Exceed: Seventh Cross – Hunters vs. Demons Box Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Card Overview
  • Character Cards
  • Attack Cards
• Setup
• The Play Area
• Gameplay
  • Out of Cards
• Force
• Gauge
• Action Breakdown
  • Prepare
  • Change Cards
  • Reshuffle
  • Exceed
  • Move
• Boosts
  • Instant Boosts
  • Continuous Boosts
• Transformations
• Resolving Strikes
  • Reveal Step
  • Priority Order
  • Active Player Attack
  • Trigger Effects
  • Doing Damage
  • Reactive Player Attack
  • Cleanup
• Gameplay Example
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Character-Specific FAQs

Card Overview

Characters use Normal, Special, and Ultra Attacks to fight.

Character Cards

Each character card has a Starting side and an Exceed side.

1. Character Name
2. Character Ability: This is always active.
3. Gauge Cost: Cost to enter Exceed Mode.

Attack Cards

All Attack cards have two parts: the upper part is an Attack and the lower part is a Boost. Attacks are used during Strikes, while Boosts are played with the Boost Action.

Attack cards may be Normal, Special, Ultra, or carry a Transformation.

1. Attack Name
2. Owner's Mark: What fighter the card belongs to (Normals will have a colored shape instead).
3. Gauge Cost (Ultra Attacks only): Cost to play the card.
4. Range: What spaces the attack hits.
5. Power: How much damage the attack will do.
6. Speed: How fast the attack will activate.
7. Armor and Guard (not shown): How well you resist enemy attacks. If the attack has no armor or guard, these stats will not be shown.
8. Special Effects.
9. Continuous Boost Mark: Shown if Boost is continuous.
10. Boost Force Cost.
11. Boost Name.
12. Boost Effect.
13. Transformation Name.
14. Transformation Symbol.
15. Transformation Effect.

Setup

1. Shuffle: To begin playing, shuffle your complete 30-card deck together. A deck is formed by two sets:
   • Normal Set: 2 copies each of the 8 Normal Attacks: Grasp, Cross, Assault, Dive, Spike, Sweep, Focus, and Block. All characters have these same cards.
   • Character Set: 2 copies of each of your character's 5 Special Attacks and 2 Ultra Attacks.
2. Area Setup: Set up a board with 9 spaces horizontally, and put your characters on the 3rd and 7th spaces respectively, with their Starting sides facing up. Give each player 30 life (they can never have more than 30) and decide who will go first.
3. Starting Draw: Shuffle your decks and draw 5 cards each. The player going second draws an extra card. Your maximum hand size is 7. If you ever have more than this, discard to your maximum after you draw at the end of your turn (if you would).
4. Mulligan: Discard any number of cards from your hand, then draw that many cards. After this, shuffle the discarded cards back into your deck. Do not reveal any cards to your opponent during this process.
5. Game Start: Play begins with the first player's turn.

The Play Area

Only one player's play area is described here; both play areas are identical.

1. Game Board: The Game Board is 9 spaces long and is shared between both players.
2. Gauge Area: Cards which have been converted into gauge are kept here. Cards in your Gauge Area are face-up unless otherwise stated.
3. Status Area: Any in-play Continuous Boost cards go here.
4. Hand: When cards are drawn, they are added to the player's hand. Players may not see one another's hands normally.
5. Transformation Area: Cards that have been put into play as Transforms go here.
6. Deck: The player's shuffled deck goes here. Players may not look through their decks under normal game conditions. Anytime a player does look through their deck due to a game effect, that player must shuffle the deck again.
7. Discard: Any discarded cards are placed here. Players may look through any discard pile at any time, but may not rearrange the order of cards in the discard pile. When you discard multiple cards, discard them in any order you wish.
8. Sealed (not shown): Cards that have been Sealed are removed from the game, and are set aside out of play.

Some effects may generate new areas like (Umina's Character ability and her Dreamlands area). These areas are separate from all other areas and may be located wherever you like on your side of the board.

Gameplay

Players will take turns, back and forth. On each player's turn, that player will choose to take one of these actions:

• Prepare: Draw an extra card.
• Change Cards: Spend Force to draw cards.
• Exceed: Spend Gauge to power up into Exceed Mode.
• Reshuffle: Reshuffle your deck and discard pile to form a new deck. This can be done only once per game.
• Move: Spend Force to move around the board.
• Boost: Use a card for its Boost effect.
• Strike: Both players play a card secretly from their hands, and resolve the cards based on the rules in the Striking section.

Note that some effects will give you new Actions. These will say "As an action...".

At the end of your turn, draw a card if you did not Strike. If you Strike due to a card effect (like a Boost), you still do not draw a card.

When a player's life reaches zero, they are eliminated from the game and their opponent wins!

Out of Cards

In the course of the game, you may run out of cards in your deck. The first time you need to draw a card or Wild Swing and cannot, reshuffle your discard pile to form a new deck. If you have already reshuffled and then run out of cards again and need to draw, you lose the game immediately.

Force

Force allows you to play Boosts and move! When you need to spend Force, you create Force to spend immediately through any combination of these methods:

• Discard any number of Normal or Special Attacks from your hand or Gauge to your discard pile to generate 1 Force per card discarded.
• Discard any number of Ultra Attacks from your hand or Gauge to your discard pile to generate 1 or 2 Force per card discarded (your choice).

You can only generate as much Force as you need to pay for any effect, so it is not possible to 'overpay' for an effect.

Gauge

As you attack, you build Gauge. Use your Gauge to play your powerful Ultra Attacks!

You can get cards into your Gauge Area by hitting opponents. Gauge is very powerful, and useful for many different things. Gauge can be used to upgrade your character's Ability through the Exceed action, or to play your Ultra Attacks. Gauge can also be spent as Force, which helps preserve cards in your hand when using actions and boosts.

When you spend Gauge, just move cards from your Gauge Area to your discard pile. You can choose to discard cards from your Gauge regardless of the order they were placed there.

Action Breakdown

Prepare

When you take a Prepare action, simply draw an extra card. Since you also draw a card after taking an action, you will get a total of two cards this turn.

Change Cards

Change Cards allows you to spend Force to draw one card per Force spent. Typically you will spend cards from your hand as Force, but don't forget that you can spend Gauge too, and that Ultra Attacks give you 2 Force (and thus 2 cards) instead of just one. You must spend all the Force you wish to spend up front, before drawing any of the cards.

Reshuffle

Reshuffle allows you to reshuffle your discard pile into your deck to create a new deck. This speeds up the Reshuffle you would normally get when running out of cards.

Whether you reshuffle with this action or automatically the first time your deck runs out, you only get one Reshuffle per game.

Exceed

The Exceed action costs the amount of Gauge shown on the front of your character card. Pay this much Gauge, then flip your character card over to reveal your more powerful Exceed Mode. Exceed Mode completely replaces your character's original ability. Once you change to Exceed Mode, there is usually no way to change back to your standard ability.

Move

Pay 1 Force per space to Advance or Retreat. Advancing past an opponent increases the total cost by 1 Force, and you can continue moving in the same direction after switching sides. Movement effects may also show up on some attacks or boosts; those do not cost Force. In all cases when moving, if you are unable to move as far as indicated, move as far as possible, then stop.

If you would move into the opponent's space, you move past them instead. You can never be in the same space as the opponent.

Close: Move towards the opponent as many spaces as possible up to the number of spaces indicated, but without switching sides with the opponent. (Closing 2 spaces moves you as far as possible without passing the opponent, so closing 3, 4, or 5 spaces would look identical.)

Move: Move either direction up to the number of spaces indicated, switching sides with the opponent, and continuing in the same direction beyond. 'Move' lets you choose which direction to go. Unlike Close, switching sides with the opponent is allowed.

Advance: Move towards the opponent as many spaces as possible up to the number of spaces indicated, switching sides and continuing in the same direction beyond. (Advancing 1 space puts you adjacent. Advancing 2 would switch sides.)

Retreat: Move away from the opponent, as many spaces as possible up to the number of spaces indicated.

Push/Pull: Push moves the opponent away from you, as if they were Retreating. Pull moves the opponent towards you, as if they were Advancing. You can pull the opponent past you. (Pulling the opponent 2 spaces moves them to the other side of you; Pushing 1 space moves them one away.)

Boosts

Use Boosts for a variety of options to help give you an edge!

Boosts are unique actions allowed by the cards in your hand. To play a Boost, pay its Force Cost, put the boost into your in-play area, and then resolve its effects. Any effects in the boost that do not have a Trigger Keyword or a Stat Bonus occur right now. You do not pay an Ultra's Gauge cost when using a boost on an Ultra attack.

If a Boost isn't Continuous, discard it after resolving its effects. If Continuous, keep it in play. There is no limit to the number of Continuous Boosts in your in-play area. Note that Transformations are not Boosts.

Instant Boosts

Instant Boosts give you new kinds of actions, or a better economy on existing actions. Perform the actions on these boosts instantly. After resolving its effects, discard it.

Continuous Boosts

Continuous Boosts enhance your next attack with some benefit, and may also have an instant portion (shown by a Now trigger) that is performed immediately. All Continuous Boosts have a brown cross-shaped mark above their Force costs. There is no limit to the number of Continuous Boosts that can be in your in-play area.

Examples:

• A Boost that lets you rush forward right away, but will be discarded afterwards.
• A Boost that stays in play and gives your next attack +2 Speed.
• A Boost that makes you draw 2 cards right now; in addition, your next Attack will gain -2 Speed and +2 Armor.
• A Boost that lets you advance 3, then Strike. Since you are Striking, you will not draw a card at the end of this turn.

Transformations

Transformations replace a Boost on a card and give permanent effects when they're in play. There are two ways to play a Transform:

• When you hit with an Attack that has a Transformation, you may put it into your Transformation Area instead of your Gauge. While in your Transformation Area, you gain the effect of the Transformation.
• If you have both copies of an attack card with a Transformation, you can put the Transformation directly into play as an Action by discarding the second copy.

You may never have more than 1 Transformation with the same name in your Transformation Area. Each Transformation in your Transformation Area reduces your cost to Exceed by 2.

Example: a Transformation that gives all of your attacks +2 Power as long as your opponent has 2 or less cards in their hand.

Resolving Strikes

Striking with Attacks is the main way to defeat your opponent.

When you choose to initiate a Strike as an action or as part of a Boost, you are called the Attacker and your opponent is the Defender. Players follow these steps:

1. The Attacker sets their Attack Card or Cards face-down. Note: Some characters have additional actions they can take "when striking." They do these actions before they set cards.
   • A Regular Attack is formed by playing one card from your hand face-down.
   • An EX Attack is formed by playing two cards with the same name from your hand face-down. EX attacks have +1 Power, +1 Speed, +1 Armor, and +1 Guard.
   • A Wild Swing is formed by putting the top card of your deck into play face-down without looking at it.
2. The Defender sets their Attack Card(s) in the same way the attacker does.
3. Reveal the attacks!

Reveal Step

Flip over both players' attacks. You normally won't need to do much here, but there are a few special cases:

• EX Attack: Discard the extra copy of the EX attack to your discard pile.
• Ultra Attack: You must pay the Gauge Cost of a revealed Ultra Attack immediately. If you can't, the attack is Invalid. If you reveal an EX Ultra Attack, you only pay the Gauge Cost for that Ultra once. If you reveal an Ultra Attack from a Wild Swing, you may choose to make it invalid.
• Invalid Attack: If your attack is Invalid, discard it and perform a Wild Swing. Keep discarding and performing Wild Swings until you reveal a valid attack. These new Wild Swings are not considered to be setting a new attack.

Priority Order

Whoever has the higher speed goes first. In a tie, the Attacker goes first. The player going first is the Active player; the other is the Reactive player.

Active Player Attack

The player with higher speed goes first and performs their entire attack. An attack has 4 Steps:

1. Perform all Before effects.
2. Check range to the opponent from the attack's origin (usually your Character).
3. If you were in range, perform all Hit effects, then do damage to the opponent.
4. Perform all After effects.

Example: Geoffrey's Golden Arrow hits all spaces from 3 to 7, so this attack will hit.

Trigger Effects

There are four kinds of Trigger Effects in EXCEED: Before, Hit, After, Now, and Cleanup. Each of these describes a different timing for when the effect will take place.

• Before effects will happen at the start of your attack, before you check your range to the opponent.
• Hit effects will only happen if you hit the opponent with your attack.
• After effects will happen at the end of your attack, after you have already hit or missed the opponent.
• Now effects happen immediately. These are normally located on Continuous Boosts to signify which part of the effect happens now and which happens later.

When a Trigger Effect comes up, you must activate it and follow all of its instructions. If you have multiple effects with the same trigger, you can choose what order to activate them in, but you must still activate and resolve each one individually.

Triggers are easy to read once you get the hang of them. Different triggers can make similar looking attacks behave very differently. Assault lets you close in first, then attack. Cross lets you attack first, then back up. Grasp lets you attack and move the opponent, but you only get the move effect if you hit with the attack.

Doing Damage

When your attack hits, you will do damage to the opponent equal to your Power, reducing their life by this much.

If your opponent has any Armor, they deduct this from the total amount of damage they take over the course of the attack.

If your damage dealt over the entire attack is greater than the opponent's Guard, they are Stunned. Stunned opponents don't get to perform their attack. (Cards without Guard or Armor printed on them count as having zero in these stats.)

Guard and Armor are cumulative across all damage on the same turn. This means an attack with 2 Armor will prevent the first 2 damage taken, but if a card effect or attack deals damage afterwards on the same turn the Armor will not prevent it.

Example: Focus has 2 points of Armor and 5 points of Guard. If you were to be hit by a 7-power attack, you would reduce that damage by your Armor, and only take 5 damage. Since 5 damage is not greater than your 5 Guard, you would not be stunned. If you were hit by an 8-power attack, however, you would take 6 damage, and would thus become stunned.

Reactive Player Attack

If the Reactive Player is not Stunned, they may perform their attack the same way that the Active Player did. If they are stunned, skip their attack entirely.

Cleanup

After all this, each player cleans up by doing steps 1-4 below.

1. Discard all Continuous Boosts in your in-play area.
2. If you hit your opponent, even if you didn't stun them, put your attack card into your Gauge Area. If you didn't hit your opponent, put your attack card into your discard pile instead.
3. The Attacker performs any 'End of the Strike' type effects they may have. Then the Defender does the same. These effects happen even if a player is Stunned.
4. It is now the turn of the next player, the Defender. If either player gained Advantage during the strike, they take the next turn, potentially altering the turn order. If both players gained Advantage, the one who most recently gained it takes the next turn.

Gameplay Example

1. Celinka goes first. She decides to put the pressure on and attack! She initiates a Strike by playing a card from her hand face-down. The opponent must also put a card from their hand face-down.
2. The attacks are revealed. Celinka has the higher speed, so her attack executes first. She advances 3 spaces for her Before trigger, then checks the range for her attack. Taisei is in range of her attack, so Celinka hits (and decides to not use the effect of her Hit trigger). Taisei takes 3 damage, putting him at 12 life (Taisei starts at half his max life). Since he takes damage, he is stunned and his attack does not execute. Celinka then puts her attack into her Transformation Area instead of her Gauge. She could use the effect of her new Transformation, but decides not to. She ends her turn, and does not draw a card, since she declared a Strike. It is now Taisei's turn.
3. Taisei plays the Continuous Boost on one of his Ultras. He gains 4 life (putting him at 16 life) and draws 2 cards from the Now trigger. The Continuous Boost stays in play, and will give Celinka's next attack +4 Power. Taisei's turn is now over and he draws a card.
4. Celinka initiates another Strike with her Grasp and Taisei responds with an EX attack by playing two copies of Grasp, discarding the second after reveal. The EX attack makes Taisei's attack 8 Speed, which is faster than Celinka's! His attack executes first. He hits Celinka and moves her over him two spaces, into the corner. He also deals 4 damage (3+1) from the EX attack, putting Celinka at 26 life. Taisei's Grasp goes to his Gauge and his Continuous Boost from his last turn is discarded. Play continues with Celinka's turn. Turns rotate between players until one player's life is reduced to 0 or they run out of a deck after Reshuffling!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I ask how many cards are in my opponent's hand? A: Yes. This information is open knowledge to all players.

Q: If I Wild Swing into an Ultra, do I have to play it if I have the Gauge to pay for it? A: You may pay the Gauge and use an Ultra that you Wild Swing into, but you do not have to. If you do not have the gauge or do not want to pay for a Wild Swing Ultra, it is considered an invalid attack and replaced with a new Wild Swing as normal.

Q: What if I have no cards in my hand and a Strike occurs? A: You must perform a Wild Swing.

Q: If I took an opponent's card with an effect, what can I do with it? A: You can only take the actions described on the ability that holds the card, typically Strike or Boost. Opponent's cards can be in your Boost Area, Gauge, set as part of a Strike, or Sealed. If they would be placed anywhere else (such as returned to your hand, discarded, transformed, or sealed), they are placed in their owner's discard instead.

Q: I'm using an effect that cancels an opponent's Boost. When does that happen? A: Canceling a boost happens after costs are paid but before decisions are made (like what card is named for the Parry boost). The player still draws at end of turn.

Q: If an effect allows me to spend something to gain a bonus, like 1 Force for +1 Power, can I do that multiple times? A: No. Anything that lets you use it multiple times will be specifically stated ("You may spend up to 3 Force. For each Force spent, +1 Power.")

Q: If I am allowed to pay for an Ultra using something other than Gauge from an effect and I play the Ultra from hand, am I required to pay for it? A: Yes. An Ultra played from hand must be paid for, even if you must use an alternate method of generating Gauge. If you Wild Swing into it, however, you may invalidate it if you do not wish to pay.

Q: If I EX an Ultra Attack, do I pay the Gauge cost for each copy? A: No. The Gauge Cost is only paid once.

Q: For boosts that cause a Strike, when are they considered "resolved"? A: The Boost is resolved right before the Strike begins. As such, any effects that trigger "after resolving an Immediate Boost", will happen before you set your card for the Strike.

Q: If an attack is coming from another source, do "Attacks at range 1 do not hit you" effects care about the character's position or the other source's position? A: The range is measured from the other source's position, being the attack's point of origin.

Q: If an effect causes me to search my deck, do I have to shuffle afterwards? A: Yes. Anytime you search your deck, you must shuffle afterwards.

Q: When do "playing" and "resolving" a card occur for effects that care about it? What about effects that cause a Strike? A: Played: After spending costs, but before effects. Resolved: After effects occur. For effects causing Strikes, "Played" is the same. Resolving happens after effects, but before the Strike. Discarding the card happens after resolution.

Q: What happens if I Wild Swing with no deck and I've already reshuffled? A: You lose the game.

Q: Can my life go above its maximum? A: No.

Q: What is non-lethal damage? A: Damage that cannot bring the opponent below 1 life. For example, if an opponent with 3 life is dealt 5 non-lethal damage, they take 2 damage.

Character-Specific FAQs

These questions cover characters from all boxes in this season.

Q: If Taisei takes damage that would eliminate him from the game, does he reset to 10 life and then take the 3 remaining damage or does he simply reset to 10 life? A: No matter how much damage Taisei takes when he loses his first life, he can reset to 10 life when he activates his Exceed mode. In the case above, he would still end up at 10 life.

Q: What is the timing on D'Janette's starting character ability? A: First, place the Spell Circle on any space on the board. Then, place a Special or Ultra Attack from your hand on it. Lastly, draw a card from the ability and an additional card for end of turn.

Q: If D'Janette's Spell Circle is on the board, can I use the Reading boost instead of simply Striking? A: No. Once you have placed the Spell Circle, your next turn must only be used to initiate a Strike.

Q: Does D'Janette's Affliction Transform affect Special Attacks in D'Janette's Diabolic Aura? A: Yes. It affects all Special Attacks, even in her hand.

Q: Can Characters share a space with D'Janette's Spell Circle? A: Yes.

Q: Can D'Janette perform an EX attack from her Spell Circle? A: No. She can only place a card on it and can't discard another copy of that card for an EX.

Q: What is the timing on Zsolt's Exceed Mode effect? A: After all After: effects resolve, you may spend 1 Force and reveal an attack from your hand. Do not pay any Gauge costs if it is an Ultra. Resolve the attack, including all triggers and damage, but damage is capped at 1. At the end of the Strike, the attack will be added to Gauge if it hit, or discarded if it did not. After all After: triggers resolve on this attack, you may spend 1 force and repeat this process a second time.

Q: If I have two copies of Cat's Cradle's Continuous Boost in play, does the opponent draw at the end of a turn in which they Prepared? A: Yes. It only reduces the card drawn from the Prepare action itself.

Q: For Werelight and its boost, which player must discard cards? A: Eugenia is always the source of the effects, so her opponent must discard cards or be pushed. They do, however, choose which effect Eugenia resolves.

Q: If a character with a "when you Exceed" ability on their Exceed Mode is hit with Galdred's Metamorphosis, what happens? A: That ability resolves immediately, before you deal damage. If the opponent is playing Sydney and Serena, the attack's damage is dealt to Serena.

Q: If I have a copy of the opponent's Attack in the Dreamlands face-down, can I reveal it during the Strike with Dark Thoughts' Transform to invalidate their attack? A: No. Dark Thoughts' Transform only applies when the opponent is setting their card(s).

Q: Can Wonderland or Dreamlands be used to perform an EX Attack? A: No. You may only place one card on these and may not discard another copy of that card from your hand to perform an EX Attack.

Q: If Seijun draws or discards cards during the Strike, does it change her Guard value immediately? A: Yes. However, if she discards a card after having taken damage and this drops her Guard below the damage she took, she will not be stunned. (Stun only checks at the moment of taking damage.)

Q: When I hit someone with Spore Burst, do I Push them relative to Sydney or Serena? A: If you are exceeded, you Push away from Serena. Otherwise, you Push away from Sydney.