Pixel Tactics 2
Pixel Tactics 2 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
A single game consists of 3 or 5 matches. A match consists of any number of rounds, and each round is broken down into three waves.
First, let's take a look at the cards. Each card has 3 different ways it can be used:
A Leader is played at the beginning of the match, and provides its bonuses passively to the entire unit. Leaders are always in the flank wave of the unit.
An Order is played from your hand as a one-time effect. Orders are powerful, but they go away after resolving, so saving them or using them at the right moment is critical. The order is the fourth box (purple) on a hero's card.
A Hero is played during combat using the recruit action. Heroes have different abilities based on where they stand in relation to their leader.
Vanguard Heroes are those in front of the leader. These often have defensive or offensive abilities. They are able to use their Vanguard Powers (the first/red power).
Flank Heroes are those on either side of the leader. These usually offer improvements to their allies or tactical abilities. They are able to use their Flank Powers (the second/green power).
Rear Heroes are those behind the leader. These usually give support abilities or have ranged attacks. They are able to use their Rear Powers (the third/blue power).
Setup
To start a match of Pixel Tactics, each player shuffles his or her deck together and draws a hand of 5 cards. He turns these upside down so that their leader sides are visible, and selects one to be the leader for his unit.
The Leader stands at the center of each unit, and the 8 spaces around them can be filled with heroes.
Both players select their leaders secretly, then reveal them at once. The leader now forms the core of the unit, standing in the center of eight slots which may eventually hold heroes.
Objective
The game ends when one or both leaders are defeated (that is, they have taken damage equal to or greater than their leader life totals). Your goal is to defeat your opponent's leader before he can do the same to you.
Game Flow
The game takes place in rounds, and each round consists of 3 waves for each player.
Randomly determine which player will take the first wave. This begins that player's Vanguard Wave. During a wave, the first player takes two actions, and then the second player takes two actions. Place the Current Wave Marker beside the first player's Vanguard row.
Once both players have completed two actions, the game moves onto the Flank Wave. Once both players complete two actions during a Flank Wave, they move on to the Rear Wave. Move the Current Wave Marker appropriately whenever the first player begins a wave.
When the Rear Wave is complete, the round ends, and first player changes sides. Then a new round begins with a new Vanguard Wave, and so on, until one leader or the other falls. Pass the Current Wave Marker to the new first player, who sets it beside his Vanguard row.
The game comes with a "current wave" marker that you can use to keep tabs on which wave is currently acting.
Round 1 Ceasefire
During the First Round, there is a Round 1 Ceasefire.
Until the first swap of the first/second player markers, heroes and leaders cannot declare attacks, and Orders cannot be played.
Waves
During a wave, you typically have two actions that you can take. These can be chosen from among any of the following actions:
Draw a Card — You just draw a card from your deck. If your deck is empty, this action is no longer available. There are no hand limits.
Recruit a Hero — You may play a hero down into an empty slot in the current wave (for example, during the vanguard wave, you can only recruit to empty spaces in your vanguard).
Attack with a Hero / Leader — You may use a hero in the current wave (or the leader, if this is the flank wave) to make an attack. Attacking is discussed in more detail later. A hero recruited during this wave may not declare an attack of any kind. A single hero or leader can only attack once per wave.
Only the foremost hero in each column is considered to be "in Melee". Only these heroes/leaders can perform melee attacks and be hit by melee attacks.
Play an Order — You may play a card from your hand for its order (purple) effect. Read the order's text aloud and perform all the actions instructed on the card. The card then goes to your discard pile.
Clear a Corpse — When heroes fall in battle, they leave corpses behind in the unit. These might be revived later on, but if you have no plans to revive a hero (or if you fear your opponent may revive it and use it against you) then you can clear the corpse. Simply move the corpse into your discard pile. Since heroes can only be played into empty spaces in the unit, you will need to clear corpses eventually in longer battles. You can clear corpses in any wave, regardless of the currently active wave.
Restructure — You may move a hero from anywhere in your unit into any empty unit position. That hero cannot attack during this wave, and may not have already attacked this wave. Note that leaders cannot be moved.
Attacking
When you select the attack action, you will choose a hero in your current wave to make the attack, as well as a target on the opposing unit.
There are three main kinds of attacks:
Melee Attacks
A melee attack must target the foremost opposing hero or leader in a single column. A melee attack does damage to the target equal to the attacker's power. All heroes and leaders are capable of making melee attacks. A melee attack cannot be used if a friendly hero or leader is standing in front of the attacking card. A hero or leader is considered to be "in melee" if it is capable of making and receiving melee attacks.
Ranged Attacks
Ranged attacks can strike over heroes and leaders in melee and hit the targets behind them. Only a hero with "Intercept" can block a Ranged Attack.
Ranged attacks can target any hero or leader, regardless of their position in the column. Cards with ranged attacks can fire over other allies and enemies. Only heroes with the "Ranged Attack" ability are capable of making ranged attacks. Ranged attacks do damage equal to the attacker's power, just like melee attacks.
Intercepting Ranged Attacks
A few heroes have the ability "Intercept", which means that enemy ranged attacks cannot pass over them. This makes them especially useful for protecting your rear and flank heroes, as well as your leader.
Attack Powers
Some heroes (especially rear heroes) have special powers that occur instead of attacking. For example, a hero may say "Attack: the opponent discards a card". These are optional alternate attacks that can be used in place of a melee or ranged attack. They still count as attacks, so you can't use them more than once in a wave, and the same hero cannot use both their attack power and a melee/ranged attack. Attack powers do not do damage, unless they specifically say otherwise.
Reactions
Some effects take note of "when a hero attacks this unit". Attack powers are not considered to be "attacking a unit" or "attacking a hero".
Some effects trigger "when you play an order". These effects don't kick in until the order has completely resolved.
Passive Powers
Other than attack powers (those that say "Attack: …"), all hero powers are constantly active, and work as soon as they become relevant.
Casualties
When a hero or leader is hit with an attack, place damage counters on it to show how much damage it has taken.
At the end of each wave, casualties are checked. Any hero with damage equal to or exceeding its life is considered defeated.
A hero with lethal damage (damage equal to or beyond its life total) can continue to fight, act, and be healed throughout a wave. Only at the end of a wave are casualties determined.
When a hero is defeated, all damage is removed from it, and it is flipped face-down, becoming a corpse. Corpses cannot attack, they do not block melee attacks, and new heroes cannot be played on top of them. Only by clearing a corpse can you play a new hero into its position.
Some effects can revive corpses, and one leader can even use them to attack, so it's not always necessary to clear every hero that falls. Sometimes it's advantageous to keep them around.
Rout
If a leader has damage exceeding its life total at the end of a wave, then the entire unit is in rout (a disorderly retreat), and the match ends. The player who still has a standing leader is considered the winner of the match.
The player whose leader remains standing claims the defeated leader and his own leader and sets these two cards to the side in a face-down stack to create a trophy. They will not be reshuffled back into the deck during future matches of this game.
The Next Game
A typical game plays best of three or five trophies — whichever number the players have agreed upon. The first player to claim two trophies in a best of three game, or to claim three trophies in a best of five game, is declared the winner of the game.
If no player has won the game after claiming trophies, proceed to the next match. From here on out, both players' decks will be one card smaller. In addition, for each trophy your opponent possesses, you draw one additional card at the start of the game, before selecting leaders. This slight card advantage will give you more control over your leader selection, and give you a head start on army building.
The player who won the previous match is always the first player at the start of the next match.
Tips and Tricks
While it's usually a good idea to set up interceptors to protect your leader, you don't always need to roll out an entire army on the first round. If you take time to draw a few times instead, you can form a much more cohesive and structured unit with the synergy to crush a band of hastily cobbled-together shock troops.
Each card has a particular theme to it. The Summoner is very good at finding cards in your deck, while the Trapper can disrupt your opponent, and the Healer will revive allies. You can supercharge these powers by appointing the card as a leader, but keep in mind that win or lose, the leader's card will be gone for the rest of the match. Don't waste someone in match one that you'll miss for the remaining matches!
It's almost always better to go second during a round, since you can respond to your opponent's attacks and plays. Save up healing orders for those rounds when you can use them most effectively and keep alive heroes which might otherwise die.
If you're going first during a round, you can utilize instant-kill orders and attack powers like the Assassin or Support Drone to make sure your opponent doesn't retaliate against you. These orders and attack powers don't wait for the end of a wave to cause casualties.
High power leaders can be lethal in melee, but opening them up to make melee attacks is often as much of a liability as a boon. Gauge your opponent's unit strength and see what you have to gain before letting your leader join as a dedicated fighter.
Other Terms
Forerunner — The hero directly in front of this hero.
Supporter — The hero directly behind this hero.
Attack Power — A special effect that is triggered with an "Attack".
Strength — The damage dealt by a hero's attack.
Ongoing Orders (Pixel Tactics 2)
Some heroes in Pixel Tactics 2 and later have "Ongoing Orders". These are marked by a scroll symbol.
Ongoing Orders can only be activated from a player's hand — they have no effect when triggered by another effect, like the Puppeteer, Mascot, or Doppelganger.
An Ongoing Order is placed behind the back row of your board, and there are 3 slots for currently ongoing orders. Turn the order 90 degrees at the end of each of your turns, including the turn when you play it. When it would be rotated a 4th time, it is discarded to your discard pile instead and stops working.
For example, the Tactician's Ongoing Order will reduce all damage heroes and leaders take from attacks by 2 points for the rest of the round.
Promotional Cards
You may come across Promo cards via promotions, conventions, or unforeseeable circumstances. In this case, here's how to use them in a game. You will need at least 2 Promo Cards to use these rules.
During Setup, shuffle all the promo cards together to create a third draw deck. Set it aside outside the game.
Each player draws 1 card from the promo card deck at the game's start, and one less card from his own deck (so each has the same usual starting hand of 5).
During the game, anytime a player would draw a card and while there are still cards in the Promo Deck and at least one card in his hand, he may substitute that draw for a "Promo Draw". To do this, he discards a card of choice from his hand, then draws one card from the Promo Deck.
Promotional cards are intended for casual play, and are not legal for use in competitive matches.
Alternate Rules / Variants
Level 99 Games publishes supplemental PDFs with alternate ways to play:
- PT Supplemental Rules – Constructed Play Mode — These rules will allow you to build custom decks for Pixel Tactics! Make sure you're familiar with the regular basic game before embarking on these rules.
- PT Supplemental Rules – Duel Draft Mode — These rules allow you to combine multiple Pixel Tactics decks together to play out of one large deck.
- PT Supplemental Rules – 2v2 Cross Duel Mode — These rules allow you to play 4-player duels with multiple Pixel Tactics decks.