounting for the Bastion/Fort card), are these the same 4 cards for the whole Summoning phase, or does playing a card immediately give me access to the next card? During their Summoning phase, when player puts a card into play from their hand, their 5th leftmost card immediately becomes their 4th leftmost card. They can now play this card during this very Summoning phase or a future Summoning phase.
Can cards entering play be placed between cards already in play in the same lane? No, when a card enters play in a lane it must be placed behind the card furthest away from the bridge.
If an attack deals damage in excess of a creature's Health points, is excess damage dealt to the next creature on the same lane or to the Bastion/Fort? No, excess damage is lost. It is therefore possible to tank a high-value attack with a creature that only has a few Health points.
When I play the cards on the left of my Bastion/Fort, it automatically move to the left. Then, when destroyed creatures are returned to hand, they return to the right. So this system acts as healing? Absolutely!
The more creatures I have in play, the less Health points and Mana I have? Exactly, this system lets the balance of power between players continually readjust.
If an attack deals damage to the Bastion in excess of its remaining Health points, is excess damage dealt to the Fort? No, excess damage dealt to the Bastion does not carry over to the Fort.
When can an Incantation card be played? Incantations can be played at anytime during the Summoning and the Assault phase. A target creature must usually be designated when a Incantation is played. The Incantation card must be revealed when played, and is returned to the rightmost place of its owner's hand as soon as its effect is resolved.
Can an Incantation card be played more than once in a single turn? If you have 5 or less cards in hand (including the Bastion/Fort), it is possible to play an Incantation cards more than once during a turn (while available Mana lasts).
Do Incantations follow the same rule as creatures, which only do damage the turn after they are played? No, Incantations effects apply immediately.
Are special abilities mandatory? Yes, special abilities automatically and systematically apply. If they can apply, they must.
When several creatures are destroyed at the same time with Splash or Perforation, in which order are they returned to their owner's hand? The owner of those cards decide the order in which they are returned to their hand's rightmost place.
FAQ – Special Abilities
If a creature with the Perforation or Splash special ability attacks a creature with the Protection special ability, does the Perforation or Splash trigger? Yes, it does. Only the damage dealt directly to the creature with the special ability Protection is absorbed.
A creature suffers from an attack from an opposing creature with the Perforation special ability. If there is no creature behind the attacked one, does Perforation deal damage to the Bastion/Fort? No, the Perforation special ability only deals damage to creatures (never to the Bastion/Fort).
If a creature has both the Splash AND Perforation special abilities, does Perforation also activate on the creature behind the one that suffered the Splash? No, Perforation only deals damage to the creature behind the creature targeted by the attack, in the same lane.
If there is no creature in a lane and my creature attacks the Bastion/Fort, does Splash or Perforation activate? No, the Splash and Perforation special abilities only activate on creatures, never on the Bastion/Fort.
Does the Rage special ability allow a creature to attack the Bastion/Fort the turn it enters play? No, the Rage special ability only lets creatures attack opposing creatures (never the Bastion/Fort) the turn it enters play.
Can a creature with the Indestructible special ability be targeted by an Incantation? Yes. Even if it will suffer no damage or effect, a creature with the Indestructible special ability can still be the target of an Incantation card.
If a creature with the Sprint special ability is not the closest creature to the bridge, does it perform two attacks a turn: one with the limp, then a second one when it becomes its turn again in the lane? No, a creature with the Sprint special ability only attacks once a turn.
When does the attack bonus granted by the Sprint special ability vanish? The attack bonus granted by the Sprint special ability stays active until the end of the Assault phase.
When a creature with the Berserk special ability destroys a creature and there are no opposing creatures in its lane, does it attack the Bastion/Fort? Yes, when a creature with the Berserk special ability destroys the last opposing creature of a lane, it can attack again and will therefore target the Bastion/Fort (unless the creature entered play this turn and was allowed to attack thanks to the Rage special ability).
Can a creature with the Berserk special ability attack again when it destroys the Bastion? No, the Berserk special ability only triggers when a creature is destroyed. The Bastion is not a creature.
Until when does an adjacent creature benefit from the special ability granted by an Aura? The adjacent creature benefits as long as the creature with Aura is in play. As soon as that creature moves or leaves play (and returns to its owner's hand), the adjacent creature loses the effect granted by the Aura.
Does the creature with the Aura special ability benefit from that special ability itself? No, the creature itself does not have the special ability. Only the two potential adjacent creatures do.