Mage Noir Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Inventory
• Victory Conditions
• Game Setup
  • Display the Infinite Ether
  • Choose Your Starting Hand
  • Determine the First Player
• General Rules
  • Overview of a Turn
  • The Main Rule
  • Simultaneous Effects
  • Leaving the Board
  • Discard and Destroy
  • Target Validity
• How a Turn of Mage Noir Unfolds
  • Turn Start
  • Draw Phase
  • Mana Gathering Phase
    • Draw Mana
    • What is Mana?
    • The Available Ether
    • Frequent Questions About Adding Mana
    • Lack of Mana Cards
  • Main Phase
    • Available Actions During Your Main Phase
      • The Name Rule
  • End of Turn
• The Elements
  • Air
  • Water
  • Fire
  • Vegetal
  • Mineral
  • Arcane
• The Different Types of Cards
  • Permanents
    • Using Permanents and Equipment as Components
  • Equipment
    • Wearing Rings
  • Rites & Rituals
  • Becoming a Mage Noir
• Deck Building
  • Rules
  • Tips
  • Pre-constructed Deck Lists
• Rule Clarifications
  • Instantaneous Effects
  • Excess Damage
  • Inflicted Damage Versus Lost HP
  • Reducing Versus Subtracting
• Glossary

Inventory

This box contains the following contents:

• 2 twenty-sided dice to track players' Health Points (HP)
• 80 tokens to track Permanents' HP or be used as other indicators
• 1 rulebook + 2 first game teaching sheets
• 144 Mana cards:
  • 24 Air Mana cards
  • 24 Arcane Mana cards
  • 24 Fire Mana cards
  • 24 Mineral Mana cards
  • 24 Vegetal Mana cards
  • 24 Water Mana cards
• 200 playing cards (spells):
  • 50 Air cards (one 40-card deck + 10 additional cards)
  • 50 Fire cards (one 40-card deck + 10 additional cards)
  • 50 Vegetal cards (one 40-card deck + 10 additional cards)
  • 50 Water cards (one 40-card deck + 10 additional cards)

Victory Conditions

In Mage Noir, both players start with 20 Health Points (HP).

You achieve victory if you reduce your opponent's total Health Points to zero.

Additionally, if a player has to draw a card but does not have a deck to draw from, they lose the game.

Advice: Focus on damage. If you're a beginner, we suggest you focus on dealing damage and bringing the other player to 0 HP, rather than making them draw through their entire deck.

Game Setup

Mage Noir is a deckbuilding game. Your victories will be determined both by the cards you decide to use in your deck, and the way you play them when facing your opponent.

You can create your own personalized deck to play with by following the rules on page 16. However for your first game, we suggest you use the first game teaching sheets that are provided in the box and the decks they recommend.

Display the Infinite Ether

Put the 6 piles of Mana cards somewhere you and your opponent can access them. They represent the Infinite Ether.

Each player shuffles their deck and places it on their side of the table.

Also prepare an empty space next to each deck as its discard pile.

Choose Your Starting Hand

In order to choose your starting hand, make two piles of 5 cards drawn from the top of your deck. You may observe the contents of each pile but cannot swap cards between the two of them.

Choose the pile you would like to start the game with and use it as your starting hand. Return the other pile to your deck and shuffle it.

Determine the First Player

For the first game, choose one player randomly (through a coin flip, dice roll etc); they may decide who plays first.

For subsequent games, the player who lost the previous game decides.

General Rules

Overview of a Turn

In Mage Noir, players take turns to gather resources and cast spells.

• Turn start
• Draw phase
• Mana gathering phase
• Main phase
• End of turn

The Main Rule

"Cards are stronger than the rules." This means that whenever a card contradicts the general rules in this rulebook, the rule on the card prevails.

The game's depth comes from the fact that the cards constantly modify the rules, leading to unique matches each game.

Simultaneous Effects

If multiple effects would trigger at the same time, it is up to the player whose turn it is to choose the order in which they want them to resolve.

Leaving the Board

When a card leaves the board in Mage Noir, it releases all of the Mana locked underneath it to the Available Ether.

This happens regardless of where the card goes or how it is removed.

The controller of the card puts the Mana back while respecting the usual rules regarding releasing Mana to the Available Ether (see Mana Gathering Phase below).

Discard and Destroy

In Mage Noir, "Discard" means to put into its owner's discard pile.

For Permanents and Equipment in play, this effect is referred to as "Destroy".

Target Validity

When an effect occurs but doesn't have a valid target anymore, nothing happens, but any effects that should follow will still trigger.

How a Turn of Mage Noir Unfolds

Turn Start

If some of your cards in play have effects that are said to happen "At the beginning of your turn", they take effect now.

Draw Phase

You take the card on top of your deck and put it into your hand.

Exception: First turn of the first player. If you are the first one to play and it is your first turn, skip your draw phase for this turn only.

Mana Gathering Phase

The first thing to do during the Mana gathering phase is to choose 3 Mana of any elements in the Infinite Ether to put them in the Available Ether.

Draw Mana

Once you've added 3 Mana to the Available Ether, take all of the Mana contained in one of the two piles. You may choose either pile.

The Mana is added to your Mana reserve until you choose to use it. This means that you keep all unused Mana between turns.

What is Mana?

Mana is the magical energy used to cast spells. It exists in abundance all around us. By fighting your opponent and using magic, you're slowly drawing the surrounding Mana to your conflict.

All of this drawn Mana is called the Available Ether.

In game, the Available Ether is displayed as 2 piles of Mana of varying size in the center of the board. Mana can be claimed and used by each player.

The Available Ether

During the game, you'll frequently have to add Mana to the Available Ether. This happens:

• when a card leaves the board,
• at the beginning of your Mana gathering phase,
• and when an effect requires you to pay Mana.

The Available Ether is always displayed as 2 piles. Even when a pile is empty, it is still counted as if it was there.

When you add Mana to the Available Ether, add it one by one, alternating between one pile and the other. Always start by adding Mana to the smaller of the two Mana piles. If one pile is empty, it is, logically, the smaller pile.

Also note that the controller of the card chooses how to allocate the Mana between the two piles. For instance, if your opponent discards one of your cards, you choose how to allocate the Mana of the discarded card since you were the one controlling it.

Frequent Questions About Adding Mana

Q: What if both piles have the same amount of Mana? A: Then you may start putting your Mana in either of the two piles.

Q: When adding 3 Mana each turn (during the Mana gathering phase), does it have to be 3 of the same element? A: No, you may add any combination of elements as long as it's 3 Mana.

Q: If I want to add a mix of elements, do I have to add them in a specific order? A: No, you may add them however you want as long as you start with the smaller pile and alternate between both.

Lack of Mana Cards

You may sometimes run out of cards of a specific Mana type in the Infinite Ether.

The Ether being infinite by definition, we recommend using other items or cards as Mana—colored tokens, distinguishable items, etc.

(We tried to fit an infinite number of cards in the game box, but unfortunately couldn't—we hope you'll accept our apologies for this inconvenience.)

The print and play version of Mage Noir on the official website (www.magenoir.com/mana) contains a printable Mana file that you may use to extend your Ether towards infinity.

Main Phase

This is when you can play your cards, manage them, and activate them in whatever order you want.

You may perform as many actions as you want as long as you have the necessary resources to do so.

You may also perform them in any order without any restrictions.

Available Actions During Your Main Phase

Here is the list of the actions you may perform during your main phase, and how to perform them:

Prepare a spell

In order to use the cards in your hand, you will need to prepare them first.

Preparing a card means putting the card on the board in front of you, with the Mana cards corresponding to its Mana cost placed underneath it. This Mana must come from your Mana reserve.

A card's Mana cost is displayed by the numbers and element icons towards the upper-left corner of the card.

For example, you must put 1 Vegetal Mana and 1 Water Mana underneath a card when you prepare it, if that is its Mana cost.

Once a card is prepared, you may either activate it, channel it as a component, or keep it prepared on the board (in which case, you're delaying your choice to a later moment).

Some spells require you to control specific components to be prepared. This prerequisite can be seen towards the top left of the card, before its Mana cost.

For instance, some cards require you to control at least one "Wind" component if you want to prepare them.

When preparing a card with a component cost, simply verify if you have the necessary number of valid components on the board. Their prior use by other spells during the game isn't relevant.

Components are a prerequisite (not a cost). As such, they stay on the board when a spell that requires them is prepared or activated. In other words, a single component can be used to cast several different spells that require it.

Activate a spell

Once a card is prepared, you may activate it simply by saying you do so.

Once you activate it, the following chain of events triggers:

• You apply the effects of the spell as stated on the card,
• then the card goes on top of your discard pile,
• then, finally, you release the Mana underneath the card to the Available Ether.

The effects of a spell can be read on the card, right underneath the illustration.

For instance when you activate a card that lets you take Mana, you may take up to the stated amount from the Available Ether and add it to your Mana reserve.

Channel a spell as a component

The other option you have with a prepared spell is to channel it in order to use it as a component.

To do this, turn your card 90° and move it to the side of your board. It keeps its Mana underneath it.

From now on, this spell cannot be activated or returned to its prepared state. However, it now counts as a valid component to cast stronger spells.

The Name Rule

Any channeled card counts as a component for each word in its title.

For instance, a card named "Draconic flame" counts as a "Flame" component, while a card simply named "Flame" only counts as a "Flame" component.

Trading Mana

During the game, you may end up with some Mana that you have no use for.

You may trade unwanted Mana with the Available Ether following these rules:

• You may trade any 2 Mana from your Mana reserve for 1 Mana from the Available Ether.
• You may only trade with the larger of the 2 Mana piles.

Do note that you may trade any combination of Mana (not necessarily 2 Mana of the same element) as long as you give 2 Mana from your Mana reserve.

Likewise, you may trade for any element of Mana within the larger of the 2 Mana piles.

End of Turn

Once you can't or don't want to perform any more actions during your main phase, your turn ends.

Effects you control that happen "At the end of your turn" take effect now.

Then, if at this point of your turn, you have more than 7 cards in hand, discard any cards of your choice until you have 7.

You keep all of the Mana you have in your Mana reserve.

The Elements

Being a Mage will allow you to harness the power of nature and choose between 6 elements.

They all have strengths and weaknesses, as well as unique identities. These differences allow Mages to express their own style with a lot of freedom. Here is what the elements offer those Mages with the power to master them:

Air

Air is the fastest of all the elements. It contains a lot of card draw to ensure you never run out of resources. It also suits a "combo" playstyle, preparing a lot of spells before unleashing a flurry of consecutive effects that can blow any opponent away.

Water

Water is adaptive and powerful. It is the element that brings the most precise mastery of your own spells and Mana. It will allow you to move Mana from one spell to another and drown your opponent under massive effects.

It is also a very efficient healing tool and a frightening threat once its user has enough Mana to unleash its full potential.

Fire

Fire is as powerful and destructive as it is dangerous for its controller. It will burn you as you use it and you may quickly run out of health points due to its aggressive playstyle and volatile components.

The tradeoff for so many downsides however, is the most efficient damage output ever discovered in the history of magic. Use it to hit hard and show unexpected resourcefulness when you're cornered. Your opponents will quickly learn not to play with fire.

Vegetal

Vegetal embodies the concept of growth. It starts off small, like the seed of a frail sprout, but grows quickly into an unstoppable force, becoming almost invincible if left unchecked.

It's also home to Vegetal Permanents, with their own HP and the ability to attack each turn.

Protect them well and victory is assured.

Mineral

Mineral is the slowest of all elements. Using rocks and metals, you will rely on sturdy armor, powerful equipment and solid fortifications to take your opponent's hits like they are nothing.

Once you have enough Mana of your own, unleash massive meteorites and powerful earthquakes on your opponents to finish them in moments.

(This element requires a Mineral expansion of Mage Noir.)

Arcane

Arcane is the magic of time and space. It changes the effects of spells thanks to the time components it uses, making them stronger and faster… or more unexpected. Arcane can and will bend the rules of the world around you. It is a complex and potentially chaotic element that requires discipline and intelligence to use.

(This element requires an Arcane expansion of Mage Noir.)

The Different Types of Cards

In Mage Noir, every card is a spell (except Mana cards). These represent the might of the elements, the materialization of a physical object, or the gathering of strength to perform an action.

Each spell belongs to an element. It is represented by a pictogram in its top right corner.

Most of the cards are meant for single use. When you activate them, they apply their effects, go to your discard pile and release their locked Mana back into the Available Ether.

But some have specific keywords that change how they function. These are easy to recognize: they are the first thing written in the card's effects.

For instance, the keywords "Permanent", "Equipment", and "Ritual", detailed next, are common and have an important impact on how these spells function.

Permanents

Permanents are not discarded when you put them into play. These cards are not considered as prepared and don't need to be activated in order to apply their effects. Once you put them on the board, their effects apply immediately as they are written on the card.

The Mana used to put a Permanent into play stays under the spell as long as the Permanent is on the board.

Some Permanents have a number in the bottom right of their card. This number represents their Health Points (HP) when first put into play. If a Permanent's HP falls to 0, it is discarded.

Any Permanent with HP may gain HP through other effects. There is no limit to the amount of HP a Permanent can have.

For instance, a Permanent may have 5 HP printed on it.

Permanents that have no HP (with no number written on the bottom right) cannot gain, nor lose any.

Using Permanents and Equipment as Components

Both cards are constantly considered valid components, while still applying their effects. They cannot be channeled—thus they are not turned 90° like other components.

Equipment

Like Permanents, Equipment is not discarded when put into play, doesn't need to be activated to apply its effects, and the Mana used to put Equipment into play stays under the spell as long as the Equipment is on the board. Equipment is worn by players themselves.

Each type of Equipment represents a slot, a space it occupies on the player's body. For instance, on the torso, head, and back, as well as weapons that can be held and rings that can be worn.

It is only possible to have one of each type of Equipment equipped at one time, with the exception of rings.

When you play Equipment of a type you already have, only the most recent Equipment stays, and previous Equipment of that type is destroyed.

Using Equipment as a component for another Equipment spell is treated as the component being forged into new gear. Thus if Equipment requires other Equipment as components, those components are discarded after the newly-played Equipment is put into play.

Wearing Rings

Unlike other Equipment, you may equip as many rings as you want. You've got plenty of space on those long, slender magic fingers of yours!

Rites & Rituals

These are powerful spells, required to become a Mage Noir, which is a special status (explained later).

Once prepared, Rituals cannot be destroyed or removed from the board.

Just like Permanents and Equipment, they apply their effects constantly as soon as they are put into play. The Mana used to cast them will stay underneath them for the rest of the game.

Furthermore, many of them will grant you special abilities that you may activate any number of times during your turn.

You may have several active Rites and Rituals in play at once and benefit from their different abilities.

Becoming a Mage Noir

Each element has its own Rite and Ritual cards that allow you to become a Mage Noir.

Additionally, most rituals will give you powerful abilities, granting you new strength in exchange for a sacrifice.

Becoming a Mage Noir signifies important growth in your magical power.

You will often see the effects of your new status directly on your cards. Many spells possess new options or enhanced abilities for those who manage to complete a Ritual.

Some cards are even usable only if you are a Mage Noir.

However, note that becoming a Mage Noir is not an obligation: even though the status comes with a lot of advantages, it is totally possible to win the game without playing a single Ritual.

Deck Building

Rules

A deck is a pack of cards, representing all of the spells you know when starting a confrontation. Creating your own deck is very simple; you just have to choose your cards following these two rules:

• A deck must contain at least 40 cards.
• You can't have more than 4 copies of the same card in your deck.

Aside from these, there are no other rules to deckbuilding.

Feel free to mix elements as you please and experiment in order to create the most powerful deck that has ever existed!

Deck building possibilities are infinite. You can create a deck that no other player has ever imagined. If you think you've created an extraordinary deck, please come share it with other players on Mage Noir's social media pages!

Tips

Here are a few rules of thumb to follow if you're new to deckbuilding:

• Even though you can put as many different elements as you want in a deck, try to stick to 1 or 2 elements to start with.
• Make sure you have the necessary components to cast each of your spells.
• Make sure your deck has enough damage-dealing spells to defeat your opponent.
• To balance their cost and power, we advise including 2-4 Rituals per deck.
• Try to stick to 40 cards, as you will give yourself the best chance of drawing the right ones and limit the impact of randomness on your tactics.

Once you master the game, you can forget all of this advice and create more surprising decks!

Pre-constructed Deck Lists

Mage Noir's depth comes in great part from creating your own deck.

However, if you want a feel for how each element plays beforehand, we can recommend the following pre-constructed decks, optimized for learning the game. It is up to you to modify them afterwards to make them fit your playstyle and express your strategic creativity.

Whirling flurry

• Breath x4
• Healer's breath x4
• Favorable winds x4
• Violent winds x4
• Whirling wind x3
• Powerful swipe x2
• Tornado x2
• Zephyr x4
• Air blade x4
• Acceleration x4
• Wand of the air currents x2
• Howler's robe x1
• Emptiness ritual x2

Crushing pressure

• Water drop x4
• Droplet x4
• Surging wave x4
• Purifying wave x4
• Echo wave x4
• Tide x4
• Unleashed ocean x2
• Condensation x4
• Prodigious source x2
• Great waters x2
• Azure ring x2
• The Water healer x2
• Ritual of Melange x2

Burning wrath

• Flame x4
• Draconic flame x4
• Mental flame x2
• Flame projectile x4
• Sulfur flame x2
• Fire ball x4
• Fiery arrow x4
• Magma eruption x3
• Fire whip x2
• Burning robe x2
• Fission x2
• Crimson ring x3
• Fire mask x2
• Crimson ritual x2

Surging growth

• Seed x4
• Sprouted seed x4
• Animated tree x4
• Dead tree x4
• Enchanted forest x4
• Hostile forest x2
• Prodigious sowing x2
• Ephemeral brambles x2
• The sylvan healer x2
• Druid horns x2
• Druid ring x3
• Bark armor x2
• Druid armor x2
• Kerloc'h's robe x1
• Ritual of decomposition x2

Rule Clarifications

Instantaneous Effects

Some cards will allow you to act "at any time", meaning you can decide to trigger them right before one of your opponent's actions, even if it's not your turn.

If both players want to perform an action that can be done "at any time" at the same moment, the player whose turn it is has the choice of arranging the actions in their preferred order.

Excess Damage

When a spell inflicts more damage than its target's current Health Points, the target's total number of HP becomes negative.

The excess damage isn't redirected towards another target.

For instance, if you have a Permanent with 3 HP and the "Protector" keyword, and your opponent casts a spell that inflicts 7 damage, you may choose to redirect the damage to your Protector Permanent. It gets destroyed but you take no damage.

Inflicted Damage Versus Lost HP

In Mage Noir, there is a difference between inflicted damage and lost Health Points.

Inflicted damage comes from external sources and as such can be reduced and prevented by armor and redirected by effects such as Protector.

Losing Health Points however originates from self-inflicted damage, curses, or illnesses. As such, these losses cannot be reduced by other effects.

Reducing Versus Subtracting

In Mage Noir, there is also a difference between reducing a number and subtracting from it.

Reduction cannot bring the number below 0 while subtraction can lower the number to a negative value.

Inflicting negative damage is the equivalent of healing and gaining negative HP is the equivalent of losing the same amount of HP.

Glossary

Activate: Apply the effects of a spell, discard it and add its Mana to the Available Ether.

Available Ether: Mana present in the middle of the board, available to both players, displayed as two piles.

Board: All cards in play: prepared spells, channeled components, Equipment, Permanents and Rituals. The Infinite Ether, as well as players' hands, decks, and discard piles, are not part of the board.

Channeled: Any spell turned 90° and put on the side of the board is considered channeled, which makes it a valid component.

Component: Channeled spells, Permanents and Equipment are considered as components. Some spells require you to have specific components in order to be prepared.

Deck: A pile of spell cards that a player uses to play against another.

Destroy/Discard: Send a card to a discard pile. Sending Permanents or Equipment from the board to a discard pile is referred to as Destroying them.

Discard pile: A pile of spell cards where used, discarded and destroyed cards go to. Players may not change the order of discard piles.

Infinite Ether: The infinite reserve of Mana players use to fill the Available Ether.

Locked Mana: Any Mana that is put under a spell on the board is considered to be locked by that spell.

Mana: Magic energy which players use to play spells and perform actions.

Prepare: Put a spell on the board with the necessary Mana underneath.

Protector: Spell effect keyword. When your opponent inflicts damage to any target you control (yourself included) while you have a Permanent with Protector, you may decide that the target becomes that Permanent instead.

Release: Take Mana under a spell and add it to the Available Ether.

Transmutable: Spell effect keyword. A transmutable spell is considered as having an additional term in its name. For instance, Sprouted seed can be used as a "drop" component, like if it was named "Sprouted seed / drop".

Unique: Spell effect keyword. If you have two copies of the same card with "unique" on the board at once, you must discard one of them.