Transformers Deck-Building Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Objective
• The Basics
• Anatomy of a Character Card
• Anatomy of a Main Deck Card
• Setting Up the Game
  • The Matrix and the Main Deck
  • Your Player Area
• Playing the Game
  • Turn Sequence
  • Adversaries
• Playing Cards
  • Spending Move
  • Spending Power
  • Spending Energon
  • Destroying Cards
• Dealing with Adversaries
  • Attacks
  • Blocks
  • Ambushes
  • Encounter Cards
  • Battling Adversaries
  • Confrontations
• How to Battle
• Assisting
• Victory Points and Your Vault
• Game End
  • End Game Scoring
  • Tiebreakers
• Miscellaneous Rules
  • Control vs Own
  • Shuffling Your Deck
  • Discarding Cards
  • Targeted Effects
  • Ongoing and Start of Turn
  • Flipping Cards Faceup and Peeking
• Example of Play - A Basic Turn
• Example of Play - Confronting a Boss
• Types of Cards
  • Character Cards
  • Main Deck Cards
  • Basic Cards
• Schemes in More Detail
• Cooperative / Solo Mode
  • Setting Up a Co-op Game
  • Co-op Rules Modifications
• Tips for Playing
• Specific Card Clarifications

Contents

• 85 Main Deck Cards
• 6 Oversized Character Cards
• 40 VP Tokens
• 50 Starter Cards
• 6 Decepticon Boss Cards
• 15 Tracking Tokens
• 36 Basic Cards
• 5 Reference Cards
• 8 Reminder Tokens
• 10 Encounter Cards
• 42 Small Energon Cubes (1s)
• 8 Large Energon Cubes (5s)
• 6 Player Standees with bases

Objective

In a Competitive game, the Autobots are participating in a friendly competition to determine who is the best of the best. Earn Victory Points (called "VP" from now on) by defeating Decepticons (your Adversaries), thwarting Schemes, and acquiring powerful Relics. These 3 card types go into your Vault, a score pile separate from your deck and discard pile. When a game ends, reveal your Vault to score additional VP. The player with the most VP wins the game!

In a Cooperative (Co-op) or Solo game, the players work together or alone to defeat all the Adversaries and earn a group victory, while trying to avoid taking too much Damage and losing the game.

No matter which style you play, the game ends after 3 Decepticon Bosses have been defeated or destroyed, or when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed from the top of the main deck) but the main deck is empty.

The Basics

Each player starts the game with their own personal 10-card deck and seeks to improve it by buying more powerful cards from a randomized layout of cards known as the Matrix. The Matrix starts out as a field of facedown cards for you to explore and find cards to buy or battle. Most cards you play grant some combination of Power you can use to gain new cards and defeat adversaries, Range to use that Power at a distance, and Move to travel around and search the Matrix.

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 get stronger and stronger.

Your character in the Matrix is represented by an Autobot standee. When you are on a space with a faceup card, you may buy or battle that card if you have enough Power to do so. Buying cards will improve your deck, while battling Decepticons will earn you VP and other rewards. Choosing between these two options will be an important decision throughout the game.

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

Anatomy of a Character Card

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.

1. The character's name.
2. The mode for this side of the character card.
3. Game text ability when in Bot Mode.
4. The two Energon abilities available when in Bot Mode.
5. The Move value this character has when in Alt Mode.
6. Game text ability when in Alt Mode.
7. In Alt Mode, characters (active and Assisting) have reduced Power when battling Adversaries. Convert to avoid this!

Anatomy of a Main Deck Card

The main deck includes several different types of cards: Ally, Basic, Co-op Scheme, Encounter, Maneuver, Relic, Decepticon Scheme, Site, Starter, Technology, Robot (Autobot and Decepticon), and Decepticon Boss. All cards have some or all of the following features:

• 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 (Jazz is a Robot, with the faction Autobot).
• G. Game text ability.
• H. Energon ability.
• I. Reward received for defeating this card if it were an Adversary.

Setting Up the Game

Note: A Co-op or Solo game follows most of these setup instructions, but further modifications for these modes can be found in the Cooperative / Solo Mode section.

1. Set aside the following card types in their own faceup stacks: Decepticon Boss, Starter, Basic, and Encounter. These will be needed later in the setup.

The Matrix and the Main Deck

2. Create the main deck. Shuffle together all Ally, Maneuver, Relic, Decepticon Scheme, Site, Technology and Robot card types (both Autobot and Decepticons) in a facedown deck. Co-op Schemes are not used in a competitive game.

   Note: If this is your very first time playing, we recommend you remove all Decepticon Schemes and place them back into the box. You can add them back in for your second game.

3. The number of players in the game determines both the number of cards which will make up the Matrix and its dimensions.

   • a. 1-2 Players: 3x4 (12 card Matrix)
   • b. 3-4 Players: 4x4 (16 card Matrix)
   • c. 5 Players: 4x5 (20 card Matrix)

   Create the Matrix by placing cards from the main deck FACEDOWN until they match the dimensions listed above. 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.

4. Once the initial Matrix has been created, 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:

   • 1 Player - 7 cards each
   • 2 Players - 9 cards each
   • 3 Players - 11 cards each
   • 4 Players - 13 cards each
   • 5 Players - 15 cards each

5. Then make a 4th facedown stack with only 5 cards. Return all the remaining main deck cards to the box without looking at them. They will not be used this game.

6. Sort the 6 Decepticon Boss cards into 3 piles, according to their level (I, II, III - look in the upper right corner). Shuffle one random Boss card from each level into each of the three equal-sized stacks. The level 1 Boss is shuffled into stack #1, level 2 into stack #2, and level 3 into stack #3. Place the remaining 3 Boss cards back into the box without looking at them.

   Stack sizes for a 2-player game: Stack 1 has 9 cards plus 1 Level I Boss, Stack 2 has 9 cards plus 1 Level II Boss, Stack 3 has 9 cards plus 1 Level III Boss, and Stack 4 always has 5 cards.

7. Place Stack 3 on top of Stack 4, Stack 2 on top of that, and Stack 1 on top of the others. Don't shuffle the stacks together! Then, place the completed main deck next to the Matrix.

8. On the other side of the Matrix, make a vertical row of 3 stacks: 16 faceup Roll Out! cards, 10 facedown Encounter cards (shuffle this stack), and 20 faceup Damage cards.

9. Place all of the Energon cubes, VP tokens, and Reminder tokens near the Matrix, within reach of all players.

Your Player Area

Each player does the following:

1. Determines which Autobot they will play this game. All character cards start the game with their Alt Mode side faceup.
2. Finds the Autobot standee that matches their chosen character and places it on top of their character card.
3. Takes 2 small Energon cubes from the general supply and places them near their character card. This is their personal supply.
4. Takes 3 '-1 Move/+1 Power' tokens for marking cards during their turn. These tokens are just for convenience, so share as needed.
5. From the Starter cards, takes 6 Courage, 1 Firepower, 1 Patrol, 1 Fix, and 1 Reserves to form their personal 10-card starting deck.
6. Shuffles their deck, then draws 5 cards to form their starting hand of cards.
7. Takes one Reference card and places it near their character card.

Then determine the starting player: whoever most recently watched or read anything Transformers goes first, or you may choose at random. Now you are ready to play.

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, and battling adversaries. When battling, other players may be able to assist you.

ON YOUR FIRST TURN OF THE GAME ONLY: Place your standee on any space in the Matrix. Do not flip over the card you land on. You must use Move and/or card effects to flip cards in the Matrix faceup.

Turn Sequence

Action Phase

On your turn, you may 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 Autobot into an adjacent space by spending 1 Move.
• Search your current space by spending 1 Move.
• Buy or Battle cards within Range of your Autobot by spending Power equal to the card's cost.
• Activate Energon Abilities on cards you control and your character, but each may be activated only once per turn.
• Convert by spending 1 Energon to flip your character card to the other side.
• Confront a Decepticon Boss (once per turn).

End of Turn

When you are done taking actions, follow these steps to end your turn:

1. Announce that your turn is over. Any remaining Power and Move is lost.

2. Refill the Matrix:

   • If there are any 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 (4x3, etc).
   • However, if there are no empty spaces in the Matrix to refill, reveal the top card from the main deck.
     • If it's 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 one faceup card in the Matrix that is not an Adversary or Scheme. If there are none, then flip up and destroy any one facedown card, even if it is a Boss. Place the newly-arriving Boss faceup in the now-empty space. Finally, resolve any Reveal Attacks and an Ambush as per the normal rules for Bosses.

   Note: 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. See Game End for end game scoring.

3. Discard your hand of cards and remove all "-1 Move" tokens from your character. Then, keep all cards with the Ongoing keyword as well as all Ally cards next to your character card, and discard the rest of your played cards. While discarding Relic cards, you may instead choose to place them facedown into your Vault so that they score VP at the end of the game. Vaults are explained further in Victory Points and Your Vault.

4. Draw a new hand of 5 cards. If your draw deck is empty when you need to draw a card, shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck and then continue drawing.

Adversaries

Autobots and Decepticons are adversaries to each other, and the term is used to reference the opposing faction. As Autobots, both Decepticon Bosses and Decepticon Robots are your Adversaries that you may battle, and in this context "Adversary" and "Decepticon" may be used interchangeably. Any of your cards that reference Adversary are referring to Decepticons.

However, you are also considered an "Adversary" to Decepticons when dealing with them, as well as with their Encounters and Schemes. If a Decepticon Boss, Scheme, or Encounter uses the term Adversary, it's referring to you, the Autobot player, or your character in the Matrix.

Playing Cards

As you play cards from your hand into your playing area, you will collect Power and Move. You do not have to spend these right away: simply add them up as you play your cards.

If you play a card that has game text, resolve it immediately. For example, if you play Roll Out! and you wish to use its "You may Convert" effect, you must do it immediately, before playing other cards. Moreover, some game text requires certain conditions. For example, Roll Out! also says "Assist: +1 Power." This text only applies when you play this card to Assist another player during a battle against an Adversary. Some Energon abilities have similar keywords.

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, or to search a space (flip a card in your space faceup). 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.

MOVE: A Move value of 1 will allow your Autobot to move from one space to an adjacent space. Normally, you can only move orthogonally in the four cardinal directions: up, down, left, or right (not diagonally), unless a card says otherwise.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, whenever a player moves onto a faceup Adversary, they will be Ambushed. This is explained in further detail under Dealing with Adversaries.

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

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

When you spend the Move on 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 one point at a time. These tokens are only there as a convenience to help keep track.

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 to any space in the Matrix (unless otherwise stated) without spending Move and without triggering Ambushes. Some Teleport abilities will place a limit on how far you may Teleport, such as "Teleport 1 space" or "Teleport to adjacent space," and that distance is always measured orthogonally. When you Teleport into a space with a faceup Adversary, you do not trigger an Ambush.

Spending Power

You may use the Power on cards you play to buy or battle faceup cards in the Matrix underneath or within Range of your character. 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 buy or battle, reduce your current Power by the cost of those cards. You may continue to buy and battle cards as long as you have Power to spend. If a card you played is destroyed, you lose any unspent Power (and Move) from it.

RANGE: Range is the number of orthogonal spaces away from your Autobot at which a card's Power can be used. 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 Autobot and the target (including the target's 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 Autobot. Therefore, when buying or battling a card 1 or more spaces away, each card 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.

Range is also used for determining distance when using a card to Block an Attack.

Example of Range: In the example shown in the manual, you could battle Rumble from your current position in the Matrix using Helping Hand, which has the necessary Power at Range 2 to reach the target. But you could not battle Brawl without moving 1 space closer, since Hound and Roll Out! are only Range 1, and you'd need their Power to defeat him. Likewise, you could buy Teletraan 1 with Helping Hand, Hound and Roll Out!, but if you wanted to buy More Than Meets the Eye, you'd need to move onto that card's space so that the Power from your Courage (Range 0) could be used to meet the cost. Finally, you could use any combination of these cards to buy Energon Drill in your space (adding up to 3 Power), since all cards have at least Range 0.

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 Autobot, by meeting the cost requirement for each card you wish to acquire. The cost of each card is shown in the upper left corner and ranges from 2 up 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 Autobot Robots. You can also buy Roll Out! (a basic card) regardless of where your Autobot is located. Cards you buy go to your discard pile.

Note: You cannot buy Adversary cards, such as a Decepticon Robot or Boss, or any card without a cost, such as a Site. Cards like Decepticon Robots have Power and game text you cannot use unless you are able to add them to your deck with a card like Matrix of Leadership. However, as Autobots, you'll primarily battle these cards to gain the reward at the bottom and put them in your Vault. In future expansions, you'll be able to play as Decepticons with the option to buy these cards and add them to your deck.

GAINING 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 go to your discard pile, except for Ally and Damage cards, which go faceup in front of you.

BATTLING A CARD: You can spend power to battle Adversaries in an attempt to defeat them. Battling is explained in more detail under Dealing with Adversaries.

Spending Energon

Energon is the fuel that Robots use to drive their 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.

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).

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 a character card that provides an increase in Power (such as Bumblebee's +1 Power effect), that increase persists throughout that turn even if the character later converts to Alt Mode.

Confront and Assist Abilities: Some Energon abilities are preceded by the word "Confront" or "Assist," and may only be used during battles. Confront Energon abilities may only be activated by the active player during Step 4 of a Confrontation, and Assist Energon abilities may only be activated when you are Assisting the active player during a battle against an Adversary. If game text uses the word "Confront" or "Assist," but it's not an Energon ability, then that text resolves immediately if you are currently Confronting or Assisting. Learn more about battling adversaries under Dealing with Adversaries.

Note: Each Energon ability may be activated only once per turn. Place spent Energon next to activated abilities as a reminder and return spent Energon back to the supply at the end of each player's turn.

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 will 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 sequence when the Matrix is full. When a main deck card is destroyed, it's placed into a faceup pile of cards next to the main deck. Other destroyed cards (Starter, Roll Out!, Damage) should be put off to the side, out of sight, or returned to the box.

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/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.

Dealing with Adversaries

Autobots and Decepticons are adversaries to each other. One of the primary ways to gain VP is battling your Adversaries, especially Decepticon Bosses. Doing so comes with a degree of risk, from gaining Damage to having a valuable card destroyed just when you thought you were certain to win the fight! This section explains the process of battling Decepticon Robots and Bosses, including Confronting and Assisting, as well as how to deal with Ambushes, Attacks and Blocks.

Attacks

An Attack is indicated by the word "Attack:" or "Reveal Attack:" on a card, followed by a negative effect on 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 player or every player. Attacks that are the result of an Ambush or Boss reveal are described in detail below.

Blocks

Attacks can be avoided by discarding a card with the Block keyword from your hand or 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 player. 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 Effect: Some cards with Block have additional text preceded by a colon (:), such as "Block: Draw 1 card." 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 during your own turn, ignore the Block effect text that follows the colon and only resolve the other text on the card.

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 be in play during your turn to activate them.

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. Blocking an Attack is always optional.

Ambushes

ROBOT AMBUSH: When an Adversary Robot is revealed in a space (flipped faceup) where one or more Autobots 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 Autobots in that space. If you flip an Adversary Robot faceup and no Autobots occupy that space, no Ambush occurs.

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

BOSS AMBUSH AND REVEAL ATTACK: When a Boss is revealed (flipped faceup) in a space, instead of resolving an Ambush, first resolve the Boss's "Reveal Attack" against each player in the Matrix, regardless of their Autobot's location. The Boss card may also tell you to "then resolve an Ambush," in which case you also draw an Encounter card and resolve the Ambush text against each player in the Matrix, even if they are not in the same space as the Boss.

Note: Blocking a Reveal Attack does not prevent the subsequent Ambush draw, as they are two separate events.

As with Decepticon Robots, if you move your Autobot onto a Boss that is already faceup, an Ambush occurs; only the moving Autobot is Ambushed, not any Autobots 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. However, other players affected by the 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: Avoiding an Ambush does not include the "Reveal Attack" on a Boss.

Encounter Cards

An Encounter card is drawn whenever a player is Ambushed or when initiating a Confrontation against a Boss. When drawn, resolve either the text at the top or bottom of the card (not both), based 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.

When Confronting, 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 hand to avoid Attacks.

Note: It's possible you will draw two 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. Fully resolve one Encounter before drawing and resolving the next.

Battling Adversaries

When you battle an Adversary, 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 must move onto an Adversary Robot or Boss to battle it, you get Ambushed and must draw an Encounter card to resolve its Ambush effect. If you are battling a Boss, you will also need to deal with a Confrontation effect (drawing a new Encounter card), which can make it much harder to defeat that Adversary.
• Other players may be able to assist you in this battle to earn the reward at the bottom of the card. Learn more about Assisting below.
• 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. Your Vault is explained under Victory Points and Your Vault. At the end of the game, you'll earn additional VP for Adversaries in your Vault. Any player who Assisted you also gains the reward, but not the card in their Vault.
• You cannot battle non-Adversary cards like Autobot Robots unless a Scheme or other effect says otherwise (like Divided Loyalties). Autobot Robots have a reward for defeating them, which will be more relevant when playing Decepticons in future expansions. As Autobots, you'll mostly buy them to add to your deck.

Confrontations

When battling a Decepticon Boss, you are initiating a Confrontation that requires you to draw and resolve an Encounter card to resolve its Confrontation effect. This effect may significantly increase the cost to defeat that Boss, so it may be wise to have more Power available than the printed cost. Confrontation steps are included and explained in How to Battle below.

Note: You only Confront Adversary Bosses, not Adversary Robots, unless a card says otherwise (like the scheme All-Out Assault).

How to Battle

On your turn, do the following steps in order:

1. Move onto (or within Range of) an Adversary and then resolve an Ambush if applicable.

2. Play cards to generate Power, and activate any desired non-Confront/non-Assist Energon abilities. Then declare your intent to battle along with your current Power total.

   Note: If this is a Boss, be sure to include the additional Confrontation steps below. Otherwise, ignore those steps.

3. If you control Damage, other players may each place one of their cards in hand facedown to Assist you at this time. The card they place must be able to generate at least 1 Power and have enough Range to reach the Adversary's space. If no players Assist you, you may decline to battle and spend your Power elsewhere. If at least 1 player Assists you, you must continue the battle. Note: If this is not a Boss, and you have no Damage, no player may Assist you, even if you want them to.

   Confrontation: Other players may place Assists whether you control Damage or not.

   Confrontation: 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. Choose and resolve a number of facedown Assists equal to the number of Damage cards you control (if any), 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.

   Confrontation: If your Power total is not enough to defeat the Adversary after resolving any required Assists, you must resolve Assist cards placed by other players (if any), one at a time. Stop resolving additional Assists once your total Power meets or exceeds the cost of the Adversary.

   Confrontation: After resolving Assists, if you still need additional Power, you may activate unused Energon abilities, including ones with the keyword "Confront."

5. Assisting players, in turn order, may optionally activate Energon abilities on any resolved Assist cards they have played, including ones with the keyword "Assist."

6. If your collective power total is equal to or greater than the Adversary's cost (including potential Encounter modifications), you have defeated it. Gain the rewards listed at the bottom of the card, and then place the card into your Vault, facedown. Each player whose legal Assist you resolved also gains the reward, while players whose Assists were not flipped faceup gain nothing. Only the active player puts the defeated Adversary into their Vault. If the battle is not successful, the Adversary remains in play and no one earns any reward.

7. When you have concluded a battle, discard all non-Ongoing cards (or optionally place Relics in your Vault) you have played so far during your turn. All of the Power and Move you have generated up to that point in your turn are lost. All Assist cards are also discarded, whether they were resolved or not.

Assisting

Other players will be looking for opportunities to Assist you when battling Adversaries, as they want to earn the same reward as you while playing only a single card. You may welcome this if you can't take down the Adversary on your own, but in many circumstances their help will not be desired. The time for other players to Assist is when you control Damage or when Confronting a Boss. If you have Damage, you will have no choice but to accept at least some of their help, if they offer it. If you are Confronting a Boss, they may place an Assist regardless of Damage, in the hopes that you'll need their help once the Encounter card is revealed.

Each player who wants to Assist may choose (in clockwise order) to place one card facedown in front of them during Step 3 of the battle sequence. Any card in 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 it has) with enough Range to reach the Adversary's space. They can keep the precise Power of their Assist card secret or announce it to try to convince you to resolve their card first.

If a card played to Assist has an Assist bonus keyword, that ability is now active. However, ignore Move, other game text and Energon abilities on Assist cards except for those that offer a Power bonus. Any non-Energon ability text on an Ally or character card that boosts your card's Power is also valid to use.

Reminder: Assisting is battling, and in Alt Mode is subject to the -1 Power penalty listed on the character card. Players can Convert to Bot Mode to avoid this.

Victory Points and Your Vault

When you defeat an Adversary, thwart a Scheme, or choose to store a Relic, add those cards to your Vault, instead of your discard pile, where it remains until the end of the game. Your Vault is a facedown card pile you create next to your discard pile. When you place a card into your Vault, adjust your VP accordingly:

1. Cards that read "Gain X VP" are gained immediately. Grab that many VP tokens. Make change if needed.
2. Cards that don't use the word "Gain" don't give you any immediate VP tokens, but will at the end of the game. See End Game Scoring for more details.

Game End

The game ends immediately when 1 of the following happens:

1. All 3 Bosses have been defeated or destroyed.
2. The main deck is empty when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed, if the Matrix is full).

Note: If you play a Relic during the last turn of the game, you will not have a chance to discard it as that happens too late during the End of Turn sequence.

End Game Scoring

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

• 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).
• Earn 1 VP for every 5 Energon you have, rounded down (so, 19 Energon = 3 VP).
• Add VP from your stored Relics and Schemes.
• Remove 1 VP from your score pile for every 2 Damage you control (Example: 3 Damage = Lose 1 VP).
• The player with the most VP is the winner!

Tiebreakers

1. Most Bosses defeated.
2. Most Energon.
3. If still tied, enjoy your shared victory!

Miscellaneous Rules

Control vs Own

Cards you play during your turn and cards that are in your play area on an Ongoing basis are all cards you "control." 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 never included in any sort of card count.

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.

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 mention where in the text.

Targeted Effects

Some cards use the word "target" to designate a recipient for an effect. A target can be a card, but it is typically a player, and that player can be you, if you so choose.

Ongoing and Start of Turn

A card like Ally, Boss, Damage and Scheme may have an 'Ongoing' or 'Start of Turn' effect. An Ongoing effect is always active and impacts only the active player during their turn. Start of Turn effects are resolved for the active player at the start of each of their turns. 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 Boss or Scheme will affect any player during their turn, unless the card says otherwise. Players can use the reminder tokens to better keep track of their Ongoing and Start of Turn effects.

Flipping Cards Faceup and Peeking

Some hidden cards allow you to interact with them. When you "peek" at a card, only 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 or the top card of a facedown deck. When you flip a card faceup, such as when you perform a Search or play Patrol, it is turned faceup for all to see, and remains faceup.

Example of Play - A Basic Turn

Playing as Bumblebee, it's your first turn of the game, and you are the second player to take a turn. You decide to place your Autobot onto a card at the edge of the Matrix. Since you are in Alt Mode, you now have 2 Move to spend from your character card. You place a '-1 Move' token on your character card to search the card underneath you. You flip up the Robot Jazz.

You play your hand of cards, which includes 3 Courage, 1 Reserves, and 1 Fix. As soon as you play Reserves, you gain 1 Energon, because you had 3 or fewer Energon at the time. The cards you played give you 3 Power, but Jazz costs 4 to buy. A plan comes to mind: You pay 1 Energon to flip Bumblebee from Alt Mode to Bot Mode. Before you flip your character card, your Alt Mode ability allows you to flip an adjacent card faceup, so you choose the card Ironhide is standing on.

That card turns out to be Thundercracker, a Decepticon! Since Ironhide is in that space, he is Ambushed, even though you flipped the card faceup. (If you had been in the space and searched it using 1 Move, you both would have been Ambushed.) The player controlling Ironhide draws an Encounter card and the Ambush effect reads: "Destroy 1 random card in your discard pile." With 6 cards in his discard pile, he decides he doesn't want to risk losing the good card he bought during his first turn, so he uses Ironhide's 2 Energon ability to Block that attack. He can do that since the text of that ability says it may be used during any player's turn.

Now that you're in Bot Mode, you have a 1-cost Energon ability: "+1 Power." You use 1 Energon to activate it, giving you 4 Power total. You buy Jazz and place him in your discard pile. Your Reserves and Fix cards each have 1 unspent Move—even though you only spent 1 of your 2 Move in Alt Mode, that extra Move is not available in Bot Mode.

You use Reserves to move to the corner space of the Matrix. You then use Fix to search the space you are in. You reveal a Site: the Small Energon Mine. You place 8 Energon on it from the general supply. It requires Move to collect this Energon, and you are out of that right now. You could Convert again to use the unused Move on your Alt Side, but you choose not to.

Instead, you pay 1 Energon to activate the Energon ability on your Fix card, and choose to destroy 1 of your Courage cards. Because you already spent the Power from that card, you do not lose any Power when destroying it.

You decide you want to take no more actions, so you proceed to the end of your turn. You place the top card of the main deck facedown into the empty space in the Matrix. You place the remaining 4 cards you control into your discard pile, and then draw a new hand of 5 cards. Lastly, you remove the '-1 Move' token from your character. Bumblebee remains in Bot Mode until the next time you Convert to Alt Mode. You announce that your turn is over.

Example of Play - Confronting a Boss

It's Bumblebee's turn and Starscream (a Decepticon Boss) is faceup in the Matrix. At the start of Bumblebee's turn, he must discard 1 card from his hand because of Starscream's Start of Turn effect. He chooses to discard Reserves, as it has no Power. Bumblebee is in Bot Mode and controls Ally: Spike Witwicky, so he already has 1 Power thanks to Bumblebee's Bot Mode game text. He plays a Courage, which gains an additional +2 Power from Spike's ability. Bumblebee plays most of his remaining cards, but holds the 2-cost Arcee Autobot in his hand since it has Block, and Bumblebee is about to fight Starscream. Bumblebee exhausts a Roll Out! to use its Move and moves 1 space to his left onto Starscream.

Bumblebee must draw an Encounter card because he moved onto a faceup Adversary. Wheeljack is on Starscream's space as well, but is not Ambushed because the Adversary was already faceup. The Ambush reads: "Attack: Lose 2 Energon." Bumblebee only has 2 Energon, so he decides this would be a good use for the Arcee Block. He discards Arcee to avoid the Attack and gains 2 Energon for doing so. Hopefully the Confrontation text won't be an Attack!

Bumblebee announces his Power total of 6 and declares a Confrontation against Starscream. Since he has 1 Damage, both of the other players know that he has to resolve at least one Assist. If they don't Assist, 4 Energon might enable Bumblebee to activate enough Energon abilities to defeat the Boss on his own, and that would put him in the lead. Wheeljack at Range 0 and then Optimus at Range 1 each place 1 card facedown as an Assist. Bumblebee shuffles all 10 Encounter cards together and draws a card to resolve the Confrontation text. The text is not an Attack, so Bumblebee is happy he used his Block on the Ambush. However, the Confrontation text reads: "Add 1 to this card's cost for each Energon you control. If none, gain 2 Damage." Bumblebee has 4 Energon, so Starscream's cost increases from 8 to 12!

Because Bumblebee controls 1 Damage, he must resolve at least 1 Assist. He chooses Wheeljack, since he has fewer VP than Optimus Prime does. Wheeljack is in Alt Mode and reveals a Courage for +1 Power. Since he is in Alt Mode, he has -1 Power while battling Adversaries. That Courage is currently worth 0 Power, so Wheeljack spends 1 Energon to Convert to Bot Mode and now his Courage is worth 1 Power. There is no Range stat on Courage, so that makes it Range 0, which only extends that Power to Wheeljack's own space. Since Wheeljack is in Starscream's space, this is a legal Assist, but not much help. Because the total Power of this Confrontation is currently only 7, Bumblebee must also resolve Optimus Prime's Assist, which is revealed to be Cliffjumper, an Autobot.

Optimus Prime is in Bot Mode and has the game text: "Each Autobot you play has +1 Power." That increases Cliffjumper's Power from 2 to 3, bringing the total Confrontation Power to 10. Cliffjumper's game text which could destroy a card does not resolve, as it doesn't increase the Power of the Assist.

With both Assists resolved, Bumblebee is still short 2 Power! He is now able to use Confront Energon abilities and any other Energon abilities he has not already used. Bumblebee spends 1 Energon to activate the Confront ability on his Courage, playing the top card of his deck. The card does not go into his hand, as no cards may be played from hand once a Confrontation is declared. (Discarding Arcee to Block was not "playing" the card.) The card he plays is a Roll Out!, which increases the total Power to 11. The Assist text is not relevant, as Bumblebee is Confronting, not Assisting.

Finally, Bumblebee activates the 1-cost Energon ability on his Bot Mode, giving him 1 Power. As this Power is not linked to a card he controls, it has a default Range of 0, which is fine since Bumblebee is in Starscream's space. With 12 Power Starscream is defeated! Wheeljack and Optimus Prime each gain 4 VP from the general supply as they each resolved a legal Assist. Bumblebee also gains 4 VP and places Starscream facedown into his Vault. Adversaries in your Vault will score you some additional VP at the end of the game, so he isn't too worried that his competitors also earned the VP. Now that the Confrontation has concluded, Bumblebee's turn is over.

Types of Cards

Character Cards

Your character has abilities on both sides of the card. In Bot Mode, each character has text at the top of their text box that is "always on." It could be a triggered effect that is looking for a game state (such as playing a particular card type) or a static effect that simply happens without any outside input. This text is active at all times while in this mode, unless it says "during your turn."

Several characters have game text that gives Power bonuses. For example, Wheeljack's Bot Mode reads: "Each Technology you play has +1 Power." This ability works whether it is your turn or if you are playing a Technology as an Assist during another player's turn. The Power bonus in either case applies to the card being played. Likewise, the ability is not granted to cards you control, only to cards that you play while that ability is active. So if Wheeljack plays a Technology in Alt Mode (where that +1 Power ability is not active), then Converts to Bot Mode, the bonus is not retroactively applied.

In general, Power NOT associated with playing a specific card has Range 0. For example, Bumblebee's game text reads: "During your turn, +1 Power for each Ally you control." Bumblebee also has an Energon ability reading: "+1 Power." In both cases, 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, as the Range of the card also applies to that Power and if an Encounter card or other effect destroys a card, the Power, Move, and all other effects go with it. As the Power of a token is spent, remove the token.

Bot Modes each have 2 different Energon abilities as well: One requires 1 Energon, while the other requires you to pay 2 Energon. As with any other Energon ability, you may activate each of these abilities only once during each of your turns. Energon abilities like Bumblebee's +1 Power remains available to spend even if you Convert to Alt Mode after activating it.

Main Deck Cards

Each main deck card has a card type listed in the middle of the card, right under the art. Each card type has a unique color to further help distinguish them from other cards.

Ally: These cards are squishy humans eager to join the fight, along with some of their equipment. When you buy an Ally, it immediately goes into play in front of you as an Ongoing or Start of Turn effect. You may control any number of Allies. Be aware that when some Decepticon Bosses appear, they will scare away your Ally cards (temporarily). All Allies are unique.

Cooperative Scheme: These cards provide significant challenges to the Autobots during Co-op and Solo games, but they can be thwarted by crafty players. There are no rewards for thwarting a Co-op Scheme other than helping out your team. All Co-op Schemes are unique and covered in more detail under Schemes in More Detail.

Decepticon Boss: Bosses are the big bad adversaries you can defeat to increase your VP. They have Reveal Attacks that affect all players when first revealed (flipped faceup), and may trigger an Ambush that affects all players as well. Most have Ongoing or Start of Turn effects that impact the active player until defeated. Use the "Start of Turn" and "Ongoing" tokens on Bosses when revealed to make it easier to tell when those abilities are active. When you Confront and defeat a Boss, you'll gain the Victory Points (VP) listed at the bottom of the card and then place it facedown in your Vault. Bosses as a card type are not considered Robots for purposes of game text. However, they are considered Decepticons. Boss can never be gained or bought, only defeated or destroyed. All Bosses are unique.

Decepticon Scheme: These are underhanded plots the Decepticons have put into motion. When you thwart one of these Schemes, it goes facedown into your Vault and you will earn the designated VP at the end of the game. These Schemes are used in both Competitive and Co-op games. All Decepticon Schemes are unique and covered in more detail under Schemes in More Detail.

Maneuver: These cards are combat abilities and effects that can be "learned" by buying the card. Transformers have spent millions of years perfecting their skills in combat, so look out! There are 2 copies of each Maneuver card.

Relic: These powerful cards can be bought, used, and then stored in your Vault. If you fail to store it before the game ends, you won't score the VP listed at the bottom. Some Relics must be destroyed to gain VP. Relics provide you a "press your luck" opportunity. They have powerful game text, but if you keep it 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. All Relics are unique.

Site: These are locations that cannot be bought but feature abilities that you can use when your character is in that space. Many Sites have an activated ability, where you may spend Move or Power to generate an effect or reward. Just like with an Energon ability, you may only activate it once during your turn. If a Site has no activation payment to make and the conditions are right, the effect automatically happens. All Sites are unique.

Technology: These equipment and utility cards will aid you in your endeavors, but as tools, they typically don't grant you additional Move. There are 2 copies of each Technology card.

Robots: There are 2 factions of Robots—Autobots and Decepticons. Autobots can be bought and placed in your discard pile to improve your deck. Decepticons are adversaries in this game, and must be battled instead. Once defeated, you'll gain the reward at the bottom of the card and then add it facedown to your Vault. Some card effects in this game allow you to gain a Decepticon to your deck (placing it in your discard pile), or battle an Autobot, but that is the exception. In future expansions with playable Decepticons, you'll be able to turn the tables and buy these Decepticons as well as battle the Autobots. All Robots are unique.

Basic Cards

Roll Out!: You may purchase cards from this stack during your turn no matter where you are in the Matrix. You may buy as many as you wish, as long as you have the Power to spend. The text "You may Convert" is an immediate optional effect that you pay no Energon to activate, as it is game text.

Damage: You will gain these cards from various hostile effects. When you gain Damage cards, place them faceup near your character card. Damage cards force you to accept help from other players, which allows them to profit from your battles against Adversaries with minimal effort on their part. At the end of the game, you'll lose 1 VP for every 2 Damage you control.

You have various options to repair your Damage, such as playing Fix. You "control" Damage cards if they are next to your character card. If you play a card that allows you to "destroy a card you control," you may destroy one of these Damage cards. Destroying a Damage does not return it to the stack and instead removes it from the game. Some card effects don't destroy Damage, but instead return them to the stack. If the Damage stack is empty, no Damage can be gained.

Schemes in More Detail

Decepticon Schemes are cards that cannot be bought, as they are plots and manipulations of your adversaries. Schemes affect all players. Place an "Ongoing" or "Start of Turn" token on a Scheme once it is faceup, depending on what sort of text the card has. Schemes are going to make life difficult for the Autobots, but they can be thwarted with some effort.

THWART: Some Scheme cards require an Autobot to be on the 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 Autobot to be on that card.

Decepticon Schemes are always thwarted by the active player during a single turn, unless the card specifies otherwise. When thwarted, place it facedown into your Vault. Because the reward text does not use the phrase "Gain X VP," the VP is only added to your score at the end of the game.

CONTRIBUTE: While your Autobot is on the Scheme during your turn (in Co-op games), take the required resource of the appropriate type/cost from your hand or personal supply of Energon and place it under/on the Scheme. You cannot contribute cards that do not advance the thwarting of the Scheme. For example, if a Scheme can be thwarted by placing 4 cards of different costs under it, you cannot contribute more than 1 card of each different cost.

Cooperative Schemes typically require players to contribute a resource and may be "worked on" by multiple players over multiple turns until finally thwarted. However, contributions are still made by the active player during their own turn. There is no reward for thwarting a Cooperative Scheme, but removing one from the Matrix will aid your team's cause greatly. Do not use Cooperative Schemes in Competitive games.

Cooperative / Solo Mode

Co-op mode can be played by 1-5 players, working together to defeat all 3 Bosses before the main deck runs out or before any one player sustains too much damage. Solo games (1 player) use the same rules as Co-op, but there won't be anyone to Assist you and you don't have any teammates to Assist.

Setting Up a Co-op Game

Follow the normal setup steps with these modifications:

1. Remove all Relics from the game.
2. Shuffle the 5 Cooperative Scheme cards and place 1 of them into each of the 3 larger Stacks (same as you do for each Boss card), then shuffle each stack. Place the other 2 Schemes back into the box without looking at them.
3. (Follow the normal Matrix and Main Deck setup steps.)
4. Some Cooperative Schemes require a specific number of Contributed cards in order to thwart them. "Contributed" cards get placed from the active player's hand underneath the Cooperative Scheme in question. Your Autobot must be in the same space as the Scheme to Contribute to it. Unlike Decepticon Schemes, a Cooperative Scheme does not need to be thwarted by a single player during a single turn. Multiple players may Contribute cards over a series of turns and they are free to Contribute more than one card if they wish. Contributed cards are public knowledge and may be examined at any time. Once thwarted, destroy the Cooperative Scheme along with any cards under it. Return contributed Energon to the general supply.
5. During the End of Turn sequence, if you are forced to destroy a facedown card in the Matrix and it's revealed to be another Boss, flip it faceup and destroy another card instead. Then resolve that Boss's Reveal Attack and Ambush (if any) before placing the Boss you drew from the main deck.
6. How to Lose: The game ends immediately (and all players lose) if any single player controls 5 or more Damage, or when a card needs to be added to the Matrix (or destroyed from the top of the main deck) and there aren't any there.
7. How to Win: Defeat or destroy all 3 Bosses before your team loses (see #6 above). You win or lose as a team.
8. Expert Mode Co-op/Solo: If you are a pro at Co-op games, or beat this game consistently, add this rule for a greater challenge: VP does not translate to Energon. So when you gain or lose VP in Expert Mode, you simply gain or lose nothing instead.

Solo Note: There are some Schemes, like All-Out-Assault, that you cannot thwart in Solo Mode, which increases the difficulty. For an easier game, you may opt to remove them.

Co-op Rules Modifications

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

1. No Scorekeeping Needed: Any reference to VP means Energon in Co-op. So a "Gain 1 VP" reward means you "Gain 1 Energon" instead. Similarly, "Lose 1 VP" is "Lose 1 Energon." Any rewards at the bottom of cards that refer to "Vault: X VP" (from a Decepticon Scheme, for example) are ignored in Co-op games for purposes of VP, but put the card in your Vault anyway, as certain Confrontations may reference them. There are no rewards for thwarting Co-op Schemes other than making your team's path to victory a little easier.
2. You cannot Confront a Boss if there are any non-Boss Adversaries in the Matrix. This includes Autobots when the Divided Loyalties Scheme is active. You must defeat them before attempting to take down a Boss.
3. Players may always Assist each other when battling any Adversary, whether the active player controls Damage or not. Assists are played faceup. Each player who played a legal Assist will gain the reward if the Adversary is defeated, so you should talk to your teammates and only play as much Power as you need (min 1) to defeat the Adversary with their Assists. After the battle you'll still have to discard all of the non-Ongoing/non-Ally Cards you played so far that turn.

Tips for Playing

During your first few turns of the game, buying new cards to improve your deck is more important than defeating Adversaries. Defeating Decepticons doesn't improve your deck, so if you spend too many early turns collecting VPs, you will be ill-suited to Confront Bosses when they appear.

Whether you are playing a Competitive or Co-op game, 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 not enough cards to thwart a Scheme, but with help you just might! Keep in mind that table talk in Competitive games is non-binding, so be careful how much you rely on your opponents.

When considering the order in which to resolve Assists, looking at players' VP totals is a good idea, but also keep in mind how many cards are in their Vault. You never get to peek at an opponent's Vault, but you may ask them how many cards are in their Vault. A player might be hiding a lot of points there, so consider that when choosing Assists.

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 them. Conversely, if a player with a lot of VPs is on or near a Boss, find a way to move them away or battle Adversaries on the other side of the Matrix so they won't be in Range to Assist.

When playing Co-op, try to avoid flipping cards faceup in spaces where your teammates are present, so they won't be Ambushed.

Specific Card 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."

All-Out Assault: When battling a non-Boss Adversary, you must follow the Confrontation rules of engagement, as though you were battling a Boss. To Thwart this Scheme, you must play a Block with sufficient Range to negate an attack against another player (such as when another Autobot is ambushed).

Brawl: When you activate this card's Energon ability, the Ambush only affects other players in your space, not yourself.

Divided Loyalties: While this Scheme is in the Matrix, all Robots are Adversaries to you. Moving onto or flipping an Autobot will cause an Ambush. You cannot buy Autobots while this Scheme is in the Matrix, but you can battle them to earn the reward at the bottom of the card, same as you would a Decepticon Robot.

Energy Swords: When using this card to Block, you may pay 2 Energon to avoid discarding it. The card would remain in hand and may now be played normally, or used to Block a subsequent attack. However, when your turn ends, you must still discard the card, as usual.

Fix, Ratchet (Character), Repair Bay: The phrase "any player in your space" always includes yourself. If there are multiple players in your space (or adjacent to you with Fix), you choose which of the players to help out.

Ground Bridge: When you use this card to Teleport, any other Autobots in your old space may choose to Teleport to the space you Teleported to. All Autobots that choose to do this arrive at the same time.

Hostage Crisis: When this card is revealed, all faceup Ally cards in the Matrix and in play in front of players are placed under this card. Your Autobot must be on this space to rescue an Ally, and can only gain one Ally per turn in this manner. Allies revealed after this Scheme is revealed are not placed under this card.

Mirage, Bonecrusher, Phase Shifter: Ambushes must still be drawn, but when these cards are played, the active player's Autobot can avoid the effects.

Matrix of Leadership: Since both Decepticons and Autobots are Robots, this is a method of gaining Decepticons (versus defeating them) to utilize in card play. Thematically they have switched sides and are helping the good guys! Jetfire is both a Robot and a Relic.

Scrapper (and others): The destroy effect of his reward text is mandatory!

Tox-En: Each time an Autobot moves onto this space (voluntarily or not), or if this card is revealed beneath an Autobot, that player loses 3 Energon. Unlike other Relics, when you gain this card, it's destroyed instead of going into your Vault or discard pile. The VP gain is immediate.