MONSTER CARDS – Rules and Skill Descriptions Guide

Basic Gameplay

The game is played in turns. Each player’s turn has three parts:

• Draw cards from your deck until you have 3 cards in your hand.
• Play a card to either the Attack or Defense zone.
• Combat (if applicable).

Your deck is your life. When damage is dealt to you, you move that many cards from your deck to your graveyard. If your deck reaches 0 cards, you immediately lose.

You win by reducing all your opponents’ decks to 0.

Playing a Card

Under most circumstances, you may play a card to either the Attack (red sword) zone or Defense (blue shield) zone. (Some cards have special skills that allow them to be played to the Field (purple crown) or Discard (grey X) zones; these will be explained in the Skills section.)

• If you play a card to the Attack zone, first the opponent’s Attack card (if there is one) will deal damage equal to its power to you; then it will move to the Discard zone allowing your card to replace it, and your turn will end.
• If you play a card to the Defense zone, it will battle the opponent’s Attack card if there is one (see Combat). If the Attack zone is empty, your card will automatically move to the Attack zone and your turn will end.

If one of your cards is already in the Attack zone, you do not need to play a card. Your turn automatically ends.

Combat

Combat occurs when you play a Defense card to protect yourself from your opponent’s Attack card.

Combat contains 3 steps:

• First, the rarities of the two cards are compared. The higher-rarity card gets Advantage equal to the difference in rarity; i.e. a card with SR (gold) rarity facing an enemy with C (bronze) rarity would have 2 Advantage.
• Next, each of the cards’ attributes (element, species, means, size) are compared. For each attribute, either the attacker or the defender may gain 1 Advantage (see Attributes section).
• The card whose total Advantage is greater wins the combat. If both cards have equal Advantage, the combat is a tie.

The losing card is moved to the Discard zone. If the Attack card won, it deals damage equal to its power to the defending player. If the Defense card won, it moves to the Attack zone. If the combat was a tie, both cards move to the Discard zone.

Attributes

Skills

Dodge: Play this card to the Discard zone to immediately pass the turn to the next player without being attacked.

Double Edged: During combat, whenever this card gains advantage, deal 1 damage to the opponent; but whenever the opposing card gains advantage, this card’s owner takes 1 damage.

Elemental Torrent: You may play this card to the Field (purple crown) zone before playing your usual Attack/Defense card. While this card is in the field zone, any card in the Attack zone has its element changed to this card’s element. If it already has the same element as this card, it gets +1 advantage in combat instead.

Finishing Blow: During combat, if this card wins all four attributes while attacking, the defending player instantly loses.

Friendship: When this card enters combat as the defender, move it and the attacking card to the discard zone and take another turn.

Giant Killing: During combat, if the opposing card’s power is at least 2 greater than this card, whenever this card would gain advantage it gains +1 additional advantage.

Heal: When you play this card, return the topmost card of your graveyard to the top of your deck.

Lightning: When this card is in the attack zone, the next player must place one card from their deck into their graveyard at the start of their turn.

Pressure: When you play this card, the current attack card’s owner places one card from their deck into their graveyard.

Protection: When this card loses while defending, reduce the damage received by 3.

Return: When this card successfully attacks, return it to its owner’s hand.

Reverse: You may play this card to the Field (purple crown) zone before playing your usual Attack/Defense card. While this card is in the field zone, players take their turns in the opposite order.

Revolution: You may play this card to the Field (purple crown) zone before playing your usual Attack/Defense card. While this card is in the field zone, the strength of cards’ rarities are reversed in combat.

Ruin: When this card attacks a player, that player discards their hand.

Snipe: You may play this card to the discard zone before playing your usual Attack/Defense card. If you do, you choose the next player to take a turn.

Species Pride: You may play this card to the Field (purple crown) zone before playing your usual Attack/Defense card. While this card is in the field zone, cards sharing a species with this card receive +1 advantage in combat.

Surge: When you play this card, every player (including you) places one card from their deck into their graveyard.

Trick: When you play this card, exchange at random 1 card from your hand with 1 card from the owner of the opposing card’s hand. (If either player’s hand has insufficient cards, no exchange is made.)