Transformers Deck-Building Game: War on Cybertron Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Objective
• The Basics
• Anatomy of a Card
  • Character Cards
  • Main Deck, Starter, and Basic Cards
• Setting Up the Game
  • The Matrix and the Main Deck
  • Individual Player Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Turn Sequence
  • Action Phase
  • End of Turn Phase
  • Adversaries
• Playing Cards
  • Spending Move
  • Spending Power
  • Pay an Effect Cost
  • Buying a Card
  • Gain a Card
  • Battle a Card
• Spending Energon
• Control vs Own
• Destroying Cards
• Completing Missions
• Commanding Polities
• Dealing with Adversaries
  • Blocks
  • Attacks
• Encounter Cards
  • Boss Reveal Attack and Ambush
  • Robot Ambush
• How to Battle Adversaries
  • Battle a Robot
  • Confront / Battle a Boss
• Assisting
• Ruins
• Example of a Boss Confrontation
• Additional Rules
  • Discarding Cards
  • Shuffling Your Deck
  • Ongoing and Start of Turn Effects
  • Target
  • Peeking and Revealing
  • Victory Points and Your Vault
• Game End
• End Game Scoring
  • Team Tiebreakers
• Types of Cards
  • Character Cards
  • Main Deck Cards
  • Basic Cards
  • Cooperative Schemes
• Cooperative / Solo Mode
  • Co-op / Solo Setup
  • Co-op / Solo Special Rules
• Customizing Your Game
• Clarifications
  • The Golden Rule
• Game Tips
• Quick Reference (back cover)
  • Turn Sequence
  • Battle a Robot or Boss
  • Game End Conditions
  • End Game Scoring

Contents

• 86 Main Deck Cards
• 8 Oversized Character Cards
• 20 Mission Cards
• 4 Command Tokens
• 40 Starter Cards
• 12 Boss Cards
• 42 Small Energon Cubes (1s)
• 8 Large Energon Cubes (5s)
• 8 Reminder Tokens
• 36 VP Tokens
• 8 Player Standees with bases
• 41 Basic Cards
• 10 Ruin Cards

Objective

Transformers Deck-Building Game: War on Cybertron is a standalone game with two exciting modes of play: Team versus Team (TvT) and Cooperative/Solo (Co-op/Solo). It can be combined with previous sets to add remarkable variety.

In TvT, Autobots and Decepticons face off to decide the fate of Cybertron in a 1 versus 1 (1v1) or 2 versus 2 (2v2) game. Your team's faction earns Victory Points (VP) by defeating Adversaries, commanding Polities, completing Missions, and acquiring Relics as you navigate the Matrix. The game ends when one of 4 things happen: 1) All three of your opponent's Bosses have been defeated, 2) The main deck is empty when it's time to put out a new card, 3) One player reaches their Damage threshold, or 4) All Ruin cards are in the Matrix. Then the team with the most VP wins the war... and the game!

In a Co-op or Solo game, 1-4 players choose one faction and work together to defeat all the Adversaries and earn a team victory, while trying to avoid taking too much Damage or running out of time. There are no VP in Co-op or Solo mode, only the right to control the future of your homeworld!

The Basics

At its heart, War on Cybertron is a deck-building game. You'll start with your own personal 10-card deck and seek to improve it by buying more powerful cards from a randomized layout known as the Matrix. The Matrix starts out as a grid of facedown cards for you to explore in order to find cards to buy, battle, or command. Most cards you play grant some combination of Power you can use to buy new cards and defeat Adversaries, Range to use that Power at a distance, and Move to travel around and search the Matrix.

Your character is represented in the Matrix by an Autobot or Decepticon standee. When you are on a space with a faceup card, you may buy, battle, or command that card if you have enough Power to do so. Cards you buy go into your discard pile, and when you shuffle your discard pile to create a new deck and draw a new hand, you'll have these more powerful cards at your disposal. Over time, you'll have opportunities to get rid of your weaker cards so that each subsequent reshuffle sees your deck grow stronger and stronger.

Battling Adversaries will earn you VP and other rewards, while commanding Polities (a new concept in this game series) will give you access to special abilities, as well as VP at the end of the game. Deciding wisely among these options will be an important strategy as you play.

Anatomy of a Card

Character Cards

Each character card has two sides: Bot Mode and Alt Mode. You will Convert between these two modes often, so understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each side is important.

Example: ELITA-1 (Autobot) - Bot Mode: "Spend 2 Move: Draw 1 card." Alt Mode: "While battling Adversaries, -1 Power."

1. Character's name.
2. Mode for this side of the character card.
3. Game text ability when in Bot Mode.
4. Two Energon abilities available when in Bot Mode.
5. Move value this character has when in Alt Mode.
6. Game text ability when in Alt Mode.
7. Power penalty in Alt Mode when battling Adversaries.
8. Character's faction: Autobot or Decepticon.

Main Deck, Starter, and Basic Cards

Cards that make up the Matrix and your player deck share some or all of the following attributes:

A. Name of the card. B. Cost to buy or defeat this card. C. Power value of the card. D. Range of the card's Power and Block. E. Move value of the card. F. Card type. G. Game text ability. H. Energon ability. I. Reward for defeating this Adversary. J. Level of the card (on Bosses and Polities).

(Examples shown: OVERWHELMING FORCE, a Maneuver: "+1 Power for each Robot and Ally you control. Confront or Command: +2 Power." and TURMOIL, a Decepticon Boss: "Reveal Attack: Reveal the top card of your deck. If it's a Starter, gain 1 Damage. Otherwise, discard it. Then resolve an Ambush. Start of Turn: Gain 1 Damage. If you are in this space, also resolve an Ambush. Gain 4 VP.")

There's an index of common terms used in this game located at the back of this rule book on page 23.

Setting Up the Game

These instructions cover the setup for a TvT game. A Co-op or Solo game follows most of these setup instructions, but modifications for these modes can be found on page 20 and the reference card.

The Matrix and the Main Deck

1. Set aside the following card types in their own faceup stacks: Basic, Starter, Ruin, Mission, Encounter, Decepticon and Autobot Boss, and Polity. Further separate the Polities and Bosses by their Level (I, II, and III). These will be needed later in the setup.

2. Create the main deck: Shuffle together all Ally, Maneuver, Relic, Robot (both Autobots and Decepticons), and Technology cards, plus 3 random Sites (non-Polity), into a facedown deck.

3. Shuffle 1 random Level 1 Polity from those you set aside earlier into the top 12 cards of that main deck.

4. Create the Matrix by placing cards from the top of the main deck facedown in a grid with dimensions matching the chart below, based on the number of players:

   • a. 1-2 Players: 3x4 (12 card Matrix)
   • b. 3-4 Players: 4x4 (16 card Matrix)

   For example, in a 2-player game, make 3 rows of 4 cards each. This creates a Matrix of 12 facedown cards for players to explore.

5. Use the remaining main deck cards to make 3 separate facedown stacks, each with the same number of cards based on the number of players in the game (see chart below). Then make a 4th facedown stack with only 5 cards.

   • 1 Player - 7 cards per stack
   • 2 Players - 9 cards per stack
   • 3 Players - 11 cards per stack
   • 4 Players - 13 cards per stack

   (Stack sizes for a 2-player game: Stack 1: 9, Stack 2: 9, Stack 3: 9, Stack 4: always 5.)

6. Return all the remaining main deck cards to the box without looking at them.

Individual Player Setup

A. Determine which character you will play this game. There must be an equal number of Autobots and Decepticons on either team, 1v1 or 2v2, sitting in alternating positions around the table (A-D-A-D). Take your character's card and place it with the Alt Mode side up in front of you. You must start the game in this Mode. B. Find the standee that matches your character and place it on top of your character card. C. Take 2 small Energon cubes from the general supply and place them near your character card. This is your starting personal supply. D. Take a few '-1 Move/+1 Power' tokens for marking cards during your turn. These tokens are just for convenience, so share them as needed. E. Draw 2 Missions from your faction's Mission stack and place them facedown in your play area. You can look at them at any time, and show them to your teammate, but keep them secret from opposing players. F. From the Starter cards, take 6 Bold, 1 Artillery, 1 Scout, 1 Patch, and 1 Resupply to form your personal 10-card starting deck. G. Shuffle your deck, then draw 5 cards to form your starting hand of cards. H. Determine the starting player. You are now ready to play!

(Diagram: Example of 2-Player TvT Game after Setup. Areas shown: the Matrix, main deck, main deck discard pile, destroyed pile, Damage discard pile, Mission discard pile, Autobot Mission deck, Decepticon Mission deck, and each player's 10-card starting deck and discard pile.)

Playing the Game

The game is played in turns, starting with the first player and going clockwise. During your turn, you can take actions with your character, such as moving around and searching the Matrix, buying cards, battling Adversaries, and taking command of Polities.

AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FIRST TURN ONLY: Place your standee on any facedown card in the Matrix.

Turn Sequence

Your turn is divided into 2 phases: the Action Phase and the End of Turn Phase. If the game ends during any player's Action Phase, ignore the End of Turn Phase and go immediately to scoring (on page 17).

Action Phase

Follow these steps in order:

1. Resolve any active Start of Turn effects. If there are more than one, resolve them in any order you choose.
2. Then, do any of the following actions in any order and as many times as you wish (unless otherwise stated):
   • Play a card from your hand to generate Power and Move. If the card has game text, resolve it immediately when played.
   • Move your character onto an adjacent space by spending 1 Move.
   • Search your current space (flip the card there faceup) by spending 1 Move.
   • Buy or Battle cards within Range of your character by spending Power equal to the card's cost.
   • Activate Energon Abilities. Each ability may be activated only once per turn.
   • Convert by spending 1 Energon to flip your character card to another Mode.
   • Confront an Adversary Boss (once per turn), then end your turn.
   • Utilize a Site your character is on in the Matrix (once per Site, per turn). If the Site is a Polity, you may take Command of it if you can pay the indicated cost.
   • Clear a Ruin your character is on if you can pay the indicated cost.
   • Complete a Mission if you meet the stated objective.

End of Turn Phase

When you are done taking actions, announce this and then follow these steps to end your turn:

1. Refill the Matrix: If there are empty spaces in the Matrix, add 1 card from the top of the main deck (facedown) into each of those empty spaces. Maintain the boundaries of the initial Matrix setup. Then go to Step 3. If no part of the Matrix is empty, go to Step 2.
2. If there are NO empty spaces in the Matrix to refill, reveal the top card from the main deck and take the appropriate action below:
   • If it is not a Boss, destroy it by placing it in the main deck discard pile, then move to Step 3.
   • If it is a Boss, the active player (the one whose turn is ending) must choose and destroy any faceup card in the Matrix that is not an Adversary, Scheme or Polity. If there are none, then destroy any facedown card, no matter what card type it is. Place the newly arriving Boss faceup in the now-empty space. Finally, resolve any Reveal and Ambush Attacks per the normal rules for Bosses (see page 12).
3. If the main deck is empty when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed, if the Matrix is full), the game ends. Do not move on to Step 4. See page 17 for end game scoring.
4. Discard your hand of cards and any cards you played this turn unless they have the "Ongoing" keyword (like Damage) or they are an Ally. Remove all tokens from your character and cards. When discarding Relic cards, you may instead choose to place them facedown into your Vault so they will score VP at the end of the game.
5. You may discard 1 Mission you control. If you do, place it faceup in the shared discard pile. Then, if you have 1 or 0 Missions, draw 1 Mission from your faction's Mission stack (if any remain) and place it facedown in your play area.
6. Draw a new hand of 5 cards. If your draw deck is ever empty, shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck and then continue drawing.

Adversaries

Autobots and Decepticons are Adversaries to each other. This term is used to refer to the opposing faction's cards, characters, and the players themselves.

Playing Cards

As you play cards from your hand into your play area, you will collect Power and Move to use during your turn. You do not have to spend these right away: simply add them up as you play your cards. Reinforcements (a Basic card, 2 cost, 1 Power, 1 Move, Block, "You may Convert." and "Command or Assist: +1 Power.") would give you 1 Power and 1 Move. Playing cards is optional.

If you play a card that has game text with an immediate effect, you must resolve that text when played. For example, if you play Reinforcements and want to use the "You may Convert" effect, you must do so immediately, before playing any other cards. Once you play another card or take any other action at all, you can no longer activate that game text. However, some cards (like Armor Plating) have game text that does not offer an immediate effect, but instead may offer a benefit later in the turn. In this case, you don't need to resolve the effect until you meet the card's condition.

Most game text is optional, but not all: If the text begins with "You may", you can choose not to trigger the effect; otherwise, you must resolve the text if you are able to. Moreover, some game text requires a certain condition to be met in order to trigger the effect. For example, Deep Cover requires you to be in Alt Mode when the card is played in order to benefit from the Mission draw effect. If you are in Bot Mode when playing Deep Cover, you would ignore this game text.

Spending Move

You can use the Move value from cards you play and from your character's Alt Mode to move from space to space in the Matrix, to search a space (flip a card in your space faceup), and to pay a Move cost on a card that requires it. A "space" is an area of the Matrix that could hold a card, whether there is a card there or not. You can only spend Move during your turn.

SEARCH: You may spend 1 Move to flip a facedown card in your character's space faceup. If you flip up an Adversary, an Ambush or Reveal Attack may occur, depending on whether it's a Robot or a Boss. More on resolving Ambushes on page 12.

MOVE: A Move value of 1 will allow your character to move from one space to an adjacent space, including spaces occupied by other characters. Normally, you can only move orthogonally (not diagonally) in the four cardinal directions: up, down, left, or right, unless the card has the FLIGHT keyword. If you move onto a faceup Adversary, you will trigger an Ambush. More on resolving Ambushes on page 12.

FLIGHT: A card with the Flight keyword allows you to use that specific card's Move value to move diagonally and/or orthogonally. Flight on one card does not grant diagonal movement to other cards with Move you control or Move from your Alt Mode.

When you spend Move from a card you have played, it's helpful to rotate that card to show that you have used that Move. When using Move found on your character's Alt Mode, place "-1 Move" tokens on your character as you spend that Move instead of rotating it. If a card you play has 2 or more Move and you wish to spend less than the full amount all at once, you may also use '-1 Move' tokens to spend that Move 1 point at a time. These tokens are only there as a convenience to help keep track, so share them as needed.

Once you spend Move in Alt Mode, that Move value does not reset if you Convert into Bot Mode and then back to Alt Mode within the same turn. Furthermore, any unspent Alt Mode Move value is unavailable while in Bot Mode. However, you can always Convert back to Alt Mode and continue using any unspent Move.

TELEPORT: A card or ability with Teleport allows you to move onto any legal space in the Matrix without spending Move and without triggering Ambushes on faceup Adversaries. Some Teleport abilities will place a limit on how far you may Teleport, such as "Teleport to an adjacent space." If no limit is present, you can Teleport onto any legal space. Teleport is a form of Move, and teleporting onto a card is the same as "moving onto" the card for game text purposes. Some cards may require you to pay an additional Move cost to move onto them, and using Teleport does not negate that added cost. However, when you Teleport onto a faceup Adversary, you do not trigger an Ambush.

INVOLUNTARY MOVE: Some card effects may cause your character to move without your approval, either during your turn or another player's turn, with or without control over the destination. For this type of involuntary move by you or another player, ignore any card effects or penalties that restrict movement unless that effect specifically prevents it (like Toxic War Zone). However, other effects (like Ambushes) still trigger normally.

Spending Power

You may spend the Power on cards you play to buy or battle faceup cards in the Matrix in the same space or within Range of your character. You may also spend Power to pay for costs on some non-purchasable cards like Sites and Ruins that have conditions which require it, such as to take command of a Polity.

The available Power is shown in the battery icon on the upper left side of the card, and may be combined with the Power of other cards you play. Each time you spend Power, reduce your current Power by the cost of those cards. As long as you have Power available, you may continue to spend that Power throughout your turn. If a card you played is destroyed, you lose any unspent Power (and Move) from that card.

RANGE: Range is the number of orthogonal spaces away from your character (straight or zig-zagging) at which a card's Power can be used to buy or battle cards. This allows you to use the Power on your cards to buy or battle a card in the Matrix at a distance, without needing to move onto it. If the Range on a card is 2, for example, you can use the Power on that card to buy or battle a card up to 2 orthogonal spaces away. When game text refers to "within Range," it's referring to the number of orthogonal spaces between your character and the target, including the target's space. Range is also used for determining distance when using a card to Block an Attack. More on Blocks on page 11. You cannot use Range to pay for other card effects like commanding Polities, utilizing Sites, or clearing Ruins that are not in your space.

If a card has Range, it will be designated by a value next to the red target icon, just under the Power. Range only projects the Power of that single card, not of other cards in play. If a card does not have a Range value, it's considered Range 0, meaning that Power can only be used in the space under your character. Therefore, when buying or battling a card 1 or more spaces away, each card used needs sufficient Power AND Range to reach the target. You do not need to use a card's full Range value if it's not needed.

Example of Range: Playing as Elita-1 in the example (Matrix containing Anti-Personnel Mine, Kaon, Optimus Prime and Rippersnapper; hand of Patch, Scout, Artillery, Bold, Sneak Attack), you could battle Rippersnapper from your current position in the Matrix (and avoid an Ambush) using Artillery and Sneak Attack, which would give you 4 Power at Range 1. Or you could buy the Anti-Personnel Mine for 2 Power with just Sneak Attack using its full Range of 2. However, you could not buy Optimus Prime without moving onto him since Bold has Range 0, and you need that card to generate the required 5 Power.

Cards shown in the example:

• ANTI-PERSONNEL MINE (cost 3, Technology): "Destroy 1 Adversary Robot in your space, then gain its reward." (2 Energon ability)
• KAON (cost 3, Site - Polity): "Ongoing: If this Polity is under your Adversary's command, pay 2 more Power to buy or defeat a card adjacent to this card. Flip a card in an adjacent space faceup. If it's not a Boss or Polity, destroy it, and each character in that space gains 1 Damage. Pay 7 Power: Take command of this Polity. Pay 1 more Power for each Polity under your Adversary's command (including this one). End of Game: If under your faction's command, gain 3 VP."
• OPTIMUS PRIME (cost 5, Robot - Autobot): "This card costs 1 more Power to defeat. When battling, +1 Power for each other Autobot controlled by any player. Command: +3 Power. Gain 2 VP and you may remove 1 Command token from any Polity."
• PATCH (Starter): "You may return 1 Damage controlled by target character in your space or an adjacent space to the stack."
• SCOUT (Starter, Flight): "You may flip a card in an adjacent space faceup."
• ARTILLERY (Starter, Power 2, Range 1): "Destroy 1 Starter you control or 1 Damage in your discard pile." (Confront: +1 Power.)
• BOLD (Starter, Power 2, Range 0): "Confront: +1 Power."
• SNEAK ATTACK (Maneuver, cost 2): "Pay 1 less Power the next time you buy a card in your space this turn. Target character within range gains 1 Damage."

Pay an Effect Cost

Some cards have a Power cost associated with their effect, such as certain Sites and Ruins. You must be on these cards to pay the associated cost. More on utilizing Sites, commanding Polities, and clearing Ruins on pages 18, 10, and 14, respectively.

Buying a Card

You can spend the combined Power on cards you play to buy faceup, non-Adversary cards in the Matrix within Range of your character, by meeting the cost requirement for each card you wish to buy. The cost of each card is shown in the upper left corner and ranges from 2 to 5 for most cards, and up to 8 for some Relics. Facedown cards need to be searched (flipped faceup) before they can be bought.

Non-adversary cards include Ally, Maneuver, Technology, Relic, and your faction's Robot cards. In addition, you may always buy Reinforcements (a Basic card) for 2 Power regardless of where your character is located in the Matrix. Cards you buy go to your discard pile unless they say otherwise, such as Ally cards, which go faceup in front of you.

Important: You cannot buy Adversary Robots (belonging to the opposing faction) unless you have a card effect that allows it, like Robosmasher. Instead, you'll primarily battle these cards to gain the reward at the bottom and put them into your Vault. You also cannot buy Bosses of either faction, nor any card without a cost, such as a Site or Ruin.

Gain a Card

Game text that instructs you to "gain" a card does not use Power. The card is acquired at no cost to you (unless an effect says otherwise). Cards you gain typically go to your discard pile, except for Ally and some Damage cards, which go faceup in front of you.

Battle a Card

You can spend Power to battle Adversaries in an attempt to defeat them. Battling is explained in more detail on page 13.

Spending Energon

Energon is the fuel that you use to drive your most powerful abilities. In the game, Energon is represented by cubes. When you gain Energon, take a cube from the general supply and place it into your personal supply of Energon. Small Energon cubes are worth 1 Energon, while large Energon cubes are worth 5 Energon. Make change as needed. When you spend Energon, return the appropriate number of cubes from your personal supply to the general supply.

New Rule! You can never control more than 12 Energon. If you control 11 Energon and gain 2, you gain only 1 instead. If you control 12 Energon, you cannot gain additional Energon until you spend or lose some.

You may spend Energon for the following:

CONVERT: You may spend 1 Energon to flip your character from its Bot Mode or Alt Mode to the other side. This may be done at any time, during any player's turn. Exception: You cannot Convert while another effect is being resolved. One reason to Convert is to gain access to the resources on that side of the character, such as Move (in Alt Mode) or Energon abilities (in Bot Mode).

ACTIVATE ENERGON ABILITIES: During your turn, you may activate Energon abilities on cards you have played and on your character card if you can pay the Energon cost. If it is not your turn, you may only activate Energon abilities on cards you play to Assist other players. You cannot activate Energon abilities on your character card when Assisting (unless a card says otherwise).

When you activate an Energon ability on your character card that provides an increase in Power (such as Elita-1's +2 Power effect for an Autobot she controls), that increase persists throughout that turn even if your character later converts to Alt Mode.

PAY AN EFFECT COST: Some cards in the Matrix have an Energon cost associated with their effect, such as certain Sites like Maccadam's and Vector Sigma. You must be on these cards to pay the associated cost.

Confront, Assist, and Command Abilities: Some Energon abilities are preceded by the word "Confront," "Assist," or "Command," and may only be used during actions related to those functions: Confront Energon abilities may only be activated by the active player during a Confrontation; Assist Energon abilities may only be activated when you are Assisting during a battle; Command Energon abilities can only be used to take command of a Polity. If game text uses one of these keywords but it's not an Energon ability, then that text resolves only if you are engaged in that action. For example, when you play First Strike, if you are on a Polity not under your faction's command when that card is played, you gain +3 Power to take command of it. Learn more about battling Adversaries on page 11 and more about commanding Polities on the next page.

Note: Each Energon ability may be activated only once per turn. As a reminder, you may want to place the spent Energon next to the activated abilities and then return them to the supply at the end of your turn.

Control vs Own

You control all the cards you play during your turn, as well as any Ally, Mission, and Damage cards in your play area. You do NOT control cards in your hand, deck, or discard pile. You own all the cards you control, plus all of the cards in your hand, deck, and discard pile. Your character card is not included in this determination.

Destroying Cards

Some cards have game text that allows you to "destroy" cards you control. Destroying weaker cards (such as Starter cards) in your deck can improve it. On the other hand, some cards are destroyed by game effects, such as the result of a negative effect during a Confrontation or as part of the End of Turn Phase when the Matrix is full. When a main deck card is destroyed, place it into a faceup discard pile next to the main deck. Other destroyed cards (Starter, Reinforcements, Damage) are removed from the game.

Important: If you play a card and then destroy it, you lose any unspent Power and Move on that card, as well as any unused game text effects. Be sure to use your resources and abilities on cards before destroying them if you can help it. Likewise, if you are forced to destroy a card during a Confrontation, you lose the Power (and any unresolved game text ability) that card provided, reducing your overall effectiveness during that battle.

Completing Missions

Missions are mini-objectives you can achieve throughout the game in order to earn additional VP. However, each incomplete Mission you control or in your Mission deck will cost you 1 VP at the end of the game, so knowing when to hold onto a Mission in hopes of completing it, or when to discard it to cut your losses, is critical to maximize this aspect of the game. There are 20 unique Missions, all with varying levels of difficulty.

Missions you control remain facedown in your play area until you complete or discard them, but you may peek at them at any time. Missions you control can only be completed by you unless it's a Team Objective (see below). When you fulfill the objective of a Mission you control, reveal your Mission and then place it in your Vault.

At the end of your turn, when you are discarding your hand, you may discard 1 Mission you control. Then, if you control 1 or 0 Missions, draw 1 Mission from your team's Mission stack (if available). If you control 2 or more Missions, however, you can't draw a new one at that time. There are some card effects that may allow you to draw or gain another Mission outside of the End of Turn Phase, even if you already control 2. This is the only way to control more than 2 Missions.

Missions you discard do not count against you at the end of the game, but you can no longer score them. Each Mission left in your team's draw deck or that you control at the end of the game will cost you 1 VP. Each completed Mission in your Vault will score 2 VP.

Team Objectives: Missions that say "Objective - Team" may be completed by your teammate(s) or collectively during any player's turn, even though you control the Mission. Keep your Missions secret from Adversary players, but let your teammate know what your Missions are. You cannot give a Mission to another player unless a card says otherwise.

Example: Prowl controls 2 Missions: Search and Destroy and Remove the Fallen. The former requires him to flip an Adversary faceup and defeat it in the same turn. He doesn't have enough Move to go hunting, but he can clear one of the two Ruins in the Matrix, which may help with the latter Mission: "Clear the last Ruin in the Matrix." So, he clears 1 Ruin. On Elita-1's next turn, she clears the other Ruin, completing Prowl's Mission because it is a "Team" Objective. He reveals the Mission and places it in his Vault.

Commanding Polities

Polities are Sites that you can take command of in order to gain access to special benefits during the game, as well as to earn VP at the end of the game. To command a Polity, move onto that space, pay the indicated Power, and place your faction's Command token on it (or flip over the token that is already there). It is now under your faction's command until an Adversary or other effect takes it away from you.

The cost to take command of a Polity increases with each Polity under an Adversary's command: +1 Power for each of your Adversaries' Command tokens in the Matrix, including the one you are on. A Polity can change command several times in a TvT game. Whoever commands the Polity when the game ends will earn the VP.

Polity Benefits: Polities under your command have an Ongoing or Start of Turn effect that you can benefit from when you are on that Polity or (in some cases) adjacent to it. If it's a Start of Turn effect, you must be on the Polity at the start of your turn to receive the benefit.

(Example card: PRAXUS, Site - Polity. "Start of Turn: If this Polity is under your faction's command, draw 1 card. Pay 3 Power: Take command of this Polity. Pay 1 more Power for each Polity under your Adversary's command (including this one). End of Game: If under your faction's command, gain 1 VP.")

"Command:" is a keyword like Confront and Assist. When you see an effect after the word "Command" followed by a colon, such as "Command: +1 Power," that effect can only be used when taking command of a Polity. You cannot use that Power bonus for other actions, such as to buy or battle cards.

Note: You cannot choose to destroy or flip facedown a Polity with a Command token on it. This is most likely to be relevant when a Boss is revealed from the main deck during the End of Turn Phase and a faceup card in the Matrix must be destroyed. Any Polity under either faction's command cannot be targeted in this scenario.

Example: Megatron moves onto Tarn, which is already under Autobot command. The Autobots also command Praxus, so the cost to take command of Tarn is 7 Power instead of 5 (+1 Power for each Polity under an Adversary's command). Megatron activates his 2 Energon ability to give him +3 Power to command a Polity, then plays cards to generate the remaining 4 Power. He flips the command token over to show that Tarn is now under Decepticon rule. Because he took command while in Bot Mode, he can now defeat an Adversary Robot anywhere in the Matrix thanks to his Bot Mode ability. He selects Chromia, which gives him 2 VP, then adds her to his Vault.

Dealing with Adversaries

Autobots and Decepticons are Adversaries to each other. One of the primary ways to gain VP is battling your Adversaries, especially Bosses. When you battle an Adversary Robot or Boss, you are attempting to defeat that Adversary by spending Power equal to or greater than its cost. Battling cards is similar to buying cards, in that you spend Power and need to be in Range. But there are key differences:

• Adversaries fight back. If you move onto an Adversary Robot or Boss to battle it, you get Ambushed: you must draw an Encounter card and resolve its Ambush effect. If you are battling a Boss, you will also need to deal with a Confrontation effect (drawing another Encounter card), which can make it much harder to defeat that Boss. Learn more about Ambushes and Encounters on the next page.
• Other players may be able to assist in this battle, either to help you defeat the Adversary or to defend their Boss. Assisting is explained on page 14.
• Adversaries you battle do not go into your deck. Instead, if you defeat them, you immediately gain the rewards listed at the bottom of the card, then place the card into your Vault, facedown. At the end of the game, you'll earn additional VP for Adversaries in your Vault. Your Vault is explained on page 16.

This section explains the process for battling Robots and Bosses, including Confronting and Assisting, and how to deal with Ambushes, Attacks, and Blocks. The complete steps on how to battle are explained on page 13.

Blocks

An Attack can be avoided by discarding a card from your hand with the Block keyword or by activating a Block ability on your character card. The discarded Block card goes into your discard pile, not into play. When a player is Attacked, any player may Block that Attack if they are within Range of the character being Attacked. Each player may only use one Block per Attack, and each discarded Block only prevents a single Attack effect on a single character. Each player targeted by an Attack who fails to Block it for themselves (or have it Blocked for them) will have to resolve its effect.

Block cards use the same Range as the Power on the card, meaning that the Range value on the left side of the card is also the Range of the Block. If a player has a Block with no Range, the Range is 0, so they may only Block for themself or another character in their space. Some cards have Energon abilities that offer a Block. These abilities are special in that the card is not discarded when used in this manner, but they must already be in play during your turn to activate that ability.

If a player does not Block an Attack for themself, then each of the other players (in clockwise order) has the opportunity to use a Block to aid that player if: (A) they have a Block card that has enough Range to reach the character under attack, and (B) they have not previously activated a Block for this Attack.

Note: Blocking is always optional.

Block Effect: Some cards with Block have additional text preceded by a colon (:), such as the "Block: Gain 1 Energon" on Entrenched. That text resolves when you discard the card to Block, but no other text on the card is active at that time. Discarding a Block to avoid an Attack is not "playing" the card. If you play a card with a Block effect, ignore the Block effect text that follows the colon and only resolve the other text on the card. For example, if you discard Entrenched to Block an Attack, you would immediately gain 1 Energon. But, if you play the card normally, it would instead give you 3 Power at Range 1, Move 1, and if you are on a Ruin at that moment, you would gain 1 Energon and could return a Damage card to the stack.

(Example cards: ENTRENCHED, Maneuver, cost 4, Power 3, Range 1, Move 1: "If you are on a Ruin, gain 1 Energon or return 1 Damage you control to the stack. Block: Gain 1 Energon." ELECTRO-SCRAMBLER, Technology, cost 5: "You may Attack (choose 1 option): Target character within range discards 1 card of their choice OR gains 2 Damage. If you choose 2 Damage, discard this card." Energon ability (2): "Discard target Assist." Also "Block an Attack against all characters in your space.")

Attacks

An Attack is indicated by the word "Attack:" or "Reveal Attack:" on a card, followed by a negative effect for any player targeted. Attacks can occur as a result of an Ambush, when a Boss is flipped faceup, a Confrontation, or from other card effects, and they can affect a single character or multiple characters. Attacks that are the result of an Ambush or Boss Reveal are described in detail on the next page.

Encounter Cards

An Encounter card is drawn whenever a character is Ambushed or when initiating a Confrontation against a Boss. When drawing an Encounter card, resolve either the text at the top or bottom of the card (not both), depending on the type of Encounter that is occurring, then discard the card faceup next to the stack. These cards remain in the discard pile until the deck is empty or a player is about to resolve a Confrontation. When either of these happen, reshuffle all 10 Encounter cards before drawing one to resolve a pending Encounter.

(Example card: RUINATION. Top (Ambush): "Attack: No Adversaries can be battled by any player this turn. Boss Reveal: Ambush hits all Adversaries." Bottom (Confrontation): "Add 2 to the Adversary's cost, plus 1 additional for each Ruin in the Matrix. If there are no Ruins, also gain 2 Damage.")

During a Confrontation, only the active player is affected by the Confrontation text. Some Confrontation effects on Encounter cards are Attacks, which can be avoided with Blocks, but most are not and therefore cannot be avoided. Some effects can destroy a card you have played, removing its Power from the battle; others may significantly increase the cost to defeat that Boss. Once you have announced a Confrontation, you cannot play any additional cards, but you can discard Blocks in your hand to avoid Attacks.

Note: It's possible that you will draw 2 Encounter cards when confronting a Boss: one for the Ambush if you moved onto a faceup Boss in order to get within Range, and one for the actual Confrontation, when you commit to battling it (see the following sections on Ambushes and How to Battle). Fully resolve each Encounter card before drawing and resolving the next.

Boss Reveal Attack and Ambush

When a Boss is revealed (flipped faceup in a space), instead of resolving an Ambush, first resolve the Boss's "Reveal Attack" against each Adversary player, regardless of their characters' locations in the Matrix. The Boss card may also say "Then resolve an Ambush," in which case you draw an Encounter card as well, and resolve the Ambush text against each Adversary player (again, regardless of their characters' locations in the Matrix).

(Example card: BLURR, Autobot Boss, cost 6. "Reveal Attack: Discard 1 card with Move. Then resolve an Ambush. Start of Turn: Swap Blurr with an adjacent non-Site card not occupied by an Adversary character. Ongoing: Your Alt Mode has -1 Move. Gain 3 VP.")

Note: Blocking a Reveal Attack does not prevent the subsequent Ambush draw (if any), as they are two separate events. You would need to discard 2 Blocks to avoid both attacks.

As with Robots, if you move your character onto an Adversary Boss that is already faceup, an Ambush occurs; only the moving character is Ambushed, not any other characters already in that space.

Avoiding an Ambush: If a card effect tells you to "avoid an Ambush," you do not resolve the Ambush text on the Encounter card against your character. However, other characters affected by the same Ambush (if any) still resolve that text for themselves. If you are the only player affected by the Ambush, don't draw the Encounter card.

Note: A Boss' "Reveal Attack" is not an Ambush, so it cannot be avoided with these kinds of effects.

Robot Ambush

When a Robot (Decepticon or Autobot) is flipped faceup in a space where one or more Adversary characters are present, an Ambush occurs. Draw an Encounter card and resolve the Ambush text at the top of the card. An Ambush revealed in this manner is an Attack against all characters in that space who are Adversaries to that Robot card. For example, if you are playing Optimus Prime and you flip Motormaster faceup beneath you, you get Ambushed. If Elita-1 was with you in that space, she'd get Ambushed as well. However, if you flip a Robot faceup and no Adversary characters occupy that space, no Ambush occurs.

If you move your character onto an Adversary Robot that is already faceup, an Ambush also occurs, but only the moving character is Ambushed, not any characters already in that space. You can safely remain on a faceup Adversary without incurring additional Ambushes.

(Example card: MOTORMASTER, Robot - Decepticon, Stunticon, cost 5, Power 3, Range 1, Move 2: "If there are 3+ Ruins in the Matrix, this card has +2 Power when battling. Destroy 1 Robot in your space and replace it with a Ruin. Gain 2 VP and 2 Energon.")

How to Battle Adversaries

Battle a Robot

Move onto (or within Range of) an Adversary Robot and resolve an Ambush if applicable, then carry out the following steps in order:

1. Play cards to generate Power and activate any legal Energon abilities you desire. You cannot use "Confront" or "Assist" abilities. Then, declare your intent to battle along with your current Power total.
2. In turn order, your teammates may play Assists faceup to help defeat this Robot. The opposing team cannot play defensive assists. See more on Assisting on the next page.
3. Resolve all teammate Assists, even if this generates Power beyond what you need to defeat the Adversary. To resolve an Assist, add its Power to your own total. Assisting players, in turn order, may also choose to activate Energon abilities on any resolved Assist cards they have played, including ones with the keyword "Assist," if those abilities offer a Power boost.
4. If you still need additional Power, you may activate legal Energon abilities that were not used in Step 1.
5. If your collective Power total is now equal to or greater than the Adversary's cost, you have defeated it. You (the active player) gain the reward listed at the bottom of the card, and then place the card into your Vault, facedown. Finally, draw a Ruin card and place it faceup in the empty space where the Adversary was defeated and resolve the card's Reveal effect (see next page).
6. If the battle is not successful, the Adversary remains in play and you do not earn any reward.
7. All Assist cards are discarded.
8. Discard all non-Ongoing, non-Ally cards in play (you may Vault your Relics). All of the Power and Move you have generated up to that point in your turn is lost. If you have Move left to spend on your character card and/or cards remaining in your hand, you may play them and continue your turn as usual.

Confront / Battle a Boss

Move onto (or within Range of) an Adversary Boss and resolve an Ambush if applicable, then carry out the following steps in order:

1. Play cards to generate Power and activate any desired, legal Energon abilities (including those with the keyword "Confront"). Then, declare your intent to battle along with your current Power total. This initiates a Confrontation.
2. In turn order, Adversary players and your teammates may play Assists facedown to help defend or defeat the Boss. See more on Assisting on the next page.
3. Shuffle all 10 Encounter cards together, then draw the top card and resolve the Confrontation text. If a card you control is destroyed during this step, you lose the Power generated by that card.
4. Flip over and resolve defensive Assists first, adding that Power to the cost to defeat this Boss. Players may activate any Energon abilities on defensive Assist cards they have played that offer a Power boost, including those with the keyword "Assist."
5. Resolve all teammate Assists, even if this generates Power beyond what you need to defeat the Adversary. To resolve an Assist, flip it faceup and add its Power to your own total. Assisting players, in turn order, may also choose to activate Energon abilities on any resolved Assist cards they have played, including ones with the keyword "Assist."
6. If you still need additional Power, you may activate legal, unused Energon abilities.
7. If your collective Power total is equal to or greater than the Adversary's cost (including Encounter modifications and defensive Assists), you have defeated it. You (the active player) gain the reward listed at the bottom of the card, then place the card into your Vault, facedown. Finally, draw a Ruin card and place it faceup in the empty space where the Adversary was defeated and resolve the card's Reveal effect.
8. If the battle is not successful, the Adversary remains in play and you do not earn any reward.
9. All Assist cards are discarded.
10. End your turn: If this battle defeats the third and final Boss, the game ends immediately before you can discard or Vault cards other than the defeated Boss.

Assisting

Your teammates may be able to Assist you when battling a Robot or Boss by lending 1 card to the effort, adding that card's Power to your Power total. If the battle is successful, only you (the active player) gain the reward. In the case of a Boss Confrontation, each player on the opposing team may also play 1 defensive Assist to add their card's Power to the cost you must meet to defeat the Boss, making it more difficult for you to succeed.

During Step 2 of the battle sequence, each player who wants to Assist may choose (in clockwise order) to place 1 card facedown in front of them. Any card in their hand can be used to Assist, but it must be able to generate at least 1 Power (either on its own or by using an Energon ability on that card) with enough Range to reach the Adversary's space. The facedown card should be kept secret from the opposing team, but you can communicate your intentions to your teammates if you wish. Defensive Assists always resolve automatically after the Encounter card's Confrontation text is resolved, before regular Assists are resolved. If a faceup Assist needs an Energon ability to become legal, the Assisting player must spend that Energon now. If a player played an illegal Assist by mistake with no remedy to make it legal, they must discard it, unresolved.

(Example card: OMEGA FORMATION, Maneuver, cost 5, Power 2, Range 2, Move 2, Flight: "You may discard the next Encounter card you draw this turn before resolving it. If you do, immediately draw and resolve another one." Energon ability (2): "Assist: Play a second Assist, faceup, and resolve it.")

If a resolved Assist card has the Assist keyword, that ability is active and available. However, ignore Move, other game text, and Energon abilities on Assist cards that do not specifically offer a Power bonus. Any non-Energon ability text on an Ally or character card that boosts or otherwise affects your card's Power is also valid to use.

Example of a Defensive Assist: If an Autobot player is confronting Shockwave (a Decepticon Boss), a Decepticon player can place an Artillery facedown to assist Shockwave if they are within Range. After the Encounter's Confrontation effect resolves, the Artillery card (with 2 Power) would increase Shockwave's cost by 2 before any Autobot players resolve their own Assists.

Note: Assisting is battling, and in Alt Mode is subject to the Power penalty (if any) listed on your character card. Players can Convert to Bot Mode to avoid this.

Ruins

Ruins are cards that slowly spread their destruction across the Matrix as you battle Adversaries, showing the toll that war is taking on your homeworld and making navigation more challenging. They also give you an opportunity to clean up Cybertron in order to gain some valuable Energon.

(Example card: PILE OF SCRAP, Ruin. "On Reveal: Characters in this space must move to an adjacent space. Ongoing: Pay +1 Move to move onto this space. You cannot Teleport onto this space. Pay 3 Move: Clear this Ruin. Cleared: Gain 2 Energon.")

When an Adversary Robot or Boss is defeated, immediately fill that space with the top card from the Ruin deck and flip it faceup. Per the reveal effect, any characters in that space must move to an adjacent space of their choice (for free). Ruins have an ongoing effect that impacts characters in that space. To clear a Ruin, you must be on the Ruin and pay the associated cost (Move or Power). If a Ruin is cleared, place that Ruin in a discard pile next to the Ruin deck, but do not refill the empty space until the End of Turn Phase.

Note: Unlike other Ruins, Toxic War Zone cannot be cleared.

If the Ruin deck is ever empty, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck. If all non-destroyed Ruins are in the Matrix at the same time, the game ends immediately: Proceed to end game scoring on page 17.

Ruins are always faceup in the Matrix and cannot be flipped facedown. They can only be cleared, destroyed, or relocated (such as from Blurr's Start of Turn effect). If a Ruin is destroyed, remove it from the game.

Example of a Boss Confrontation

Hot Rod and Prowl face off with Hun-Gurrr and Megatron in a TvT game. This example takes you step by step as Hot Rod locates and confronts an Adversary Boss.

1. Hot Rod begins his turn on King of the Hill.
2. Hot Rod spends 1 Move from his Alt Mode to move up 1 space to where Hun-Gurrr is hanging out, then another Move to flip the card in that space faceup. He reveals Octane, which triggers a Reveal Attack against both him and his teammate. Hot Rod is forced to discard a Block, but since Prowl has no Blocks, he gains 1 Damage instead. No Ambush happens because the Boss card does not say "Then resolve an Ambush."
3. Hot Rod's Bot Mode ability says, "When you battle an Adversary in the same turn it was revealed, target card has +1 Power," so he decides to Confront Octane now to take advantage of that extra Power. But first he needs to Convert to Bot Mode. Using his Alt Mode ability, he discards a Bold to Convert. He plays his other cards, which add up to 5 Power. He chooses his other Bold card to receive the Power boost, taking him to 6.
4. Hot Rod will need at least 9 Power, since Tarn, an adjacent Polity, is under Decepticon command, and therefore Octane costs 1 more Power to defeat.
5. It's time to play Assists. In order for Megatron to Assist, he needs a card with Range 1 and Prowl needs Range 2. Hun-Gurrr is sitting on the Boss, so he can play any card with at least 1 Power. In turn order, Megatron, Prowl, and Hun-Gurrr each play 1 Assist card, facedown. Megatron's and Hun-Gurrr's cards are defensive Assists, which will make Octane harder to defeat.
6. Hot Rod shuffles and draws 1 Encounter card: Power Boost. Ignoring the Ambush text, he reads and resolves the Confrontation text, which says "Add 1 to the Adversary's cost for each Energon you control. If this is 2 or fewer, also gain 2 Damage." Hot Rod only has 1 Energon so this adds 1 to the difficulty, raising the cost to defeat Octane to 10. But Hot Rod also gains 2 Damage. So far so good.
7. Defensive Assists are now resolved from Megatron and Hun-Gurrr, who play Rippersnapper and Armor Plating, respectively. These add 2 Power each, increasing Octane to 14 to defeat!
8. Prowl reveals his Assist, which is Omega Formation, giving the Autobots a total of 10 Power, which is still 4 short. However, Prowl spends 2 Energon to activate the Assist ability on Omega Formation, which allows him to play a second Assist from his hand - Sneak Attack. That puts the Autobots at 14, just enough to defeat Octane!
9. Hot Rod immediately gains 4 VP and adds the Boss to his Vault. All players discard their Assist cards and Hot Rod's turn ends.

(Cards shown: OCTANE, Decepticon Boss, "Reveal Attack: Discard 1 Block. If you have none, gain 1 Damage. This Attack cannot be Blocked. Start of Turn: Gain 1 Damage. Ongoing: You cannot Confront Octane if any other Autobots are in this space. Gain 4 VP."; TARN, Site - Polity, "Ongoing: If this Polity is under your Adversary's command, pay 1 more Power to buy or defeat a card adjacent to this card. Pay 5 Power: Take command of this Polity. Pay 1 more Power for each Polity under your Adversary's command (including this one). End of Game: If under your faction's command, gain 2 VP."; KING OF THE HILL, Maneuver, "You may Attack: Move target character(s) in your space to an adjacent space. Confront: Play the top card of your deck."; MINING OUTPOST, Site, "Reveal: Put 12 Energon from the general supply on this. Pay X Move: Gain X Energon from this card. When empty, destroy this Site."; POWER BOOST, Encounter, "Attack: Destroy 1 card with cost 2+ you control. If you control none, gain 1 Damage instead. Boss Reveal: Ambush hits all Adversaries."; AFTERBURNER, Robot - Autobot, "Block an Attack OR gain +2 Move. Gain 1 VP and return 1 Damage to the stack."; ARMOR PLATING, Technology, "Ignore all Damage and Ambush effects on Ruins this turn. Block an Attack, then discard this card.")

Additional Rules

Discarding Cards

When a card effect tells you to discard a card, this is from your hand as the default. If a card effect means for you to discard it from anywhere else, it will specify that in the text. For example, some Bosses will tell you to "Discard 1 Ally you control." This would be discarded from your play area.

Shuffling Your Deck

Only shuffle your discard pile to become your new deck when you need to draw, reveal, or otherwise manipulate the top card of your deck and there are no cards in your deck. Do not shuffle your discard pile simply because there are no cards in your deck. Oftentimes, you will need to shuffle at the end of your turn to draw your 5 new cards: Draw until your deck is empty, then set aside your incomplete hand. Shuffle your discard pile, then continue drawing until you are full up at 5 cards. Your discard pile is always public information.

Ongoing and Start of Turn Effects

Some cards, like Ally, Boss, Ruin, and Polity, may have an "Ongoing" or "Start of Turn" effect. You can use the reminder tokens to better keep track of these.

Unless a card says otherwise, these effects only impact the active player during their own turn. Ongoing effects are active for the duration of the active player's turn, whereas Start of Turn effects trigger only at the beginning of the active player's turn. If there are multiple Start of Turn effects to resolve, you may choose the order in which to resolve them.

Effects on cards you control (like Ally or Damage) only affect you, but a Ruin will affect every player during their turn unless the card says otherwise. Adversary-specific cards, like Bosses, only affect the opposing faction. So if an Autobot Boss is in the Matrix, only Decepticon players will be affected by that card's Ongoing or Start of Turn effect, and only during their own turn. Likewise, Polities generally need to be under your command in order for the effect to be active for your team.

Target

Some cards use the word "target" to designate a recipient for an effect, and may come with further restrictions on what you can and cannot target. A target can be a card, a character in the Matrix, a deck, or even a player. If a card says, "Target player discards 1 card," for example, you can choose any player, including yourself. If it says a "target card you control," you can't target another player's cards, or cards in your hand, deck, or discard pile since you don't control them.

Peeking and Revealing

Some hidden cards allow you to interact with them. When you peek at a card, you get to look at it privately. Look at it and then return it to where it was, facedown. You can't peek at faceup cards, only at facedown cards in the Matrix, a player's hand, or the top card of a facedown deck.

When you reveal a card in any deck, you are flipping it faceup for everyone to see, then taking a specified action with it, or else returning it facedown. If you reveal a card in the Matrix, however, you flip it faceup and it stays faceup. Ruins and Bosses have Reveal effects that must be resolved immediately when they are revealed in this manner.

Victory Points and Your Vault

Your Vault is a facedown pile of cards you create next to your discard pile. When you defeat an Adversary, complete a Mission, thwart a Scheme, or choose to store a Relic, add those cards to your Vault instead of your discard pile - they remain there until the end of the game.

When you place a card into your Vault, adjust your VP accordingly. Cards that read "Gain X VP" are gained immediately: Take that many VP tokens and make change if needed. Cards that don't use the word "Gain" don't give you immediate VP, but may score VP at the end of the game. See End Game Scoring for more details.

Game End

The game ends immediately when any one of the following happens:

• Any single player controls 5 or more Damage.
• All non-destroyed Ruins are in the Matrix.
• All 3 Bosses of one faction have been defeated or destroyed.
• The main deck is empty when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed, if the Matrix is full).

End Game Scoring

As you gain additional VP during end game scoring, grab VP tokens from the general supply and add them to your score pile of VP tokens.

1. Add up the costs of all Adversaries in your Vault. You earn 1 VP for every multiple of 5 you count. (Example: One 5-cost and two 3-cost Adversaries = 11 total cost, which earns you 2 additional VP.)
2. Add VP from Relics and Missions in your Vault (as noted on the bottom of the card).
3. Earn 1 VP for every 5 Energon you have. (Example: 19 Energon = 3 VP.)
4. Remove 1 VP for every 2 Damage you own, which includes in your hand, play area, deck, and discard pile. (Example: 3 Damage = Lose 1 VP)
5. If the game ended from Damage, and the player who controlled 5 or more Damage was the active player at the time, they lose 3 VP.

The team with the most combined VP is the winner!

Team Tiebreakers

1. Most Bosses defeated.
2. Most combined Energon.
3. If still tied, the war wages on....

Types of Cards

Character Cards

Your character has abilities on both sides of the card. In either Mode, each character has game text at the top of their text box that is active at all times while in that Mode, unless it says otherwise. It could be a triggered effect that is looking for a game state (such as performing a certain action) or a static effect that simply happens without any action being taken.

(Example card: MEGATRON, Decepticon. Bot Mode: "When you take command of a Polity, you may defeat any Adversary Robot in the Matrix." Energon ability (1): "Target card you control has +1 Power for each Polity under your command." Energon ability (2): "Command: +3 Power or draw 1 card.")

For example, Megatron's game text on his Bot Mode side allows you to defeat an Adversary Robot in the Matrix when you take command of a Polity. If you take command of a Polity while in Alt Mode, then later Convert to Bot Mode, you cannot retroactively gain that benefit. You would need to Convert before taking the command action. Certain non-Energon abilties that affect Power - such as those on Prowl and Slipstream - can benefit you during another player's turn when Assisting in Bot Mode.

In general, Power bonuses NOT associated with a specific card has Range 0. For example, Hot Rod's game text reads: "Confront: +2 Power." This Power is not connected to a card you play, so the effective Range of that Power is 0. You should place "+1 Power" tokens on cards that have Power bonuses to make it easy to see which cards (including your character card) have the bonus. It's important to link Power bonuses to cards when applicable, as the Range of the card also applies to that Power and if an Encounter card or other effect destroys a card, its Power, Move, and all other effects go with it.

Your character's Bot Modes has 2 Energon abilities as well, costing either 1 or 2 Energon. You may only activate each ability once during each of your turns. They cannot be activated during another player's turn (such as when Assisting) unless the ability says otherwise. The bonus Power from an Energon ability like Elita-1's "Target Autobot you control has +2 Power" remains available to spend even if you later Convert to Alt Mode after activating it.

Note: You don't "control" your character card, and it cannot be destroyed.

Main Deck Cards

Each main deck card has a card type listed in the middle of the card, and a unique color to further help distinguish them from other cards. Some cards have more than one card type listed. For example, Crystal City is a Site, a Relic, and a Ruin. Card effects that target any of those 3 card types can target Crystal City. Maneuver and Technology cards are self-explanatory, but other card types are further detailed below.

Ally: These cards provide continued and reliable support for your war efforts with Ongoing, Start of Turn, or other useful effects. When you buy or play an Ally, it immediately goes into play in front of you where it will remain for the rest of the game. You may control any number of Allies. Be aware that when some Bosses appear, they may scare away your Ally cards, forcing you to discard them. When you draw them again, just put them back into play during your next turn. All Allies are unique.

(Example card: SPY NETWORK, cost 3, Ally. "Start of Turn: Peek at 1 card in the Matrix, then you may flip it faceup or leave it. If it's a Scheme or Polity, you must flip it faceup. Ongoing: When you move onto a space occupied by an Adversary character, you may peek at that player's hand. When bought or gained, put into play.")

Boss: Bosses are the big bad Adversaries you can defeat to increase your VP, or defend from the opposing team's attempts to do so. Bosses have Reveal Attacks that affect all Adversary players when first revealed, and may trigger an Ambush that affects all those players as well. Most have Ongoing or Start of Turn effects that impact the active Adversary player until the Boss is defeated. Use the "Start of Turn" and "Ongoing" tokens on Bosses when revealed to make it easier to tell when those abilities are active. For purposes of game text, do not confuse the Boss card type with the Robot card type, though both can be Adversaries. A Boss can never be gained or bought, only defeated or destroyed. All Bosses are unique.

(Example card: SHOCKWAVE, Decepticon Boss, cost 10. "Reveal Attack: Discard your hand, then redraw an equal number of cards -1. Then resolve an Ambush. Ongoing: When a space in the Matrix becomes empty, lose 1 Energon. If you have no Energon, gain 1 Damage instead. Gain 5 VP.")

Relic: These powerful cards can be bought, played, and then stored in your Vault when you are ready to lock in the VP. Relics provide a "press your luck" opportunity: They offer powerful abilities, but if you keep one in your deck too long, you might not draw it and Vault it before the game ends. A Relic in your hand, deck, or discard pile at the end of the game is worth 0 VP. Whenever you would discard a Relic, you may place it permanently in your Vault instead. If you play a Relic during the last turn of the game, you may not have a chance to Vault it if that step happens too late in the End of Turn Phase. All Relics are unique.

(Example card: KEY TO VECTOR SIGMA, cost 7, Relic. "Ignore the Ongoing effects of Ruins this turn. The next time you move onto a Ruin this turn, you may clear it for no cost. If you do, refill that space immediately and flip the new card faceup. Vault: 3 VP at end of game.")

Robots: There are 2 factions of Robots - Autobots and Decepticons. Robots belonging to your faction can be bought and placed in your discard pile to improve your deck. Adversary Robots, however, must be battled instead. When they are defeated, you'll gain the reward at the bottom of the card and then add it facedown to your Vault. Some card effects (like on Robosmasher) allow you to buy or gain an Adversary Robot and place it in your discard pile, but that is the exception. All Robots are unique.

(Example card: SLIPSTREAM, cost 4, Robot - Decepticon, Power 2, Range 1, Move 2, Flight. "Peek at 1 card in the Matrix. If it has Range 2+, you may reveal it and gain it. X Command: +X Power. Gain 2 VP.")

Site: These are locations that cannot be bought, but feature abilities you can utilize when your character is on that card. Many Sites have an activated ability, where you may spend Move, Energon, Power, or other costs to generate an effect or benefit. You may only activate each ability on a Site once during your turn. Maccadam's, for example, has 3 abilities, and you can activate each of them once during your turn if you can pay the costs. If a Site's ability requires no activation payment and the conditions are met, the effect automatically happens. A Polity is also a Site, and is further explained on page 10. All Sites are unique.

(Example card: MACCADAM'S, Site. "Pay 2 Power: Gain 2 Energon. Pay 2 Energon: Draw 1 card. Pay 2 Move: Give 1 non-Damage card you control to target player. They must place it on top of their deck unless it's a Mission.")

Basic Cards

Reinforcements: You may purchase cards from this stack during your turn no matter where you are in the Matrix, which can be useful if you can't afford better cards or lack sufficient Move to reach them. You may buy as many as you wish, as long as you have the necessary Power. The text "You may Convert" is an immediate optional effect that costs no Energon to activate.

Damage: There are two types of Damage cards you can gain from various hostile effects: Blast Wound and Energy Leak. During the game, they will negatively impact you and at the end of the game, you'll lose 1 VP for every 2 Damage you own (see more about 'owning' cards on page 9).

(Example cards: DAMAGE - BLAST WOUND, Basic. "Ongoing: Your Assists have -1 Power for every 2 Damage you control. End of Game: For every 2 Damage you own, lose 1 VP. When gained, put into play." DAMAGE - ENERGY LEAK, Basic. "On your turn, play this card before any other card in your hand. Lose 1 Energon if you have 3 or more. End of Game: For every 2 Damage you own, lose 1 VP. When gained, put into your discard pile.")

When you gain a Damage card, draw 1 card from the top of the Damage stack and determine what type it is. If it's a Blast Wound, place it faceup near your character card. Too many Blast Wounds will impair your ability to Assist, reducing your Power by 1 for every 2 that you control. If it's an Energy Leak, place the card in your discard pile. When you draw an Energy Leak into your hand, you must play this card before you can play any other cards. When you do, it will cause you to lose 1 Energon if you control 2 or more. Keep in mind that playing cards is optional, so if your Damage threshold is a concern, you could choose to not play any cards during your turn, and then discard them all at the end.

You have options to repair your Damage, such as playing Patch, which allows you to return a Damage you control to the stack. When you return a Damage, place it in a discard pile next to the Damage stack and only shuffle the discard pile when you need to draw a Damage and the stack is empty. Destroying a Damage card does not return it to the stack and instead removes it from the game. If the Damage stack and discard pile are ever empty, no additional Damage can be gained until more Damage is returned.

Cooperative Schemes

These cards provide significant challenges to the players during Co-op and Solo games, but they can be thwarted with the right strategy. There is no reward for thwarting a Cooperative Scheme, but removing one from the Matrix will make achieving your objectives that much easier. Place an "Ongoing" or "Start of Turn" token on a Scheme once it is faceup, depending on what sort of text the card has. Do not use Cooperative Schemes in TvT games.

(Example card: REACTOR COOLANT FAILURE, Cooperative Scheme. "Ongoing: If you move onto a Site, lose 2 Energon and gain 1 Damage. To Thwart: Contribute 3 Technology cards with different costs.")

THWART: Most Scheme cards require a character to be on the card's space to thwart it. If it does not say you need to be on the card's space to thwart it, you can thwart it from any space in the Matrix. However, to "contribute" something to a Scheme requires the character to be on that card.

CONTRIBUTE: While your character is on a Scheme during your turn, take the required resource of the appropriate type and cost from your hand (or Vault, if so specified) and place it underneath the Scheme. You cannot contribute cards that do not advance the thwarting of the Scheme, nor can you contribute cards outside of your hand unless otherwise specified.

For example, if a Scheme such as Reactor Coolant Failure can be thwarted by contributing 3 Technology cards of different costs, you cannot contribute a Bold card as a means to get rid of one of your Starters. Each card must be contributed directly from your hand, not from in play. Cooperative Schemes that require players to contribute multiple resources may be accomplished by multiple players over multiple turns until finally thwarted. It doesn't have to all be contributed at once. However, each contribution must still be made by the active player during their own turn. For example, in the previously mentioned scenario, you could move onto Reactor Coolant Failure and place 1 Technology card with cost 3 under the Scheme. Then the next player may move onto the Scheme and follow suit with a cost 2 card, and so on, until it's thwarted.

Cooperative / Solo Mode

Co-op mode can be played by 1-4 players with either faction, working together to defeat all 3 Adversary Bosses before the game ends per the normal rules. Solo games (1 player) use the same rules as Co-op, but there won't be any Assisting. In addition to these rules, a Co-op Reference card is available as a useful guide as you setup and play this mode.

Co-op / Solo Setup

The setup for Co-op and Solo games follows the same steps as a TvT game (on page 4), with the following modifications:

• When choosing a character, players can all be Autobots or all be Decepticons, but not a mixture of both.
• For Step 3, in addition to shuffling 1 Level 1 Polity into the top 12 cards of the main deck, also shuffle in 1 random Cooperative Scheme.
• For Step 7, only shuffle 1 Adversary Boss into each of the first 3 stacks (1 of each Level), along with the 1 Polity per stack. Do not add non-Adversary Bosses.
• Shuffle 1 random Cooperative Scheme into each of the first 3 stacks as well. Remove the other 2 from the game without looking at them.
• For Step E under Individual Player Setup, remove all Missions from the game that do not say Co-Op or Solo (depending on your mode). Then shuffle and deal 2 Missions per player and add the rest to a single facedown stack above the Matrix. In a Solo game, deal out 3 Missions instead.

(Example Mission cards: REMOVE THE FALLEN - TvT, Co-op, Solo. "Objective - Team: Clear the last clearable Ruin in the Matrix. End of Game: If in your play area or Mission deck, -1 VP. Vault: 2 VP at end of game." SET A TRAP - TvT. "Objective: Trigger an Ambush (through any means) against an Adversary character during your turn. End of Game: If in your play area or Mission deck, -1 VP. Vault: 2 VP at end of game.")

Co-op / Solo Special Rules

Most of the rules for playing TvT apply to Co-op and Solo games, with the modifications noted below.

• No scorekeeping: There are no VP in Co-op and Solo mode, and VP does not convert to Energon as it did in previous sets. When you would gain VP from a card effect or defeating an Adversary, ignore the reward and gain nothing instead.
• Polities: When you flip a Polity faceup during the game, immediately put a Command token on it, flipped to the Adversary's side. You cannot Confront an Adversary Boss while a Polity is under the command of your Adversary.
• Missions: Each incomplete Mission your team controls adds 1 Power to the cost to defeat the Level III Boss. This variable can change at any time up through Step 7 of a Confrontation. You will want to complete as many Missions you control as possible before confronting the final Boss in order to reduce that penalty. You can ignore Missions in the Mission deck, vault and discard pile when calculating this.
• At the end of your turn, you may discard 1 Mission you control if (and only if) the Mission deck is not empty. If you do, you must immediately draw another one. You cannot draw a new Mission unless you first discard one. The only way to reduce the number of Missions you control is to complete them. You still place completed Missions in your vault, even though they do not score VP.
• When placing a Boss revealed from the main deck during the End of Turn Phase, you cannot destroy a faceup Scheme, nor any Polity under the command of your Adversary.
• If you reveal a Co-Op Scheme from the main deck during your End of Turn Phase, do not destroy it. Instead, swap it with any facedown card in the Matrix. Place the new Scheme faceup in the Matrix and place the card you are replacing on top of the main deck without looking at it. Then, destroy the bottom card of the main deck. In the rare instance that there are no facedown cards in the Matrix, destroy the Scheme.
• How to Win or Lose: Your team wins if they defeat or destroy all 3 Bosses before the game ends. If the game ends before you can accomplish that, your team loses.

Customizing Your Game

This game can be combined with previously released sets, allowing you to customize your experience by bringing in characters and cards from the Transformers Deck-Building Game: Core Set and its many expansions (Core Set (standalone), A Rising Darkness (standalone expansion), Infiltration Protocol (expansion), Dawn of the Dinobots (expansion)). Feel free to customize your game to tell the story you want to play. To do so, simply swap out any number of Bosses, Robots, Technologies, Maneuvers, Sites, Allies, and Relics with cards from other sets that have a similar card type and cost. For example, you can replace a 5-cost Maneuver card from this set with a 5-cost Maneuver from the Core Set. If playing with a character (or Boss) who cares about a certain 'subtype' of card (e.g., Mini-Cassettes, Dinobots, etc), be sure to include Robot cards featuring those subtypes.

Your main deck (before building the Matrix) should always start with 12 Autobots, 12 Decepticons, 16 Maneuvers, 16 Technology, 6 Relics (TvT), 5 Sites (not including the 4 Polities), 6 Allies, and any Schemes you want (Co-Op). These cards should be equally spread across the full range of available costs where applicable.

Regardless of which cards you choose to integrate, use the TvT and Co-op rules for War on Cybertron as your default rules set, especially if you are playing with Polities, Missions, and Ruins, which are unique to this game. If you are just bringing over characters and main deck cards from this set to another standalone set, you can use the rules for that set instead.

You may also incorporate Damage cards from other sets, but leave out other basic cards like Roll Out! Simply shuffle the 5 cards of each Damage type into the existing Damage stack (don't swap them out). Do not include standard Damage from the Core Set or A Rising Darkness unless you plan to play a Competitive mode game using the rules from those sets.

For Co-Op mode, if you include Schemes from other sets, use only those that are appropriate to your faction. If playing as Autobots, for example, you can use Decepticon Schemes and Cooperative Schemes, but not Autobot Initiatives.

Clarifications

The Golden Rule

If a card's text contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. Consider every rule in the game to also have the text "unless a card says otherwise." If two cards contradict each other, the "can't do it" takes precedence over the "can do it."

Adversary Text: Any cards that reference "Adversary" are referring to the opposing faction, and may refer to a player, character, or card, depending on the context. When playing as an Autobot, for example, Decepticon players are your Adversaries, and Decepticon Bosses and Robots are Adversary cards you may battle. Likewise, you are considered an Adversary to an opposing faction when dealing with them. If a Decepticon player, Boss, or Encounter uses the term "Adversary," it's referring to you, the Autobot player, or your character in the Matrix.

Bold (Starter): Card effects on cards from other sets that refer to Courage and Wrath cards also refer to Bold. Bold is interchangeable with both for game text purposes.

Crystal City: Crystal City is three card types in one: a Relic, a Site, and a Ruin. Any game text that references one of these card types will be relevant to this card as well. The Ongoing effect is only active when the card is faceup in the Matrix. If you buy it, immediately place the card in your Vault. If you clear it instead, gain the reward listed, then destroy the card and place it in the main deck destroyed pile.

Menasor: Menasor's Start of Turn effect impacts all Adversary players during the active Adversary player's turn, not just the active Adversary player.

Prowl (Character): Prowl's 1 Energon ability allows you to draw 1 card from your deck or 1 Mission from your team's Mission deck. If you draw a card from your deck, place another card from your hand on top of your deck. If you draw a Mission, place another Mission you control on top of the Mission deck. You must have a valid card to replace the card you draw or else you can't activate this effect.

Toxic War Zone: This Ruin cannot be "cleared" by any effect, though an effect or game rule that allows you to destroy a card (such as a Boss being revealed from the main deck) can destroy a Ruin. You cannot move onto this Ruin, or be moved onto it by another player or card effect, unless the card effect allows you to ignore the Ruin's Ongoing effect (like Key to Vector Sigma).

Game Tips

• Buy early, battle later: During your first few turns of the game, buying new cards to improve your deck is more important than defeating Adversaries, unless you want to prevent an opposing player from getting a specific card. Defeating Adversaries doesn't improve your deck, so if you spend too many early turns collecting VPs, you will be ill-equipped to Confront Bosses when they appear, and they are worth far more.
• Communicate: Whether you are playing TvT or Co-op, communication is key. During any game, there will be several opportunities to work together for mutual gain. You might think you don't have the Power to defeat a Boss or enough cards to thwart a Scheme, but with a little help from your teammate, you just might!
• Stay close to Bosses: When Bosses appear in the Matrix, it's a good idea to end each of your turns near the Boss. That way, if anyone attempts to battle them, you might be able to Assist (or defend!). Conversely, if an Adversary player is on or near a Boss, find a way to move them further away or battle Adversaries on the other side of the Matrix so they won't be in range to Assist.
• Don't sabotage your teammates: In either mode, try to avoid flipping cards faceup in spaces where your teammates are present, so they won't be Ambushed. In Co-op, flipping too many cards faceup will also lead to uncovering more Schemes, which can really hurt! But, late in the game you need to find the Bosses before time runs out.
• Clear Ruins for Energon: When Energon is scarce, clearing Ruins is a great way of recharging your supply. You should also strategically play your Resupply cards when you can gain the maximum benefit.
• Command Polities early: Taking command of Polities early can be beneficial on two fronts: gaining valuable abilities when on or near a Polity you command and making Polities more difficult for your Adversary players to take command of. And at the end of the game, those extra VP can make the difference in the war!
• Stay on top of your Missions: In the heat of battle, it can be easy to forget about your Missions, but doing so can be costly, as each Mission you fail to complete or discard will cost you 1 VP. It's a good idea to look over your Missions often and discard any that seem unlikely to be completed.

Quick Reference (back cover)

Turn Sequence

Action Phase:

1. Resolve any Start of Turn effects, in any order.
2. Then do any of the following actions in any order: Play a card from your hand to generate Power and Move (resolve any game text immediately); Move your character; Search your current space; Buy or Battle cards within Range of your character; Activate Energon Abilities; Convert an Adversary Boss (once per turn); Utilize a Site or Command a Polity; Clear a Ruin; Complete a Mission.

End of Turn Phase:

1. Refill the Matrix OR Destroy the top card of the main deck. (If a Boss, see exception on page 6.)
2. Discard your hand of cards and any cards you played this turn. You may Vault Relic cards instead of discarding them.
3. Remove all "-1 Move" tokens from your character and cards.
4. You may discard 1 Mission you control. If you have 1 or 0 Missions, draw 1 Mission from your faction's Mission stack (if any).
5. Draw a new hand of 5 cards.

Battle a Robot or Boss

Move onto (or within Range of) an Adversary Robot or Boss and resolve an Ambush, if applicable. If you are not confronting a Boss, ignore the red text (the Boss-only text, printed in red on the original reference).

1. Play cards to generate Power; Activate desired, legal Energon abilities (including Confront abilities); Declare intent to battle along with your current Power total.
2. In turn order, Adversary players and your teammates may play Assists facedown to help defend or defeat the Adversary.
3. Shuffle all 10 Encounter cards together, then draw the top card and resolve the Confrontation text. If a card you control is destroyed during this step, you lose the Power generated by that card.
4. Flip over and resolve defensive Assists first, adding that Power to the cost to defeat this Boss. Players may activate any Energon abilities on defensive Assist cards they have played, including those with the keyword "Assist."
5. Resolve all teammate Assists, even if this generates Power beyond what you need to defeat the Adversary. To resolve an Assist, flip it faceup and add its Power to your own total. Assisting players, in turn order, may also choose to activate Energon abilities on any resolved Assist cards they have played, including ones with the keyword "Assist."
6. If you still need additional Power, you may activate legal, unused Energon abilities.
7. If your collective Power total is equal to or greater than the Adversary's cost (including potential Encounter modifications and defensive Assists), you have defeated it. Gain the reward listed at the bottom of the card, and then place the card into your Vault, facedown. Then draw a Ruin card and place it faceup in the empty space where the Adversary was defeated and resolve the card's Reveal effect.
8. If the battle is not successful, the Adversary remains in play and you do not earn any reward.
9. All Assist cards are discarded, whether they were resolved or not.
10. Discard all cards you have played to this point.
11. End your turn.

Game End Conditions

The game ends immediately when one of these occur:

1. Any single player controls 5+ Damage.
2. All non-destroyed Ruins are in the Matrix.
3. All 3 Bosses from one faction have been defeated or destroyed.
4. The main deck is empty when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed, if the Matrix is full).

End Game Scoring

Count VP scored during the game, plus:

1. Add up the costs of all Adversaries in your Vault. You earn 1 VP for every multiple of 5 you count.
2. Add VP from Relics and Missions in your Vault.
3. Earn 1 VP for every 5 Energon you have.
4. Remove 1 VP for every 2 Damage you own.
5. If the player who controlled 5+ Damage was the active player, they lose 3 VP.

The team with the most combined VP is the winner!