Masters of Football
Masters of Football Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Objective of the Game
- Components
- Game Setup
- Championship Sequence
- Playing a Match
- Kick Off
- Half-Time
- Second Half Kick Off
- Injury Time
- Final Whistle
- Academy
- Transfer Market
- Special Rules
- Conflict Resolutions
- Winning the Game
- Simultaneous Matches
- Competition for 5-8 Persons
- The Cards
- Game Symbols
- Non-Person Teams
Objective of the Game
The objective of the game is to win a football championship by ending with the most points. Points are earned in each of the championship matches, like in a real football league.
Components
- 1 rulebook
- 1 game board
- 10 manager cards (p.13)
- 66 player cards (p.14)
- 50 action cards (p.15)
- 16 tactic cards (p.14)
- 6 attack dice (translucent)
- 6 defence dice (opaque colours)
- 2 genius dice (black)
- 1 tactic die (white)
- 12 bits
- 75 one million footies bills
- 1 travel kit box
- 1 results pad
Game Setup
Note: This setup is for 4 people. For 2 to 3 people, quickly check the "Non-Person Teams" section on p.17.
Choosing the Managers
- Shuffle all 10 manager cards, and deal 2 to each person.
- Each person selects one manager card, and discards the other. Everyone is now a manager!
- Give each manager the budget indicated in the manager card.
Preparing Initial Squads
- Shuffle each type of player into 4 stacks: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Wood.
- Deal to each manager 1 gold player, 2 silver players and 3 bronze players. Note: the "Super-Agent Partnership" manager receives 1 extra card of each level.
- Each manager buys players from his hand with available budget (and keeps money not spent).
- Teams with less than 3 players (the minimum team size) draw wood players to fill in.
- After setting up the squads, managers receive an additional 5 million footies.
Setting Up Action Cards
- Shuffle all action cards into a single stack.
- Deal 5 action cards to each manager. At any time managers may swap action cards for 1 million footies each; they must discard cards before picking new ones from the stack.
Championship Sequence
A standard 4 team championship consists of all teams playing each other twice: at home and away. There are 6 matchdays of 2 matches each, for a total of 12 matches. In addition to the matchdays there are the Academy and the Transfer Market stages. The championship calendar goes as follows:
- Matchday 1
- Matchday 2
- Academy
- Matchday 3
- Transfer Market
- Matchday 4
- Matchday 5
- Matchday 6
Keeping Track of the Championship
To keep track of the championship and match results, you can use the results pad provided with the game, which can be replicated by copying or printing pages 18/19 of the rulebook.
Alternatively, use the online support app which in addition gives you a nice digital scoreboard — find it at www.mastersoffootball.com.
Results Pad Fixtures
The results pad (p.18) has one block per matchday, with the teams A, B, C and D. The pairings below are read from the printed layout of the pad, which does not state a home or away order for each pairing:
| Matchday | Pairings |
|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | C – A, D – B |
| Matchday 2 | A – D, B – C |
| Academy (after Matchday 2) | — |
| Matchday 3 | A – B, C – D |
| Transfer Market (after Matchday 3) | — |
| Matchday 4 | A – C, B – D |
| Matchday 5 | D – A, C – B |
| Matchday 6 | B – A, D – C |
Each pairing appears once in each direction across the six matchdays, so every team meets every other team at home and away.
Playing a Match
Match Preparation
- Each participating manager chooses a team of exactly 3 players, making sure they are not all of the same position (Defence, Midfielder or Forward). A manager not able to follow this rule with the cards at hand must draw a wood player card from the stack and use it.
- Each manager chooses the match tactics that he thinks will suit his team better for this match: Possession, Direct, Physical or Defensive.
- Managers place their teams and chosen tactics card face down on the pitch.
- Managers optionally play pre-match action cards that affect tactics. Managers first announce their intention to play the cards, and then reveal them at the same time. The manager with home advantage (see Special Rules) is the second to announce his intention.
Only cards with either of these symbols may be played before the match begins (the two stopwatch symbols shown on p.5; see Game Symbols on p.16 for their timing). The rulebook shows examples of action cards affecting tactics.
- Managers reveal their players on the field by turning the cards face up.
Setting the Match Tactics
- Each manager rolls both the tactical die and genius die and calculates his team's tactical value by summing up the following: dice values + tactical values of all players + modifiers given by played action cards + modifiers given by special manager abilities.
- The team with higher tactical value wins the tactical battle and as such sets the match tactics for the first half. In case of a tie, the team with home advantage wins. Exception: if one of the managers has a genius at tactics on the field and rolls a genius face (ball on fire) on the genius die, his team wins the tactical battle — even if his tactical value is lower than the opponent's. If this situation happens to both managers, the team with home advantage wins.
- The winning manager reveals his chosen tactics by turning his tactic card face up (the opponent's card continues face down).
Example: Tactical value is 15: +4 +1 +1 (from players), +5 (from dice), +2 (from manager ability), +2 (from action card).
Calculating Defence and Attack Levels
- Calculate the temporary attack and defence values of each team by summing up the attack and defence values of each team's players for the match tactics.
- Managers optionally play pre-match action cards. Managers first announce their intention to play the cards. Then they play them face down and reveal them at the same time. The manager with home advantage is the second to announce his intention to play action cards.
- Calculate final teams' attack and defence values by applying any modifiers provided by the action cards or by the special abilities of the managers.
- Mark the teams' attack and defence values on the board and assign dice accordingly to each manager. In case both teams have the same defence and/or attack level, then the team without home advantage drops one level (for example, if both teams have blue defence level, the team without home advantage must drop to green defence level). In case both have the lowest defence or attack levels (red colour), the team with home advantage upgrades one level to orange.
Example: Suppose the Master Tactician has the home advantage, won the tactical roll and chose Possession as the match tactics. He targets his team with the "Call to Arms" action card, and is targeted by the opponent manager with the "Continuous Movement" action card.
- Defence value: +3 +4 +2 (from players), +2 −2 (from action cards). Result is 9, so the blue opaque defence die is used.
- Attack value: +2 +1 +0 (from players), +2 (from action cards). Result is 5, so the orange translucent attack die is used.
If the opponent's attack value also corresponded to the orange die, he would drop one level to brown since the Master Tactician team has home advantage. The same would apply to defence level.
Defence dice are opaque; attack dice are translucent.
Kick Off
Starting from the centre field 0' space, follow the outer arrows (clockwise) for the first half until reaching the 45' space. Each space indicates whether the home team attacks (ball symbol) or defends (glove symbol) in that turn.
In the first turn (the 0' space) home team attacks and away team defends. Both roll dice simultaneously: attacking team rolls its attack die plus the genius die, and defending team rolls its defence die plus the genius die.
The strongest attack (purple) versus the weakest defence (red).
It is a goal if:
- the attacking team rolled a higher total value than the defending team; or
- the attacking team rolled a genius face and one of its players is an attacking genius (only once per match, counts even if attacking value was higher than defence's).
Exception: if the defending team rolled a genius face and one of its players is a defensive genius, then there is no goal!
Remember that both managers may try to change the course of events by playing action cards or using special manager abilities — the defending team may be able to nullify a goal, and the attacking team may be able to get another chance to score in the turn.
Action cards and special manager abilities may be used to change the course of the match. Only cards with either of these symbols may be played during the match (the two stopwatch symbols shown on p.8; see Game Symbols on p.16 for their timing).
After resolving the turn, move centre field marker clockwise to next turn space. As indicated in the 15' space, home team now defends and away team attacks. Repeat the turn sequence.
Repeat the process in all six first half turns. After that, you have reached half-time.
Half-Time
Move centre field marker to half-time space.
Managers may substitute one player at half-time. A manager can opt to make the substitution after the half-time tactical roll (see next), but in this case, if he wins the tactical roll, he may only substitute the player by another with an equal or higher tactical value. The team with home advantage is the second to announce if it will make a substitution and when.
Match Tactics for the Second Half
Managers roll for half-time tactical value and apply modifiers given by previously played cards and special manager abilities, following the same rules of the first half tactical roll. In case the match tactics change, recalculate both teams' attack and defence values. Previously played cards that are incompatible with the new match tactics lose effect.
Second Half Kick Off
Move centre field marker in the opposite direction. Go through all six second half turns, by following the inner arrows (counter-clockwise) until reaching the 90' space.
The turn labels printed on the wheel are as follows (the 12 turns run from the first half through the second half):
- 1st / 12th turn: home team attacks
- 2nd / 11th turn: home team defends
- 3rd / 10th turn: home team defends
- 4th / 9th turn: home team attacks
- 5th / 8th turn: home team attacks
- 6th / 7th turn: home team defends
Injury Time
If at the end of the last turn the teams are tied, or if the team with home advantage is down by one goal, then the team with home advantage rolls the tactical die — on 3 or more it gets an extra attack turn.
Final Whistle
Resolve the match by keeping record of goals and points. The winning team gets 3 points, while the losing team gets no points. In case of a tie both teams get 1 point.
Academy
After matchday 2, each team can add to its squad, at zero cost, a new player from its academy:
- Each manager rolls the genius die twice to get two academy talents from the player stacks:
- On a roll of 1, pick a bronze player from the stack.
- On a roll of 2 (including genius face) pick a silver player from the stack.
- Each manager may then choose one of the two players to join the squad, as long as the selected player's cost is within his academy limit (the other player is discarded).
Academy limit: the cost limit for academy players printed on the manager card.
Exceptions:
- The "Youth Academy" manager rolls the genius die 5 times for 5 academy players, and picks 2 of them (the others are discarded).
- The "Youth Academy" manager and any manager that plays the "Wonderkid" card can draw gold players when they roll a genius face, and keep one regardless of the cost.
- If the manager only draws players with cost above his academy budget, he can re-roll until he draws one player within the limit.
If at the end of the academy phase a team has more than 6 players, it must choose those to keep and discard down to six.
Transfer Market
After matchday 3, there's the transfer market stage:
- Each team receives an additional 3 million footies.
- Each team gets a hand of 3 players from the player card stacks: 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Using the available money (in hand) each team can buy any number of players from that hand.
- Each manager gets an additional 5 action cards from the stack. Maximum hand is 5 cards — managers choose the cards to discard.
If at the end of the transfer market stage a team has more than 6 players, it must choose those to keep and discard down to six.
Special Rules
Home Advantage
By default, the team playing at home has the home advantage, which grants several advantages throughout the game. The exception to this rule is the "People's Club" team, which always has home advantage even when playing away. The team with home advantage has the following benefits during a match:
- It is the second team to announce playing pre-match action cards.
- It wins the tactical roll if both teams are tied after applying all modifiers.
- It is the second team to announce a substitution.
- It forces the opponent team to drop a defence or attack level when both teams have equal levels.
- It has the possibility of rolling for a final attack if the score is tied or is down by one goal at injury time.
Variable Cost of "Win Bonus" Action Card
To play this action card the manager must have at least 3 million footies in hand. Its cost is due only at the end of the match and it is equal to the points won by the team that used it (3 for victory, 1 for tie and 0 for loss).
Counter Effect of "Disallowed Goal" Action Card
The "Disallowed Goal" action card must be played immediately after the goal it aims to nullify.
Counter Effect of "Whistleblower" Action Card
The "Whistleblower" action card must be played immediately after a corruption card is played and before its effect is resolved.
Player Modifiers
The manager playing an action card that applies modifiers directly to a player must select target player:
- The effect (unless countered) stays with that player until the end of the match.
- The effect cannot change the player values below zero or above seven.
- If the target player is substituted at half-time, the modifiers no longer apply and the action card is discarded to the discard pile.
Conflict Resolutions
"Godfather", "Special One" and "Joga Bonito" Abilities
The "Godfather" and "Special One" abilities to re-roll dice, and the "Joga Bonito" attack modifiers, are not considered to be card effects. As such, managers with card immunities are not immune to those effects.
"Stadium Inferno" vs "The People's Club"
When these managers play each other, their abilities are not countered by the other's ability. When playing at home, "Stadium Inferno" is still immune to action cards but otherwise loses the home advantage to the "The People's Club" (see home advantage rule under Special Rules).
"Super Agent Partnership" Player Cost Discount
The "Super Agent Partnership" manager's ability to get a discount when buying players cannot be used on players that originally cost 1 million footies.
Use of Corruption and Counter-Corruption From Outsiders
Corruption action cards can be used on any ongoing match by managers not playing on that match. The "Whistleblower" action card can also be used by managers not playing the ongoing match to counter any corruption cards played during that match.
Winning the Game
At the end of the championship, the team with most points is the champion!
If teams are tied, the tie-breaker is made in the following order:
- Team with best goal difference (scored minus conceded)
- Team with most goals scored
- Team with most goals scored as a visitor
Simultaneous Matches
To play two matches at the same time, you can use the travel kit box (which doubles as a mini game board) and the extra sets of tactic cards. Since there is only one set of dice, you'll also need to use the online support app, which provides a dice simulator.
Playing two matches simultaneously allows you to speed-up a championship, or extend the competition to more than 4 players, as suggested below.
Competition for 5-8 Persons
To play Masters of Football with 5 to 8 persons, use the travel kit game board to run two championships in parallel, with shared setup, academy and transfer market stages. At the end, the two winning teams play each other in a two-match final, alternating the home and visitor roles. If teams are tied after the final matches, apply the same tie-breaker rules in p.12, considering only those two final matches. If the tie persists, apply the rules again to compare the teams' performances in the championships.
The Cards
Manager Cards
Manager cards describe the budget limits and special abilities of the various managers.
- Initial budget (see Preparing Initial Squads)
- Cost limit for academy players (see Academy)
- Manager's special abilities (see symbol descriptions in Game Symbols)
Tactic Cards
Managers use the tactic cards to select their match tactic, before kick off and at half-time. In those occasions each manager takes a set of 4 cards: Possession, Direct, Physical and Defensive.
Player Cards
- Player's position: D — Defender, M — Midfielder, F — Forward.
- Player's cost: shown in million footies.
- Defensive skill: ranges from 0 (very weak) to 7 (very strong) for each of the four tactics. If the glove is on fire, the player is a Defensive Genius!
- Attacking skill: ranges from 0 (very weak) to 7 (very strong) for each of the four tactics. If the ball is on fire, the player is an Attacking Genius!
- Tactical skill: ranges from 0 (very weak) to 5 (very strong). If the board is on fire, the player is a Tactical Genius!
- Player level: the colour indicates whether the player is gold, silver, bronze or wood.
Action Cards
Action cards allow the managers to intervene in different ways. There are four types of action cards: Strategy, Evolution, Anti-Football and Corruption.
- Action timing (stage at which the card may be played): Strategy (blue), Evolution (green), Anti-Football (yellow), Corruption (red).
- Card's playing cost.
- Tactical constraints: the match tactics for which the strategy card is effective. In the example, the card is only effective while the match tactics is Possession or Physical.
- Action effect: see the symbol descriptions in Game Symbols.
- Manager indicator: shows whether the card affects the player's own team or the opponent team.
Rules for Playing Action Cards
- Action cards can only be used in the managers' own matches, except the corruption cards and the "Whistleblower" evolution card, which can also be used in other teams' matches.
- Action cards with modifiers or tactic enforcement are in effect until the end of the match.
- Action cards with instant effects (such as re-rolling dice) are discarded immediately after the full effect has been used/resolved; if card has multiple effects, it is only discarded once all effects have been used, which may be over more than one match turn (the effects however never last for the next match).
- Action cards that force match tactics require home advantage and last for the entire match unless countered before its effect is resolved.
- Managers can swap an action card at any time by paying 1 million. The manager must discard before picking a new action card from the stack.
Game Symbols
The rulebook's symbol legend (p.16) is as follows.
Attack and defence
- Attack: ball symbol.
- Defence: glove symbol.
- Tactical Level: tactical board symbol.
- Possession Tactic, Direct Tactic, Physical Tactic, Defensive Tactic: the tactic symbols for each of the four match tactics.
Geniuses
- Attacking Genius: ball on fire.
- Defensive Genius: glove on fire.
- Tactical Genius: board on fire.
Timing
- Playable before match: stopwatch symbol.
- Playable during match: stopwatch symbol.
- Playable any time: stopwatch symbol.
- Cost in million footies: coin showing the cost.
Modifiers
- Attack Level Modifier: ball with a modifier (e.g. +2).
- Defence Level Modifier: glove with a modifier.
- Tactical Level Modifier: tactical board with a modifier.
- Requires Home Advantage: stadium.
- Gain Home Advantage: stadium.
- Variable Cost (see Special Rules, Variable Cost of "Win Bonus" Action Card): "PTS" coin.
Forcing tactics
- Force Possession, Force Direct, Force Physical, Force Defensive: a stadium with the matching tactic symbol.
Budget and money
- Budget for initial squad: money bag with contract.
- Cost limit for academy players: money bag with ball and contract.
- Gain Money: money bag showing the amount gained.
Hands and cards
- Substitutions: two opposing arrows.
- Initial Squad Hand Bonus: cards.
- Academy Hand Bonus (see Academy): cards.
- Player Modifiers (see Special Rules, Player Modifiers): card with a modifier.
- Zero Cost On Evolution Cards: card with a zero.
- Player Cost Discount: card with a minus sign.
Immunities
- Immune to All Action Cards: crossed-out card.
- Immune to Corruption: crossed-out corruption card.
- Immune to Anti-Football: crossed-out anti-football card.
- Immune to Strategy Cards: crossed-out strategy card.
- Goal Disallowed: crossed-out goal.
- Block Corruption: crossed-out corruption card.
- Skip Next Match Turn: crossed-out turn symbol.
Dice and re-rolls
- Roll tactical die for extra attack (see Injury Time): tactical die.
- Roll for match tactics: the two tactic dice.
- Additional attack turn (don't advance marker): dice with a turn arrow.
- Re-Roll Attack or Defence, up to N times during match: re-roll symbol with a count of N.
- Re-Roll Attack or Defence for 1M: re-roll symbol costing 1 million footies.
- Re-Roll Attack only, up to N times during match: re-roll symbol with a count of N.
Non-Person Teams
A championship requires at least 4 teams. In order to play with just 3 or 2 persons, non-person teams can be used. A non-person team consists only of 3 players, and does not have a manager, money or action cards. It always selects the same tactic. Its tactic, defence and attack dice rolls are done by anyone not involved in the match. Below are predefined non-person teams. Choose your favourites or pick at random.
- Two Architects and a Mole — Tactic: Possession
- High Above the Sky — Tactic: Direct
- Two Chisels and an Artist — Tactic: Physical
- The Bald, the Beauty and the Kid — Tactic: Defensive