Masters of the Gridiron
Masters of the Gridiron Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Player Card
Each player card shows the player's salary in the upper right corner (in millions of dollars), his position, and his ratings (Run Blocking, Pass Blocking, Rushing, Goal Line, Receiving, Red Zone for an offensive running back, for example). The season statistics, height, weight, age and college shown on the card are provided for informational purposes only and are not used during game play.
Opening a New Deck
When opening a new deck, set aside the following cards:
- Bench players (players with a "Player #" of 705 or higher)
- Audible cards (playbook cards labeled "Audible")
These cards will be used later, when designing your own teams and playbooks (see Deck Building, below).
Setup
Shuffle your deck and divide it into 3 piles (Offense, Defense and Playbook). Above each pile, allow space for discards. Finally, designate nine spaces around these piles for scoring plays (Scoring Play #1 to #9).
Order of Play
Each side draws 3 Offense cards, 3 Defense cards and 4 Playbook cards, creating a 10-card hand. Choose a player to be the visiting team. The visiting team starts on offense and the home team starts on defense.
Each turn, the offense chooses one player (an Offense card) and one offensive play (a Playbook card that is labeled "Touchdown" or "Field Goal"). Put the Offense card face up on the Offense discard pile; put the Playbook card face up on the spot marked "Scoring Play #1". Then, announce the following to your opponent:
- The result shown on the Playbook card ("Touchdown" or "Field Goal");
- The numerical rating matching the rating specified on the Playbook card. If more than one rating is listed, choose the highest one; and
- Which defensive rating (or ratings) can be used to stop the scoring attempt.
For example, the offense plays the following cards and declares: "Touchdown. 72. Can be stopped by Pass Rush or Coverage." (A Tight End with a Red Zone rating of 72, played with a Long Pass "Shotgun X Iso" Touchdown card that adds +8 to a Wide Receiver's Red Zone or Passing rating and is stopped by Pass Rush OR Coverage.)
The defense responds by playing a Defense card (on his Defense discard pile) and announcing the relevant player rating. In the above example, he would announce the player's Pass Rush or Coverage rating (whichever is higher).
If the offensive rating is higher, the offense scores; leave the Playbook card face up. If the defensive rating equals or exceeds the offensive rating, the scoring attempt is stopped; turn over the Playbook card.
Some Playbook cards provide a bonus to the offensive player rating. If the above card had been played with a Wide Receiver, it would have added 8 points to that player's Red Zone rating.
Play continues, with the offensive player alternating. After each scoring attempt, draw until you are holding 3 Offense cards, 3 Defense cards and 4 Playbook cards.
Order of Play (Summary)
- Offense discards any undesired Audible Cards, and draws from his Playbook deck until he has four (4) Playbook cards.
- Offense may repeat step 1 indefinitely, but may not discard an offensive play (a "Touchdown" or "Field Goal").
- Offense plays 1 offensive player and 1 offensive play.
- [Optional] Offense plays 1 or more Audible Cards.
- Defense plays 1 defensive player.
- [Optional] Defense plays 1 or more Audible Cards.
- Offense scores if offense rating exceeds defensive rating.
- Each player replenishes their hand by drawing cards.
- If a touchdown was scored, the scoring team may attempt a 2-point conversion. After the conversion attempt, any Offense and Defense cards used in the conversion attempt are returned to each player's hand.
"Punting"
The offense is not required to play a Playbook card that matches the ratings on the Offense card. Playing mismatched cards is referred to as "punting". For example, the offense could play the following cards and announce: "I am punting".
When punting, the scoring attempt fails, and the defense discards a Defense card of their choice.
Punting is useful if you don't have any Playbook cards matching the ratings on your Offense cards; it can also be a good way to save a specific player (or play) for a later turn.
Audible Cards
Teams may also play one or more Audible cards on their turn.
At the beginning of your offensive turn, you may discard any Audible card. You may even discard and draw multiple Audible cards, until you draw an offensive play (i.e. a "Touchdown" or "Field Goal"). You may not discard an offensive play (unless instructed to do so by an Audible card).
Defensive Scoring
Some Audible cards allow the defense to score if they satisfy certain conditions (such as stopping the offense by 10 or more points). It is possible to score on defense even if the offense "punts". However, the defensive rating used must match one of the ratings listed on the offensive play card. If the offense punts, use the highest rating on the Offense card for calculating the margin by which the defense wins.
Successful defensive scoring plays can be placed to the side.
Note: Play continues normally after a defensive score, with the defensive player becoming the offensive player, even though that team just scored.
Two-Point Conversions
After scoring a touchdown (on offense or defense), the scoring team may elect to "Go for 2" as follows:
- Each team draws cards to replenish their hand.
- Flip over the top two cards from your Playbook deck. Discard and re-draw cards that are not offensive plays.
- Choose one play and place it on top of the Touchdown you just scored (while leaving the "7" visible).
- Audible cards may not be used by either team.
- If the scoring play succeeds (whether it is a "Field Goal" or "Touchdown") rotate the Playbook card to display the "+1" in the lower right corner. If the play is stopped, turn over the Playbook card to display the "-1".
- After a two-point conversion attempt, return each player card to your hand. Do not discard them.
End of Game
The game ends after each player has filled all nine (9) "scoring play" spots. Total each team's scoring plays. The higher score wins.
Overtime
If the game ends in a tie, proceed to overtime. Refill your Offense and Defense decks with your discard piles (i.e. place each stack in front of you face down, without shuffling, and then draw enough cards to replenish your hand).
Overtime starts with the home team on offense. The first team to score in overtime wins the game, with one exception: if you begin overtime on offense and score a field goal, your opponent is allowed one more scoring attempt. He wins if he scores a touchdown and loses if he doesn't score. If each team scores a field goal on their first overtime possession, the next score of any type wins the game.
Deck Building
Masters of the Gridiron also allows you to play the role of general manager, combining cards from different decks to create the best possible team. The upper right corner of each player card shows his salary. Each deck cannot exceed a $120 million salary cap, and must follow these rules:
- Choose 11 Offense cards: 1 quarterback (QB), 1 running back (RB), 1 tight end (TE), 2 wide receivers (WR), 2 tackles (T), 2 guards (G), 1 center (C) and an 11th player from the following list of positions: RB, FB, TE, WR.
- Choose 11 Defense cards: 2 defensive ends (DE), 1 defensive tackle (DT), 3 linebackers (LB), 2 cornerbacks (CB), 2 safeties (S), and an 11th player at any position.
- Choose 24 (or more) Playbook cards as follows:
- The deck must have at least 12 "Touchdown" cards.
- The number of offensive plays of any type (Inside Run, Outside Run, Short Pass, Long Pass) cannot exceed the number of any other type by a factor of more than 2-to-1.
- Half of your Playbook cards must be "Field Goal" cards. (Thus, adding an "Audible" card requires that you add an additional "Field Goal" card).