Clash of Magic Schools Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview and Goal of the Game
• Game Elements and Setup
• Course of the Game
  • 1 – Draw 3 Student cards
  • 2 – Take actions
    • A. Move
    • B. Deploy Students
    • C. Pass a Trial (mandatory on the first turn)
    • D. Summon Students (only once per turn)
    • E. Cast a spell
      • The effects of the different spells
  • 3 – Announce the next 2 Trials
• End of the Game
  • Overtime
• Variants
  • Curriculum
  • Championship
• Player Aid
  • Turn Sequence
  • End of the Game
  • List of Spells and Maleficio

Components

• 1 Tournament board
• 60 Student cards (12 per Element: earth, water, air, fire and dark matter)
• 45 Trial cards (10 of level 1; 9 of level 2; 8 of level 3; 7 of level 4; 6 of level 5 and 5 of level 6)
• 2 Emblem pawns (1 white representing the Blancgriffon school and 1 black representing the Dragombre school)
• 1 score pad (for the Curriculum and Championship variants)
• 2 player aids (front and back)

Overview and Goal of the Game

In this game for two players, each of you plays the head of one of the finalist magic schools of the Wizards' Tournament and is ready to do anything to make your establishment win this prestigious challenge. During the game, send your Students to face danger through a succession of perilous Trials in the different Arenas. But beware of the rival school, which will try to snatch victory from you at all costs by using forbidden magic. Tension is at its peak... Who will win the Cup of the Two Schools this year?

Game Elements and Setup

1. Sit face to face and place the Tournament board in the centre of the table so that each player has the crest of their school in front of them (the black dragon or the white griffin). On each side of the board there are 5 spaces that can hold Trial cards (Trial spaces). Leave room under each of them for the columns of Student cards. In the centre are the 5 Arenas. Between the two crests is the Grandstand space for the Trial card draw pile, and under each crest, the space for available Trial cards (see Passing a Trial, page 5).
2. Each player takes the starting Trial card in the colours of their school (identifiable by its back) and places it under their crest, just beside the board. Each of them is considered a level 1 card.
3. Shuffle the remaining Trial cards and form a face-down draw pile on the Grandstand space of the board. The levels of the Trial cards indicate the points your Students will earn for your school. The level of each card is written at the top, numbered from 1 (the lowest) to 6 (the maximum level). The starting Trial cards are cards that only you can place on your first turn.
4. Each player takes the Emblem pawn of their school and places it on their crest on the board. This pawn moves on the board to indicate where your school acts during your turn.
5. Shuffle the Student cards and form a face-down draw pile beside the board. Leave a space beside it for the Student discard pile. The Student cards represent the magicians who take part in the Trials. Each is associated with an Element recognizable by its colour, its pictogram (in the upper corners) and its spell (bottom left).
6. The Dragombre (black) player is the first player. They draw 3 Student cards while the Blancgriffon player draws 5.

(Dragombre side: first player; Blancgriffon side: second player.)

Course of the Game

A game of Clash of Magic Schools lasts an indeterminate number of turns. Take turns, starting with the first player, until a victory condition is met (see End of the Game, page 9).

On your turn, carry out the following 3 phases in order:

1. Draw 3 Student cards
2. Take actions (unlimited)
3. Announce the next 2 Trials

1 – Draw 3 Student cards

Draw 3 Student cards and add them to your hand. On their first turn, the Dragombre player therefore ends up with 6 cards in hand.

New Students: If the draw pile is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile.

2 – Take actions

Take as many actions as you wish, in any order, among the 5 available. You may take the same one several times (except the Summon Students action).

• A. Move
• B. Deploy Students
• C. Pass a Trial (mandatory on the first turn)
• D. Summon Students (only once per turn)
• E. Cast a spell

A. Move

Discard 1 Student card from your hand, then move your Emblem pawn to the Arena corresponding to the Element of the discarded card.

The 2 Emblem pawns may be on the same Arena. On your first move, move your pawn from your school crest. Your Emblem pawn can never return to this crest.

Example: Adrien discards 1 air Student card from his hand, then takes his pawn and places it on the Air Arena.

B. Deploy Students

Place as many Student cards from your hand as you wish, regardless of their Element, in the Arena where your Emblem pawn is. You must respect the following points:

• If an Arena holds several Student cards, make them overlap slightly in a column to save space while allowing easy reading of the board. You must always be able to see the Students in the different Arenas.
• Once a card is deployed, it can only be moved by a Summon Students action or by the effect of an opposing spell.

Example: Adrien decides to deploy 3 Students during this action (2 water Students and 1 earth Student) in the Arena where his Emblem pawn is, which already held 1 fire Student. He now has 4 Students on that space.

C. Pass a Trial (mandatory on the first turn)

Take 1 available Trial card and place it on your side of the board, on the Trial space of the Arena where your Emblem pawn is. You must respect the following points:

• Only the last card of the columns of Trial cards situated under each of the crests is available. You can therefore only choose from these 2 cards each time you pass a Trial. It is even possible that there is only one card or none, leaving you no choice.
• The level of the Trial you want to pass must be the level immediately above the Trial already on that space. If there is no Trial card on that space, consider that you are at level 0. If there is already a Trial card on that space, stack them.
• The number of Student cards deployed on your side of the Arena must be equal to or greater than the level of the Trial you wish to pass.
• During setup, your school's starting Trial card is the only one in your column. On your first turn only, you must pass this Trial and cannot pass the opposing Trial.

Example: On his first turn, Adrien places his starting Trial card (level 1) under the Arena where his Emblem pawn is and which already holds 1 Student (1). Later in the game, he has 4 Students in this Arena, so the possibility to go up to level 4. He decides to take the level 2 Trial card available in the opposing column (a) then continues with the level 3 Trial card available on his side (b). However, he cannot take Trial card 4 for the moment because it is not available, and Trial card 5 would make him skip a level (2).

D. Summon Students (only once per turn)

Move exactly your last 3 Student cards deployed in an Arena to another Arena. You must respect the following points:

• Your Emblem pawn does not necessarily have to be on the starting or arrival space of your Students: you can therefore summon them from and to anywhere.
• You must move 3 Student cards, no more, no less.
• Place the cards thus moved after those already deployed in the arrival Arena. They must keep their order.
• If there are fewer than 3 Student cards in your Arena, you cannot take this action.

Example: Adrien decides to move his last 3 Student cards from the Air Arena to the Dark Matter Arena.

E. Cast a spell

Cast the spell shown at the bottom of one of your Student cards or the Maleficio (see page 8), then discard that card. You must respect the following points:

• The Student casting the spell must be in the Arena where your Emblem pawn is.
• The Student casting the spell must be surrounded by other Students of the same Element (one above and one below it).
• Once the effect of the spell has been applied, discard the Student card that cast the spell. The various spell effects are described in the box below.

"Why are all the strongest spells forbidden? The spectators want a show, don't they? Well, we'll give them one!"

Your Students must be careful: the spells appearing on cards as well as the Maleficio are forbidden spells during the tournament. If a Student casts one, the referee immediately expels them from the Arena.

The effects of the different spells

Earth (green): "Batrax!" Name an Element, then discard all opposing Student cards of that Element deployed in this Arena.

Example: Adrien casts the spell Batrax. He names the fire Element. His opponent therefore discards all their fire Student cards from this Arena. Adrien then discards the earth Student card that cast the spell.

Water (blue): "Inundatio!" Immediately take the action Pass a Trial while skipping one level. You must nevertheless respect the usual conditions for passing a Trial: the card of the Trial you pass must be available, and you must have enough Student cards in the corresponding Arena.

Example: Adrien casts the spell Inundatio while he is at the level 2 Trial and has 4 Students in this Arena. He therefore takes the available level 4 Trial from his opponent, and places it on top of the level 2 Trial. Adrien then discards the water Student card that cast the spell.

Air (yellow): "Hypnox!" Add to your column of Students in this Arena the last card of the opposing column as well as all those of the same Element. Place these cards after your deployed Students in this Arena.

Example: Adrien casts the spell Hypnox. The last card played in this Arena by his opponent is an earth Student. Adrien then takes all the earth Student cards in his opponent's column and places them after his Students already present on his side. Adrien then discards the air Student card that cast the spell.

Fire (red): "Combustio!" Remove all opposing Trial cards from this Arena. However, do not discard these cards. Instead, gather them all into a single pile without changing their order, and put them back face down on top of the Trial card draw pile (the lowest-value card is therefore at the top of the draw pile).

Example: Adrien casts the spell Combustio in the Water Arena. He removes the 4 Trial cards his opponent has in this Arena and puts them back face down on the Trial card pile without changing their order. Adrien then discards the fire Student card that cast the spell.

Dark matter (purple): "Eversio!" Steal the last Trial card of your opponent in this Arena. You do not necessarily need to own the Trial card of the immediately lower level (or even own any Trial cards), so you can skip levels this way. However, you cannot steal a card of a level lower than or equal to the one you currently have. You must also have at least as many Students deployed in this Arena as the level of the stolen card.

Example: Adrien has 6 Students in the Water Arena, 3 of which are dark matter. He activates one of these 3 Students to cast the spell Eversio. He then takes the level 6 Trial card from his opponent and places it on his side, where he was still at level 1. Adrien then discards the dark matter Student card that cast the spell.

Hex: "Maleficio!" (instead of an Element's own spell) Your opponent must discard half of the cards in their hand, of their choice (rounded down). A Student can cast either the spell linked to their Element or the common hex. This hex is therefore used instead of the spell each Element has.

Example: Adrien would like to cast the spell Combustio, but his opponent has 7 cards in hand, which is a lot. He therefore prefers to cast Maleficio so that his opponent discards 3 cards. Adrien then discards the Student card that cast the spell.

3 – Announce the next 2 Trials

Reveal the top 2 cards of the Trial draw pile and place them one after the other, in descending order, under your school's crest, after your other available Trial cards. Tell your opponent how many Student cards you have left in hand. It is then your opponent's turn to begin theirs, starting again at phase 1 – Draw 3 Student cards.

Example: Adrien reveals a level 2 Trial card and a level 5 card. He therefore places the 5 after the cards of his column, and the 2 on top of it. The order of the Trial cards already present remains unchanged.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately when one of the following conditions is met:

• The total value of a player's Trial cards (sum of the levels of all passed Trials visible on their side of the board) is at least 15 while that of their opponent is 9 or less.
• The last card of the Trial card draw pile is drawn during phase 3 – Announce the next 2 Trials.

Overtime

However, if the total value of a player's Trials is at least 15 while that of their opponent is 10 or more, the game continues in Overtime mode and only stops when one of the following three conditions is reached:

• A player's total Trial value is 20 or more.
• A player's total Trial value is 9 or less.
• The last Trial card of the Trial card draw pile is drawn during phase 3 – Announce the next 2 Trials.

In all cases, the player with the highest total Trial value is declared the winner. They are named Grand Champion of the 5 Elements, and win the Cup of the Two Schools.

Example: After passing a Trial, Adrien reaches a score of 15 points. However, his opponent is at 11. The game is therefore not over and goes into Overtime mode. Later in the game, Adrien brings his opponent down to 9 points. This triggers the end of the game, and although his own score is now 12, he wins the game immediately.

Variants

Once you are familiar with the rules and the different strategies, you can decide to play in Curriculum or Championship mode for higher stakes.

• Curriculum mode lets you play several games in a row against the same player.
• Championship mode lets you organize a competition of up to 8 players.

Curriculum

Each year during their curriculum, the same students face each other in the Cup of the Two Schools. Edition after edition, they accumulate ever more resentment and rage to win.

Curriculum mode lets you reward the best school at the end of a challenge of 7 games.

When setting up this variant, take a score sheet, Curriculum side, which you keep until the end of the 7 games. Each player selects a school (Dragombre school or Blancgriffon school) and writes their name in the corresponding space at the top of the sheet.

At the end of each game, note the total Trial value of each player and tick the round box corresponding to the winner.

Once the 7 games have been played, the player who won the most games gains a bonus of 10 points. Write it in the dedicated space. Finally, add up the points scored by each player during the 7 games (and the bonus points if applicable). The player with the highest sum wins! They are then named Grand Champion of the 7 Cycles.

"However," declared the headmaster, "10 additional points are awarded to..."

Championship

This year, the Cup of the Two Schools is a rather special edition... The two schools are divided into 4 houses each, for a total of 8 teams. Only one will win!

Championship mode lets you organize a tournament of up to 8 players.

When setting up this variant, take a score sheet, Championship side, which you keep until a winner is designated.

Everyone draws 1 Trial card at random. In the ascending order defined by the Trial cards drawn, each writes their name on the sheet in the left column, from top to bottom. In case of a tie, the players concerned draw a new card to break it. If the number of players is odd, the last player to write their name goes directly to the next stage.

Then announce the first match. During the game, players waiting for their turn can cheer on their favourite team!

At the end of the game, write the name of the winner in the space just to the right, at the next stage, and cross out the name of the loser.

Then move on to the next game. Continue in this way until there is only one winner! They are then named Grand Champion of the 8 Houses!

Player Aid

Turn Sequence

1. Draw 3 Student cards
2. Take actions (unlimited): a. Move; b. Deploy Students; c. Pass a Trial (mandatory on the first turn); d. Summon Students (only once per turn); e. Cast a spell
3. Announce the next 2 Trials

End of the Game

You win if you reach at least 15 Trial points while your opponent has 9 or less. Otherwise, the game goes into Overtime mode.

In Overtime mode, the game ends when:

• You reach 20 Trial points or more.
• Your opponent reaches 9 Trial points or less.
• The Trial card draw pile is empty.

List of Spells and Maleficio

• Fire (red): "Combustio!" Put back on the draw pile all opposing Trial cards from this Arena.
• Dark matter (purple): "Eversio!" Steal the last opposing Trial card from this Arena.
• Earth (green): "Batrax!" Name an Element, then discard all opposing Student cards of that Element from this Arena.
• Water (blue): "Inundatio!" Immediately take the action Pass a Trial while skipping one level.
• Air (yellow): "Hypnox!" Add to your column of Students the last opposing Student card of this Arena as well as all those of the same Element. Place these cards after your deployed Students in this Arena.
• Hex: "Maleficio!" (instead of an Element's own spell) Your opponent must discard half of the cards in their hand, of their choice (rounded down).