Sentinels of the Multiverse: Definitive Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• First Steps
• Components
  • Roll Up Your Sleeves!
• Anatomy of Cards
  • Hero Character Cards
  • Villain Character Cards
  • Hero Cards
  • Villain Cards
  • Environment Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Critical Event Cards
• Setting Up A Game
  • Your First Game
  • Playing With One or Two Players
  • Hero Variants
  • Game Play Areas
• Turn Sequence
• Gameplay
  • Damage
  • Regaining Hit Points
  • Nemeses
  • Card Types, Keywords, and Terms on Cards
  • Incapacitated Heroes
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Advanced Mode
  • Victory... or Defeat?!
• Events
  • Collections
  • Critical Events
• FAQs
• Quick Reference
  • Turn Sequence
  • Useful Terms

Game Overview

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative game in which each player controls a Hero, using their powers, abilities, and wits to work together with their fellow Heroes and save the world! Each game involves 3 to 5 Heroes fighting against 1 Villain in a perilous Environment. The game is fully cooperative, so the Villain and Environment aren't run by a dedicated player, but rather are controlled by turning over cards from their decks and following the instructions on those cards.

Each Hero, Villain, and Environment are represented by a deck of cards. Heroes and Villains also have character cards, which provide their Hit Points (usually abbreviated HP) and other information specific to that character. We'll get into more on all of that in the coming pages.

First Steps

When you open the game for the first time, separate all the cards out into individual decks, using their deck backs to determine which deck each card belongs to. There are 12 Hero decks, 6 Villain decks, and 6 Environment decks. Organize those decks in the box in whatever way makes the most sense to you, using the included divider cards to keep each deck separated. Note: make sure to not shuffle Baron Blade's deck, as it is in a specific order, as explained under Your First Game.

Then, sort all of the character and event cards. Each Hero has two character cards: a primary character card and a First Appearance variant. Those are explained under Anatomy of Cards and Hero Variants. Each Villain has just one character card. There are 12 Event cards: 6 regular Events and 6 Critical Events, explained under Events and Critical Events.

Assemble the HP spinners by sandwiching the circles with numerals on them between the front and back plates, using the plastic rivets.

Finally, punch out all the tokens and put them into the dedicated token box. The token box helps keep the tokens together, and is also helpful to put on the table where all the players can reach it when playing the game.

Components

• 12 Hero Character Cards
• 12 Hero First Appearance Variant Character Cards
• 6 Villain Character Cards
• Hero Decks (12 Decks of 40 Cards each)
• Villain Decks (6 Decks of 25 Cards each)
• Environment Decks (6 Decks of 15 Cards each)
• 24 Divider Cards
• 6 Event Cards
• 6 Critical Event Cards
• 1 Villain HP Spinner
• 5 Hero HP Spinners
• 2 Nemesis Tokens
• 30 "1" HP Tokens
• 20 "5" HP Tokens
• 12 "10" HP Tokens
• 18 each +1 and -1 Damage Dealt By Tokens
• 18 each +1 and -1 Damage Dealt To Tokens
• 6 Immune To Damage Tokens
• 6 Cannot Deal Damage Tokens
• 1 Lore Book
• 1 Token Box

If you're missing any components, or if anything arrived damaged, please email [email protected] to get a replacement.

Roll Up Your Sleeves!

If you want to sleeve all the cards in Sentinels of the Multiverse, you'll need 3 sizes of sleeves:

• 24 "standard tarot" size card sleeves, 70mm by 120mm, for the Hero character cards.
• 18 "large format" size card sleeves, 88mm by 130mm, for Villain character cards and Event cards.
• 720 "standard US game card" size card sleeves, 63mm by 88mm, for all of the Hero, Villain, and Environment deck cards.

To make things a bit easier, you can purchase packs of card sleeves specially built for this exact purpose on the Greater Than Games webstore: http://store.greaterthangames.com! Just search for the Sentinels of the Multiverse packs of card sleeves on our store to find the types and numbers of sleeves you need.

Anatomy of Cards

Hero Character Cards

Front:

1. Hero Name
2. Art
3. HP
4. Keywords
5. Innate Power
6. Nemesis Icon

Back: 7. Art 8. Incapacitated Abilities

Villain Character Cards

Front:

1. Villain Name
2. Art
3. Setup
4. HP
5. Description and Keywords
6. Game Text
7. Nemesis Icon
8. Advanced Text

Back: 9. Villain Name 10. Art 11. HP 12. Description and Keywords 13. Game Text 14. Nemesis Icon 15. Advanced Text

Two icons used most commonly on Villain cards are the Flip Icon and the Hero icon.

The Flip Icon tells you when to flip the Villain character card from the current side to the reverse side. A Villain character card's HP doesn't change when it flips, unless the character card or some other effect in play specifically says otherwise.

The Hero icon (the "H" icon) represents the number of Heroes in the game. This number does not change if any Heroes are incapacitated over the course of the game. It is representative of the number of Hero decks in the game, not the number of players. So, the Hero icon's value is 3, 4, or 5, based on the number of Hero decks, regardless of how many players are playing.

Hero Cards

Front:

1. Title
2. HP (if any)
3. Art
4. Keywords
5. Game Text
6. Sentinel Comics Quote
7. Sentinel Comics Attribution

Back: 8. Deck Back unique to that Hero

Villain Cards

Front:

1. Title
2. HP (if any)
3. Art
4. Keywords
5. Game Text
6. Sentinel Comics Quote
7. Sentinel Comics Attribution

Back: 8. Deck Back unique to that Villain

Environment Cards

Front:

1. Title
2. HP (if any)
3. Art
4. Keywords
5. Game Text
6. Sentinel Comics Quote
7. Sentinel Comics Attribution

Back: 8. Environment Name 9. Establishing Shot Art

Event Cards

Front (Event Side):

1. Name
2. Date
3. Story
4. Issue Cover
5. Collection Limit
6. Gameplay Info

Back (Collection Side): 7. Story 8. Issue Cover 9. Reward Info

Critical Event Cards

Front (Event Story Side):

1. Name
2. Date
3. Story
4. Issue Cover
5. Collection Limit

Back (Character Card Side): 6. Villain Name 7. Art 8. Setup 9. HP 10. Description and Keywords 11. Game Text 12. Nemesis Icon 13. Advanced Text

Setting Up A Game

First, select a Villain and an Environment. Shuffle their decks and put them in their play areas. Put the Villain character card for that deck in the Villain play area, Setup side up. Then, follow the Setup instructions on the left side of the Villain character card. (Note: cards played during Setup do not trigger any game text effects.) Finally, put the Villain HP spinner in the Villain play area, and set the value on the spinner to equal the Villain's HP.

Once the Villain and Environment are all set up, it's time to choose Heroes! Select 3, 4, or 5 Heroes, depending on the number of players. Shuffle each Hero deck and put it in its play area. Each Hero has multiple character cards — two in this core game, but more in the future! Choose one of that Hero's character cards and put it in their play area. Return the unused Hero character cards to the box. Then, each Hero draws the top 4 cards of their deck to create their starting hand, and the game is ready to begin!

Your First Game

For your first game of Sentinels of the Multiverse, we recommend playing against Baron Blade. He shows off what Villains can do without being immediately overwhelming.

When playing against Baron Blade for the first time, do NOT shuffle his deck! The top card of the deck is the "Mobile Defense Platform", which you'll need for his Setup. The rest of the deck is in an order that provides a good first game experience, so just put it into the play area without shuffling, and you're good to go! This order of cards is also listed in the Lore Book.

Playing With One or Two Players

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a 3-5 Hero game. However, it can be played solo or with two players by having those players control multiple Heroes each. The most straightforward setups are two Heroes played by each player in a two player game, or three Heroes in a solo game, but feel free to setup the game however works best for you, provided that the Hero icon's value is always 3, 4, or 5.

Hero Variants

Each Hero has a primary character card for their deck. In this core game, there are also Hero First Appearance cards, which are Hero character card variants. Other sets of Sentinels of the Multiverse will contain additional variants, both for Heroes from that set and this core game. When playing a Hero for the first time, we recommend you play them with their standard Hero character card.

Game Play Areas

The play area layout consists of a Villain Play Area and an Environment Play Area at the center of the table, with a Trash for each. Each Hero has their own Play Area (Hero 1 through Hero 5, depending on player count) arranged clockwise around the table, each with their own Trash, with the Villain and Environment play areas positioned between the first and last Hero.

Turn Sequence

Each turn is made up of a series of Phases. Many cards that stay in play have Phase names in their game text area, indicating at what point those effects occur. Phases on a game card occur during the turn of the play area they are in, not other turn's phases (unless indicated otherwise).

The game starts with the Villain turn, then each of the Heroes in turn order clockwise around the table, from the first Hero (the Hero closest to the Villain) to the last Hero (the Hero closest to the Environment). The round ends with the Environment turn. After the Environment turn, repeat the round, starting with the Villain turn! The game continues in this order until the Heroes save the Multiverse, or the Villain defeats the meddling Heroes, one way or another.

• Villain Turn
  • START PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the START PHASE of the Villain turn.
  • PLAY PHASE: Play the top card of the Villain deck.
  • END PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the END PHASE of the Villain turn.
• Each Hero Turn in Play Order
  • START PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the START PHASE of that Hero turn.
  • PLAY PHASE: That Hero may play one card from their hand.
  • POWER PHASE: That Hero may use one power printed on one of their cards in play, such as the power on their character card.
  • DRAW PHASE: That Hero may draw the top card of their deck. If that Hero did not play any cards during their PLAY PHASE and did not use any powers during their POWER PHASE this turn, they may draw 1 additional card.
  • END PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the END PHASE of that Hero turn.
• Environment Turn
  • START PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the START PHASE of the Environment turn.
  • PLAY PHASE: Play the top card of the Environment deck.
  • END PHASE: Follow any instructions on cards that reference the END PHASE of the Environment turn.

And then repeat!

Gameplay

In Sentinels of the Multiverse, players control a cast of powerful Heroes against dangerous Villains in perilous Environments! The Villains and Environments are not played by players like the Heroes are, but are controlled by turning over cards from their decks and following the instructions on those cards.

Heroes and Villains clash in spectacular battles, and Sentinels of the Multiverse simulates those clashes through the dealing of damage. Many cards have HP, meaning Hit Points, which is a numerical representation of their health. When cards deal damage to other cards, the damaged card's HP is decreased accordingly.

EXAMPLE: Baron Blade's minion card "Blade Battalion" deals 5 melee damage to Bunker. Before that attack, Bunker had 17 HP, so now Bunker has 12 HP.

Any card with an HP value is a target. Whenever a target is reduced to 0 HP or is otherwise destroyed, put it into the associated trash, unless that target was a Hero or Villain character card. Unless stated otherwise, when a Villain character card is reduced to 0 HP or destroyed, the Villain is defeated, and the Heroes win!

Damage

All damage has a type which indicates the nature of that damage. Usually, the damage type does not matter when it comes to dealing damage to targets, but some effects and abilities interact with damage types.

Sentinels of the Multiverse uses the following damage types:

• Cold
• Energy
• Fire
• Infernal
• Lightning
• Melee
• Projectile
• Psychic
• Radiant
• Sonic
• Toxic

Damage can be irreducible, regardless of its type. Irreducible damage cannot be reduced by any effect, but it can still be increased or redirected. Damage can also be fixed, meaning it cannot be increased, reduced, or redirected. Additionally, fixed damage cannot have its type changed, such as from melee to fire, or psychic to toxic. If a target is immune to damage, or if an effect prevents damage to a target entirely, neither irreducible nor fixed damage can be dealt to that target.

Regaining Hit Points

Targets can regain HP when a card or ability allows them to do so, but a target cannot regain HP above their starting HP value, which is also their maximum HP value.

Nemeses

Each Hero and Villain character card features a Nemesis Icon. This icon indicates which characters have personal vendettas or negative history with other characters. This is represented by characters dealing additional damage to their nemesis. Any time a target deals damage to a target of a different type than itself (Hero, Villain, or Environment) that shares its nemesis icon, that damage is increased by +1.

EXAMPLE: The Hero Legacy and the Villain Baron Blade are nemeses. So, when Baron Blade uses his Hasten Doom card to deal 2 toxic damage to each Hero target, it does 3 damage to Legacy, due to the nemesis rule. However, if one of Baron Blade's minions attacks Legacy, that damage is not increased, as that minion doesn't have Legacy's nemesis icon. Similarly, when Legacy attacks that minion, the damage is not increased, but when Legacy would deal 3 melee damage to Baron Blade himself, he deals 4 melee damage.

Card Types, Keywords, and Terms on Cards

All cards in Sentinels of the Multiverse have keywords to tell you how they are played. Hero character cards usually only have the keyword Hero, just to let you know who they are. Villain character cards have the keyword Villain for similar reasons, but they can also have other keywords that relate to what's going on in their deck.

Cards from decks work in one of two ways: either they do something immediately upon being played and then go to the trash related to their deck, or they stay in play. All cards that go to the trash right after being played have the One-Shot keyword. One-Shots are resolved in the order the game text is written on the card. After all of the text on the card has been resolved, it goes to the appropriate trash. If a card does not have the One-Shot keyword, that means it stays in play. There are many keywords that can indicate this, such as:

• Ongoing
• Item
• Relic

Additionally, any card that has HP is a target, which means it stays in play, regardless of its keywords. It stays in play until destroyed by being reduced to 0 HP or in some other manner, at which point it goes to the appropriate trash.

There are two more keywords that mean specific things to the way cards behave.

The Limited keyword means that there can only be one copy of that specific card in play. You cannot play a Limited card that is already in play. If some effect would play a Limited card and there is already a copy of that Limited card in play, the card you are attempting to play goes to your hand instead.

Cards with the Indestructible keyword cannot be destroyed by "destroy" effects, or by running out of HP. Indestructible does not prevent effects that put the card on the top or bottom of a deck or return it to hand, or even remove it from the game. It just means the card cannot be destroyed, even if it is at 0 HP.

There are a few terms used on cards, some of which you are likely familiar with, but others which may be new.

• Ally: A target of the card's type (Hero, Villain, or Environment) other than itself.
• Bury: Put the indicated card on the bottom of the associated deck, unless that deck has zero cards in it, in which case the card goes to the top of the appropriate trash instead. Character cards cannot be buried.
• Character: A target that has a character card. There are both Hero characters and Villain characters. They are the main Heroes and Villains of their associated decks, and their character cards are larger than the cards in their decks. Hero character cards have an active side that has HP and an innate power, and an incapacitated side with incapacitated abilities. Villain character cards have two sides, both with gameplay information. Villain character card flip conditions are unique to each Villain, and are indicated by the flip icon.
• Collect: Search the corresponding deck for the indicated amount of the indicated card/card-type. Put the card(s) found into your hand. Shuffle the deck.
• Destroy: A destroyed card goes to the trash of that card's deck, unless something in play says otherwise. When a card is destroyed, resolve any effects in play that occur when the card is destroyed, remove any tokens on or placed by the card, and place the destroyed card in the trash associated with its deck. When a target is at 0 HP, it is destroyed. When a Hero character card is destroyed, it is incapacitated, rather than going to the trash. When a Villain character card is destroyed, the Heroes win the game, unless something in play says otherwise.
• Discard: Put the indicated card into the trash of that card's deck. When an effect tells a Hero to discard a card, it means from their hand, unless indicated otherwise.
• Discover: Reveal cards from the top of the associated deck until you reveal the indicated card/card-type or reach the bottom of the deck. Shuffle the other revealed cards into the deck, if any. If there are not any other revealed cards, do not shuffle the deck. Then, play the indicated cards in the order revealed.
• Draw: Put the indicated card in your hand (usually the top card of your deck). If drawing from your deck and the deck is empty, shuffle your trash into your deck, then draw.
• Play: Put a card into play. Heroes play cards from their hands, but Villains and Environments play cards from the top of their decks. Some effects tell you to play a card from some other location — it's still put into play in the same way. If an effect would play the top card of a deck but that deck is empty, shuffle the associated trash to remake that deck, and then play the top card.
• Power: An effect that can be used during the POWER PHASE of a Hero's turn. Each power can only be activated once per turn. If an effect allows a Hero to use multiple powers, they must use a different power with each activation.
• Reaction: When a Hero target you control would be dealt damage by a non-Hero target, you may activate any reaction text on any card already in play that gives that Hero target a reaction. Like powers, each reaction can only be activated once per turn.
  • Some reactions refer to an attacker. The attacker is the source of the damage that triggers the reaction.
• Redirect: Change the target of the damage dealt as indicated. When damage is redirected, any modifiers to the damage dealt to the originally intended target no longer apply. The damage is calculated as being dealt directly to the new target.
• Remove from game: If a card is removed from the game, it is out of play and cannot come back this game.
• Reveal: Turn over indicated cards of a deck so all the players can see it, then do something with it, as indicated by the text.
  • Often, revealed cards are replaced, which means: put it back where you found it.
  • While a card is revealed, it is neither on top of the deck that it came from, nor is it in play. It's just revealed.
  • If the instruction following the reveal is impossible, then replace the card instead, returning it to the top of the deck.
• Salvage: Search the corresponding trash for the indicated amount of the indicated card/card-type, maintaining the order of cards in the trash. Put the card(s) found into your hand.
• Summon: Search for the indicated card(s). You may search the associated trash and deck for the indicated amount of the indicated card/card-type. Play the card(s) found. If you searched a deck, shuffle that deck.
• Target: Any card with HP.
  • There are three types of targets: Hero targets, Villain targets, and Environment targets. Non-Hero targets refers to Villain and Environment targets. Non-Villain targets refers to Hero and Environment targets. Non-Environment targets refers to Hero and Villain targets.
• Trash: Each deck has its own associated trash, which is the place that discarded and destroyed cards from that deck go. You can count and look through the cards in a trash at any time, but you cannot reorder the cards in a trash.
• Under: Some effects put cards under or on top of another card in play. Cards under a card in play cannot be affected by anything other than the card they are under, or an effect that specifically targets cards under other cards. When a card with other cards under it is destroyed, the cards under that card are also destroyed, going to their appropriate trashes.

Incapacitated Heroes

When a Hero character card is reduced to 0 HP or would be otherwise destroyed, flip that character card and remove all of their non-character cards from the game. Incapacitated Heroes no longer have PLAY, POWER, or DRAW Phases, nor can they play cards, use powers, or draw cards. They have no HP value, thus they are not targets, nor can they regain HP.

On an incapacitated Hero's turn, they may use only one of their incapacitated abilities during their INCAPACITATED PHASE, which happens between their START PHASE and their END PHASE. Incapacitated abilities aid their fellow still-active Heroes, so if all the Heroes have been knocked out except for one, that remaining Hero is greatly bolstered by their fallen friends!

Conflict Resolution

Whenever cards are played, put them into the appropriate play area starting from left to right in the order in which they were played. When resolving the order of START PHASE or END PHASE effects (or non-Hero effects with a unique icon, like Omnitron's Exterminate and Fabricate text), resolve them in the order those cards were played, from left to right in your play area. During Hero turns, before the start of any phase, players may reorder any non-character cards in their play area before resolving them from left to right.

In ambiguous situations, such as tied HP or multiple targets being damaged simultaneously, the players choose the outcome or order of effects.

If there's ever any confusion about how a particular card works, try reading it out loud. Often, parsing a card's text out loud can help explain the intent of the card.

Advanced Mode

Each Villain has an extra set of game rules in the Advanced section on each side of their character card. The Advanced rules are optional and are not recommended for the first time players take on a Villain. However, for players looking for greater and tougher challenges, taking on a Villain in Advanced mode can provide such an experience!

Victory... or Defeat?!

If all of the Heroes are incapacitated, the Villain wins. Additionally, some Villains have additional means by which they can win the game, which are explained in the game text on their character card.

When the Villain is reduced to 0 HP or otherwise destroyed, the Heroes win, unless an effect in play states otherwise.

Events

Sentinel Comics has a long and rich history. The idea for Sentinel Comics started in 2010, when Christopher Badell and Adam Rebottaro sat down to create the stories that would become this game. They wanted Sentinels of the Multiverse to have an extensive back catalog to pull stories, art, and quotes from, and thus Sentinel Comics began with the comic book "Justice Comics #1" in May of 1940 and grew from there.

Editor's Note: Those stories and more are told in Christopher and Adam's weekly podcast The Letters Page! Learn more at www.GreaterThanGames.com/LettersPage.

Sentinels of the Multiverse is made up of Heroes, Villains, and Environments from the pages of Sentinel Comics. Playing any combination of elements in this game is playing the story of a comic book that could have happened some time in the Multiverse. Events are a way of experiencing the major stories that make up that history in a campaign!

There are two types of Event cards: Events and Critical Events. Both showcase stories from Sentinel Comics, a cover of a key comic book from that event, and the date that comic book was released, so the events can be played through in chronological order as a campaign. Events are each focused on a Villain and can be taken on in any Environment, and with any set of Heroes. As you play through the scenarios set up by Events, you'll collect rewards that you can use in future Events, up to the Collection Limit stated on the front of the Event card.

Collections

When you defeat a regular Event, flip that card over and add it to your Collection. During any Event game, the Heroes have a number of Collections they can bring into that Event, indicated by the front of the Event card. You must choose which Collections you bring with you into an Event game before the game begins, though each Collection provides two different rewards. One of the two rewards listed on the back of the Event card can be activated once per game at any time during a Hero's turn, though not in the middle of other actions. So, you can use a Collection reward before or after playing a card or using a power, but not while a card, power, or other effect is still in the process of resolving. After a Collection reward has been used, remove that card from the game. It's still in your Collection and can be used in a future Event game, but it's expended for the rest of this game.

Critical Events

Critical Events are set up much like regular events, except that they replace the Villain character card with a variant character card, showcasing a different, more challenging story involving that Villain (or a foe that has enough in common with that Villain to use the same deck). Like regular Villains, Critical Events can be played in normal or advanced mode, but be careful! Critical Events can be quite challenging and require more strategic thinking than most regular Villains. Critical Events have Collection Limits and you'll want to bring your best Collections to take on these scenarios. However, defeating Critical Events does not provide Collection rewards — saving the day is reward enough for true Heroes!

FAQs

• What happens if something makes me play the top card of my deck, and that card cannot be legally played (such as a Limited card already in play)? When a card would be played that cannot be played for some reason, it goes to your hand instead.
• Are you your own ally? No, your allies are the other targets on your team, but not you yourself.
• Can a card have a lingering effect after it leaves play? No, cards that are not in play cannot affect what's happening in play. Any ongoing effects on a card immediately cease as soon as the game text of that effect leaves play, whether by the card being destroyed, buried, flipped face-down, put under another card, or any other method that removes the card's game text from play. The only exception is cards that say "when this card is destroyed", which act as they are being destroyed, counting as still being in play until that effect is fully resolved.
• If I deal 5 damage to a target that has 2 HP, how much damage did I deal? You dealt 5 damage. A target cannot have fewer than 0 HP. If a target is dealt more damage than it has HP, it is reduced to 0 HP. When a target is reduced to 0 HP, it is destroyed. However, when a target is dealt more damage than it has HP, the amount of damage is still dealt, even though the HP is only reduced to 0.
• Do effects on cards under other cards count as in play? What happens to cards under other cards when the card on top is destroyed? Can I look at cards under other cards? Cards under another card count as in play, but they have no title, keywords, HP, game text, etc. They only retain their type (Hero, Villain, or Environment), and which deck they belong to. This is also true of face-down cards. When a card is destroyed or leaves play in any other way, any cards under that card are destroyed, going to their appropriate trashes. Cards under a card in play cannot be affected by anything other than the card they are under, or an effect that specifically targets cards under other cards. You can look at cards under another card at any time. You cannot look at face-down cards, unless an effect says otherwise.
• When dealing damage to multiple targets, is that one "attack"? An "attack" is an instance of damage dealt to a target, regardless of if that damage is also dealt to other targets as part of the same effect. Each instance of damage is distinct. When 1 target is dealt damage, that is one instance of damage. If 3 targets are dealt damage, those are three instances of damage. If all targets of some type are dealt damage, the damage to each target is a distinct instance.
• What happens if a deck is empty? Nothing, immediately. If a card would be drawn or played from a deck, and there are no cards in that deck, shuffle the associated trash to remake the deck, and then continue by drawing or playing, as appropriate. Only drawing or playing causes this; effects like discard, reveal, or discover do not shuffle the trash into the deck. If you would bury a card and the deck is empty, the buried card goes to the trash instead.
• Does revealing cards from the top of a deck change the top card of the deck? Yes. The top card of a deck is always whatever card is currently on top of that deck. In the process of revealing cards from the top of a deck, the card that counts as the "top card of the deck" is the card that is physically on top of the deck.
• What order do phase actions happen in? For example, does Omnitron play a card or flip first on its Play Phase? Any static action on a card that happens in a phase, such as a flip icon effect or "Regain 1 HP" happens first. Then, the regular action happens for that phase, such as playing a card during the Play Phase. Finally, any optional extra actions granted can be used, such as "You may use 1 additional power this phase."
• Some cards indicate where to play them, like many of Captain Cosmic's constructs. Where do cards that don't indicate where they're played go? Cards are played to their respective play areas, unless indicated otherwise. Villain cards are played in the Villain play area. Environment cards are played in the Environment play area. Each Hero's cards are played in that Hero's play area.
• While an effect is resolving, if new cards enter play or something alters the elements of the game that can be affected, does the effect apply to the new cards/elements? Yes, effects essentially constantly check for anything they can affect, attempting to "solve" the game state until they are resolved. So, for example, an attack that hits all targets in play will hit any targets that come into play while that attack is happening.
• If the name on the Hero Variant card is different from the regular Hero character card, or the name on the Villain character card from a Critical Event is different from the name used in the related deck, what do I do? When using a Hero variant, treat all instances of the name of the standard Hero for that Hero's deck as replaced by the name of the variant Hero character card. When playing a Critical Event, treat all instances of the name of the standard Villain character card for that Villain's deck as replaced by the name of the Critical Event Villain character card.
• During Setup, a card entered play that has some sort of cascading effect that alters the game state in a weird way. What do I do? Cards played during Setup do not trigger any game text effects, either on the cards played, or on any other card in play.
• Something on a card contradicts what the rules in the rulebook says. That's not a question. But don't worry — the card is right. Effects on cards can "break" the rules of the game, like letting a Hero play or draw more than 1 card in a turn.

Quick Reference

Turn Sequence

• Villain Turn
  • START PHASE
  • PLAY PHASE
  • END PHASE
• Each Hero Turn in Play Order
  • START PHASE
  • PLAY PHASE
  • POWER PHASE
  • DRAW PHASE
  • END PHASE
• Environment Turn
  • START PHASE
  • PLAY PHASE
  • END PHASE

Useful Terms

Ally: A target of your type (Hero, Villain, Environment) other than yourself.

Bury: Put the indicated card on the bottom of the associated deck. If that deck has zero cards in it, the card goes to trash instead.

Collect: Search your deck for the indicated amount of the indicated cards and put them in your hand. Shuffle your deck.

Discover: Reveal cards from the top of the deck until you reveal the indicated cards. Shuffle the other revealed cards into the deck. Play the cards in the order revealed.

Reaction: When a Hero target would be dealt damage by a non-Hero target, it may activate any reaction text on cards already in play that give that Hero target a reaction. Like powers, each reaction can only be activated once per turn.

Salvage: Search your trash for the indicated amount of the indicated cards and put them in your hand.

Summon: Search the trash and deck for the indicated amount of the indicated cards. Play the cards found. If you searched the deck, shuffle it.

For more explanation of terms, see the Card Types, Keywords, and Terms on Cards section above.