Epic Card Game: Guardians of Gowana Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Setup
  • Redrawing Cards
• Victory and Defeat
• Standard Layout
• Events
• Creatures
• Playing Cards and the Golden Rule
  • Talents
• Abilities
  • Static Abilities
  • Triggered Abilities
  • Discard Pile Text
  • Arriving Creatures
  • Position of Creature Cards
• Targets of Abilities and Partial Application
• Playing Cards (Initiative)
  • Initiative
  • Simultaneous Activation
• Turn Structure
  • Start Phase
  • Main Phase
  • Battle Phase
  • End of Turn Phase
• Keywords and Terms
  • Frenzy*
  • Piety*
  • Blitz*
  • Loyalty 2*
  • Own / Owner
  • Recall*
  • Exert
  • Ambush*
  • Exile
  • Rally*
  • Control / Controller
  • Unshakeable*
  • Elusive*
• Game Formats
  • Limited
  • Constructed
• Games with 3 or More Players
  • Free for All
  • Hunter - First Blood
  • Hunter - Last Survivor
  • Team Play

Game Contents

• Box
• Rules
• 60 game cards
• 22 minion cards (human/demon)
• 12 minion cards (wolf/zombie)
• 4 health cards
• 2 reminder cards
• 1 turn marker
• 2 gold markers
• 20 tokens +1 attack / +1 defense (and +2 attack / +2 defense)

The reminder cards carry the turn structure:

Start of turn: 1. Both players flip their gold markers to the "1" side. 2. You draw 1 card. 3. You ready your creatures.

Main phase: Your opponent cannot take any actions. You may take the following actions (any number of times): 1. Play a card. 2. Go to the battle phase. 3. Announce the end of your turn. When you announce the end of your turn, your opponent may either play event cards or end the turn. If they play cards, you may either return to your main phase or end the turn.

Battle phase: 1. Choose one or more attacking creatures and exert their cards. 2. Starting with the attacker, both players may play event cards in initiative order. 3. The defending player chooses blocking creatures and turns their cards around. 4. Starting with the defender, both players may play event cards in initiative order. 5. Creatures deal damage. 6. Return to your main phase.

End of turn: 1. You discard cards from your hand down to 7. 2. All creatures restore their defense to maximum.

Setup

1. Choose decks. Separate the cards by the 4 faction symbols in their upper left corner: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. Then each player chooses cards of any 2 factions and shuffles them together face down, forming their deck. Other ways of forming decks are described in the section "Game Formats" on page 25.
2. Leave enough room in front of you for your play zone.
3. Leave room next to your deck for the discard pile. Cards in the discard pile are placed face up, and players may always look through any discard pile.
4. Put the minion cards in a pile next to the play zone. When any ability tells you to put a minion into play, take it from this pile.
5. Each player sets their health to 30. When you take damage you reduce your health. Each player takes a health card "with tens" and a similar card "with ones". Align the numbers on these cards to track your current health. (The rulebook shows an example of the cards aligned at 30 health.)
6. Players take the reminder cards.
7. Choose the first player at random.
8. Each player draws 5 cards from their deck into their hand.
9. Each player may redraw their cards (see below).
10. Each player takes a gold marker and places it with the "1" side up. The first player receives the turn marker and takes the first turn.

Redrawing Cards

After all players have taken their starting cards into hand, each player (starting with the second) may redraw them. To do so, set aside any number of cards from your hand, shuffle them and place them on the bottom of your deck. Then draw the same number of cards from the top of your deck and lose the same number of health.

Victory and Defeat

If your health falls to 0, you are eliminated from the game. If all your opponents are eliminated, you win. In rare cases you can also win if you need to draw a card from your deck but it is empty. If the health of all players falls to 0 (or below) simultaneously, the game ends in a draw.

Standard Layout

The rulebook shows a diagram of the standard layout with these labeled areas: Health, Deck, Discard, Hand, Reminder card, Gold, Turn marker, Play zone, Battle zone and Minions (the minion pile).

Events

Events represent the will of the gods influencing the world of mortals. You may play events during any player's turn, even during combat. After playing an event, apply its abilities, then place its card in its owner's discard pile.

Anatomy of an event card (example: "Crushing" - cost 1, Nature, Event: "Draw 2 cards. or Deal 7 damage to 1 target of your choice."): faction, cost, card type, description.

• Faction - the cards of this set belong to four factions, distinguished by color: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom.
• Cost - the cost of the card, shown in its upper right corner. Some cards require spending gold to be played, while the rest are free (cost 0). At the start of each turn both players flip their gold markers to the "1" side (in a two-player game).
• Card type - the game includes two types of cards: events and creatures.
• Description - what the card does.

Creatures

Creatures are the heroes and monsters that are in your play zone and fight for you. You may play a creature card only during the main phase of your turn (see page 14), unless it has the keyword "Ambush" (see page 20).

Anatomy of a creature card (example: "Allosaurus" - cost 0, Nature - Dinosaur - Creature, keywords "Ambush - Blitz", attack 11, defense 10): class, attack, defense, keywords.

• Class - the kind and/or specialty of the card. A card's class does not by itself confer any advantages, but the abilities of some cards can affect cards of certain classes.
• Attack - the amount of damage this creature deals in combat.
• Defense - the total amount of damage that must be dealt to this creature in one turn to destroy it. The card of a destroyed creature is placed in its owner's discard pile.
• Keywords are shorthand for certain rules or abilities. See their detailed descriptions on page 17.

Playing Cards and the Golden Rule

To play a card from your hand, pay its cost (if it costs 1 gold, flip your gold marker to the side without the gold value), then place it face up in your play zone.

If it is an event card, immediately apply its abilities in the order listed on it. Then place that event card in your discard pile.

If it is a creature card, from that moment it is considered "in play". A played creature stays in play until it is returned to hand, destroyed or exiled.

The Golden Rule: a player may play cards only if they have the initiative (see page 12) and there are no triggered but not yet applied card abilities in play. Players cannot play cards until all triggered card abilities have been applied.

After a player has played a card, they still keep the initiative and may either play the next card or pass the initiative to their opponent.

Talents

Some cards have special talents. Game effects tied to talents are always preceded by a colon (:). To the left of the colon is the cost of using the talent.

Example event card "Soul Source" (cost 0, Evil - Event): "Destroy 1 target creature under your control. Gain health equal to its defense. or 1 gold: Draw 2 cards."

Abilities

Some cards have abilities. Activating the abilities of the cards in this set requires no additional actions on your part. Abilities are either static or triggered.

Static Abilities

Static abilities work at all times, from the moment they appear in play until the moment they leave play.

Triggered Abilities

Triggered abilities apply when a certain condition is met. Triggered abilities are marked with an arrow symbol. The condition required to apply the ability is written to the left of the arrow, and the effect to the right. You cannot ignore the effect of a triggered ability unless the effect's description uses the word "may". For example: "When this card is destroyed -> Draw 1 card."

If you play an event card and it triggers a creature's ability, first finish playing the event and only then apply the triggered creature ability. Note: if a creature leaves play because of an event's ability, its own ability still applies.

Example card "Venerable Commander" (cost 1, Good - Human - Creature, attack 3): "Unshakeable. Loyalty 2 -> Draw 2 cards. If this card is to take damage, you may take that damage instead of it." (Card text printed in the rulebook, with a static ability and a triggered ability pointed out.)

Discard Pile Text

If a card has a talent or ability whose text is enclosed in a gray box, the effects of those talents or abilities can be applied only while the card is in the discard pile.

Example: "Spontaneous Mutation" (cost 0, Nature - Event): "Deal 2 damage to 1 target creature. It gets +4 attack until end of turn. [gray box:] You may perform Recall. (Play this card from the discard pile at no cost. Then exile it instead of discarding it.)"

Arriving Creatures

A creature played before the start of your next turn is considered arriving. An arriving creature cannot attack or use talents with the exert symbol, but can block.

Position of Creature Cards

During the game you will turn your creature cards, thereby tracking their status and capabilities. (The rulebook illustrates a Human Minion card in three positions: ready, exerted, turned around.)

Ready (upright, facing its owner)

Creature cards enter play in the upright "ready" position facing their owner. If a ready creature is arriving (see above), it can block, but cannot attack or use talents with the exert symbol. If a ready creature is no longer arriving, or if it has the keyword "Blitz", it can block as well as attack or use talents with the exert symbol.

Exerted (turned 90 degrees)

When your creature attacks or uses a talent with the exert symbol, exert its card by turning it 90 degrees (so that the text on it is sideways to you). This position means the creature cannot attack, block or use talents with the exert symbol until the start of your next turn, during which it becomes ready again (its card returns to the upright position facing you).

Turned around (turned 180 degrees)

To block an attack of an enemy creature with your creature, turn its card 180 degrees (so that its text faces the opponent). This position means the creature cannot block again until the start of your next turn, but can still use talents with the exert symbol. All turned-around creature cards are readied (returned to the upright position facing their owner) at the end of each turn.

Targets of Abilities and Partial Application

Any card abilities are applied in the order of their description (one sentence at a time). If any part of a card's ability requires choosing a target (or targets), the player chooses them only when the application of that particular part of the ability begins. In other words, players do not need to choose the targets of such an ability immediately after playing the card, before the previous part of its ability has been applied.

If any part of a card's ability cannot be applied, apply as many of the card's other abilities as possible, in the order given in its description.

Example: if you play the card "Withering" (cost 1, Evil - Event: "Deal 9 damage to target creature. Gain 9 health.") but there are no creatures in play, ignore the first part of its ability. Even if no creature became its target, you still gain 9 health.

Some abilities let you decide whether anyone becomes their target ("you may choose a creature...") and/or how many targets there will be ("2 or fewer target creatures..."). In other cases you must choose the corresponding targets if possible. If the number of potential targets is less than required, you must choose all available ones. This can sometimes be disadvantageous to you. For example, if the only creature in play is your own demon minion and you apply the ability of "Withering", you must choose your demon as its target. Although sometimes this can be advantageous, especially if you really need 9 health!

Playing Cards (Initiative)

When playing a card you place it in your play zone.

Initiative

Only the player with the initiative may play cards. When the player with the initiative passes, the initiative goes to the player to their left.

Simultaneous Activation

If several in-game abilities activate at the same time, they form a so-called "activation set". In this case the player with the initiative (or the player with the turn marker if no one has the initiative) chooses one of their triggered abilities, applies its effects, and repeats this process until they have applied the effects of all their triggered abilities from the set. Then the player to their left does the same, and so on. If additional abilities are triggered while applying the effects of abilities from the set, they form a new, separate activation set. Different activation sets are resolved in the order in which they were formed.

Turn Structure

Note: in games with three or more players the start phase and main phase of the turn differ slightly from the standard. See page 27.

Start Phase

During this phase no player has the initiative and no one may play cards. The start phase has 5 steps:

1. You receive the turn marker.
2. Both players flip their gold markers to the "1" side.
3. You draw a card from your deck (unless you are the first player and this is your first turn of the game).
4. You ready your creatures (turn their cards upright, facing you).
5. You apply the effects of cards that trigger "at the start of the turn".

Main Phase

When you begin the main phase of your turn (or return to it), you receive the initiative. Only you may play cards during the main phase of your turn (unless you are attacking or announcing the end of your turn). During the main phase of your turn you can take the following actions:

• Play a card.
• Go to the battle phase (see below).

You may take each of these actions in any order, any number of times. When you have completed all your actions, pass, thereby announcing to your opponent your intention to end the turn. They may also play cards and pass, or play nothing and pass immediately. Then:

• If your opponent did not play any cards, go to the end of turn phase.
• If your opponent played at least one card, you may either return to your main phase or go to the end of turn phase.

Battle Phase

By deciding to attack, you enter the battle phase. Each battle phase consists of five steps.

Step 1: Choosing Attackers. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. The attacking player chooses which creature (or group of creatures) will attack, and exerts its card (turns it 90 degrees).

• Only ready creatures (whose cards lie upright facing their owner) can attack.
• Creatures that entered play this turn are considered arriving (and cannot attack or use talents with the exert symbol unless they have the keyword "Blitz").

Step 2: Before Blocking. The attacking player receives the initiative. The player with the initiative may either pass, or play cards and pass. Repeat this step until all players pass in a row, then go on to the next step.

Note: if the defending player wants to put new creatures into play and use them to block the attack during the next step (for example, by playing a creature card with the "Ambush" ability or an event that lets them put minions into play), they can do this only during this step. A creature that entered play does not automatically become a blocker; if you do not declare it, your opponent may manage to destroy it after the initiative passes to them, without giving you the chance to declare the block!

Step 3: Choosing Blockers. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. The defending player chooses which creature (or group of creatures) will block the attack, and turns its card around 180 degrees.

• Only ready creatures, whose cards lie upright facing their owner, can block.
• If a creature blocks at least one of the attackers, it also blocks all the other attacking creatures in the group, even if it is unable to block some of them individually. For example, if a creature with "Flying" and a creature without "Flying" attack together, both can be blocked by one creature without the keyword "Flying".
• If a player declares that their creature blocks the attack, all attacking creatures remain blocked, even if the blocking creature was destroyed or exiled before the damage step.

Step 4: Before Damage. The defending player receives the initiative. The player with the initiative may either pass, or play cards and pass. Repeat this step until all players pass in a row, then go on to the next step.

Step 5: Dealing Damage. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. All fighting creatures simultaneously deal damage equal to their attack.

1a. If the attack was not blocked, the attacking creatures deal damage to the defending player. 1b. If the attack was blocked, the attacking player distributes the damage dealt among the blocking creatures, after which the defending player distributes their damage among the attacking creatures. 2. Creatures that have received damage equal to or exceeding their defense are considered destroyed. 3. The attacking player continues their main phase.

End of Turn Phase

During this phase no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. In your end of turn phase you take the following steps:

1. Apply the effects of cards that trigger "at the end of the turn".
2. If you have more than 7 cards in hand, discard cards from your hand until exactly 7 remain.
3. All creatures restore their defense to maximum.
4. Ready all turned-around creatures (if there are creatures in play whose cards are turned 180 degrees, turn them back so that they lie upright facing their owner).
5. All card effects lasting "until the end of the turn" expire.

Keywords and Terms

In the descriptions of the abilities of some cards, keywords are used, which are shorthand for certain rules or effects. This section gives their meanings (keywords are marked with "*").

Frenzy*

Game effects written to the right of the keyword "Frenzy" apply only when at least one of your opponents has more cards in hand than you. If each of your opponents has as many cards in hand as you, or fewer, "Frenzy" effects do not apply.

"Frenzy" can begin and stop working right in the middle of a turn and the activation of other effects.

Example: you have 3 cards in hand and your opponent has 4. You attack with "Raging Rhino" (cost 1, Nature - Giant - Rhino - Creature, attack 15, defense 16; "Frenzy - all your creatures have the keyword "Trample" (including this one)."; the effects written next to "Frenzy" apply only when your opponent has more cards in hand than you). The "Frenzy" effect indicated on its card is in force, so the creature has the keyword "Trample". Your opponent blocks the attack with their Human Minion. In such a situation they can either accept it and take 14 damage from the attack with "Trample", or avoid it by playing 1 card from hand, so that the "Frenzy" effect stops working.

When any triggered ability has the keyword "Frenzy" as part of its effect, check whether it is in force at the moment the ability is applied.

Example: the card "Treant" (cost 1, Nature - Giant - Plant - Creature, defense 10) has two identical triggered abilities: "Rally Frenzy - Draw 1 card." Both of these abilities trigger as soon as "Treant" enters play, regardless of the number of cards in the players' hands. After playing "Treant", apply the first and second abilities in turn, checking at each step whether the "Frenzy" effect is in force at that moment. As a result of playing this card you may draw 1 or 2 cards, or draw none.

Piety*

When a creature with the keyword "Piety" under your control deals damage, gain as much health as the damage it dealt. Different "Piety" effects obtained from multiple sources at the same time do not stack.

Blitz*

When a creature with this keyword enters play (or if it gains "Blitz" during the game), it may attack or use talents with the exert symbol on the same turn in which it was played.

Loyalty 2*

When a card with the keyword "Loyalty 2" enters play under your control, you may reveal (show to your opponents) 2 cards from your hand that match the played card by faction. If you do so, apply the game effect written to the right of the arrow.

Own / Owner

You own the cards that have been in your deck since the start of the game, as well as the minion cards that you put into play.

Recall*

You may play cards with the keyword "Recall" directly from your discard pile, without paying the cost shown in the upper right corner of the card. After applying all the effects of a card played with "Recall", immediately exile it instead of discarding it.

Example: "Communion" (cost 1, Wisdom - Event): "Draw 2 cards. gold: Recall. (Play this card directly from your discard pile, without paying the cost shown on it. Then exile it instead of discarding it.)" While "Communion" is in your discard pile, you may spend your gold to apply "Recall" to it. After doing so, play this event for free, apply its game effect as usual (draw 2 cards), and then put "Communion" on the bottom of your deck.

Exert

Turn a card 90 degrees (so that the text on it is sideways to you), for example during an attack or when using a talent with the exert symbol.

Ambush*

You may play a creature with ambush during any player's turn, even during combat. Remember that creatures that have just entered play are considered arriving (see "Arrive") until you begin your turn with those creatures in your play zone.

Exile

When an ability exiles a card, its owner places it on the bottom of their deck. If an ability exiles several cards at once, their owner places them on the bottom of their deck in random order.

Rally*

When a creature with the "Rally" ability enters play under your control, apply the game effect written to the right of the arrow.

Control / Controller

You control the events you played, the creatures in your play zone, and all card abilities that work while they are under your control. Some game effects let you play your opponent's cards or take control of creatures they played. If you take control of an opponent's creature, it becomes arriving, even if it has the keyword "Blitz". If after that the creature additionally gains "Blitz" from other effects, it stops being arriving.

Unshakeable*

Creatures with the keyword "Unshakeable" cannot be exiled.

Elusive*

Creatures with the keyword "Elusive" cannot be chosen as the "target" of the effects of event cards, talents or abilities played by players.

Note: creatures with the keyword "Elusive" can still be assigned damage during combat. Mass game effects (without choosing targets), such as "Destroy all creatures", also affect them.

Invulnerable*

A creature with the keyword "Invulnerable" cannot be destroyed, either by assigning damage in combat or by other effects instructing you to "destroy" a creature. You cannot destroy an "invulnerable" creature to pay the cost of other game effects, such as "1 gold, destroy 1 creature under your control: Put 2 demon minions into play."

Flying*

The attack of a creature with the keyword "Flying" can be blocked only by another creature with that keyword. Creatures with "Flying" can still block creatures without "Flying".

Arrive

Your creatures are considered arriving until you begin your turn with those creatures in your play zone. An arriving creature cannot attack or use talents with the exert symbol, but can block.

Minions

Minions are considered ordinary creatures, except that when they leave play they return to the minion pile instead of going to the discard pile. Minions can under no circumstances end up in the hand, deck or discard pile of any player. If the minion you need has run out of the pile, use any handy items to replace it.

Trample*

If the damage from your creatures with "Trample" that you assigned to blocking creatures equals their defense, all the remaining unassigned damage dealt by creatures with the keyword "Trample", and only by them (damage from events or creatures without "Trample" cannot be added to it), can be assigned to the defending player.

Excavate*

"Excavate" lets you put two cards from your discard pile on the bottom of your deck in any order. After doing so, draw 1 card. Note: you are not obliged to apply this ability if you do not want to.

Allied Abilities

Allied abilities are marked with the symbol of the corresponding faction with an arrow. When you play cards with a cost of 1 gold belonging to the indicated faction, the corresponding allied abilities on your cards in play are triggered. (Such abilities cannot be triggered by playing cards with cost 0.)

Transform

When you transform a creature, place its card on the bottom of its owner's deck. Then the player who controlled the creature puts into play on their side the replacement indicated in the effect's text (for example, a "Wolf Minion"). The replacement is considered a completely new, just-played card. If a player transforms several creatures at once, return them to the bottom of their owner's deck in random order.

Note: "Transform" is not considered "exiling" a card. If the target creature was participating in combat at that moment, it leaves combat entirely.

Destroy

When a card is destroyed, its owner places it in their discard pile. A creature is considered destroyed when it receives, in one turn, an amount of damage equal to or exceeding its defense.

Faction (color)

The cards of this set belong to four factions, distinguished by color: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. You may play and add to your deck cards of any factions; there are no restrictions on their interaction. Some cards let you trigger additional game effects for playing or revealing cards of matching factions (see "Allied Abilities" or "Loyalty").

Last Gasp*

When a creature with the keyword "Last Gasp" under your control leaves play for any reason, apply the game effect written to the right of the arrow.

The effects of "Last Gasp" apply regardless of the reason your creature left play. It does not matter whether it was destroyed, exiled, returned to hand, transformed, etc. "Last Gasp" does not trigger when control of your creature passes to another player.

Game Formats

This set includes 60 cards (as well as minion cards, health cards, etc.), and that is enough for a two-player game in almost any format. For games with more players, and for some other formats, you will need a second copy of this set or "Epic: Duel Set". The description of each format below states the number of cards needed to play it. Make sure you have enough.

Limited

Limited is a restricted format in which players build a deck from a limited "pool" of random cards.

To take part in a game of this format, players open one or several copies of "Epic" and build their deck from 30 of any cards that came to them. There are no other restrictions in this format (unless the players agreed on some separately).

Random Deck (2-8 players, 30 cards per player). Players build random decks by shuffling all the cards from the "pool" and dealing each player 30 cards. You can also deal each player 60 cards and let them select 30 of them to form their deck.

Pool Draft (3-8 players, 30 cards per player). Shuffle the cards and deal each player a "pool" of 10 cards. Repeat this until each player has three separate "pools". First, each player chooses one card from their first "pool" and places it face down in their own separate pile, then passes the remaining cards from their first "pool" to the player to their left. Having received cards, a player chooses one more card from them and also places it in their pile. Continue this process until all cards from every player's first "pool" have been chosen. Then repeat the same with the second "pool", but pass the remaining cards to the player to your right. After that, repeat the same with the third "pool", but again pass the remaining cards to the player to the left. In the end each player will have a pile of 30 cards, which becomes their deck.

Blind Draft (2 players, 100 cards). Shuffle all the cards and deal each player 5 cards. Each player chooses one card from their hand and places it face down in their own separate pile, then gives the remaining 4 cards to the other player. Then each player chooses two cards from their new hand and also places them in their pile. The cards remaining in hand, players place face down in a separate shared discard pile. After this step each player's pile should have 3 cards. Repeat the described process 9 more times, so that each player's pile has 30 cards, which will form their deck.

Triple Draft (up to 8 players, several sets). Take several copies of "Epic" at once. Separate from them the cards with the special symbol in the lower right corner and keep only one copy of each such card (put the rest back in the box). Make sure you have at least 36 cards per player. Shuffle all the cards and deal each player three "pools" of 12 cards. Then players select cards for themselves through a pool draft (see page 25) until each has a pile of 36 cards. With these cards each player forms their deck of 30 cards.

Constructed

Constructed is a format with built decks, where participants begin the game with a deck prepared in advance.

Preconstructed (2 players, Guardians of Gowana). Separate the cards from this set by the 4 factions indicated in their upper left corner: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. Then each player chooses two factions and shuffles their cards face down, forming their deck. The rules of this game format using other "Epic" sets may differ.

Full Constructed (2-8 players, several sets). Each player builds a deck from their own cards of "Epic", which must consist of at least 60 cards. The deck must not contain more than 3 copies of the same card. Also, for each 1-gold card of one faction in the deck there must be at least 2 cards of the same faction. (For example, if the deck contains seven 1-gold cards of the faction "Wisdom", it must also contain at least fourteen cards of the faction "Wisdom".)

Games with 3 or More Players

These rules are used only during games with three or more players.

At the start of the game each player flips their gold marker to the "1" side.

At the start of their first turn the first player draws a card from their deck (unlike in a two-player game).

Players take turns and pass the initiative clockwise.

At the start of each player's turn, and additionally at the end of each of their turns, that player flips their gold marker to the "1" side. Players do not receive gold on another player's turn, regardless of the number of players.

When you want to end your turn during your main phase, pass. When all players have passed in a row, do the following:

• If no one played any card, go to the end of turn phase.
• If at least one card was played, you may either resume your main phase or go to the end of turn phase.

When a player loses or leaves the game, remove from the game all cards they owned. If creatures of other players were under their control, those players regain control of their creatures. If the eliminated player had any events or ability effects that had not yet been applied or were in the process of being applied, they expire and leave the game. If the eliminated player had the initiative, it passes to the player to their left. If it was the eliminated player's turn, end it immediately. (Whenever the eliminated player is supposed to receive the initiative, it is passed instead to the next player on their left.)

Free for All

This format is a "every man for himself" game. You may attack and target any opponent. The last player remaining in the game wins.

Hunter - First Blood

Same as "Free for All", except that you may attack only the player to your left. All ability effects of your cards can be directed only at you and the nearest players to your left and right (for example, the effect "exile all creatures" will affect your creatures and the creatures of the neighboring players, but not the creatures of the other players). When one of the players is eliminated from the game, the player to their right wins (it does not matter which player caused their elimination, so be careful!).

Hunter - Last Survivor

Same as "Hunter - First Blood", but when a player is eliminated from the game, the player to their right does not win. Instead they gain 5 health and draw a card from their deck.

Team Play

In a team game several players make up a single participant of the match. A team in which at least one player remains the last survivor becomes the winner! Also, if any player fulfills an alternative victory condition (for example, when they need to draw a card from their deck but it is empty), their whole team wins.

Hydra (equal teams). Each team of players has a shared health total of 30 for each member. Each player has their own separate deck, discard pile, creatures and gold marker.

All unblocked attacks deal damage to the team's shared health. A player's creatures may attack and block together with the creatures of their teammates, and your teammates may block (and help block together) attacks directed against you.

...and much, much more.