Algomancy
Algomancy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- Resource cards: Earth (27), Fire (27), Metal (27), Wood (27), Water (27), Shards (27), Prismites (10)
- Additional cards: Information cards (10), Blank Backups (9)
- Token cards: "Stolen" cards (10), Effect Tracker (10), Spell Tokens (35), Unit tokens (40), Intent Tokens (30), Initiative token (1)
- Rulebook (1)
- Dice (10)
- Faction cards: Fire (54), Wood (54), Water (54), Metal (54), Earth (54), Hybrid (50)
Welcome to Algomancy
Game Overview
The game unfolds in a series of global turns, each composed of distinct phases that dictate the flow of play. Players navigate through these phases together, utilizing their cards' unique abilities, elemental affinities, and strategic foresight to gain advantages over their opponents. The game emphasizes tactical decision-making, with a focus on how and when to deploy resources, execute attacks, and harness the utility of each card.
How to Win
Each player begins with 30 life. Eliminate all of your opponents by bringing their life to 0.
Note: Visit algomancy.io for how to play videos and additional resources.
Game Formats
- Live Draft: A dynamic format where players create a shared deck from selected elements and draft cards in real-time. Ideal for smaller groups or 1v1.
- Constructed: Players bring pre-constructed decks to the game. The standard format allows up to 2 copies of each card, with a minimum deck size of 30.
- Cube Draft: A combination of draft and constructed where players draft decks before gameplay begins, and then play constructed matches with those decks. Ideal for larger groups (6+ players).
- Team Draft: Each team brings a constructed deck including 30 cards per player on the team with up to 2 copies of each card. Their team will live draft from that deck during the game.
Player Setups
The above formats can be played in a wide variety of player setups, including:
- 1v1: The recommended starting setup.
- FFA: All players fight to be the last one standing.
- Teams: 2v2 or 3v3, can be played either as split teams (multiple regions) or joint players sharing a single region (effectively a 1v1 game with more players).
- Archenemy: Typically 2v1, the single player gets to take 1-2 turns before the other 2 begin the game.
Game Structure
The core of Algomancy revolves around its global turn system, divided into the following sequence of phases:
- Planning Phase: Players prepare for the turn ahead by curating their hands and preparing their resources. This phase sets the stage for the upcoming battle, allowing players to strategize and position themselves effectively.
- Battle Phase: The sole interactive phase of the game where players manage units across the regions of battle. Units may be moved into other regions through attacks or reserved to defend from invaders. During this phase, players engage with other players and their units, utilizing the unique effects of their cards in a back and forth dynamic exchange to shape the battlefield in their favor.
- Regroup Phase: Serving as a clean-up step, this phase allows players and their units to return to their respective regions. Damage on units is reset, temporary stat changes are removed, and units leave their formation.
- Deployment Phase: Players play most of their cards and apply modifications in preparation for the next turn's battle. This phase is crucial for building a strong offensive or defensive strategy for the upcoming turns.
Note: Many terms in this rulebook are explained by the player help cards, which may be useful to have nearby while reading the rulebook.
Initiative
Due to the global turn structure, Algomancy uses a rotating initiative system to establish the order players must act. In 1v1 and team games, the initiative system gives the turn structure an attack-counterattack flow, whereas FFA games feature simultaneous attack declarations using the intent cards.
Setup
The Elements
Algomancy consists of 5 Elements, which all offer different ways to play and interact with the game. Below is a quick description of the elements and their characteristics.
- Fire: Fire radiates aggression and transformation. Fire strategists wield the destructive power of flames to incinerate the opposition while leveraging the sacrificial essence of the occult for powerful, game-changing effects.
- Water: The Water element thrives on adaptability and subterfuge. Water players navigate the depths of strategy with sneaky, resilient forces, mastering the ebb and flow of battle through cunning and elusive maneuvers.
- Earth: The Earth element embodies unyielding endurance and transformative might. Earth strategists excel in absorbing damage and augmenting the capabilities of units, showcasing the indomitable spirit and adaptive resilience of the land.
- Wood: Players channelling Wood harness the unchecked vitality of nature to grow massive armies or infect their foes with toxic poisons and game altering parasites.
- Metal: The Metal element stands as a testament to precision and innovation. Metal players deploy formidable forces with surgical accuracy, dismantling opponents' strategies through direct interaction and compounding synergies.
Get Started
The starting game layout for the 1v1 live draft game format is the suggested format for learning Algomancy. Each player has their own region. This can either be divided as regions around each player, or split side to side as in the included playmat, depending on player preference.
In constructed formats, there will be no shared deck and players' individual decks will go in the location of their "pack".
Layout: each player has a player region (with their pack of 10 cards, bin (discard zone), help cards, resources and tokens, and starting Prismites, which start dormant); the shared deck and the discard zone sit between the players.
Starting Seating: In 1v1 players sit across from each other. In multiplayer games, players will sit in a circle so each player has someone to their left and right. In team games, players will sit between two opponents.
Element Selection
In the live draft game mode, players use a shared deck comprised of multiple elements. Games begin by selecting the elements to build the deck. For 2-3 players, use 3 elements. For 4-6 players use 4 elements. For 6 or more players we recommend doing a cube draft with all 5 elements instead of a live draft.
In casual games, players can alternate choosing elements to include in the game or assign them randomly. For the most up to date competitive rules for this process, please see Algomancy.io.
Once the elements are selected, shuffle them together to form the deck, including the hybrid cards for the selected combinations as well (54 cards per element, 15 hybrid cards for a 3-element game).
Player Preparation
- (Optional) Give each player two double sided help cards for easy access to game information.
- Randomly assign a player The Initiative. Give this player the Initiative Token.
- Deal 2 prismites to each player face down (dormant). These are their starting resources.
- Deal each player 16 cards: 4 for their starting hand, 10 for their pack and 2 for their first draw step of the first turn. This is a shortcut, but these cards will all be combined into a pile of 16 for drafting when the game begins anyway.
Anatomy of an Algomancy Card
Cards
Algomancy cards can have the following characteristics:
- Card name: All cards have a card name.
- Mana cost: This many resources must be paid in order to be played.
- Affinity: Resource types needed to be present among your resources to be able to play the card.
- Timing: An icon here modifies when and how a card can be played. Cards with no icon can be played during deployment.
- Stats: Denote the power and defense of a unit, demonstrating how much damage they deal and can receive, respectively.
- Types and attributes: Describes the qualities of the card, including some combat modifiers, denoted in bold yellow or purple.
- Abilities: Most cards have abilities, which describe the card's effects.
- Set symbol: Indicates the expansion and its color denotes the complexity of the card (gold = complex).
Units
Units are permanents, meaning when played, they will stay in play until removed. Units are what players use to build armies, attack and defend in Algomancy. When a unit dies or is deleted, it is placed in the bin (discard zone).
Units have a specified power, which denotes how much damage they deal in combat as well as a defense value, which denotes how much damage they can sustain in battle before dying. A unit dealt a total amount of damage that is greater than or equal to its defense during battle will die.
Spells
Spells provide one-time effects and are used to interact, create or modify certain aspects of the game. When a spell resolves, it goes directly to the player's bin.
Spell Units
Some spells also have the unit type. Rather than being placed in the bin when they resolve, spell units spawn into play as units. If the spell unit is prevented from resolving, for example due to its targets being made invalid, the unit will not spawn and will enter the bin.
Timing
While most cards are played during deployment, some have special timing capabilities or restrictions, showcased in the top right corner of the card.
- Haste: Haste cards can also be played during the haste step.
- Battle: Battle cards can only be played while in battle with another player.
- Virus: Virus cards can also be applied as augments from your hand during battle.
Note: Cards with no icon can only be played during deployment.
Playing a Card
- Affinity: To have the ability to play a card, a player must meet the affinity requirement of the card they wish to play. If this criteria is met, the player has the ability to play the card.
- Mana cost: To play a card, a player must expend a number of un-expended resources equal to the card's mana cost.
- Targets: If the card mentions targets, these are recipients for certain actions of the card. The targets must be selected as the card is being played.
- Additional costs: Some cards also have brackets "[]" in their textboxes. Whatever is inside of the brackets must be resolved in order to play a card. This can be additional actions that are paid as a cost or modes that must be selected.
Spell effect example: when the spell Accelerated Germination resolves, two 1/1 units will be created, and Accelerated Germination will be placed in the bin.
Resources
Resources are the essential source of mana in Algomancy and are required in order to play your cards. Most resources also have an affinity towards a unique element. Resources are also permanents and remain in play. The resources are Fire, Earth, Water, Metal and Wood.
Resource cards have the following characteristics:
- Affinity: Allows you to play cards with affinity requirements on cards.
- Abilities: Describe any special effects of the resource.
- Set symbol: Indicates expansion and complexity.
Expended resources: All resources have the ability to be expended for 1 mana once per turn in order to pay for the mana cost of cards and abilities. This is done by turning the card sideways. Expended resources refresh at the beginning of a turn.
Tokens
Tokens are temporary cards that are created directly into play. If they leave play for any reason, they are erased from the game and returned to the token pile.
Token cards may include one or more of the following characteristics:
- Mana cost: Can often be played without expending Mana.
- Burst attribute: Requires the player to play all tokens with the same name at once.
- Tokens with an X: X is determined by the card that created them.
Spell Tokens
A spell token is a temporary spell that may be played from the battlefield.
When spell tokens spawn they are put directly into play in the region they were created. Spell tokens may only be played in the region they are in.
During the attack step, spell tokens can be brought into other regions through combat. They cannot do so on their own, however and must follow at least one other unit into battle.
Spell tokens have a limited lifetime. This means that any remaining spell tokens in play are erased from the game after battle during regroup. This includes unused spell tokens in a player's own region as well.
Note: Spell tokens spawned in enemy regions during combat can be used there immediately.
Note: Multiple spell tokens played with burst are still individual spells, but they are played at the same time.
Unit Tokens
Just like spell tokens, unit tokens spawn directly into play in the region they were created.
Unlike spell tokens, unit tokens persist through regroup.
Unit tokens function identically to regular units with the exception that when they leave play, they are placed back into the token pile instead of the hand or bin.
If a unit spawns during battle, it is placed outside of formation (meaning it is not attacking or blocking), but still in the same region.
Draw and Draft Step
Draw Step
Players draw 2 cards during the draw step on every turn. To speed up the initial setup, players are typically dealt their draws for the first turn of the game with their opening hand, in which case they should not draw additional cards during the first turn.
Drafting
Drafting is the process where players curate their hands for the upcoming turns. During the draft step of the live draft mode, players combine the cards in their hand with the cards in their pack. Then they are able to freely select which cards from the resulting pile they wish to keep in their hand and which cards should go back into the pack. Players must always leave exactly 10 cards in the pack at the end of this step, so they will exit the draft step with the same number of cards in hand that they began with.
Once all players have passed their pack, the draft step is complete.
Note: Once a player has finished drafting, they should make sure the pack contains 10 cards and pass it clockwise to the next player as an indicator that they are finished.
Note: Packs may only be interacted with and looked at during the draft step, and players may not look at the packs of other players.
Creating and Refreshing the Pack
At the start of the game, each player is dealt a pile of 10 cards face down. This pile is referred to as a "pack". Additionally, after each cycle of N+1 turns, where N is the number of players, all of the existing packs are recycled (put on the bottom of the deck) and each player is dealt a new pack of 10 cards. This means each player will draft a second time from the pack they were initially dealt before refreshing the packs. For example in a 1v1 game, players will draft for 3 turns before getting new packs.
Players draw cards and are dealt packs from the shared deck clockwise starting with the initiative player.
Note: When a player is eliminated, their pack is recycled (put on the bottom of the deck).
Drafting in Constructed
In the constructed game mode, players bring their own pre-built decks to the game with up to 2 copies of each card and a minimum of 30 cards in their decks.
In this mode, there are no packs or shared deck. During the draft step in constructed, players simply draw 2 cards from their own deck and recycle 2 cards from their hand instead of drafting from packs and passing them between players. This takes place immediately after the draw step, so players often combine these two steps by drawing 4 cards, then recycling 2.
The Planning Phase
Resources
The resource step of the planning phase is when players have the ability to create and activate resources. During this step, any resource can be created from outside the game by recycling a card from hand (putting it on the bottom of the deck).
All resources spawn dormant (come into play face down). Players may activate a maximum of two resources per turn by turning them face up. There is no limit to how many resources can be created, though there is little advantage to creating more than the 2 that can be activated each turn.
Additionally, each player begins the game with two dormant Prismites, which typically receive the two activations for the first turn. Active Prismites may be exchanged for other resources, meaning players essentially get to pick their two starting resources for free.
Note: Since Prismites are resources, they can be expended for mana. Sometimes it can be advantageous to delay exchanging them.
The planning phase ends when all players have created and activated their desired resources.
Shards and Affinity Bonuses
The elemental resources can provide free Shards when they are activated if the player has at least three affinity towards that resource. Shards are a resource that adds no affinity, but can still be expended for mana like all other resources.
Note: Activating a shard counts towards a player's limit of 2 activations per turn.
Haste
After the resource step is the very short haste step, where players can only play haste cards (with the haste symbol). This step ends when all players have played all the haste cards they wanted to play (which can be none).
Regions and Local Effects
Regions
All gameplay in Algomancy takes place inside of regions, with one region for each player. Each region is a location that is completely isolated from the other regions. This means there is zero information or interaction between regions.
Every single effect is specific to the region it takes place in, meaning it will never impact anything in any other region. For example "Delete target unit" means "Delete target unit in this region". "Each player sacrifices two units" means "Each player in this region sacrifices two units in this region".
Players can enter neighboring regions during the battle phase by sending attacks at the players left or right of them, and will remain present in those regions until the regroup phase in addition to their own region. Once a player has sent attacking units into an enemy region, they can now interact with things in that region using spells and effects. Additionally, if a player enters a region, their bin, hand, resources, and even the player themself can be interacted with. Once a player has entered a new region, they can now interact inside of it for the remainder of the battle phase, even if the units they've sent into the region are removed. This means interacting with opponents and their units can only be done during the battle phase.
The regions are arranged in a large circle. Each player has two neighboring regions to their left and right (except in 1v1 games, where players only have one neighboring region).
Player Elimination
When a player is eliminated, their neighboring regions move next to each other and the game continues.
Battle
The battle phase is the heart of Algomancy and is where most of the gameplay happens. Battle is broken down into the following steps: Attack, Block, Combat, and After Combat which will all take place uniquely inside of each region (with the exception of regions that did not get attacked, in which case combat and after combat will be skipped).
Attacking
During the Attack Step, players select a set of units and other cards in play, such as spell tokens, to bring into a neighboring enemy region for battle. These cards will remain in the new region(s) until the regroup phase.
Once a player has sent attacking units into an enemy region, they can now interact with things in that region using spells and effects.
Note: Units attack players directly. They do not attack individual units unless directed by a spell (such as Battle above).
Timing
Teams always act together in all situations and phases of the game. The Initiative-Team (IT) must make all of their plays first, allowing the Non-initiative-Team (NIT) to act later. In 1v1, players are considered their own teams.
Once players have begun interacting inside of a region, all steps of battle will be completed inside of that region before those players can interact elsewhere. Therefore, the battle phase in team games (and 1v1) takes place in two phases:
Phase 1
- The IT declare their attacks, sending units into NIT regions.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- The NIT declare their blocking formations while also having the opportunity to send attacking units for a counter-attack. The counter-attacking units leave the region and are treated as if they don't exist until phase 1 finishes.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- Combat Step happens - All units in formation deal combat damage simultaneously.
- After Combat Step - This is the last priority window for interaction in this region before Regroup.
Phase 2
- The NIT puts their attacking units into formation.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- The IT declare their blocking formation.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- Combat Step happens - All units in formation deal combat damage simultaneously.
- After Combat Step - This is the last priority window for interaction in this region before regroup.
Note: The NIT can still declare attacks even if the IT decides not to attack.
There is a specific order in which combat will unfold across the regions to ensure a player will only ever be interacting in a single region at a given time. This order is clockwise starting to the left of the initiative player, meaning the region of the initiative player will resolve last. (And when players become comfortable with the game, regions that have zero overlapping players can be resolved simultaneously.)
In the case of 1v1, when the IT attacks into the NIT's region, they will exclusively be interacting in that region until all of the stages of battle have been completed in that region. All of their units that stayed back in their own region (as well as the enemy units that were sent for a counter-attack) will be treated as if they don't exist.
Once battle has been completed in the attacking region, if there was a counter-attack, the players will move to IT's region and resolve battle in that region in its entirety, treating the units in the other region as if they don't exist.
Everything is region limited - example: Battle is resolving in Player 3's region, where player 4 plays Maw of Damnation. Player 4 controls Sparkwraith in their own region (region 4). Sparkwraith does not trigger from casting of Maw of Damnation, and it is not able to be sacrificed either. Since it is in a different region, it is treated as though it doesn't exist while battle in Player 3's region is being resolved.
Formations
Units are the basis of combat: they are used to attack opponents, enter new regions and defend against invaders.
When units attack or block, they are placed in a formation, just like soldiers lining up for battle. Formations have a front and back row (maximum of 2 rows) but can scale infinitely in width (unlimited columns). Attacking formations are set during the attack step while the defensive formations are set during the block step. Once a formation is set, the units are locked in position and are considered adjacent to their left, right, front and back neighbors until regroup where they all leave formation.
Hold the line: In Algomancy it is imperative to maintain a solid front-line of combat. This is upheld by the following rules which dictate how units move within their formation between the attack and block step:
- The front row of a column must be filled first before a unit can be placed in a back row.
- If a unit is removed from a formation, any units behind it move to the front row and take its place.
- If the last unit in a column is removed from a formation, the columns on its sides will close in to fill the gap. This only happens before blocks are declared. After blocks, columns will not move to fill gaps.
Blocking
When a player is attacked, they get an opportunity to defend during the block step. To do so, they may place units in front of the formation that is attacking them. The resulting group of defending units is also called a formation, but unlike offensive formations, the defending formation is allowed to be assigned with empty columns. Units may even be placed blocking in slots where attackers aren't, which can be beneficial for adjacency matters cards.
Once a defending unit has been placed in front of an attacking column, that entire column is considered blocked. Blocked units do not deal combat damage to you.
Note: The column is considered blocked even if the defending unit is removed during combat!
Damage
Each column of attacking and defending units in a formation deals damage equal to the combined power of each unit within that column.
During the damage step all of the following damage processes happen simultaneously, unless modified by an ability:
- Unblocked units deal combat damage to the defending player. If a column is blocked, the attacking and defending formations in those columns deal combat damage to each other.
- When a column of units takes combat damage, they receive damage from front to back. The front row receives damage first. If the amount of damage received would be enough to kill the front row, any excess damage is dealt to the unit in the back row. Excess damage beyond the health of the back row unit does not carry over to the player.
Example: The column of Living Forge and A Pile of Rubbish deal a combined 3 damage to the Tiderunner Initiate blocking them. It deals 2 damage back, which is all dealt to Living Forge because it is in the front. The two unblocked columns each deal 2 damage to the defending player. The column of Recyclable Sentinel and Jelly deal a combined 3 damage to Mirage Walker, and it deals 2 damage back. 1 damage is dealt to the Sentinel in the front. The excess 1 damage is carried to Jelly in the back.
Attributes
Some units have attributes, which can modify how they engage in combat. These cards have a reminder text in italics to help players remember what each attribute does.
Units sharing attributes: Combat attributes (denoted in gold text) are shared by units in the same column of a formation. For example, if Bloodwind Revenant attacks with another unit in front or behind it, both of those units have the Flying attribute and the entire column can not be blocked unless the blocking unit has flying.
When a unit with attributes is removed from a column, all other units in its column immediately lose access to any attributes which that unit may have been sharing. For example, the defending player removes Bloodwind Revenant in order to block the column with a non-flying unit.
Note: Combat attributes are not shared by units to the left or to the right, they are only shared in their columns.
Attribute combos: The ability to share attributes is incredibly powerful and players should keep their eyes open for any powerful combos that this may unlock. In this example the attacking player has placed Malformed Monstrosity and Reality Bender in the first column and Tidepool Terror and Dune Drifter in the second column.
- Malformed Monstrosity would gain the "Inverted" attribute, which reverses its stat changes. It's -7/-7 ability now becomes +7/+7 turning it into a 17/16.
- Dune Drifter has the "Swift" attribute, which allows it to deal combat damage first. Paired with Tidepool Terror, who has the "Deadly" attribute, they can instantly kill anything before it has a chance to fight back.
Non-combat attributes: Some attributes, like burst and unstable, are written in a purple text. These attributes are referred to as non-combat attributes, since they generally have nothing to do with combat. These attributes are not shared in formation, and simply exist to modify cards. For example, the unstable attribute is often given to cards that have been played from the bin as a way to prevent them from being used more than one time, such as Abyssal Evocation, which uses the unstable attribute as a way to limit recursion.
Regroup and Deployment
Regroup
Regroup is a global step that takes place when battle has ended in every region. Players do not gain priority or take any game actions during this step. The regroup step simply functions as a way to reset the game between battles. During regroup, five important things take place:
- All units and players return to their regions
- All damage on units is removed
- All temporary stat changes are removed
- All Spell Tokens are erased
- All units leave formation
Importantly, regroup takes place before the deployment phase and not at the end of the turn. This means that created spell tokens or any stat changes made during the deployment phase will persist until the following combat. For example, Overbloom can be played during the deployment phase and the bonus will last until the end of the following battle when regroup happens.
Deployment Phase
The deployment phase is the final phase of each turn cycle. During this phase, players build up their forces in preparation for the following combat. They do so by playing cards, activating abilities and modifying cards with graft and augment.
Any card can be played during this phase, with the exception of battle cards, which can only be played in the battle phase.
Each player is in their own region during the deployment phase, meaning it is not possible to interact with other players or their units in the deployment phase.
End of Turn
The end of turn is a special step after deployment finishes where some cards have effects. This step is exclusively for resolving card abilities as a special action, players cannot play cards after or in response to these end of turn triggers.
Ending a Turn
After the deployment and end of turn, the turn is over. The initiative token and any draft packs are passed to the next player in a clockwise direction and the entire turn structure is repeated again, starting in the planning phase.
The Turn
Free For All (FFA) — players act simultaneously
Planning
- Refresh resources
- Draw 2 cards
- Draft (Draw 2 recycle 2 in constructed)
- Gather and activate resources
- Play haste cards
Battle (virus cards only as mods from hand)
- Attack into other regions using intent cards
- Priority window
- Declare blocks
- Priority window
- Combat damage
- After combat priority window
(Battle steps take place only in attacked regions.)
Regroup
- Return to your region
- Reset unit damage and buffs
- Erase all spell tokens
Deployment
- Play cards, apply mods from hand and/or bin
- End of turn
Teams / 1v1 — IT first, then NIT
Planning
- Refresh resources
- Draw 2 cards
- Draft (Draw 2 recycle 2 in constructed)
- Gather and activate resources
- Play haste cards
Battle (virus cards only as mods from hand)
Phase 1 (NIT regions)
- IT attack into NIT regions
- Priority window
- NIT declare blocks/send units to attack
- Priority window
- Combat damage
- After combat priority window
Phase 2 (IT regions)
- NIT attack IT regions with units sent in Phase 1
- Priority window
- IT declare blocks
- Priority window
- Combat damage
- After combat priority window
Regroup
- Return to your region
- Reset unit damage and buffs
- Erase all spell tokens
Deployment
- Play cards, apply mods from hand and/or bin
- End of turn
The Stack
First In, Last Out
Interaction between players during the battle phase uses the stack, which abides by the concept of "First in, last out". Whenever a card gets played or an ability is activated or triggered, it is added to the stack as an "effect". This means it does not resolve immediately, giving other players in the region a chance to respond.
Visually this is done by placing new effects on top of any other existing effects on the stack. Then when it's time to resolve an effect, the top effect of the stack resolves first. This process is repeated until all items in the stack have resolved.
Example of how the stack unfolds in an interaction between two players, during a priority window of the battle phase:
- Player A plays Flame of History. This enters the stack and Player B has a chance to respond.
- Player B responds to Flame of History with Boon of Protection, putting it on top of the stack.
- Player A responds to Boon of Protection with Arc Lightning, putting it on top of the stack.
- Both players pass priority. Arc Lightning resolves first, because it was on top of the stack.
- New spells can be added on top of an active stack even after it has started resolving. Now player A plays Null Drone targeting Boon of Protection.
- Both players pass priority and Null Drone resolves, negating Boon of Protection.
- Both players pass priority, finally, Flame of History can resolve. If they pass priority again, we move to the next step of the turn, otherwise more cards can be played.
Priority and Player Interaction
Priority
The term priority denotes the ability of a player to perform game actions such as playing cards or activating abilities. A player with priority has the ability to do these things, while players without priority do not. All players on a team share priority and can take actions in whichever order they choose amongst themselves. Teams pass priority and receive priority collectively.
If a player does use their priority to take game actions, they may maintain their priority to continue taking game actions. All of these cards or abilities will go onto the stack as effects, they do not happen immediately. Once a player passes priority after taking one or more actions, each other player will receive priority to get a chance to respond to their actions. This process continues until all players pass priority.
When all players pass priority, the effect on the top of the stack (which was played last) will resolve immediately. Then all players gain priority in order again. This process is repeated until all players pass priority with an empty stack, which will move them to the next step of the turn.
Note: It is very rare for a player to take more than one action when holding priority (the exception being burst spell tokens), so interaction in Algomancy often has a back and forth flow.
Priority Window
A priority window is a sequence where players or teams each receive priority in order. The following steps are followed by a priority window inside of each region: Attack step, Block step, After Combat step.
Within a priority window, first the initiative player will receive priority. Then if they decline to do anything, priority will be passed clockwise to the next non-initiative player in the region. If the initiative player is not present in the region, priority begins with the player nearest to the initiative player, clockwise.
The priority window structure gives players the chance to play cards or use abilities before other effects resolve. This creates a dynamic system of back and forth interaction. Flow: begin priority window; the initiative player receives priority; if they take an action it goes on the stack, and the non-initiative players receive priority in turn; when all players do not want to take any more actions, resolve the top layer of the stack; if the stack is not empty, priority windows repeat; if the stack is empty, go to the next phase.
Interaction
It is common to declare you are doing something "In response" to an action of an opponent during a priority window. For example if the opponent plays a removal spell on one of your units, you can play a protection spell during your priority before their spell resolves in response to it being played. Your opponent can then respond to your protection spell with something else, which you can then respond to again, and so on.
Modifications
Two Types of Modifications
Some cards have one of two modification (or mod) symbols, either Augment or Graft. Modification (or modding) enables the player to change card abilities by combining cards together in certain ways. Modification is a special action that players can perform during the deployment phase.
Note: Modification is independent of timing modifiers that aren't virus, so battle cards cannot be used as mods during battle, for example.
Note: Modifications can be applied from the bin as well as from your hand.
Augment
The Augment mechanic allows players to take all of the text in the paragraph following the augment symbol and add it onto other cards. The Augment symbol can appear either in a unit's ability text box or before attributes in the type line. Since modding is only allowed during the deployment phase, augmenting is typically only possible to do with a player's own units - unless the mod being applied is a Virus (see Viruses).
When a card is augmented, it is treated as if it were a single card with all of the additional text from its mods. There is no restriction on the number of times a card can be augmented.
Apply augment: To apply an augment, the player must first meet its affinity requirement, followed by paying its mana cost and selecting a target to apply the augment onto. Place the augment card beneath the targeted card, with the textbox visible beneath it to demonstrate the additional line of text. Augments can be applied from either the hand or from the bin.
Graft
The graft mechanic in Algomancy, denoted by the graft symbol on a card, is a modification that allows for the combination of multiple effects into a single cause, allowing players to mix and match cards together into potent combinations.
Combining effects: All graft cards follow the template of cause and effect, separated by a colon or arrow symbol. In the example of Oracle of the Flame, the cause is "Sacrifice me" and the effect is "Create a Fireball 1".
When something is grafted onto another card, it is adding additional effects onto the cause of the topmost card. The resulting card is read as "Cause — effect1 AND effect2 AND effect3... etc." The resulting ability is treated as a single ability, so it will all resolve at once, from top to bottom, and the entire effect can be negated by a single spell. There is no limit to how many effects can be grafted onto a single card.
In this example, if Accelerated Germination was grafted onto Oracle of the Flame, the resulting card would read "Sacrifice me: Create a Fireball 1 AND (once per turn) create two 1/1 units."
Bounded and unbounded graft: There are two different forms of the graft symbol: one denotes an unbounded graft, which can trigger an unlimited number of times, whereas the other is limited to only trigger once per turn.
If you have an unbounded graft cause and a mixture of bounded and unbounded effects, the graft cause will trigger an unlimited number of times, but each of the bounded effects will only trigger a limited number of times.
If you have a bounded graft cause, the entire effect will only trigger a limited number of times, even if unbounded effects are grafted onto it.
Requirements and restrictions: Applying a graft follows the same cost and timing setup as augments (play from hand or bin during deployment, pay the card's cost and meet affinity requirements in order to do so), with the additional requirement that both cards must have the graft symbol in order to be able to apply a graft.
Grafted effects resolve as one ability from top to bottom in order. When applying a new graft, you may insert the new effect at any position within the graft stack below the original card, but you may not re-order the rest of the grafted abilities.
Viruses
Viruses have the extra ability to mod units directly from your hand during combat in addition to being playable and augmentable normally during the deployment phase. This gives them significantly more flexibility, allowing viruses to be used as interactive or reactive plays similar to spells. They are marked by the virus symbol in the top right of the card.
Interactive options: Not all viruses are detrimental. Rampart Guardian for example can be augmented to grant the "Tough" attribute to an ally in the middle of combat, saving it from damage that might otherwise kill it.
Turning drawbacks into weapons: Since they can be augmented during combat, viruses also are able to augment onto opposing units. This is most commonly done with cards that have drawbacks like Smouldering Inferno, which turns the card into a removal spell. Augment Smouldering Inferno onto an opposing unit to force it to sacrifice itself after combat.
Change of control: When a card is augmented onto an opposing unit, they will control the augment and its new ability. For example, if you augment Pathogenic Enclave onto an enemy unit, when that unit despawns, all of their tokens will be deleted, not yours. There are many clever tricks you can play to take advantage of this! (Use Pathogenic Enclave to delete all your opponent's token allies by augmenting it onto one of their units.)
Permadeath: As long as a card is modded, it has the unstable attribute, meaning when it dies or is erased, it and all of its mods are erased with it. This means that even though mods can be applied from the bin, they are generally only able to be applied once. Players should always consider the risk and reward when using modification to gain the greatest result.
Note: If a modded card would leave play but did not die or get erased, for example if it was put into a player's hand from play, all of its mods are put back into the bin, while the base card goes to the hand.
Note: Augmenting with viruses uses the stack, just like any other card and effect, so it can be interacted with and negated. If a virus is negated or its target becomes invalid, it is placed into the bin, and cannot be used as a virus again, since the virus ability only works from hand.
Note: If a virus is in a bin, it can be applied as normal during deployment but cannot be used as a mod during battle.
Note: Cards with the augment and graft abilities still function as written, even if they are not applied as mods.
Multiplayer
Free For All (FFA)
The FFA battle structure is simpler than the teams/1v1 structure since there is no attack/counterattack. After a simultaneous attack declaration, each region follows the steps of:
- The attacker sets their units into Formation.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- Defender sets their blocking formation.
- There is a priority window for interaction.
- Combat Step happens - All units in formation deal combat damage simultaneously.
- After Combat Step - This is the last priority window for interaction in this region before Regroup.
Note: There are no counterattacks in FFA, which gives this format a different feel to teams/1v1.
Three Players in One Region
In multiplayer games when two players attack the same player, all three of the players take part in that battle together in one region. The defending player now is able to defend against the two incoming attacking formations, and all three players are able to interact with each other and their units in that region.
Note: In situations with three players in one region, symmetric effects such as Maw of Damnation can become extremely powerful. Keep these cards handy to protect yourself when things get dire!
Simultaneous Turns
Aside from battle which is semi-simultaneous, every phase of a FFA game can be completed by all players at the same time, meaning players can create resources in the planning phase and deploy units during deployment all at once if they are comfortable enough with the game. As players are learning or if they are playing competitively, they can perform their phases in order clockwise from the initiative player if they wish.
Intent Cards
In FFA, players declare their attacks simultaneously by placing intent cards face down in front of each of their units and other cards such as spell tokens with their intended action. Once all players have finished this, all of the cards are flipped up and the chosen attacks take place instantly!
The intent cards can be used in many ways. Players can group up multiple units behind one intent card for simplicity, or can even get a little tricky by placing multiple different copies of the same intent card in front of multiple units.
Multiplayer Priority
The stack functions identically in 3 player situations as it does in 1v1, but priority is passed in a circle instead of back and forth. The player closest to the initiative player in a clockwise direction gains priority first and priority is passed from that player clockwise during each priority window.
Team Games
The turn structure for team games is identical to that of 1v1, but the increased number of players adds some additional complexity.
Team initiative: Whichever team the player with the initiative token is on has the initiative. Teams act together in all situations, meaning during the deployment phase, teams will deploy units in any order they wish before passing to the non-initiative team that will all do the same.
Team battle structure: The battle structure in team games is identical to that of 1v1, meaning it has the same attack-counter attack flow to it. The only difference is that now, attacks and blocks take place across multiple regions, so there are multiple separated priority windows to resolve between each step.
In a 2v2 game, there are two Non-Initiative (NIT) regions and two Initiative (IT) regions, so what was a single priority window in 1v1 becomes two separate priority windows, one in each region. The battle structure of the attack phase is now:
- IT declare their attacks all at once into multiple regions.
- Priority windows in each of the NIT regions, resolving in order clockwise from the IT player.
- NIT declare their blocks and counter attacks all at once into multiple regions.
- At this point, the battles in each region just need to be resolved (there will be a priority window, combat damage, and an after combat damage priority window).
- Finish resolving battle in the NIT regions in order clockwise from the IT player.
- Finish resolving battle in the IT regions in order clockwise from the IT player.
Algomancy Cube Draft
Cube draft is a format suited for large groups (6-10+) where players create decks through a drafting process before the game and use those decks to play constructed matches. This is often done in a 1v1 tournament bracket.
Making the cube: Shuffle all of the game cards including hybrids together (54 Earth, 54 Metal, 54 Fire, 54 Wood, 54 Water and 50 hybrid cards). This is called a "cube" and should be 320 cards in total when using a single box of Algomancy. When playing in groups larger than 8, two complete sets of the game cards should be used so there is enough for each player (for 640 total cards).
Deal each player a pack of 10 cards. Players will then complete the following process a total of 15 times, until each player has finished with a 30 card deck:
- Each player draws 2 cards from the cube.
- Players may combine their hands with the packs.
- Players choose 10 cards from their combined hand/pack and pass that as a new pack clockwise to their neighbor.
Players then use these 30 card decks they have drafted for constructed matches.
Traditional Cube Draft
Deal each player three packs of 13 to 15 cards (15 cards for 6 players, 13 for 8 players). Players will each look at their packs and take one card from it before passing it to their neighbor and repeat until the first pack is empty. This process is repeated a total of three times, alternating passing directions (left, right, left) until players have each drafted a pile of cards.
From their drafted piles, players each build a 30 card deck to use for the following constructed matches.
Miscellaneous
Stat Changes and Counters
If an effect says that a unit gains +1/+1 or -1/-1, this denotes a temporary change to the unit's stats (power and defense, respectively). For example a 1/1 unit that gains +2/+0 will become a 3/1. Negative stat changes will decrease a units stats. A unit with 0 or less defense will immediately die.
A +1/+1 or -1/-1 counter denotes a permanent change to the unit's stats, and dice are often used to denote these changes on units. If both a +1/+1 counter and -1/-1 counter are placed on a unit, the two cancel out and will both be removed. (For example, the -1/-1 counters from Poison permanently cripple whatever units they are placed on.)
Note: If a card doesn't specifically say "place counters" when mentioning stat changes, its stat changes are temporary. This can either be a limited effect that would say "until regroup" or from a static ability by a unit which would last as long as that units ability is in play for that region.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is a term denoting that a player will take a permanent of their choice and put it into their bin, causing it to die. This is often used as a cost players pay to activate abilities and effects, like Soul Swallower which sacrifices units to grow its stats.
You cannot sacrifice something you don't control. You can make an opponent sacrifice something they control, but they would get to decide what to sacrifice.
Note: You cannot sacrifice units that are in a different region, even if they are yours. This can be beneficial, for example if you have no units in a region and play the effect "Each player sacrifices a unit".
Triggered Abilities
"When" and "Whenever" denote triggered abilities, which are effects that happen when something else takes place. Triggered abilities may also take place at specified times, like "After combat" or "At the end of turn".
Ambush
The ambush ability allows units to be played as an effect during battle that will recall an allied unit, placing the ambushing unit directly into their position in play. This is a great strategic option for surprising opponents and saving your units from harm.
The battle symbol in front of the ability denotes that you can play cards as an ambush during battle, even if the card itself doesn't have battle timing.
If a unit is the target of an effect, like a removal spell, a player can use ambush to recall the targeted unit and save it. The spell will not change targets to the new unit, and will fail to resolve (fizzle). This makes ambush an excellent defensive option.
However, the risk of ambush goes both ways! Ambush is a targeted effect, meaning if the target is removed the ability will fizzle and the ambushing unit will be put into the bin. So be careful when you ambush or you could find yourself losing both units to a well-timed removal spell!
Activated Abilities
Some units have "Activated Abilities". You can identify an activated ability by a colon ":". Everything before the colon is a cost that must be paid to activate the ability, which will grant you the effect stated after the colon. Activated abilities can be used any time a player has priority during battle and deployment, as many times as they wish, as long as they are able to pay the cost.
Static Abilities
Static abilities declare a change that a card is continuously making to the game as long as it is in play, like Prickly Protector's static increase to its stats and Flux Resonator's counter boosting replacement effect.
Replacement Effects
Abilities like Flux Resonator's using the templating "If... Instead" are called replacement effects. Unlike triggered abilities, replacement effects don't use the stack and modify events as they happen, instead of triggering in response to events.
Q&A
Regions
Q: Is there interaction between regions? A: There is zero interaction between regions. Each region treats the players and cards in other regions as if they don't exist.
Q: Does Prickly Protector count my total units in all regions to determine its stats? A: No, it only sees the units in the region it's in.
Q: Can I sacrifice units that I have in another region to pay a cost in my current region? A: No.
Q: If I play a spell in one region, will that trigger effects of units in another region? A: No.
Q: If an effect says "each opponent loses 1 life", who does that refer to? A: That refers to each opponent in your current region. Meaning if you have this effect during deployment, it would not hit any other players.
Q: Can I interact with my opponents at all during the deployment phase? A: No you cannot. Due to the region mechanic, each player exists in separate regions during the deployment phase. During that portion of the turn you treat all other players as if they don't exist.
Units
Q: What does "base 3/3" or "base 5/0" mean? A: This means the units base stats are changed to be 3/3 or 5/0, before any other modifiers like +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters apply.
Q: What happens to a unit that is both "Tough" and "Balanced"? A: Attributes apply in order from top to bottom. So if "Tough" is augmented onto a "Balanced" unit, or if a tough unit attacks with a Balanced unit behind it, it will have its defense doubled, then its stats balanced. If "Tough" is applied to a "Balanced" unit, it will have its stats balanced, then its defense doubled.
Q: Can units that spawn during battle attack? A: Yes! Algomancy has no summoning sickness. As long as a unit is in play, it can attack/block.
Q: How does Tough interact with -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters? A: Stats have 6 layers to them, which are applied in sequence. 1. Printed stats are what's shown on the card, 2. Base stats, which can be changed to be different from what's printed on the card, 3. Stat changes, like temporary +2/+2 bonuses and +1/+1 counters, 4. Attributes like Tough, 5. Inverted, 6. Unaware. This means that the impact of -1/-1 counters take place before the defense is doubled, so a 0/4 tough unit with a -1/-1 counter on it would become a -1/6.
Q: What happens when a unit has negative power? A: It deals 0 damage.
Q: Where do spell units spawn when they are played during the battle phase? A: They spawn in the region but not in formation unless they specifically say so.
Q: How does a unit with Swift and Sluggish work? A: It deals combat damage twice, going first and last, with normal damage from other units happening in-between.
Q: Can you assign more than lethal damage to a unit in the frontline? A: Yes, the player dealing damage may choose to assign additional damage beyond lethal to a unit if they wish. For example, if Lithoghul is the unit in front, you may want to deal extra damage to it rather than hit something in the back row.
Interaction
Q: If a spell unit spawns but was not played (e.g. if it was resurrected), does its spell effect happen? A: No, spell effects only happen when the card is played.
Q: If targets for a spell are removed, what happens? A: If some but not all of the targets are removed, the spell will attempt to resolve as best as it can. For example, if one of the two Twin Flame targets is removed, the other will still receive damage. However, if one of the targets for a fight or an exchange is removed, the effect will not be able to happen (it takes two units to fight or for an exchange to take place). Additionally, if all of the targets for a spell are removed, the spell will fail to resolve (fizzle) and be placed into the bin. This is especially important to keep in mind for spell units like Leaping Lillik.
Q: What happens when multiple abilities trigger simultaneously? A: Each player decides the order their effects go on the stack. NIT effects will enter the stack last and resolve before IT effects.
Q: Do "After combat" triggers happen in regions where a battle didn't take place? A: No, because a battle did not happen.
Misc.
Q: Is the text written after the "Augment" and "Graft" symbols active even if the card was not played as a mod? A: Yes, the text is active on cards played normally.
Q: Can I re-order the mods on my units? A: No, but you can place new mods in-between old ones.