Rules

Full public reference, version 0.3, from the Core Rulebook plus the Defense restore and temporary Spell Facets updates. Playtest language can still change. For a short teach see How to Play. Keywords live on Abilities.Patch posts: Equipment is removed and replaced by Weapons · New Keywords and Card Changes · Triggered Abilities and Game Setup.

1. Overview

Chromatic Battlelines is a strategic card game centered around two primary resources:

Mana — determines which cards you can play.
Facets — determine how cards can be modified when they enter play.

Every card can be played without Facets. Facets are spent after the card resolves, as it enters the battlefield. Investing Facets allows you to enhance cards, creating different possibilities from the same card.

The game uses five Facet colors:

Red
Blue
Green
Yellow
Purple

Mana determines what you can play. Facets determine how you play it.

A card in your hand can be:

Played normally
Harvested for a Facet (extracting a gem from the card)
Shattered to increase your Mana Capacity (shattering the card for mana)

2. Objective

Each player begins the game with 30 Life.

Reduce the opposing player's Life to 0 to win.

Unless a card or rule says otherwise, there are no alternate victory conditions.

3. Deck Construction

A deck contains 45 cards.
You may include a maximum of 3 copies of any individual card.

Cards belong to one of five Facet colors: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, or Purple.

There is no requirement that a deck contain only one color. The Facet system limits how effectively you can use cards of different colors.

4. Card Types

The game contains four card types.

4.1 Creatures

Creatures are permanent cards that remain on the battlefield after being played.

Creatures can attack the opposing player and can block attacking creatures.
Creatures cannot directly attack opposing creatures.

Creatures have:

Mana Cost
Attack
Defense
A Base Ability
Four Facet Abilities
Tribe

4.2 Spells

Spells are temporary effects. After a Spell resolves, it is placed in the Graveyard unless a card says otherwise.

Every Spell has five abilities. Each ability is associated with a different Facet color.

When you cast a Spell, you select one or more of its abilities based on whose turn it is:

On your turn: You may select one or two abilities.
On an opponent's turn: You may select one or more abilities.

You can only cast a Spell when you have priority. See Section 17.

The Facet associated with each ability determines whether a temporary Facet is granted or whether a Facet must be spent. A Spell never readies an exhausted Facet. See Section 20.

4.3 Enchantments

Enchantments are permanent cards that provide ongoing board-state effects while they remain in play.

An Enchantment may affect:

Your field
The opponent's field
Creatures
Players
Resources
Other cards
Game rules

Each Enchantment has five abilities, one for each Facet color.

When an Enchantment is played, the ability that matches its color identity becomes active. That ability does not require a Facet.
Only one of the five abilities is active at a time.
You may change which ability is active by spending 1 Facet of the matching color.
You may change an Enchantment's effect only during your Main Phases.

4.4 Weapons

Weapon cards are permanents attached to you, not to a creature.

Weapons can only be played on yourself.
A player may wield only one Weapon at a time.
If you play a Weapon while you already wield one, the Weapon you currently wield is destroyed and placed in the Graveyard, then the new Weapon enters. This does trigger Entomb and other “when this is destroyed” abilities.
Pay Mana to initiate the play. After it resolves, you may spend Facets to enhance it while it enters the battlefield.
When a Weapon enters, add its Armor value to your Armor pool. See Section 5.

Weapons have:

Mana Cost
Attack
Armor
Four Facet Abilities
No Base Ability

Weapons can be improved by spending Facets on their Facet abilities, using the same on-enter structure as creatures:

1 Facet — Enhancement The ability is added to the Weapon.

Weapons are permanents. They can be targeted, Silenced, Bounced, Pacified, and affected by other permanent-targeting effects.

Weapons exhaust. An exhausted Weapon cannot attack. Triggered abilities on a Weapon still function while it is exhausted.

You may attack with a Weapon during your Main Phases. See Section 16.1.

5. Game Resources

Mana

Mana is used to pay the cost of playing cards.
Mana is colorless.
Each player has a Mana Capacity, which determines the maximum amount of Mana available to them each turn.

Facets

Facets are used to modify cards and activate Facet-based abilities.
Facets are divided into five colors: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Purple.
A player may have a maximum of 5 Facets at any time.

Armor

Armor is a pool on the player. It is not the same as a creature's Defense.

Armor never recovers at the End Phase. It stays until damage reduces it or more Armor is added.
Playing a Weapon adds that Weapon's Armor value to your Armor pool.
Replacing a Weapon does not remove Armor already in the pool. The new Weapon's Armor is added on top.
If a Weapon leaves play some other way (Bounce, Sacrifice, or any effect that does not reduce Armor to 0), your Armor pool does not change.
You can have Armor with no Weapon (leftover pool, or Armor granted by a Spell or Enchantment). If Armor is reduced to 0 while you are not wielding a Weapon, nothing extra happens.
All damage dealt to a player reduces Armor first. Any leftover damage is then dealt to Life.
Effects that say a player loses Life (including Siphon) bypass Armor.

If you are wielding a Weapon and your Armor is reduced to 0, that Weapon is destroyed and placed in the Graveyard. This is one event with the damage.

Example: You have 5 Armor and wield a Weapon. You take 8 damage. Armor becomes 0, the Weapon is destroyed, and you lose 3 Life.

6. Starting the Game

Each player begins the game with:

30 Life
0 Armor
1 Mana Capacity
1 available Mana
0 Facets
9 cards in hand

The remaining cards are shuffled to form the player's deck.

The first player is determined randomly.

Players then begin the first turn.

7. Mana

7.1 Mana Capacity

Mana Capacity is the maximum amount of Mana you can have available during a turn.

Each player begins with a Mana Capacity of 2.
Mana Capacity does not automatically increase at the beginning of a turn.
The only current way to increase Mana Capacity is through Shattering.
There is currently no maximum Mana Capacity.

7.2 Available Mana

Available Mana is the amount of Mana you can currently spend.

At the beginning of your turn, your available Mana is restored to your current Mana Capacity.
When you Shatter a card, your Mana Capacity increases by 1, and that additional Mana is immediately available to spend.

Example:

You have a Mana Capacity of 3.
You begin your turn with 3 available Mana.
You Shatter a card.
Your Mana Capacity becomes 4.
Your available Mana immediately becomes 4.

Mana that remains unspent at the end of a turn does not increase your Mana Capacity.

7.3 Spending Mana

When you play a card, you pay its Mana Cost using available Mana.

Mana is colorless, so any available Mana can pay a card's Mana Cost unless a card says otherwise.

Paying a card's Mana Cost initiates the play. The card does not enter the battlefield, and Facets are not spent on it, until the play resolves. See Playing a Card.

7.4 Playing a Card

Pay the card's Mana Cost. This initiates the action and passes priority.
The opponent may respond or pass. The card has not entered the battlefield yet.
After both players pass, the card resolves.
As the card enters the battlefield, you may spend Facets to enhance it (Creatures and Weapons).
The card enters with its Base Ability plus any enhancements paid for at that time.

If the play does not resolve, the card does not enter, and no Facets are spent on it.

8. Shattering

Shattering permanently removes a card from the game and increases your Mana Capacity.

During your turn, you may Shatter one card from your hand.

When a card is shattered:

The card is removed from your hand.
The card is placed into the Shatter Zone.
Your Mana Capacity increases by 1.
Your available Mana immediately increases by 1.
The card cannot return to play or be used again.

You may only Shatter one card per turn.

Example

You have:

3 Mana Capacity
3 available Mana

You Shatter a card.

Your Mana Capacity becomes 4.
Your available Mana immediately becomes 4.
You may spend that additional Mana during the current turn.

8.1 Shatter Zone

The Shatter Zone contains cards that have been permanently removed from the game.

Cards in the Shatter Zone cannot:

Return to your hand
Enter the battlefield
Be played as a spell
Become a Facet
Be recovered from the Graveyard

9. Facets

Facets are represented by cards placed into the Facet Zone.

You gain a Facet by harvesting a card from your hand into your Facet Zone.

Each Facet card provides exactly 1 Facet.
The color of the Facet is determined by the color of the facet in the top left corner of the card.
You may have a maximum of 5 Facets. Those five are harvested Facet cards in the Facet Zone.

A Spell may grant a temporary Facet for the rest of the turn. Temporary Facets are not Facet Zone cards, do not count toward the 5 Facet maximum, do not ready exhausted Facets, and are lost at the End Phase. See Spell Ability Selection.

10. Harvesting Facets

You may harvest only one Facet card per turn.

When a card is harvested for a Facet:

It enters your Facet Zone.
It immediately provides its color of Facet.
The newly harvested Facet can be used immediately.

You do not need to wait until your next turn to use a newly harvested Facet.

11. Facet Capacity

You may have a maximum of five Facets.

If you already have five Facets, you may still harvest a Facet card by replacing one of your existing Facet cards.

The Facet being replaced does not need to be exhausted.

When a Facet card is replaced:

You select an existing Facet card.
That card is removed from the Facet Zone.
The previous card is placed into the Graveyard.
The new Facet card enters the Facet Zone.
The newly added Facet is immediately available for use.

You may still only harvest one Facet card during the turn.

12. Facet Exhaustion

Facets are represented by individual Facet cards.

When a Facet is spent, the corresponding Facet card becomes exhausted.
An exhausted Facet cannot be spent again until it is readied.
Facet cards may still be replaced regardless of whether they are exhausted.

Granting a temporary Facet from a Spell does not ready an exhausted Facet card.

13. Facet Costs

Enhancement — 1 Facet

A Facet ability costs 1 Facet of its associated color.

Creatures enter with their Base Ability. Weapons enter with no Base Ability. Enhancements may be paid only after the play resolves, while the card enters the battlefield. Facets cannot be spent to enhance a card that has not resolved.

Enchantments use a different cost: 1 Facet of the matching color to change which of the Enchantment's five abilities is currently active.

14. Creature Ability Structure

Every creature has a Facet color associated with its Base Ability.

A creature contains:

Base Ability
Facet Ability 1
Facet Ability 2
Facet Ability 3
Facet Ability 4

Base Ability

The Base Ability is a weak ability associated with the creature's Facet color.
The Base Ability does not require a Facet.
It represents the creature's basic identity.

Facet Abilities

Each creature has four additional abilities.

These abilities generally use Facet colors different from the creature's Base Ability.

Each of the four abilities has a specific Facet color.

Each Facet ability can be used as an enhancement by spending 1 Facet of its associated color. The ability is added to the creature as an additional ability or attribute.

15. Creature Facet Example

A creature might have:

Base — Green A weak Green ability that requires no Facet.

1 Red Facet → Ability 1 — Red

1 Blue Facet → Ability 2 — Blue

1 Purple Facet → Ability 3 — Purple

1 Yellow Facet → Ability 4 — Yellow

You could use no Facets or enhance multiple Facet abilities, depending on the abilities you choose and the Facets you have available. Each enhancement costs 1 matching Facet, subject to your available Facets and the card's rules.

15.1 Weapons Ability Structure

Weapons use Facet enhancements, but they do not have a Base Ability.

Every Weapon has four Facet abilities, one for each color other than its identity, plus Attack and Armor.

There is no free ability on enter.
Each of the four abilities can be added as an enhancement by spending 1 Facet of its associated color while the Weapon enters.

Weapons are played only on yourself. Pay its Mana Cost to initiate the play. After it resolves, you may spend Facets to enhance it while it enters the battlefield. Add its Armor value to your Armor pool when it enters.

15.2 Enchantment Ability Structure

Every Enchantment has five abilities, one for each Facet color.

Enchantments do not use the creature and weapon enhancement system.

When an Enchantment enters play, the ability matching its color identity is active.
During your Main Phases, you may spend 1 Facet of a chosen color to change the Enchantment so that the ability of that color becomes the active effect.
Only one ability is active at a time.

16. Turn Structure

Each turn proceeds through phases.

Phase 1 — Beginning Phase

Beginning-of-turn effects occur.
Available Mana is restored to your current Mana Capacity.
Harvested Facets in the Facet Zone are readied. Temporary Facets from Spells do not persist into this phase.
Draw a card.

Phase 2 — Main Phase

You may perform normal game actions, including playing cards and managing resources.

You may:

Play creatures
Play enchantments
Play a weapon
Attack a creature (or, if none are present, the opposing player) with your Weapon. See Section 16.1.
Change an Enchantment's active ability by spending 1 Facet of the matching color
Play spells when you have priority
Harvest one card for a Facet
Shatter one card

You may take these actions in any order.

When you play a creature or weapon, pay Mana to initiate. Enhance on enter after the play resolves.

Playing a creature, playing a weapon, attacking with a weapon, casting a spell, or changing phases passes priority to your opponent. See Section 17.

16.1 Attacking with a Weapon

During your Main Phases, if you wield a ready Weapon, you may attack with it.

You may attack with a Weapon once per turn, unless a card says otherwise.
You may attack the turn the Weapon is played.
Attacking with a Weapon exhausts it.
Declaring a Weapon attack is an action. Priority is passed before the attack resolves, similar to declaring blockers.

Legal targets

If the opponent has any creatures on the battlefield, you must attack a creature. Any opposing creature is a legal target, including Exhausted creatures and creatures played this turn.
Shroud and Taunt do not apply. You may attack any opposing creature, even if a Shroud or Taunt creature is present.
If the opponent has no creatures, you may attack the opposing player.
If you declare an attack on the opposing player and they play an Ambush creature in response, that Ambush creature becomes the new attack target.

Resolving the fight

After both players pass, the Weapon and the targeted creature deal damage at the same time:

The Weapon deals its Attack to the creature.
The creature deals its Attack to you.
Damage you take is applied to Armor first, then leftover damage to Life. If Armor is reduced to 0, the Weapon is destroyed as part of the same event.

If the target is the opposing player (no creatures were present and none entered in response):

The Weapon deals its Attack to that player. Armor, then Life.
Nothing deals damage back.

Keywords on a Weapon fight

Keywords on the Weapon apply to this fight:

Deadly on the Weapon destroys the creature if any damage is dealt to it. Deadly on a creature has no effect on a player.
Lifelink on the Weapon: you gain Life equal to the damage the Weapon deals.
Overwhelm on the Weapon: leftover damage beyond the creature's Defense is dealt to that creature's controller.
Flying has no effect on a Weapon fight.
Triggered abilities on the Weapon still function if they can trigger.

Creatures still cannot attack other creatures. The Main Phase Weapon attack is the only way a player fights a creature.

17. Priority

Priority determines who is allowed to play spells.

Priority is maintained by the current player (the player whose turn it is).

The opponent cannot play spells unless they have priority.

Whenever the current player initiates an action, priority is passed to the opponent. This includes:

Changing phases
Casting a spell
Playing a creature
Playing a weapon
Attacking with a weapon

The opponent may then play a spell or pass. An action does not complete, and a phase does not change, until the opponent has received priority and passed.

If the opponent plays a spell, that also initiates an action, so priority is passed back to the current player.

After both players pass, the action completes and priority returns to the current player.

Playing a spell uses priority. Triggered abilities do not. They resolve as a chain with no gap to play spells. See Section 17.1.

Example: Playing a Creature

It is Player A's turn. Player A has priority.
Player A pays the creature's Mana Cost to play it.
Priority is passed to Player B.
Player B may play a spell or pass.
If Player B passes, the creature resolves.
While the creature enters the battlefield, Player A may spend Facets to enhance it.
The creature enters play (with any enhancements paid for) and Player A receives priority again.

If the play does not resolve, the creature does not enter and no Facets are spent.

Example: Changing Phases

Player A is ready to leave their Main Phase and enter Combat.
Priority is passed to Player B.
Player B may play a spell or pass.
If Player B passes, the turn proceeds to the Combat Phase and Player A receives priority again.

Example: Casting a Spell

Player A casts a spell.
Priority is passed to Player B.
Player B may play a spell in response or pass.
If Player B passes, Player A's spell resolves and Player A receives priority again.

17.1 Triggered Abilities

A triggered ability is card text that starts with When, Whenever, or At. Examples: “When you draw a card, Scry 1.” “When this attacks, Spark 1.” Entomb. You do not choose to play it. It happens because something in the game just happened.

Triggered abilities are not spells. They do not pass priority. No one may play a spell or activate an ability until the current chain of triggers has finished.

Why this rule exists

Without a limit, two cards can bounce forever:

Seer: When you draw, Scry 1.
Chronicler: When you Scry, draw 1.

You draw → Scry → draw → Scry → … and the game never continues.

Each line of text may fire only once in the same chain. The loop stops.

This applies to all triggered abilities, not only keywords. It does not apply to replacement effects (text that says “if you would … instead”).

Terms

Term	Meaning
Instance	One line of text on one card. Two copies of the same card are two instances. A Base Ability and a Facet Ability on the same card are two instances.
Noted	The moment the event happens, every matching ability is locked in. It still runs even if that card later leaves play.
Priority player	The player who had priority and caused the event (drew for turn, played a spell, attacked, and so on). They own every chain from that event.
Chain	One starting trigger, plus everything it causes, plus everything those cause, until nothing unused is left.

How chains start

Something happens (you draw, a creature dies, you Scry, you Spark, and so on).
Every ability that matches is noted immediately.
Each of your noted abilities starts its own chain. You choose the order of those chains.
Finish one chain completely before the next of your chains starts. There is no priority between them.
If you have no matching trigger but the opponent does, you still own one chain. That chain is only their abilities. They choose the order, then whatever those abilities cause runs, then the chain is done.

Once per instance

In a single chain, each instance may trigger only once. If the same kind of event happens again later in that chain, that instance does not fire again.

Two copies of the same card are two instances. Each may fire once per chain.
Different lines on the same card are different instances. Each may fire once per chain.

The same instance can fire in a different chain from the same original event.

Nested triggers stay in this chain

If something a chain does would trigger another of your instances, and that instance has not fired in this chain yet, it joins this chain. It does not start a new top-level chain.

That is why Seer + Chronicler stops: Seer already fired in this chain, so Chronicler’s extra draw does not make Seer Scry again.

Opponent triggers wait until the end of each of your chains

An opponent’s ability noted from your action is part of each of your chains from that action.

It does not run in the middle of your nested abilities.
It runs once at the end of that chain.
Two of your chains means it can run twice — once per chain, not twice inside one chain.

If several opponent abilities are waiting at the end of one chain, the opponent chooses their order.

Anything those opponent abilities cause stays in this same chain. Unused instances still join. Once-per-instance still applies.

Order inside one chain

Work depth-first: finish what one ability caused before you start the next sibling.

Your starting ability. If you had none, skip to step 3.
Your unused instances those events cause.
The opponent’s noted instance(s) for this chain (opponent orders them).
Whatever those cause, still this chain, until nothing unused is left.

Optional triggers

If a trigger says you may, and you choose to do it, it is still this chain.

Examples

The loop stops

Seer: When you draw, Scry 1. Chronicler: When you Scry, draw 1.

You draw. Seer starts a chain: Scry → Chronicler draws. Seer already fired in this chain, so it does not Scry again. Stop.

Self-trigger

A card says “When you Scry, Scry 1.” A spell makes you Scry. This instance fires once. The extra Scry does not re-fire it in this chain.

Two copies

You control two copies of “When you draw, Scry 1.” You draw. Each copy starts its own chain. Two Scrys, not infinite Scry.

Two of your cards, same draw (Sparkmage can Spark twice)

Seer: When you draw, Scry 1.
Sparkmage: When you draw, Spark 1.
Chronicler: When you Scry, draw 1.

You draw. Two of your chains. You choose to run Seer first.

Seer chain: Scry → Chronicler Draw 2 → Sparkmage has not fired in this chain → Spark → then any opponent noted abilities for this chain.
Sparkmage chain: Spark from Draw 1 → then any opponent noted abilities for this chain.

Sparkmage Sparks twice: once nested in Seer’s chain, once in its own chain.

Opponent at the end of each chain

Same draw as above. Opponent’s Grave Scribe: When a player draws, Mill 1.

Grave Scribe is noted from Draw 1 and is appended to each of your chains. It Mills at the end of Seer’s chain, and again at the end of Sparkmage’s chain. Draw 2 does not Mill a second time inside Seer’s chain (once per instance in that chain).

If Grave Scribe Mills, and opponent also has Bone Pile: When you mill, draw 1, that draw stays in this chain. Seer and Sparkmage do not re-fire if they already fired in this chain.

If Grave Scribe leaves play after it was noted, the noted Mill still runs.

You have no trigger

You play a spell that draws. You have no draw-triggers. Opponent has Grave Scribe. You own one chain that is only Grave Scribe, then its descendants. If they have more than one noted ability, they choose the order.

You draw for the opponent

You had priority and caused it. Your “when a player draws” abilities start chains first. Their “when you draw” waits for the end of each of those chains.

Optional

Chronicler: When you Scry, you may draw 1. You choose to draw. Same chain. Seer does not Scry again.

Several opponent abilities

Grave Scribe and another “When a player draws…” are both noted. At the end of your chain, the opponent chooses which runs first.

18. Combat Phase

Combat is divided into multiple steps.

Step 1 — Declare Attackers

You choose which eligible creatures will attack.

Creatures attack the opposing player.
Creatures cannot attack opposing creatures.
A creature cannot attack during the same turn it was played unless an ability allows it to attack immediately.

Declaring attackers is an action. After attackers are declared, priority is passed to the defending player.

Step 2 — Declare Blockers

The defending player decides whether to block the attacking creatures.

The defending player may:

Block an attacking creature with one creature
Block an attacking creature with multiple creatures
Leave an attacking creature unblocked

Only eligible creatures may block.

Exhausted creatures cannot block.

After blockers are declared, the attacking player receives priority. See Section 19.

19. Combat Priority

After blockers have been declared, players may play spells and use abilities before combat damage is dealt.

This uses the same priority rules as the rest of the game:

The current player has priority.
The opponent cannot play spells unless they have priority.
Casting a spell passes priority to the other player.

The attacking player receives priority first.

The attacking player may:

Play a spell
Activate an appropriate ability
Pass priority

After the attacking player passes, priority passes to the defending player.

The defending player may then:

Play a spell
Activate an appropriate ability
Pass priority

Players may continue responding to each other's actions.

Combat damage is not dealt until both players pass without taking an action.

This is the window for combat tricks.

20. Combat Tricks and Spell Ability Selection

Spells and abilities may be used during combat when their timing permits.

Because the attacking player receives priority after blockers are declared, an attacker can respond to the defender's blocking decisions.

Example:

Player A attacks.
Priority is passed to Player B.
Player B declares blockers.
Player A receives priority.
Player A plays a Spell that strengthens an attacking creature.
Priority is passed to Player B.
Player B may respond with a Spell or pass.
Players continue responding to each other's actions.
Once both players pass, combat proceeds.

Spell Ability Selection

Every Spell has exactly three abilities, each associated with a different Facet color.

On Your Turn

When you cast a Spell during your turn:

You may select one or two abilities.
If one ability is selected, that ability resolves and you receive 1 temporary Facet of the color associated with that ability.
If two abilities are selected, both abilities resolve and you do not receive a temporary Facet.
No additional Facets are required to select the second ability.

A temporary Facet:

Can be spent this turn as 1 Facet of that color.
Does not ready an exhausted Facet in your Facet Zone.
Is not a Facet Zone card and does not count toward the 5 Facet maximum.
Is lost at the End Phase, whether spent or not.

You cannot bank a Spell Facet for a later turn.

On an Opponent's Turn

When you cast a Spell during an opponent's turn, you must have priority.

You always forfeit the Facet restoration.
You may select one ability without paying additional Facet.
If a second ability is selected, you must spend 1 Facet matching the color associated with that second ability.
If a third ability is selected, you must spend 1 Facet matching the color associated with that third ability.
Facets spent to select additional abilities are exhausted normally.

The Spell's Mana Cost is paid regardless of the number of abilities selected.

Example: a Spell with Red, Blue, and Purple abilities:

Timing	Abilities Selected	Facet Result
Your turn	Red	Resolve Red and gain 1 temporary Red Facet (lost at End Phase; does not ready an exhausted Red Facet)
Your turn	Red + Blue	Resolve both abilities; no temporary Facet is granted
Opponent's turn	Red	Resolve Red; no temporary Facet is granted
Opponent's turn	Red + Blue	Resolve both abilities; spend 1 Blue Facet
Opponent's turn	Red + Blue + Purple	Resolve all three abilities; spend 1 Blue and 1 Purple Facet

21. Combat Damage

After the combat priority window has resolved, combat damage is dealt simultaneously.

Unblocked Creatures

An unblocked attacking creature deals damage equal to its Attack to the defending player. That damage reduces Armor first, then leftover damage is dealt to Life. If the defending player is wielding a Weapon and Armor is reduced to 0, that Weapon is destroyed as part of the same event. The Weapon does not deal damage back during Combat. A Weapon only deals damage when its controller attacks with it during a Main Phase.

Blocked Creatures

When an attacking creature is blocked, it deals its Attack damage among the creatures blocking it.

If multiple creatures are blocking the same attacking creature, the attacking creature's controller chooses how to distribute its damage among those blockers.
The attacking player may distribute the damage in any manner, including assigning all damage to one blocker.
The blocking creatures simultaneously deal their Attack damage to the attacking creature.

Example: Multiple Blockers

A 7/7 creature attacks.

The defending player blocks it with:

A 3/3
A 4/4

The attacking player chooses how to distribute the 7 damage.

They could assign:

3 damage to the 3/3
4 damage to the 4/4

Both blockers would receive lethal damage.

Alternatively, the attacking player could assign:

7 damage to the 3/3
0 damage to the 4/4

The 3/3 would be destroyed while the 4/4 would survive.

The attacking creature receives 7 damage from the two blockers combined.

No Excess Combat Damage

A blocked attacking creature does not deal excess combat damage to the defending player.

For example, if a 10/10 creature is blocked by a 1/1 creature, the attacking creature may assign all 10 damage to the 1/1, but none of the remaining damage is dealt to the defending player.

Lethal Damage

After combat damage is dealt, creatures with damage equal to or greater than their Defense are destroyed.

Damage and Defense

A creature has a current Defense equal to its printed Defense plus any Defense counters or lasting modifiers.

Damage is marked on a creature when it is dealt. A creature with damage greater than or equal to its current Defense is destroyed.

Damage remains marked until the End Phase. It is not removed after combat or when a spell resolves.

A replacement such as “the first time this would be destroyed each turn, it remains on the battlefield with 1 Defense instead” sets that creature’s remaining Defense to 1 for the rest of the turn. The creature never left the battlefield, so Entomb and other “when this is destroyed” abilities do not trigger. A second destroy the same turn is a real destroy.

22. Second Main Phase

After combat, you enter your second Main Phase.

You may perform the same actions available during a Main Phase:

Play creatures
Play enchantments
Play a weapon
Attack with your Weapon if you have not already done so this turn. See Section 16.1.
Change an Enchantment's active ability by spending 1 Facet of the matching color
Play spells when you have priority
Harvest a card for a Facet if you have not already done so
Shatter a card if you have not already done so

Playing a creature, playing a weapon, attacking with a weapon, casting a spell, or changing phases still passes priority to your opponent.

23. End Phase

End-of-turn effects resolve, then the following happen in order:

Temporary effects that last until the end of the turn expire.
All damage is removed from creatures. Each creature’s Defense is restored to its current maximum (printed Defense plus counters and lasting modifiers).
Temporary Facets granted this turn are lost. See Spell Ability Selection.

A creature is not destroyed by leftover damage after Defense is restored.

Armor is not restored at the End Phase.

The turn then passes to the next player.

24. Card Zones

Zone	Description
Deck	Your face-down library of cards.
Hand	Cards currently available to you.
Battlefield	Cards currently in play, including creatures, Weapons, Enchantments, and other permanents.
Facet Zone	Cards currently being used as Facets.
Graveyard	Cards that have been discarded, destroyed, replaced, or otherwise sent to the Graveyard.
Shatter Zone	Cards that have been permanently removed from the game through Shattering.

25. Creatures and Readiness

Creatures enter the battlefield ready.

They are immediately available to perform actions that do not require them to attack.

A creature cannot attack on the turn it enters play unless an ability allows it to attack immediately.

A creature that is exhausted cannot block.

These are two separate concepts:

Ready / Exhausted determines whether the creature can perform actions such as blocking.
Newly played determines whether the creature can attack immediately.

26. Using Your Cards

Every card in your hand can be used in one of three ways:

Played — Pay Mana to initiate. After it resolves, Facets may enhance it as it enters.
Harvested for a Facet — Place the card into the Facet Zone to create 1 Facet of its color.
Shattered — Permanently remove the card from the game to increase Mana Capacity by 1.

You may harvest only one card per turn and Shatter only one card per turn.

27. The Five Colors

Each Facet color has a distinct identity:

Red — Aggression: Damage, attacking, sacrifice, direct damage, risk and reward.
Blue — Knowledge: Card draw, manipulation, tactical control, countering, returning cards.
Green — Growth: Large creatures, creature development, buffs, healing, resource growth.
Yellow — Tempo: Defense, speed, protection, evasion, tactical positioning.
Purple — Decay: Graveyard interaction, life drain, debuffs, death, resource denial.

28. Turn Summary

A turn consists of:

Beginning → Main Phase → Combat → Second Main Phase → End

During the game, you:

Restore Mana at the start of your turn.
Shatter cards to increase Mana Capacity.
Harvest cards for Facets.
Play cards using Mana to initiate the action.
Enhance Creatures and Weapons as they enter the battlefield after resolving.
Change Enchantment effects during your Main Phases using Facets.
Attack the opposing player.
Remove damage and restore each creature’s Defense to its maximum at the End Phase.
Choose whether and how to block.
Use spells and abilities when you have priority.
Reduce the opposing player's Life to 0.

The current player has priority. Your opponent cannot play spells unless they have priority. Changing phases, casting a spell, playing a creature, playing a weapon, or attacking with a weapon passes priority to your opponent.

Every card can represent immediate power, a Facet, or future Mana Capacity.

How to Play · Factions · Cards · Abilities

Last updated 2026-09-24