Clash of Decks Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Standalone Expansions
• Setup
• Formats
• Cards
• Duel Mode
• Exhaustion Module
• Solo Mode
• Multiplayer Modes
• Mutation Format
• Champion Module
• Grimoire
• Activation Order
• Special Abilities
• An Incredible Story
• Team

Object of the Game

Build a deck of 8 Creature or Incantation cards and fight other Lord-Sorcerers in order to destroy their Forts! To do so, try to reduce your opponent's Health Points (HP) to 0. This HP total is represented by the 8 cards that begin the game in your hand and the way your Stronghold card moves in your hand. You always see the position and orientation of your opponent's Stronghold in their hand, depicting how many HP they have left.

Standalone Expansions

What is the Initiation Pack?

It is a 36-cards deck that lets players discover Clash of Decks easily. You can get it for free at a game store or through our online store: www.clashofdecks.com

What is a standalone expansion?

A standalone expansion is a pack of 36 cards that can complete and renew your gaming experience. Each standalone expansion can be played on its own, but they can also all combine with one another for a considerably deeper gameplay and infinite replayability.

10 standalone expansions will be published in 2022 / 2023: Treachery, Submersion, Breaching In, Deliquescence, Elusive, Resistance, Discord, Belligerency, Slyness and Bogging down.

Setup

Before starting a game of Clash of Decks, the players agree on a Format and a game Mode.

1. Choose a game Mode depending on the number of players:
   • 1 player: Solo
   • 2 players: Duel
   • 2 players: Co-op
   • 4 players: Free-For-All
   • 4 players: 2vs2
2. Choose a game Format: Preconstructed, Draft, Constructed or Mutation; then prepare your Deck accordingly.

Exception: For a Solo game, you cannot choose the Constructed format.

Then, follow the 5 setup steps:

1. Place the 2 Bridge cards in the play area.
2. Each player receives 1 Stronghold card.
3. Each player shuffles the cards in their Deck and takes them all in hand.
4. Each player places their Stronghold card at the leftmost position in their hand, Bastion side up.
5. Toss a coin to determine the 1st player.

The play area consists of 2 lines, each line expanding both sides of a Bridge card. There is no limit to the number of cards that can be placed on a line.

Player A's Kingdom is located on the left of the Bridge cards. Player B's Kingdom is located on the right of the Bridge cards. It is therefore recommended for the players to sit side by side.

Golden Rule: In the event of a contradiction, the text of a Special Ability always prevails over the rules.

Formats

Preconstructed (beginner level)

You only need one copy of the Initiation Pack. This format is recommended for your first games. Each player chooses 1 of the 4 preconstructed Decks.

Solo Play: The cards from the 3 other Decks will constitute the AI's Deck (page 8).

Draft (intermediate level)

You will need a copy of the Initiation Pack or of at least one standalone expansion. This format is recommended once you have tried each of the preconstructed Decks. Players choose cards from a shared deck pile to build themselves a hand of 8 unique cards (along with the Stronghold). For the whole duration of the Draft, the cards chosen by the players remain visible.

1. Form the deck pile by shuffling all the cards.

2. The players select cards by following these steps:

   1. Reveal the first 4 cards from the deck pile.
   2. Player A chooses 1 of the 4 available cards.
   3. Player B chooses 2 of the 3 remaining cards.
   4. Player A takes the last card.

   If the players have less than 8 cards in hand each, return to step a., interverting Players A and B.

Constructed (expert level)

Each player must own a copy of the Initiation Pack. To best optimize deck construction, we recommend you own each standalone expansion. This format is destined to experts who perfectly master the game's mechanisms, as well as the synergies between Special Abilities.

Before starting the game, each player builds their own Deck by choosing 8 cards among all the cards in the game. Before starting a game and before shuffling the cards of their decks, the players reveal the cards that constitute their decks.

Clarification: Duplicates are forbidden in all Formats. Each Deck must include 8 different cards.

Cards

Each Creature and Incantation card has a Mana cost indicated in their upper left corner.

Creature Cards

Creatures have a Health Points (HP) value in the shield icon and an Attack value (AV) in the axe icon. Creatures enter play and stay in play until destroyed.

Incantation Cards

Incantations can be played by the Active Player at any moment during Phase 2: Summoning. An Incantation can target any Creature (including the player's own Creatures) but can never target the enemy's Stronghold. When an Incantation is played, its effect is immediately resolved. The card is then returned to the rightmost position in their owner's hand.

Stronghold Card

Each Stronghold card has a Bastion side and a Fort side. When "Stronghold" is mentioned, it refers to the card, regardless of the side that is up in their owner's hand.

The Stronghold card represents their owner's HP, according to its position in the hand. Destroyed cards returning in hand naturally shift the Stronghold card to the left, therefore replenishing the player's HP and Mana. This mechanism compensates a player for losing a Creature, rebalancing the power balance between the players as the game progresses. The more Creatures you have in play, the less cards you automatically have in hand, increasing the risk that your Stronghold reaches the rightmost position in your hand.

Note: A player whose only card in hand is their Stronghold card loses the game.

Note: Clash of Decks cards are compatible with 56x87mm sleeves.

A card in play is shown with the following elements: Mana Cost (upper left), Name, Type (Creature or Incantation), Attack Value, Health Points, and any Special Abilities.

Special Abilities

Each Creature or Incantation card can bear icons depicting its Special Abilities. Each Special Ability on a card in play is active at all times and automatically triggers: if it can apply, then it must apply. A Creature cannot stack multiple instances of the same Special Ability.

Note: When several Creatures must trigger Special Abilities effects, resolve them in this order: first, Creatures on the upper line, from furthest from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge; then Creatures on the lower line, from furthest from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge.

Duel Mode

A game is played over a succession of turns, starting with the 1st player's turn. The player whose turn it is called the Active Player.

A turn is broken down in 3 Phases:

Phase 1 - Mana Regeneration

The Active Player gains as much Mana as they have cards in their hand (Stronghold card included).

Exception: The first player only gains 6 Mana at the start of their first turn (instead of 9).

During their turn, the Active Player can use their Mana in Phase 2 to play cards from their hand.

Phase 2 - Summoning

The Active Player can spend their Mana to play cards from their hand (Creatures and Incantations). They can choose not to play any card. They can only play the 4 leftmost cards in their hand at this time (not accounting for the Stronghold card), if they can pay the Mana cost.

Note: When a player plays a card from their hand, a new card in their hand becomes immediately available and can be played during the current turn if the player has enough Mana.

Note: Depending on the number of cards in hand, playing the same Incantation multiple times in a row is possible.

A player cannot spend more Mana than they have at this point. When a player plays a Creature, they place it face up in the play area, on the line of their choosing, always on their Kingdom's side and behind any Creature already in play on that line. A Creature remains in play until destroyed.

Phase 3 - Assault

Each Creature controlled by the Active Player attacks, with the exception of Creatures played during the current turn. Creatures activate in the following order: first, Creatures from the upper line, from furthest away from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge; then Creatures from the lower line, from furthest away from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge. A Creature deals its AV to the enemy Creature which is the closest from the Bridge on its line. If no enemy Creature can be attacked, the attacking Creature deals damage directly to the enemy Stronghold.

Attacking a Creature

When a Creature suffers at least as much Damage combined as its HP value, it is destroyed: excess Damage is lost and the card returns to the rightmost position in their owner's hand. If necessary, the owner immediately moves all their Creatures on that line toward the Bridge, filling the space that was thus freed.

A Creature that was not destroyed replenishes all its HP at the end of a turn. An attacked Creature does not strike back.

Note: If several Creatures are destroyed at the same time, the cards return to the right of their owner's hand in this order: first, Creatures from the upper line, from furthest away from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge; then Creatures from the lower line, from furthest away from the Bridge to closest to the Bridge.

Note: Excess Damage being lost, it is possible to absorb a high-value attack with a Creature with low HP.

Attacking the Stronghold

When a Stronghold card takes Damage, shift that card that many positions to the right in the player's hand.

If the Bastion reaches the rightmost position in a player's hand, it is destroyed: rotate the Stronghold card so that the Fort is side up (and the Bastion side down) and put the Stronghold card back to the leftmost position in their owner's hand. Excess Damage dealt to the Bastion does not carry over to the Fort.

If the Fort reaches the rightmost position in a player's hand, that player immediately loses the game. Once the Active Player has resolved their Phase 3, their turn ends and their opponent becomes the Active Player.

Game end

The game ends as soon as a player's Fort reaches the rightmost position in their hand. Their opponent wins the game.

Exhaustion Module

The rules about this module are optional. We advise you to use this module to limit the duration of games, especially for tournaments.

Once a player has played 8 turns, they enter a state of exhaustion: from the 8th turn onward, at the start of each of their turn (before Phase 1), they remove the rightmost card in their hand from the game.

To count the number of turns, use the Bridge cards. At the start of each of his turns, the first player must rotate the Bridge card in the top row a quarter turn clockwise. When the card completes a cycle, flip it over. This step indicates that it is the 4th turn. Then do the same with the bottom row Bridge card. When the card completes a cycle, flip it over. This step indicates that it is the 8th turn and the players then immediately enter a state of exhaustion.

Solo Mode

The Solo Mode lets you play Clash of Decks alone, in Quick or Custom play. All the base game rules apply. If a Solo Mode rule contradicts the rules, the Solo Mode rule prevails. AI refers to the Artificial Intelligence the Player faces in the Solo Mode.

Solo Mode - Quick Play

Setup of the Preconstructed Format: The player chooses 1 of the 4 preconstructed Decks listed on page 4. The cards from the 3 other Decks will form the AI's Deck.

Setup of the Draft format:

1. The Player receives 1 Stronghold card.
2. Place the 2 Bridge cards in the play area.
3. Form a deck pile by shuffling 32 cards.
4. The Player selects cards by following these steps:
   1. Reveal the first 4 cards from the Deck.
   2. The Player chooses 1 of the 4 available cards, giving the remaining 3 cards to the AI.
   3. If the Player doesn't have 8 cards in hand, return to step a.
5. The Player shuffles the cards in their Deck and takes them in their hand.
6. The Player puts their Stronghold card to the leftmost position of their hand, Bastion side up.
7. Shuffle the AI's 24 cards and stack them face down to form the AI's deck pile.
8. Place 1 Stronghold card, Bastion side up, under the AI's deck pile.
9. The Player is the 1st Player.

Gameplay

Your turn plays strictly the same as with the Duel Mode rule.

Reminder: You only have 6 Mana on the 1st turn.

The AI's turn plays as follows:

Phase 1 - Mana Regeneration

During Quick Play, the AI gains a fixed amount of 6 Mana and a variable amount of 1 Mana per Creature the Player currently has in play.

Phase 2 - Summoning

Reveal the top card of the AI's deck pile and place it on the upper line in the AI's Kingdom, behind any Creature already in play.

If the total Mana value of the cards summoned in the AI's Kingdom this turn is lower than the AI's available Mana, reveal the top card of the AI's deck pile and place it on the lower line of the AI's Kingdom, behind any Creature already in play. Continue summoning cards, alternating between upper and lower line, until the value of the cards summoned by the AI this turn reaches or exceeds its available Mana.

If the AI reveals an Incantation card, the latter always targets the enemy Creature closest to the Bridge on that line. If there is no such target, the AI doesn't spend Mana, the Incantation card has no effect and it is discarded to the AI's discard pile.

The AI's discard pile is located next to its deck pile and consists of its destroyed Creatures and used Incantation cards.

Phase 3 - Assault

When the AI suffers a direct attack from the Player's Creatures, put as many cards from the top of the AI's deck pile face up in the AI's discard pile as it was dealt Damage. When the AI's deck pile is empty and its Bastion revealed, rotate its Stronghold card so that the Fort is now side up, and form the AI's deck pile again by shuffling the AI's discard pile face down and stacking it on top of its Fort.

Game end and win conditions:

The game ends in 2 cases:

• If the Player's Fort shifts to the rightmost position in their hand, the AI immediately wins the game.
• If the AI's deck pile is empty and its Fort is revealed, the Player immediately wins the game.

Solo Mode - Custom Play

Customize the AI's difficulty level and try progressing to level 10! We recommend that you practice with a few Quick plays before trying Custom Play, to ensure you master the rules and specifics of Clash of Decks' Solo Mode.

1. After the Draft, choose a difficulty level between 1 (very easy) and 10 (very hard).
2. Customize the AI by allocating as many difficulty points as the chosen level among the chosen parameters:
   1. Determine the variable amount of Mana during the AI's Mana Regeneration phase: +2 Mana for each Creature you have in play (1 difficulty point).
   2. Determine the fixed amount of Mana during the AI's Mana Regeneration phase: 7 Mana (1 point), 8 Mana (2 points), 9 Mana (3 points), 10 Mana (5 points).
   3. Determine the 1st Player: the AI (1 point).
   4. Determine the AI's resistance: attacks against the AI's deck pile only inflict 1 Damage each (2 points).
   5. Choose Special Abilities gained by all of the AI's Creatures: Sharpening (1 point), Aquatic (1 point), Berserk (1 point), Catalyst (1 point), Vanish (1 point), Instinct (1 point), Perforation (1 point), Protection (2 points), Rage (2 points), Splash (1 point), Sprint (1 point).

Champion Module: you can choose to play with a custom Champion card. In this case, subtract 2 difficulty points from your Difficulty Level.

3. Play!

Exception IA

• Blackmail: As long as the owner is in play, the AI has 1 less Mana.
• Counter-order: If an AI card with Counter-Order is revealed, compare its Mana cost with the Mana Cost of the AI's top card of the AI discard pile. The card with the highest mana cost is put into play and the other is put into the AI's discard pile. If tied, no effect.
• Cursed: When the AI card is destroyed, it returns to the top of the AI deck.
• Enchain: When the owner suffers at least 1 Damage, put the AI's facedown card at the top of the AI deck.
• Price of Blood: A card with Price of Blood played by the AI costs 0 Mana. The AI discards as many cards from the top of its deck pile as the cost of Mana of the Creature or the Incantation.
• Regeneration: If one of the AI's Creature with the Regeneration ability deals Damages, the first card of the AI's discard pile is placed on top of its deck pile. If the discard pile is empty, nothing happens.
• Reinforcement: When the owner is put in the AI discard pile, immediately summon the top card of the AI deck on the same line, without paying its Mana cost.
• Symbiote: The cards that bear the Symbiote Special Ability merge with the AI's Creature closest to the Bridge on the line where the Creature with Symbiote was played. If there is no Creature available on this line, the card is placed in the AI's discard pile and its Mana is not spent.
• Vulnerability: A card with Vulnerability has an Attack value of 0 (instead of X-1) when it attacks the AI's Bastion or Fort.

Multiplayer Modes

Setup

Place 4 Bridge cards in the play area. The play area consists of 4 lines, each line expanding on both sides of a Bridge card. Each player shares a line with their enemy on the left and another line with their enemy on the right. Player A shares their top line with Player B and their bottom line with Player D. Player C shares their top line with Player D and their bottom line with Player B.

Exception: The first player only gains 6 Mana at the start of their first turn (instead of 9), the second player only gains 7 Mana at the start of their first turn (instead of 9) and the third player only gains 8 Mana at the start of their first turn (instead of 9). The fourth player follows the regular rules by gaining as much Mana as they have cards in their hand.

Game end and win conditions

The game ends as soon as a player's Fort shifts to the rightmost position in their hand. The enemy (or the enemy team) who owns the card that destroyed the Fort instantly wins the game.

Free-For-All (4 Players)

The Free-For-All Mode gives you the chance to fight 3 other players in a battle during which the most cunning and chancer will win.

Team Play (4 Players)

The Team Play Mode makes a 2 players versus 2 players fight possible, putting cooperation at the heart of the battle.

The Free-For-All and Team Play Modes follow the same rules as the Duel Mode with some significant adjustments indicated below.

Specifics of the 4-Player Draft:

1. Shuffle 32 cards to form a deck pile.
2. The players select cards by following these steps:
   1. Reveal the first 8 cards from the deck pile.
   2. Player A chooses 1 of the 8 available cards.
   3. Player B chooses 1 of the 7 available cards.
   4. Player C chooses 1 of the 6 available cards.
   5. Player D chooses 2 of the 5 available cards.
   6. Player C chooses 1 of the 3 available cards.
   7. Player B chooses 1 of the 2 available cards.
   8. Player A takes the remaining card.
3. Repeat these steps by changing the order in which players select their cards until every player has 8 cards in hand: BCDAADCB, CDABBADC, DABCCBAD.

Co-op (2 players and 2 AI)

The Co-op Mode allows you to coordinate strategies with your ally against enemy hordes swarming from AI's Kingdoms.

The Co-op Mode follows the same rules as the Solo Mode with some significant adjustments indicated below.

Specifics Draft in Co-op Mode:

1. Shuffle 64 cards to form a deck pile.
2. The players select cards by following these steps:
   1. Reveal the first 8 cards from the deck pile.
   2. Player A chooses 1 of the 8 available cards.
   3. Player B chooses 1 of the 7 available cards and give the 6 others to the AI.
   4. If the players have less than 8 cards in hand, repeat these steps by switching Player A and Player B.
3. Shuffle the AI's 48 cards, divide them into 2 deck piles of 24 cards and pile them up, face down, to form both AI's deck piles.

The AI's difficulty level can be customized, at the players' discretion, by following the rules of the Solo Mode - Custom Play.

Mutation Format

To play, you will need

• one pair of scissors
• one glue stick
• one Mutation kit (two different expansions, sleeves)

Introduction

The Mutation format brings you a unique gaming experience, with a real power rise, by giving you the possibility to evolve the cards in your deck after each play!

The Mutation format is played with 4 players, in Duel Mode. Each player therefore fights the same opponent twice, playing 6 games total. A complete Mutation Format game session should take approximately 2 hours.

Préparation

Before starting the game, the players must draft. Shuffle the 64 Creature and Incantation cards from the 2 different expansions and randomly deal 16 to each player.

Each player now has a hand of 16 cards. They choose one and pass the remaining ones to the player on their left. Players continue this way until their hand is empty.

After the draft, the players have 16 cards from which they will choose 8 cards to create their deck with.

Each player takes a Stronghold card and sleeves their 9 cards deck. These 9 cards make up the player's deck for the following 6 games. A deck's cards cannot be swapped between games.

The 8 Creature and/or Incantations that are not used in the deck comprise each player's Laboratory.

Mutation Phase

A Mutation Phase occurs before each game. During this phase, you can modify the Attack Value, HP Value, Mana Value and/or Special Abilities of a Creature in your deck, by cutting elements from your Laboratory cards and gluing them onto the cards in your deck, thus enhancing them.

You have 2.5 Mutation Points available before each game. Unspent Mutation Points are lost and do not carry over to the next Mutation Phase.

Any Creature card in your deck can mutate, in the limit of your available Mutation Points during your Mutation Phase.

You can mutate multiple cards and/or multiple different elements of a given card during the same Mutation Phase. You can also mutate a card that has already been mutated in a previous Mutation Phase. However, a new mutation cannot cover a previous mutation.

Rules

Elements can only be cut from the 8 cards in your Laboratory. A Special Ability mutation must cover an existing Special Ability. A Creature can only have one instance of a given Special Ability. A Creature cannot exceed 9 AV or 9 HP. A Creature cannot have more than one Aura. The Attack or HP value of a Creature cannot be lowered.

Mutation process:

1. Choose a card to mutate from your deck.
2. Choose an element to mutate (Mana, HP, AV, SA) on that card.
3. Check that you have enough available Mutation Points.
4. Check that the chosen element is available among the cards in your Laboratory.
5. Cut the chosen element from the card in your Laboratory.
6. Remove the chosen card from the sleeve and glue the element on it.
7. Let dry a few seconds and put the mutated card back in the sleeve.

Note: Only Creatures can mutate, Incantations cannot.

Mutation Points Costs

The cost of a mutation on a card in your deck is variable, ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 Mutation Points depending on the Special Ability or stat change being covered (illustrated on the card with matching Special Ability icons and stat-change tokens such as +1, +2, +3, +4, or -1, -2).

Exception: covering the Defender, Mercenary or Blackmail Special Abilities costs an additional 1.5 Mutation Points. Covering the Reanimation Special Ability costs an additional 1 Mutation Point.

Exception: an Aura has the same cost as the Special Ability itself, but must cover 2 Special Abilities or another Aura.

Game end & session end

A game ends when a player's Fort is destroyed.

After 6 games, the ranking will indicate the session winner. If tied, the players share their victory.

After their 6 games, the players' decks can no longer mutate. All the Laboratory cards can be destroyed. Mutated decks can be kept: they can still be played against other mutated decks.

Champion Module

Champion cards are not featured in the Initiation Pack or the standalone expansions: these cards can only be created via the online card generator. Champion cards can be printed for free as Print and Play or ordered as Print on Demand on PVC cards via our online store: www.clashofdecks.com

Champions are an optional module which adds new rules to the game. A Champion is a Creature with specific elements; all rules applying to Creatures therefore apply to them. If a Champion Module rule contradicts the base rules, the Champion Module rule prevails. The Champion module can be played with all formats and all game modes (except solo mode - quick game).

Advice: If you are not in a capacity to print or have Champion cards printed, you can simply designate any Creature card which is not part of your Deck as your Champion.

Setup

After building their Decks, the players choose and reveal their Champion card. Each player chooses a single Champion card for the whole duration of the game. A Champion is not held in hand with the other Creatures or Incantations that belong to a player's Deck. It is instead placed face up on the table, near the play area, outside of the players' Kingdoms.

Summoning Conditions

A Champion can be summoned like any other Creature, by paying its Mana cost. A Champion can be summoned during any Summoning phase, it is always considered as being among the 4 leftmost cards in their owner's hand. When you summon a Champion, pay 1 less Mana for each Creature, from both Kingdoms, that shares its exact Mana cost. An exhausted Champion cannot be summoned: it must be readied first.

Re-Summoning Conditions

When a Champion is destroyed, it is not returned to their owner's hand. It is instead exhausted (turned horizontally) and placed near the play area again. As long as a Champion is exhausted, it cannot be summoned. As soon as any player (or AI for the Solo Mode) plays a card with the same exact Mana cost as a Champion, ready (straighten vertically) that Champion card.

Grimoire

The Grimoire was initially born from the Discord server. The goal was to offer daily problems that could be solved through gameplay situations. Players can thus experiment specific situations to better understand how Special Abilities work and interact with one another in Clash of Decks. Each page of the Grimoire consists of a puzzle that never fails to spark conversations on the Discord server. We thought it was a great community tool! And so we designed another tool for the players: just like the online card generator, it allows anyone to create their own Grimoire pages and to share them freely with the community, whether on Discord or on other social networks. Many thanks to Cadrach for their work on this project.

Grimoire online: https://grimoire.clashofdecks.com

In addition to the online version, we designed a printed version of the Grimoire, available in our online store. Eleven Grimoires exist (one per expansion, plus one for the Initiation Pack) with 32 pages each, complete with their own puzzles and solutions. Should you solve (or at least understand) every riddle, you will then become a true Lord-Sorcerer!

Activation Order

Activation order of Special Abilities during the Assault phase:

1. Auras verification
2. Attack clearance: Creatures who have been in game for 1 turn / Rage
3. Target(s) identification: Defender / Aerial / Splash / Perforation
4. Sprint
5. Auras Update
6. Damages calculation / Vulnerability / Aquatic
7. Dealing Damages / Protection
8. Enchain
9. Memorisation of non-lethal Damages until the end of the Assault phase
10. The Creature(s) destroyed return in hand / Mercenary / Cursed
11. Reinforcement
12. Shifting of the Creatures to fill the spots left empty
13. Auras Update
14. Regeneration
15. Sharpening
16. Vanish
17. Shifting of the Creatures to fill the spots left empty
18. Auras Update
19. Berserk (go back to step 3.)
20. Instinct (go back to step 3.)

Activation order of Special Abilities during the Invocation phase:

1. Mana Cost Payment / Lucidity
2. Activation of Price of Blood: payment of the rest of the cost to be paid in VP
3. The card comes out of its owner's hand
4. Target(s) identification: Splash / Perforation
5. Immolation
6. Backlash
7. Counter-order
8. Damages calculation / Vulnerability / Aquatic
9. Dealing Damages / Protection / Indestructible
10. Memorisation of non-lethal Damages until the end of the Assault phase
11. The Creature(s) destroyed return in hand / Mercenary (Creature) / Cursed (Creature)
12. Shifting of the Creatures to fill the spots left empty
13. Auras Update
14. Regeneration
15. Sharpening
16. Incantation returns in hand / Mercenary (Incantation) / Cursed (Incantation)
17. Vanish
18. Shifting of the Creatures to fill the spots left empty
19. Auras Update

Special Abilities

Important: owner refers to the card bearing the Special Ability.

AERIAL: If the owner is on the upper line, it cannot attack enemy Creatures. It directly attacks the enemy Stronghold, ignoring enemy Creatures. Additionally granting the Rage Special Ability to the owner on the upper line has no effect. Additionally granting the Defender Special Ability to the owner on the upper line would prevent it from attacking Creatures as well as the enemy Stronghold.

AQUATIC: As long as the owner is adjacent to a Bridge, it deals double Damage. If the owner has the Sprint Special Ability, the attack bonus granted by Sprint will also be doubled.

AURA: Aura is always paired with another Special Ability. As long as the owner is in play, adjacent Creatures on the same line benefit from its paired Special Ability. The owner itself doesn't benefit from that Special Ability. As soon as the owner is moved or leaves play (returning back to their owner's hand), the two potential adjacent Creatures lose the effect granted by the Aura.

BACKLASH: When the owner enters play, deal to the enemy creature closest to the bridge in the same line damage equal to the number of cards at the left of your Stronghold in your hand.

BERSERK: Each time the owner attacks and destroys at least one enemy Creature, it attacks again. Resolve all the attacks of the owner before resolving the attacks of the next Creatures. After destroying the last enemy Creature on its line, because it must attack again, it attacks the enemy Stronghold (unless it attacks during the turn it entered play thanks to the Rage Special Ability).

BLACKMAIL: As long as the owner is in play, the rightmost card of your available cards in hand can no longer be played (cannot be less than 1 card).

CATALYST: If the owner is in play during your Phase 1, gain +2 Mana this turn. There is no limit to the amount of Mana a player can gain during Phase 1: Mana Regeneration.

COUNTER-ORDER: When the owner is played, move the leftmost Creature or Incantation card to its rightmost position in its owner's hand.

CURSED: When the owner should return to the rightmost position in its owner's hand, it returns to the leftmost position instead.

DEFENDER: The owner can attack enemy Creatures but cannot attack the enemy Stronghold. This Special Ability is a malus. The owner is inherently stronger than other cards with the same Mana cost to compensate.

ENCHAIN: When the owner is played, take the leftmost Creature or Incantation card from your opponent's hand. Reveal it and place it face down under the owner. When the owner suffers at least 1 Damage, return the facedown card to the rightmost position in its owner's hand.

IMMOLATION: As long as the owner is in play, each time a player plays a card on the same line, they suffer 1 Damage to their Stronghold.

INDESTRUCTIBLE: The owner does not suffer Damage or effects from Incantations and special ability Backlash (it can still be targeted).

INSTINCT: After the owner has suffered at least 1 Damage from a Creature without being destroyed, it attacks the Creature closest to the Bridge on its line, after each of the attacks of the Creature attacking it are resolved. If there is no enemy Creature, the owner attacks the enemy Stronghold. The Instinct Special Ability activates after the Vanish Special Ability.

LUCIDITY: If the owner is the leftmost Creature or Incantation card in its owner's hand, it costs 2 less Mana.

MERCENARY: When the owner should return to their owner's hand, it returns to the rightmost position in the enemy's hand instead (or on top of the AI's deck pile in Solo play). This Special Ability is a malus. The owner is inherently more powerful than other cards with the same Mana cost to compensate.

PERFORATION: The owner deals its Damage to the target Creature AND to the Creature located behind it on the same line. This effect only applies to Creatures, never to the enemy Stronghold. Damage from an attack with more than one target is resolved in a single instance.

PRICE OF BLOOD: If you do not have enough Mana to pay for the owner's full cost, spend all your remaining Mana, then for each missing Mana, suffer one Damage by shifting your Stronghold one position to the right in your hand. Damage suffered this way is dealt in instances of 1.

PROTECTION: During each turn, Protection reduces the first source of Damage targeting the owner to 0. Sources of Damage include any Creature or Incantation dealing at least 1 Damage. Effects from these sources of Damage are still triggered (Splash, Perforation, etc.) and dealt to other Creatures as normal.

RAGE: The owner can attack enemy Creatures during the turn it enters play. This effect does not allow the owner to attack the enemy Stronghold the turn it enters play. If no enemy Creature can be attacked the turn the owner enters play, the Rage Special Ability has no effect.

REGENERATION: Each time the owner deals Damage to a target, shift the card owner's Stronghold one position to the left in their hand. If the Fort should shift left while it is already in the leftmost position in its owner's hand, the Fort is then rotated so the Bastion is side up, then moved to the second rightmost position in its owner's hand.

REINFORCEMENT: When the owner returns to its owner's hand, immediately play the leftmost available Creature from your hand with a Mana cost of 4 or less that does not have the Reinforcement Special Ability.

SHARPENING: During each turn, the first time the owner inflicts enough Damage to destroy a Creature, any excess Damage is dealt to the Stronghold of the owner of the destroyed Creature. If more than one Creature is destroyed by a single attack (i.e. with Splash or Perforation), excess Damage is dealt to the enemy Stronghold in a single instance. The owner has no effect on a Creature with the Protection Special Ability, as reducing the Damage source to 0 generates no excess Damage.

SPLASH: The owner deals its Damage to the target Creature AND to the Creature in the same position on the neighbouring line. This effect only applies to Creatures, never to the enemy Stronghold. Damage dealt to more than one target is resolved in a single instance.

SPRINT: Each time the owner attacks, move it until it is adjacent to the Bridge card on the same line. This turn, the owner deals +X Damage, where X = the number of Creatures it moved over. It only attacks once, but its AV is modified until the end of Phase 3: Assault.

SYMBIOTE: When the owner enters play, it can be placed above another Creature already in play in its Kingdom. The AV, HP and Special Abilities of both Creatures stack as long as they remain in play. When destroyed, both cards are returned to their owner's hand, starting with the owner. The owner can also enter play as an independent Creature. The owner cannot be placed above another Creature that already has the Symbiote Special Ability. Symbiote doesn't stack Vulnerability with the other Creature's AV. Ignore the indicated AV, only applying Vulnerability. If the host or the owner bears the Special Ability Mercenary, the Mercenary card is the only one to return.

VANISH: After the owner has suffered at least 1 Damage without being destroyed, move it to the furthest position away from the Bridge on its line. Vanish triggers before the Instinct Special Ability.

VULNERABILITY: The owner's AV deals X Damage to an enemy Creature or Stronghold, where X = the target's HP -1. If the owner attacks more than one target (i.e. with Splash or Perforation), the effects apply to each target. This Special Ability weakens the target rather than destroying it. Paired with Special Abilities such as Sprint or Aquatic, the owner can destroy any target in a single attack. If the owner attacks the enemy Stronghold, it is shifted to the second rightmost position in the enemy's hand, without changing its side (i.e. the Bastion would remain side up).

An Incredible Story

Clash of Decks was initially published in France in 2020, in an unusual form: a card game, the cards of which you had to cut out of a cardboard leaflet yourself. Then, a new standalone expansion was released each month. By the end of 2020, we decided to change the release model. Clash of Decks is dead...

Long live Clash of Decks! We launched our first Kickstarter Campaign in May 2021, with the goal of making the game's format evolve, with more conventional components, such as "real", larger and better quality cards, along with a storage box. Our main objective: make Clash of Decks accessible to everyone! We thus created a Kickstarter campaign with a daring bet: offer the game to all backers, free of charge! The Clash of Decks campaign was met with great enthusiasm and the support of more than 20,000 backers. This unique campaign has, in fact, allowed us to print and distribute more than 36,000 copies of the Clash of Decks Starter Kit.

We were back on Kickstarter at the end of 2021 thanks to a strong community of tens of thousands of players. As of this day, Clash of Decks is distributed in stores in France by Grammes Edition and in the rest of the world thanks to Lucky Duck Games.

Team

Léandre Proust — Game Designer & Publisher Adeline Deslais — Publisher & Logistics Clément Proust — Graphic Designer

GR Edition

Publisher: Grammes Edition Artwork: Studio Rexard International Distributor: Lucky Duck Games Proofreaders: Siegfried Würtz, Raphaël Biolluz, Estelle Vernet Translator: Albin Chevrel Manufacturer: Cartamundi Made in the UE (Belgium, Poland)

Contact us: [email protected]

Board Game Arena is the world's first online boardgaming platform. You can play Clash of Decks for free on it and take part in numerous tournaments organized on the platform.

www.clashofdecks.com