Epic Card Game: Duels Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Setup
  • Redrawing Cards
• Winning and Losing
• Card Types
  • Card Anatomy
  • Events
  • Creatures
• Playing Cards and the Golden Rule
• Abilities
  • Continuous Abilities
  • Triggered Abilities
• Arriving Creatures
• Creature Card Positions
  • Ready (upright, facing its owner)
  • Exhausted (turned 90 degrees)
  • Turned (turned 180 degrees)
• Targets and Partial Application of Abilities
• Initiative
• Turn Structure
  • Beginning Phase
  • Main Phase
  • Combat Phase
  • End of Turn Phase
• Keywords and Terms
• Game Formats
  • Limited
  • Constructed
• Games with 3 or More Players
  • Free-for-All
  • Hunter - First Blood
  • Hunter - Last Survivor
  • Team Play

Game Contents

• Rulebook (this booklet) and a "Beginner's Guide" booklet
• 60 game cards
• 4 health cards
• 12 minion cards (wolf / zombie)
• 22 minion cards (human / demon)
• 2 reminder cards
• 2 gold tokens
• 1 turn token

Setup

If you have never played "Epic" before, SET THIS BOOKLET ASIDE and follow the instructions in the "Beginner's Guide" booklet, which explains the rules using a specific sample game.

1. Choose decks. Divide the cards by the 4 faction symbols shown in their top left corner: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. Then each player chooses the cards of any 2 factions and shuffles them together face down, forming their deck. Other ways of forming decks are described in the "Game Formats" section.
2. Leave enough room in front of you for your play area.
3. Leave room next to your deck for your discard pile. Cards in the discard pile are placed face up, and players may always look at the cards in any discard pile.
4. Put the minion cards in a pile next to the play area. When a card ability tells you to put a minion into play, take it from this pile.
5. Each player sets their health to 30. When you take damage, you reduce your health. Each player takes a "tens" health card and a similar "ones" health card. Align the numbers on these cards to track your current health. (The booklet shows an example of the cards aligned at 30 health.)
6. Each player takes a reminder card.
7. Choose the first player at random.
8. Each player draws 5 cards from their deck into their hand.
9. Each player may redraw their cards (see below).
10. Each player takes a gold token and places it on its gold side face up. The first player receives the turn token and takes the first turn.

Redrawing Cards

After all players have drawn their starting cards, each player (starting with the second player) may redraw them. To do so, put any number of cards from your hand aside, shuffle them, and place them on the bottom of your deck. Then draw the same number of cards from the top of your deck and lose that many points of health.

Winning and Losing

If your health drops to 0, you are eliminated from the game. If all your opponents are eliminated, you win. In rare cases you can also win if you need to draw a card from your deck but it is empty. If the health of all players drops to 0 (or below) simultaneously, the game ends in a draw.

The booklet shows the standard game layout. Each player has: a reminder card, a health display (health cards), a gold token, a hand, a deck and a discard pile, and a play area. The play area contains the player's creatures, the minion pile sits beside it, and the combat zone is the space between the players' play areas.

Card Types

Card Anatomy

• Faction. The cards in this set belong to four factions, distinguished by colour: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom.
• Cost. The cost of the card, shown in its top right corner. Some cards require spending gold to play; the rest are free (cost 0). At the start of each turn, both players flip their gold tokens to the gold side face up (in a two-player game).
• Card type. The game has two types of cards: events and creatures.
• Description. What the card does.

Events

Events represent the will of the gods affecting the world of mortals. You may play events during any player's turn, even during combat. After playing an event, apply its abilities, then put its card into its owner's discard pile.

Creatures

Creatures are the heroes and monsters that are in your play area and fight for you. You may play a creature card only during the main phase of your turn (see "Main Phase"), unless it has the keyword Ambush (see "Keywords and Terms").

• Class. The kind and/or specialty of the card. A card's class does not by itself give any advantages, but the abilities of some cards may affect cards of particular classes.
• Attack. The amount of damage this creature deals in combat.
• Defense. The total amount of damage that must be dealt to this creature in a single turn to destroy it. A destroyed creature's card is put into its owner's discard pile.
• Keywords. Shorthand for certain rules or abilities. See their detailed descriptions in "Keywords and Terms".

Playing Cards and the Golden Rule

To play a card from your hand, pay its cost (if it costs gold, flip your gold token to its other side), and then place it face up in your play area.

If it is an event card, immediately apply its abilities in the order given on it. Then put that event card into your discard pile.

If it is a creature card, from that moment it is considered "in play". A creature that has been played stays in play until it is destroyed or exiled.

The Golden Rule: a player may play cards only if they have the initiative (see "Initiative") and there are no card abilities that have been triggered but not yet applied. Players cannot play cards until all triggered card abilities have been applied. After a player has played a card, they still have the initiative and may either play the next card or pass the initiative to the opponent.

Abilities

Some cards have abilities. Triggering the abilities of cards in this set requires no additional action from you. Some abilities are continuous and work all the time while the cards that have them are in play; others trigger by themselves under certain conditions.

Continuous Abilities

Continuous abilities work at all times from the moment they appear in the game until the moment they leave the game.

Triggered Abilities

Triggered abilities are applied when a certain condition is met. Triggered abilities are marked with an arrow symbol. The condition required for the ability to apply is written to the left of the arrow, and the effect to the right. You cannot ignore the effect of a triggered ability unless the effect's description uses the word "may". For example: "When this card is destroyed -> Draw a card."

If you play an event card and it triggers a creature's ability, first finish playing the event and only then apply the triggered creature ability. Note: if a creature leaves play because of an event's ability, its own ability still applies.

Arriving Creatures

A creature that has been played is considered arriving until the start of your next turn. An arriving creature cannot attack but can block.

Creature Card Positions

During the game you will rotate the cards of your creatures to track their status and capabilities. The booklet illustrates three positions using a minion card: ready, exhausted and turned.

Ready (upright, facing its owner)

Creature cards enter play in the upright "ready" position, facing their owner. If a ready creature is arriving (see above), it can block but cannot attack. If a ready creature is no longer arriving, or if it has the keyword Blitz, it can both block and attack.

Exhausted (turned 90 degrees)

When your creature attacks, exhaust its card by turning it 90 degrees (so that the text on it is sideways to you). This position means the creature cannot attack or block until the start of your next turn, during which it becomes ready again (its card returns to the upright position facing you).

Turned (turned 180 degrees)

To block an attack by an enemy creature with one of yours, turn its card 180 degrees (so that its text faces your opponent). This position means the creature cannot block again until the start of your next turn. All turned creature cards become ready (return to the upright position facing their owner) at the end of each turn.

Targets and Partial Application of Abilities

Any card abilities are applied in the order they are written (one sentence at a time). If some part of a card's ability requires choosing target(s), the player chooses them only when the application of that particular part begins. In other words, players do not need to choose targets for such an ability immediately after playing the card, before the previous part of its ability has been applied.

If some part of a card's ability cannot be applied, apply as many of the card's other abilities as possible, in the order given in its description.

Example: the event "Absorption" (cost 1) reads: "Draw 2 cards. -or- Destroy target creature. The player with the turn token gains 5 health." If you play "Absorption" but there are no creatures in play, ignore the first part of its second ability. Even if no creature became its target, the player with the turn token still gains 5 health.

Some abilities let you decide whether anything becomes a target ("you may choose a creature...") and/or how many targets there will be ("up to 2 target creatures..."). In all other cases you must choose the appropriate targets if possible. If the number of potential targets is less than required, you must choose all available ones. Sometimes this may be disadvantageous for you. For example, if the only creature in play is your own demon minion and you apply the second ability of "Absorption", you must make your demon its target. Although sometimes this may be advantageous, especially if you badly need those 5 health!

Initiative

Only the player with the initiative may play cards. When the player with the initiative passes, the initiative passes to the player to their left.

Turn Structure

Note: in games with three or more players, the beginning and main phases of the turn differ slightly from the standard ones. See "Games with 3 or More Players".

Beginning Phase

During this phase no player has the initiative and no one may play cards. The beginning phase has 4 steps:

1. You receive the turn token.
2. Both players flip their gold tokens to the gold side face up.
3. You draw a card from your deck (unless you are the first player and this is your first turn of the game).
4. You ready your creatures (turn their cards upright, facing you).

Main Phase

When you begin the main phase of your turn (or return to it), you receive the initiative. Only you may play cards during the main phase of your turn (unless you are attacking or announcing the end of your turn). During the main phase of your turn the following actions are available to you:

• Play a card.
• Go to the combat phase (see below).

You may perform each of these actions in any order, any number of times. When you have finished all your actions, pass, thereby announcing to your opponent your intention to end your turn. They may also play cards and then pass, or play nothing and pass at once. Then:

• If the opponent did not play any cards, go to the end of turn phase.
• If the opponent played at least one card, you may either return to your main phase or go to the end of turn phase.

Combat Phase

If you decide to attack, you enter the combat phase. Each combat phase consists of five steps.

Step 1: Choose attackers. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. The attacking player chooses which creature (or group of creatures) will attack and exhausts their cards (turns them 90 degrees).

• Only ready creatures (whose cards lie upright facing their owner) can attack.
• Creatures that entered play this turn are considered arriving (and cannot attack unless they have the keyword Blitz).

Step 2: Before blocking. The attacking player receives the initiative. The player with the initiative may either pass, or play cards and then pass. Repeat this step until all players pass in succession, then go to the next step.

Note: if the defending player wants to put new creatures into play and use them to block the attack during the next step (for example, by playing a creature card with Ambush or an event that lets them put minions into play), they can do so only during this step. A creature that has entered play does not become a blocker automatically; if you do not declare it, your opponent may manage to destroy it after the initiative is passed to them, without giving you a chance to declare the block!

Step 3: Choose blockers. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. The defending player chooses which creature (or group of creatures) will block the attack and turns their cards 180 degrees.

• Only ready creatures, whose cards lie upright facing their owner, can block.
• If a creature blocks at least one of the attackers, it also blocks all the other attacking creatures in the group, even if it is unable to block some of them individually. For example, if a creature with Flying and a creature without Flying attack together, both can be blocked by a single creature without the keyword Flying.
• If a player declares that their creature blocks the attack, all attacking creatures remain blocked even if the blocking creature is destroyed or exiled before the damage step.

Step 4: Before damage. The defending player receives the initiative. The player with the initiative may either pass, or play cards and then pass. Repeat this step until all players pass in succession, then go to the next step.

Step 5: Damage. During this step no player has the initiative and no one plays cards.

All fighting creatures simultaneously deal damage equal to their attack.

1a. If the attack was not blocked, the attacking creatures deal damage to the defending player. 1b. If the attack was blocked, the attacking player distributes the damage dealt among the blocking creatures, after which the defending player distributes their damage among the attacking creatures. 2. Creatures that have received damage equal to or exceeding their defense are considered destroyed. 3. The attacking player continues their main phase.

End of Turn Phase

During this phase no player has the initiative and no one plays cards. In your end of turn phase you perform the following steps:

1. If you have more than 7 cards in hand, discard cards from your hand until you have exactly 7.
2. All creatures restore their defense to its maximum.
3. Ready all turned creatures (if there are creatures in play whose cards are turned 180 degrees, turn them back so that they lie upright facing their owner).
4. All card effects that last "until end of turn" expire.

Keywords and Terms

Some card abilities use keywords, which are shorthand for certain rules or effects. This section gives their meanings. (In the original, keywords are marked with an asterisk.)

Blitz*. When a creature with this keyword enters play, it can attack on the same turn in which it was played.

Own / owner. You own the cards that have been in your deck since the start of the game, as well as the minion cards that you put into play.

Exhaust. Turn a card 90 degrees (so that the text on it is sideways to you), for example during an attack.

Ambush*. You may play a creature with Ambush during any player's turn, even during combat. Remember that creatures that have just entered play are considered arriving (see Arrive) until you begin your turn with those creatures in your play area.

Exile. When an ability exiles a card, its owner puts it on the bottom of their deck. If an ability exiles several cards at once, their owner puts them on the bottom of their deck in random order.

Battle Cry*. When a creature with the ability "Battle Cry" enters play under your control, apply the game effect given to the right of the arrow.

Control / controller. You control the events you have played, the creatures that are in your play area, and all card abilities that are in effect while they are under your control.

Flying*. An attack by a creature with the keyword Flying can be blocked only by another creature with this keyword. Creatures with Flying can still block creatures without Flying.

Arrive. Your creatures are considered arriving until you begin your turn with those creatures in your play area. An arriving creature cannot attack but can block.

Minions. Minions are considered ordinary creatures, except that when they leave the game they return to the minion pile instead of going to the discard pile. Under no circumstances can minions get into any player's hand, deck or discard pile. If the pile has run out of the minion you need, use any handy objects to replace it.

Destroy. When a card is destroyed, its owner puts it into their discard pile. A creature is considered destroyed when it receives, in a single turn, an amount of damage equal to or exceeding its defense.

Faction (colour). The cards in this set belong to four factions, distinguished by colour: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. You may play and include in your deck cards of any factions; there are no restrictions on their interaction.

Game Formats

This set includes 60 cards (as well as minion cards, health cards, etc.), which is enough for a two-player game in almost any format. For games with more players, and for some other formats, you will need a second copy of this set. The description of each format below states the number of cards needed to play it. Make sure you have enough.

Limited

Limited is a restricted format in which players build a deck from a limited "pool" of random cards. To take part in a game of this format, players open one or several copies of "Epic: Duels" and build their deck from any 30 cards they get. There are no other restrictions in this format (unless the players agree on some separately).

Random deck (2-8 players, 30 cards per player). Players build random decks by shuffling all the cards in the "pool" and dealing 30 cards to each player. You can also deal each player 60 cards and let them choose 30 of them to form their deck.

Pool draft (3-8 players, 30 cards per player). Shuffle the cards and deal each player a "pool" of 10 cards. Repeat this until each player has three separate "pools". First, each player chooses one card from their first "pool" and places it face down in their own separate pile, then passes the remaining cards of their first "pool" to the player on their left. On receiving cards, a player chooses one more card from them and likewise places it in their pile. Continue this process until all the cards from each player's first "pool" have been chosen. Then repeat the same with the second "pool", but pass the remaining cards to the player on your right. After that, repeat the same with the third "pool", but again pass the remaining cards to the player on the left. In the end each player will have a pile of 30 cards, which becomes their deck.

Blind draft (2 players, 100 cards). Shuffle all the cards and deal each player 5 cards. Each player chooses one card from their hand and places it face down in their own separate pile, then gives the remaining 4 cards to the other player. Then each player chooses two cards from their new hand and also places them in their pile. Players place the cards remaining in hand face down in a separate shared discard pile. After this step each player's pile should contain 3 cards. Repeat the described process 9 more times, so that each player's pile contains 30 cards, which form their deck.

Triple draft (up to 8 players, several sets). Take several copies of "Epic: Duels" at once. Separate out the cards that have a symbol in the bottom right corner and keep only one copy of each such card (put the rest back in the box). Make sure you have at least 36 cards per player. Shuffle all the cards and deal each player three "pools" of 12 cards. Then the players choose cards through a pool draft (see "Pool draft") until each has a pile of 36 cards. Using these cards, each player builds their deck of 30 cards.

Constructed

Constructed is a format with built decks, where participants begin the game with a previously prepared deck.

Preconstructed (2 players, Duels set). Divide the cards of this set into the 4 factions shown in their top left corner: Good, Nature, Evil and Wisdom. Then each player chooses two factions and shuffles their cards face down, forming their deck. The rules of this format when using other "Epic" sets may differ.

Full Constructed (2-8 players, several sets). Each player builds a deck from their own cards of "Epic: Duels", which must consist of at least 60 cards. The deck must not contain more than 3 copies of the same card. Also, for each [icon] card of one faction in the deck there must be at least 2 [icon] cards of the same faction. (For example, if the deck contains seven [icon] cards of the Wisdom faction, it must also contain at least fourteen [icon] cards of the Wisdom faction.)

Note: in the Full Constructed rule, "[icon]" marks a card symbol that does not survive in the Russian rulebook's text layer, so its identity is not given here.

Games with 3 or More Players

These rules are used only in games with three or more players.

At the start of the game, each player flips their gold token to the gold side face up.

At the start of their first turn, the first player draws a card from their deck (unlike in a two-player game).

Players take turns and pass the initiative clockwise. At the start of each player's turn, and additionally at the end of each of their turns, that player flips their gold token to the gold side face up. Players do not receive gold during another player's turn, regardless of the number of players.

When during your main phase you want to end your turn, pass. When all players have passed in succession one after another, do the following:

• If no one played any cards, go to the end of turn phase.
• If at least one card was played, you may either resume your main phase or go to the end of turn phase.

When a player loses or leaves the game, remove from the game all cards they owned. If creatures of other players were under their control, those players regain control of their creatures. If the eliminated player has any events or ability effects that have not yet been applied or are in the process of being applied, they expire and leave the game. If the eliminated player had the initiative, it passes to the player to their left. If it was the eliminated player's turn, end it immediately. (Whenever an eliminated player would receive the initiative, it is passed instead to the next player on their left.)

Free-for-All

This format is a game of "every player for themselves". You may attack and target any opponent. The last player remaining in the game wins.

Hunter - First Blood

The same as Free-for-All, except that you may attack only the player to your left. All effects of your cards' abilities may be directed only at you and the nearest players to your left and right (for example, the effect "exile all creatures" will affect your creatures and the creatures of the neighbouring players, but not the creatures of the other players). When one of the players is eliminated, the player to their right wins (it does not matter which player caused the elimination, so be careful!).

Hunter - Last Survivor

The same as "Hunter - First Blood", but when a player is eliminated, the player to their right does not win. Instead they gain 5 health and draw a card from their deck.

Team Play

In team play, several players make up a single participant in the game. The team in which at least one player remains as the last survivor becomes the winner! Also, if any player fulfils an alternative victory condition (for example, when they need to draw a card from their deck but it is empty), their whole team wins.

Hydra (equal teams). Each team of players has a shared health total of 30 for each member. Each player has their own separate deck, discard pile, creatures and gold token.

All unblocked attacks deal damage to the team's shared health. A player's creatures may attack and block together with the creatures of their teammates, and your teammates may block (and help block together) attacks aimed at you.

...and many, many more.