Magic Number Eleven Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Signing Star Players
• Player Cards
• Lineup
• Game Board
• Game Play
  • 1. Team Action
  • Synergy Cards
  • Control Track & Marker
  • 2. Player Action
• Player Action A: Build Up
  • Step 1. Place a Player Card
  • Step 2. Apply Immediate Effect
  • Step 3. Attempt a Shot
    • Reference for Attack side
  • Step 4. Defender Reaction
    • Reference for Defender side
  • Step 5. Goal Check
  • Tackle Cards
  • Penalty Kick
  • Goal
  • Shoot Token
• Player Action B: Direct Attack
• Injury Time
• Substitution
• Half Time
• Game End
• Clarifications

Components

• 3 Game boards (Field, Control, Synergy)
• 32 Player Cards
• 25 Synergy Cards
• 11 PK Cards
• 8 Score Cards
• 10 Shoot Tokens
• 1 Control Marker

Game Setup

1. Place the 3 Boards in the middle, as above.
2. The player who sits on the HOME side becomes the Home team, and the other becomes the Away team.
3. Each team takes corresponding 10 Player Cards, according to its backside.
4. Set aside 12 Star Player Cards.
5. Place the Control Marker in the middle of the Control Track.
6. Set each deck of Synergy Cards and PK Cards, respectively.
7. Place all the other components near the game board.

Signing Star Players

Each team adds 3 Star Player Cards to the squad before the game starts.

Shuffle all the Star Player Cards and reveal 3 face up. The Away team picks a card first, and the Home team picks a card out of the 2 remaining cards. Remove the other unchosen card from the game.

Repeat the above process 3 times. In the second round, the Home team picks first, and in the third round, the Away team picks first.

Remove all unchosen Star Player Cards from the game.

Player Cards

There are 3 types of Player Cards (Forward, Midfielder, and Defender), according to its background color. Each Player Card has semicircular Tactical Icons which can be combined with icons on other Player Cards.

A Player Card shows: Position Color, Detailed Position & Role, Skill, and Tactical Icon.

The Tactical Icon types are: ATTACK, DEFENCE, PASS, PRESS.

Lineup

Each team picks a starting lineup of 10 players from the whole squad (13 players). Then place them face-up in a row in front of you.

The 3 unchosen players become substitutes. Place those Player Cards on the Sub Space. The substitute players can be substituted during the game. (See Substitution.)

Once you are done with the Lineup, the game is ready to begin.

Game Board

Each team use the Field, the Sub Space, and the Synergy Space only in their space. The Control Track is shared as an indicator of the shape of the game.

The board consists of: the Field, the Synergy Space, the Score Board, the Sub Space, and the Control Track.

Game Play

The game consists of two Rounds; 1st half and 2nd half. Each round consists of several turns, starting from the Home team in the 1st half, and from the Away team in the 2nd half.

On your turn, you conduct 1. TEAM ACTION, and then 2. PLAYER ACTION.

1. Team Action

Count the number of Pass icons and Press icons on your field, and choose ONE TYPE of icon to apply its effect referring to the below. (On your first turn, since you don't have any Player Cards on the field, you skip the Team Action.)

• PASS — Draw a Synergy Card.
• PRESS — Move the Control Marker toward the opponent.

PASS: Draw a Synergy Card as many as Pass icons you have on the field. The maximum hand size for the Synergy Card is 5. If you already have 5 cards in your hand, you cannot draw more cards. You may draw card(s) less than the number of icons, but you must draw at least 1 card if possible.

Synergy Cards

The Synergy Cards are used to strengthen your attack/defence. Each card has its value (1~5) depicted by star icons. Some Synergy Cards have a special effect, TACKLE, which may be activated when you defend. (See Tackle Cards.)

Type of Synergy Cards, by value: 1 card worth 1 star; 2 cards worth 1 star with the Tackle effect; 5 cards worth 2 stars; 10 cards worth 3 stars; 5 cards worth 4 stars; 2 cards worth 5 stars.

PRESS: Move the Control Marker toward your opponent side, as many as Press icons you have on the field. If the Control Marker is at the end of the track toward the opponent, you cannot choose this action.

Control Track & Marker

The Control Track shows which team is controlling the game. The color on the left of the Control Marker is your team's current state: Aggressive, Normal, or Defensive.

According to the Control, you may play more or less Synergy Cards in the attacking situation. (See Step 3 — Attempt a Shot.)

The Home team is aggressive, and the Away team is defensive.

Important!

• In Team Action, the effect of Pass & Press cannot be combined. You must choose one type of icon to take the effect.
• Pass/Press icons are not consumed after you take the effect, rather they are accumulated over time.
• Pass/Press icons do not take on their effect as soon as they are completed. You may take the effect of them only if you already have them at the start of your turn.
• You cannot skip Team Action as long as there is any possible action.

Example: The HOME team takes Team Action. There are 3 Pass icons and 2 Press icons. The HOME team chooses the 'PASS' Team Action. Since they have 3 Pass icons, they can draw up to 3 cards. However, the Home team already has 3 cards in their hand, so they only draw 2 cards so they don't exceed 5.

2. Player Action

In Player Action phase, you select one player to take an action. You must choose one action type: (A) BUILD UP or (B) DIRECT ATTACK.

• BUILD UP — Place a player card and may attempt a shot.
• DIRECT ATTACK — Attempt a shot with a player card placed on the field.

Player Action A: Build Up

Place a Player Card on the field, and apply an immediate effect, if any. After that, if possible, you may attempt a shot with THAT CARD.

Step 1. Place a Player Card

Place a Player Card on your field in the right direction, covering 2 rectangular spaces horizontally adjacent to each other. A Player Card has to be placed adjacent to its corresponding Position Line. To place a Player Card on the Front Line, the player card has to be adjacent to another card that is already on the field.

Position Line and possible positions:

• Front Line: FW
• 2nd Line: FW, MF
• 3rd Line: MF, DF
• Final Line: DF

A Defender only can be placed on the Final Line and the 3rd Line.

A Forward can be placed adjacent to a red Position Line. However, to be placed on the Front Line, it has to be adjacent to another player card already placed before.

Once placed, a Player Card cannot be moved or removed during the turn, except by substitution.

Step 2. Apply Immediate Effect

Some Player Cards have an Immediate Effect (marked with a lightning bolt). It takes the effect ONLY ONCE right after it is placed. If you do not want or cannot apply the effect due to any reason, it has no effect.

Normal icons without the lightning bolt do not take the effect upon placement.

The Immediate Effects that appear on cards are:

• Move the Control Marker one / two spaces toward the opponent side.
• Draw a Synergy Card.
• Draw 2 Synergy Cards, and choose 1 out of it. Discard the other.
• Pick a Synergy Card from the opponent's hand and discard it without looking at its front.
• Attempt a Shot with this card. Ignore all the Basic Defence Power. (See Step 4 — Defender Reaction.)

Some player cards have a complete icon instead of a lightning-bolt icon. It works in the same way as other icons completed through the regular process.

Step 3. Attempt a Shot

If the Player Card you placed this turn has at least one Attack icon, you may attempt a shot. You cannot attempt a shot with a card you didn't place this turn. If the card doesn't have any Attack icon or you do not want to attempt a shot, your turn ends here.

If you decide to attempt a shot, put a Shoot Token on one of the Attack icons of the shooter face up. Then see below to handle the shooting.

Attack: The number of all Attack icons created by the shooter is the Basic Attack Power for the shot. Some Attack icons may be shared by multiple player cards.

Basic Attack Power + Synergy Card = Total Attack Power.

Example: The Striker attempts a shot. The Basic Attack Power is 3 (2 from the Front Line, 1 from the Chance Maker). In the same situation, if the Chance Maker attempts a shot, the Basic Attack Power is 1.

You may play up to 3 Synergy Cards to strengthen the Attack Power. Add the total number of star icons on the played Synergy Cards, to the Attack Power.

Synergy Cards are placed face down on the Synergy Board. The maximum number of Synergy Cards that you can play may change, according to your current Control State.

The first Synergy Card you play has to be drawn randomly from the Synergy Card deck. The other Synergy Card(s) can only be played from your HAND.

Example: The current Control State of the Home team is Normal. So the Home team can use up to the space next to the green color. That means the Home team may play up to 2 Synergy Cards.

Reference for Attack side

• Available if your Control State is Aggressive. You may play a Synergy Card from your HAND.
• Available if your Control State is Normal or Aggressive. You may play a Synergy Card from your HAND.
• Always available & mandatory. You MUST play a Synergy Card from the DECK. You cannot check what it is.

Example: The HOME team attempts a shot. The current Control State is aggressive, so the team may play up to 3 Synergy Cards. First, take a Synergy Card from the deck and place it on the bottom space (mandatory). Then, place 2 more Synergy Cards from their HAND, on the other 2 spaces (optional).

Important!

Even if your Control State is high, if you don't have any Synergy Cards in your hand, you can only play a single Synergy Card from the deck, randomly.

On the other hand, even if you have many Synergy Cards in your hand, if your Control State is defensive you cannot play them.

Once all the Synergy Cards are placed on the Synergy Board, the attack is ready. The Defender Reaction phase takes place before you reveal the Synergy Cards.

Step 4. Defender Reaction

Defence: The number of all Defence icons created by the defender's cards on the field is the Basic Defence Power.

Basic Defence Power + Synergy Card = Total Defence Power.

Crack: If the SHOOTER has any Crack icons, deduct the Defence Power by as many as the number of icons. It has no effect if the Basic Defence Power is 0.

The icon only takes its effect when the Shooter has this icon. Ignore the Crack icons on other Player Cards.

Defender may play up to 2 Synergy Cards to strengthen the Defence Power. Add the total number of star icons on the played Synergy Cards, to the Defence Power. Control State does NOT matter when it comes to defence.

Reference for Defender side

• Not available for defender.
• Always available. You may play a Synergy Card from your HAND or the DECK. If you play from the DECK, you cannot check what it is.
• Always available & mandatory. You MUST play a Synergy Card from the DECK. You cannot check what it is.

Example: The AWAY team reacts to the attack. When it comes to defence, only up to 2 Synergy Cards can be played. First, take a Synergy Card from the deck and place it on the bottom space (mandatory). Unfortunately, the AWAY team does not have a Synergy Card in their hand. So the team takes another Synergy Card from the deck and places it on the second space.

Step 5. Goal Check

After both sides play Synergy Cards, the Attack side reveals the cards first. Add up the number of the star icons to the Basic Attack Power. Based on the Total Attack Power, the result of the shot is determined as follows.

Goal Check

• 1~10, Shot on Target: The Defender reveals the Synergy Cards. If the Attack Power is higher, it's a GOAL.
• 11, Wonder Goal (Magic Number!): The Defender reveals the Synergy Cards. It's always a GOAL, regardless of the Defence Power.
• 12+, Ball Out: Always NO GOAL. The Defender discards all the Synergy Cards played this turn without revealing them.

In any case, all Synergy Cards placed on the Synergy Board are discarded, face down.

Example: Attack Power 3 (1 Crack) + Synergy (7) → Total Attack Power 10. Defence Power 3 (-1 by Crack) + Synergy (6) → Total Defence Power 9. The Total Attack Power (10) is higher than the Total Defence Power (9). It's a goal. If it weren't for the winger's Crack ability, it would not be a goal.

Tackle Cards

If defender reveals a Tackle Card, by any means, the result is canceled right away, and the Penalty Kick is conducted. (This is the only way to stop the Wonder Goal.)

Tackle cards have no effect when played by the attack side.

Penalty Kick

Each side takes a set of the corresponding PK Card. Each side chooses one card and reveals them at the same time. If the defender blocks the shooting course, it's no goal. Otherwise, it's a GOAL.

Goal

Place a corresponding Score Card on the board. Set the Control Marker to the middle of the Control Track.

Shoot Token

After a shot is attempted, flip the Shoot Token to the back side, whether it was a goal or not. The flipped token is considered as an empty space. (That is, the Basic Attack Power gets weaker every time a shot is attempted.)

Example: The Shoot Token flipped after attempting a shot. Now the Winger's Basic Attack Power is 2.

After the Goal Check, the turn ends. The opponent takes a turn.

Player Action B: Direct Attack

If you conduct a Direct Attack, you do not place a Player Card on the field. Instead, you choose a Player Card already placed on the field, and attempt a shot with that card. To do that, the Player Card has to have at least one Attack icon. If you don't have any Player Cards like that, you cannot choose the Direct Attack. The rules about attempting a shot are the same as the Build Up action.

Injury Time

If the Synergy Card deck runs out during a turn, shuffle all discarded cards and make a new deck. (The current turn goes on normally after that.)

The next turn becomes the last turn, called Injury Time.

In Injury Time, only the Player Action is conducted, without Team Action. All the other rules are the same. Right after the Injury Time, the 1st Half (2nd Half) ends.

Only one team conducts the Injury Time, not both.

Example: The Synergy Card deck ran out during the Away team's turn, so the next turn of the Home team becomes the Injury Time, which is the last turn. The Home team wants to move the Control Marker forward, but they cannot conduct Team Action since it is the Injury Time. So the Home team attempted the last shooting in the Defensive Control State. The Synergy Cards in the Home team's hand are now useless, unfortunately.

Substitution

Each team may conduct Substitutions up to 3 times during the game. Substitution may be conducted during your turn or Half Time. You may substitute several Player Cards at the same time. Substitution is not considered as an action.

Sub In: Choose a Player Card in the Sub Space and place it in front of you. A sub player is never placed directly on the field.

Sub Out: Choose a Player Card on the field or in front of you, and move it to the Sub Space. If there are Shoot Tokens on the Player Card, remove them. Once substituted, the Player Card cannot get back into the game again. To mark this, place the Player Card face down.

Example: The Striker has attempted a shot 3 times, so now only has 1 Basic Attack Power. The Striker subs out. Remove the card and all the Shoot Tokens on it from the field. Place the Striker card face down, on the Sub Space.

Half Time

After the 1st half ends, prepare for the 2nd half as below.

1. Get all the placed Player Cards back from the Field.
2. Remove all Shoot Tokens on the Field.
3. Shuffle all the Synergy Cards and reset a Synergy Card deck.
4. Put the Control Marker in the middle of the Control Track.
5. Each team may conduct substitutions.

The Away team takes the first turn in the 2nd half.

Game End

When the 2nd half ends, the game ends. The team with the higher score wins. In case of a tie, it's a draw. If both teams agree, the Penalty Kick Shootout may be conducted to decide victory.

Clarifications

• You cannot skip Team Action or Player Action.
• In case you cannot move the Control Marker nor draw a Synergy Card, you can skip the Team Action phase.
• In the Player Action phase, you must conduct an action if it is possible. By this rule, sometimes you must attempt a shot even if you don't want to. (Players are always eager to try a shot!)
• In a rare case, you may not have any Player Card to place or attempt a shot. Only in this case, you may attempt a shot without Basic Attack Power. However, the Magic Number and Crack are not applied in this case, because the attack is not organized. If the Total Attack Power is 11 and the Total Defence Power is lower, then it's a goal.
• You cannot check any discarded Synergy Cards.
• In case the Total Attack Power exceeds 11 (that is, Ball Out), the 'Tackle' does not take effect even if the defender side played the 'Tackle' card deliberately. (This is because in the case of a Ball Out, the defender's synergy cards are discarded without revealing them.)
• Substitution may be conducted between Team Action and Player Action.
• In case you have 5 Synergy Cards in your hand, the Immediate Effect 'Tempo Control' does not take effect. But it takes effect when you have 4 cards in your hand. (Because you will get only 1 Synergy Card as a result of the effect.)