You and your opponent will assume command of an historical or fictional army from the past, present, or future and strategically deploy your forces to overwhelm the other.

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• 2, 4, or 8 premade Game Decks of 24 cards each (# of decks depends on version purchased)

• 3 duplicate Battlefield Decks of 27 cards each, separated by card back color (yellow, red, and blue).

• 3 Round & Essence tracker cards with 6 colored tracker cubes.

• 6 Game helper cards.

• 108 or 150 circle tokens with numbers & symbols to mark cards (# of tokens depends on version purchased).

• 1 First Player token shaped like a Pirate coin.

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• [Blue] 3 battlefield cards (the number itself is not material).

• [Green] battlefield zones where you can deploy cards. Deploy cards into the lowest numbered zone possible and you cannot exceed 6 deployed cards per battlefield.

• [Red] game deck space where you will put your deck face down to draw cards.

• [Purple] piles of cards that may accumulate during the game for various reasons like discard, destroy, and banish.

• [Yellow] round & essence tracker to keep track of each value.

• [Orange] circle tokens to mark your cards (see Tokens).

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Essence

• Each player starts with 2 base essence in round 1.

  
  

• Your base essence increases by 1 each round. For example, you'll have 3 base essence to spend in round 2.

  
  

• Essence can be added or subtracted from this base amount each round by card abilities or battlefield effects. These increases or decreases only last for a single round.

  
  

• All cards have an essence cost, which is the left number on the bottom of the card inside a square to reflect how essence is tracked with a cube on your tracker mat.

  
  

• Unspent essence does not roll over between rounds.

Might

• All game deck cards have a base might, which is the right number on the bottom of the card inside a circle to reflect how might is tracked on a card with numbered circle tokens.

  
  

• You can apply or remove additional might tokens to a card because of a card's own ability, other cards' abilities, or battlefield effects.

  
  

• A card can never go below 0 (zero) might. A card with 0 might has no numbered circle tokens on it.

• A card ability may indicate that it has a max might. This will be indicated in parentheses, eg "(max 5)" to indicate a max of 5 might.

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1. Shuffle the yellow battlefield card deck and place 3 cards face-up in a vertical arrangement on the table as shown on page 3. Find the same battlefield cards in the red battlefield deck and mimic the arrangement, but on the opposite side of the table.

   
   

2. Choose a game deck, shuffle it, place it face-down on the table to the left of the battlefield cards, and draw 4 cards. The other player should do the same thing on their side of the table.

   
   

3. Place circle tokens within easy reach of each player.

   
   

4. Give each player an Essence/Round tracker. Place the purple cube on space #1 (to indicate round 1) and the orange cube on space #2 (to indicate you have 2 essence to spend this round).

   
   

5. Determine randomly who gets the first player token (you can use it for a coin flip if you wish) and begin round 1.

Watch the video below to see a full explanation of the game setup, round phases, and game end.

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1. Begin (do not perform on round 1) - Increase round cube by 1 and set the essence cube to 1 more than the round cube, regardless of what it was last round. Add or subtract any essence gained or lost last turn. Do this for both players simultaneously.

   
   

2. Draft - Draw 2 cards and keep 1 of them, placing the other on the bottom of the game deck. There is no maximum hand size. Do this for both players simultaneously.

3. Command - Activate the command phase abilities of your revealed cards on any battlefield. Repeat for the other player.

   
   

4. Deploy - Spend essence to deploy one or more cards face-down on open battlefield zone(s), noting the order in which cards were deployed. Repeat for the other player.

   
   

5. Reveal - Reveal cards face-up one at a time in the order they were deployed. A card and its ability is not active on the Battlefield until it is revealed. With each reveal, do the following in order, then repeat the below reveal steps for the other player.:

   1. Apply number circle tokens equal to the card's base might.

   2. Resolve the revealed card's ability, if applicable.

   3. Resolve any ally card abilities that may trigger.

   4. Resolve any battlefield effects that may trigger.

      
      

6. End - Resolve any battlefield "end of round" effects. Pass the first player token to the other player. After round 10, move to the "end of the game" phase.

Watch the video below to see the Round phases in action with an example Round.

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1. Tally the might for each player on each battlefield. If Player 1 has more might than Player 2 on a battlefield, then Player 1 wins that battlefield. If a player wins 2 of the 3 Battlefields, that player wins the game!

   
   

2. If there is a tie on any battlefield that prevents a player from winning 2 battlefields, then total each player's might across all 3 battlefields. The highest total might wins!

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1 = Card name

2 = Card type - abilities may affect types of cards

3 = Card image + Ability type outline color

4 = Ability type - correlates to color; see next page

5 = Card ability - note the Capitalized keywords in the text

6 = Essence cost (square)

7 = Base might (circle)

8 = Deck symbol - a fun identifier for the deck

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1. Instant (red image outline) - these abilities resolve one time as soon as you reveal the card and do not resolve again unless a card says otherwise.

2. Conditional (yellow image outline) - these abilities may resolve when you reveal the card and may continue to resolve throughout the game if their condition is triggered.

3. Passive (blue image outline) - these abilities are always active, but they resolve based on the instructions on the card.

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Deploy: Put a card face-down on a battlefield zone by spending its essence cost during the deploy phase, or put it face-down during the reveal phase if instructed by a card ability.

Reveal: Turn a face-down card face-up.

Revealed: A card is considered revealed if it is face-up.

Resolve: Implement the effect of an ability to its completion when a card is revealed or its ability triggers.

Round: Refers to a current or future turn in the game.

Ally*: Other revealed cards you deployed from your game deck.

Opponent*: Any revealed cards your opponent deployed from their deck. (*if neither Ally nor Opponent are listed, both apply)

Battlefield: One of 3 play areas designated by a battlefield card.

Here: A short way to say "on this Battlefield."

Zone: Refers to any of the 6 card spaces on a battlefield.

Open Zone: Refers to any unoccupied zone.

Add/Subtract: Increase or decrease the amount of essence available to a player, typically on the next round.

Apply/Remove: Take the appropriate circle token (numbered or symbol) and put it on or remove it from the appropriate card. See "Circle Tokens" on the next page for more info on tokens.

Move: Take a revealed card on a battlefield and put it on an open zone on another battlefield.

Discard: Take a card from your hand and put it face-down in the discard pile. You may look at cards in your discard pile.

Destroy: Remove a revealed card from the battlefield and put it face-up in the destroy pile.

Banish: Remove a card from your hand or the battlefield and put it face-down in the banish pile. This card is effectively removed from the game unless another card says otherwise.

Return: Take a revealed card from the battlefield or a designated pile and place it into your hand, removing all might from it.

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• You must have the essence to pay for the card. You may deploy more than one card per round if you can pay for them.

  
  

• You must deploy cards in the lowest numbered open battlefield zone possible, which generally means deploying them left-to-right beside the battlefield card if you follow the recommended game surface layout.

  
  

• You must mentally remember the order in which you deploy cards, as this dictates the order in which you reveal them. This is important because face-down cards are not yet active on the Battlefield and thus can't be targeted, have their abilities triggered, gain might, etc. So reveal order matters.

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1. Apply numbered circle tokens on the card equal to its base might.

2. Resolve the card's ability, if applicable.

3. Resolve other revealed ally conditional/passive card abilities.

4. Resolve any battlefield effects that may have been triggered.

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Cards collapse when a revealed card vacates a zone number on the battlefield while there are one or more cards occupying higher zone numbers. For example, cards could vacate Zones 2, 3, and 4 as shown above on Battlefield 3. In this scenario, the card in Zone 5 slides left into Zone 2 as indicated by the orange arrow, maintaining all tokens as they slide. Cards can vacate a zone because they are destroyed, returned, moved, or some other future game action. A collapse does not count as a card move and does not trigger move abilities.

You can see more detailed collapse examples in Moving Cards and Destroying Cards.

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• Effects apply separately to each player unless a battlefield refers to the first player to achieve a milestone.

• Effects are capable of changing the base game rules.

• Effects can trigger each round, on specific rounds, or at the end of the game; pay close attention to this timing as you play.

• The phrase "the first time you ..", refers to the whole game.

• When an effect triggers from a card reveal, it is the last thing resolved as part of that card's reveal. See Reveal Phase.

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When a card says move a card or specific category of cards to another battlefield, immediately choose a card and move it and its tokens to the first open zone on another battlefield. This is not optional. If there are no open zones, ignore this ability. If multiple cards are required to move, move them one at a time and you may move them to different battlefields.

When a card moves, it may cause a collapse of one or more cards on a battlefield. See Deploy / Collapse.

The example above shows:

1. Flank Attack is deployed and its ability triggers a move.

2. The player moves Horse Archers from battlefield 3 to 1.

3. Flank Attack collapses on battlefield 3 from zone 3 to 2.

You can watch how moving cards works with the Cavalry of the Parthian Empire in the video below (jump to the Example Play chapter):

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When a card is returned to your hand, this may cause a collapse of cards on a battlefield. See Deploy / Collapse.

Cards returned to your hand can be normally deployed again on any future round on any battlefield.

You can watch how returning cards works with the Defenders of the Bastion deck in the video below (jump to the Example Play chapter):

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You may look at the contents of your discard pile at any time. Some cards have abilities that allow a player to deploy a card to a battlefield from the discard pile instead of your hand.

You can watch how discarding cards works with the Samurai of the Sengoku Deck in the video below (jump to the Example Play chapter):

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During this phase, players are allowed to resolve card abilities that reference the command phase, as well as move cards with either permanent or one-time use move tokens.

All activity in the command phase resolves fully before moving to the deploy phase. This allows players to assess the full impact of the phase before deciding where to deploy cards.

Not all game decks utilize the command phase. When playing with a deck that doesn't, this phase can be ignored.

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1. The first few games will take a little longer as you get familiar with the flow of the game and the intricasies of your first game deck, so playing with the same deck multiple times before trying a new one helps to accelerate your acclimation to the game. 

2. Read the deck strategy card before playing a deck for the first time. While this doesn't cover everything you can do with a game deck, it does give you core things to think about, which helps.

3. Remember to apply base might as soon as you reveal a card. This step can be easily forgotten as a player jumps straight into reading their card, and forgetting to apply this might can cause you to lose the game!!

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Download the BforE mobile Companion App! It replaces your round and essence tracker and enables you to keep a running tally of your total battlefield might, which helps during gameplay. Scan the QR code below to download.

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• Stun and Stop Tokens can be applied to either opponent, but not both.

• Any Battlefield that involves the first player to achieve something can still only be achieved once.

• Any Battlefield that compares you to your opponent compares you to both opponents. Yes, that means you count the number of both opponent's revealed cards for The Eye of Power!!

Mash-up Mode

Combine cards from multiple decks, but remember to follow the deck template:

Deck Strategy

Cavalry of the Parthian Empire is a Medium Complexity deck that relies on Resolving your Horse Archer abilities multiple times by Moving and Returning them to Deploy again.

Deploy your Camel Riders, Cataphracts, and Light Infantry on the Battlefield and increase their Might with your Horse Archers.

Group Cataphracts on a Battlefield strategically to gain advantage there. You only have 4 Cataphracts, though, so be mindful that in one game it might make sense to group 3-4, where in another game 2 groups of 2 may be wiser.

Deploy Flank Attack and Parthian Shot to gain opportunities to Resolve your Horse Archer abilities multiple times on the same or other Battlefields. Use your Spahbed commander to Return these battle order cards to your hand to Deploy them again in the later Rounds to repeat their abilities.

Card Ability Clarifications

Standard Cataphract, Superior Cataphract: The Might bonus is given only once as new Cataphracts Reveal for each other Ally Cataphract.

Light Infantry: The Might bonus is given one time when the Defense Platform is Revealed, or twice if both Defense Platforms are Revealed on the same Battlefield.

Defense Platform: You can Deploy your 2 Defense Platform cards on the same Battlefield.

Flank Attack: Horse Archers and Elite Horse Archers both qualify. You must Move all Horse Archers if possible. You may choose where to Move them.

Parthian Shot: Horse Archers and Elite Horse Archers both qualify. You must Return at least 1 Horse Archer to Resolve the Destroy part of the ability. The Return is not optional.

Spahbed: All Returned Battle Order cards lose all Might gained from Archers and/or Battlefield effects. You only return the Battle Order cards on the Battlefield where Spahbed was Deployed.

Deck Backstory

The Parthian Empire ruled the Middle East for roughly 500 years across the approximate span of 250 BC to 250 AD. They established trade routes between the Roman Empire and the Far East and were known more for their nomadic lifestyle than cities and structures.

Parthian armies were notoriously difficult for the Romans to conquer because of their mastery of Cavalry and movement tactics, especially with warriors wielding a bow. Parthian Horse Archers were famous for their ability to shoot precisely while on horseback, including while firing in the opposite direction of the horse's travel, which is known as the Parthian Shot.

Heavily armored Cataphracts were known not only for their knight-like armor protection, but their horse's armor as well. Several Cataphracts could dominate an army on the Battlefield.

The Spahbed was the commander of the Parthian forces and it was fun to think of Flank Attack and Parthian Shot as commands he could issue to his armies multiple times throughout the game.

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1-cost Murder Holes (1)

1-cost Fortress Walls (3)

2-cost Testudo Legionnaire (1)

2-cost Basic Builder (3)

3-cost Master Builder (1)

3-cost Sagittarii Marksman (1)

3-cost Light Chariots (2)

4-cost Vats of Tar (1)

4-cost Heavy Chariots (2)

5-cost Elite Chariots (2)

5-cost Boulder Barrage (1)

6-cost Ballista (1)

6-cost Onager Catapult (1)

7-cost Fortify (2)

8-cost Armorer (1)

Deck Strategy

Defenders of the Bastion is a Medium Complexity deck that relies on Returning your cards to gain Might, gain Essence, and Deploy cards onto Battlefields multiple times.

To maximize your flexibility, deploy as many Fortress Walls as possible as quickly as you can. It will keep your opponent guessing as to where you will focus. Deploying your Master Builder repeatedly, even where no Fortress Walls exists, will help you acquire those cards faster.

When possible, play your Archer Tower, Murder Holes, Ballista, and Onager Catapult before Chariots. Use your Chariots to return your Builders to your hand as much as possible. This allows you to play Builders more repeatedly.

You only have 2 Fortify cards, so use them to secure a Battlefield or surprise your Opponent. Try to plan your final Builder placement late in the game to maximize The Armorer's ability.

Card Ability Clarifications

Archer Tower, Ballista, The Armorer, Light, Heavy, Elite Chariots: Both Master and Basic Builder qualify.

Murder Holes, Trebuchet: Light, Heavy, and Elite Chariots qualify.

Master Builder: If you have all 3 Fortress Walls cards in your hand or on the Battlefield, ignore this part of the ability.

The Armorer: Might gained this way will be lost if Builder cards are Returned to your hand.

Light, Heavy, Elite Chariots: Chariots can still be Deployed on a Battlefield if no Builders are present there.

Fortify: This is a one-time gain when you Reveal it. Future increases to Fortress Walls after Fortify is played do not affect it.

Deck Backstory

While this deck is loosely based on the Roman Empire and their era, the Defenders of the Bastion is really just a nod to the amazing ability of ancient engineers to build powerful fortresses and weapons to defend them.

The deck is based on the idea that intelligent people could build these large castles and fortresses without modern equipment, and they proved to be difficult to conquer. So the idea of having Builders enhance Fortress Walls was born.

But the deck needed a way to have those builders keep making the walls stronger and stronger, so Chariots were introduced as a means to keep taking the builders to where they needed to be quickly, protecting them along the way.

And from there it made sense to add in all of the cool weapons and features that go along with protecting and attacking a castle, like Archer Towers, Murder Holes, Catapults, and Ballistas.

And lastly, the visual of every last man, woman, and child out on the walls, ready to defend their keep was a great inspiration for Fortify.

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1-cost Sir Lamorak (1)

1-cost Sir Marhaus (1)

1-cost Sir Palamedes (1)

1-cost The Grail Sword (1)

2-cost Fail-not Bow (1)

2-cost Green and Gold Sash (1)

2-cost Sir Gareth (1)

2-cost Sir Kay (1)

3-cost Arondight (1)

3-cost Sir Bors (1)

3-cost Sword with the Red Hilt (1)

3-cost The Lady of the Lake (1)

4-cost Morgan le Fay (1)

4-cost Sir Tristan (1)

4-cost The Holy Grail (1)

5-cost Excalibur (1)

5-cost Guinevere (1)

5-cost Sir Percival (1)

6-cost Sir Galahad (1)

6-cost Sir Gawain (1)

7-cost King Arthur (1)

7-cost Sir Lancelot (1)

8-cost Merlin (1)

Deck Strategy

Knights of the Round Table is a Medium Complexity deck that relies on creating camaraderie by grouping your Knights on the Battlefield and pairing certain cards with them.

Round Table is an ability that involves "filling" all Zones on a Battlefield. Make sure to Deploy a card with this ability to the last available Zone on a Battlefield to gain more Might.

Some Knights benefit when another Knight is Deployed to the same Battlefield. Maximize this as much as possible. King Arthur benefits when Guinevere is Deployed to the same Battlefield.

Deploy The Holy Grail and other Magical Items to benefit from their Command phase abilities. Some Magical Items require pairing with another card.

Merlin's ability to see where your opponent plays before you do for the rest of the game is very powerful. Deploy him as early as possible.

Card Ability Clarifications

The Grail Sword, Fail-not Bow, Excalibur: Based on current Might, not base.

King Arthur: The Might from Guinevere is applied only when the second card of the pair is Revealed on the Battlefield, regardless of whether Guinevere or King Arthur is Revealed second. It is a one-time Might gain. This Might gain cannot be lost if Guinevere is Destroyed. King Arthur is not a Knight.

Knights, King Arthur: The Round Table bonus Might for filling a Battlefield can only be obtained once per Battlefield. The Battlefield can be fully populated with any combination of cards, but only Knights and King Arthur can trigger the effect and only Knights receive the bonus Might. The card that fills the Battlefield does get the bonus Might if it's a Knight.

Merlin: Continue to pass the First Player Token each Round in case Battlefield effects are driven by who has it, but your Opponent will always perform their Round phases first.

The Holy Grail: the Might bonus can be applied to any Knight on any Battlefield. The Essence bonus is for the current Round only.

Deck Backstory

The Knights of the Round Table are a great theme for a pseudo historical, pseudo fictional game deck. While there have been countless named Knights across the stories, most of the more popular ones have been included here and a few others selected to round out a group of 12. From there, adding King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Morgan le Fay, and The Lady of the Lake were no brainers.

Thematically, and because this deck has no repeat cards, it made sense to award bonuses based on Knights being combined together on the Battlefield. The more Knights, the more complete the Round Table is and the more powerful our heroes from Camelot can be.

And because we have Knights, it made sense to lean into the weapons and magical items from the stories that these heroes wielded.

Finally, it was fun to figure out how to best craft a rule-bending ability for Merlin, who is most known for predicting the ascension of a young Arthur to the throne.

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1-cost Jason and the Argonauts (1)

1-cost Perseus (1)

1-cost The River Styx (2)

2-cost Gates of Hades (1)

2-cost Gates of Olympus (1)

2-cost The Golden Fleece (1)

2-cost The Golden Ram (1)

3-cost Clytemnestra (1)

3-cost Hercules (1)

3-cost Hermes' Caduceus (1)

3-cost Pegasus (1)

4-cost Daedalus (1)

4-cost Eros' Love Arrow (1)

4-cost Icarus (1)

5-cost Circe (1)

5-cost Song of the Sirens (1)

5-cost Sun Chariot of Helios (1)

6-cost Bellerophon (1)

6-cost Winged Sandals (1)

7-cost Eros (1)

7-cost Medusa (1)

8-cost Hermes (1)

Deck Strategy

Legends of the Parthenon is a High Complexity deck that relies on Moving cards to build Might on a Battlefield. Certain cards gain Might when they Move between Battlefields, and other cards gain Might when cards Move to their Battlefield. Others cause cards to Move in various ways.

Try to play the cards that gain Might when other cards Move to them as soon as possible. This will help you maximize your Might.

Between Pegasus, Bellerophon, Hermes, and Move Tokens, take advantage of the Command phase and Move cards to keep your Opponent guessing and gain Might.

Think ahead. Moving cards requires open Zones on the Battlefield to Move to, and some cards can't move without other cards helping them. If you don't pay attention, you may clog your Battlefields. Watch for Battlefields that reduce Zones or limit Moving on certain Rounds.

Card Ability Clarifications

A Move Token enables a card to be Moved once during the Command phase on any future Round. Remove a token after the card Moves.

Winged Sandals: Only 3 total Move Tokens are Applied. You can Apply all 3 on one card, 2 on one card and 1 on another, or 1 each on 3 cards. They must all be on the same Battlefield.

Pegasus, Bellerophon, Hermes: Have permanent Move Tokens. They can only Move once during each Command phase, but they can be Moved by other cards during the Reveal phase. Hermes may Move again in the "End of the Game" phase.

Icarus, Daedalus: Unrevealed cards do not count.

Hermes' Caduceus, Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, Perseus: If this card Moves, it does not trigger its own ability.

Eros: Move your lowest Might cards on other Battlefields first. If cards are tied in Might, you may choose which one Moves first.

Medusa: Cards can be Moved in whatever order and combination you choose.

Deck Backstory

Based on Greek Mythology, the Legends deck really began with a few characters in the Greek legends associated with flight. It started with characters like Pegasus, Icarus and Daedalus, Helios, and of course Hermes himself. This led to the idea of a deck based on moving cards between the Battlefields to keep your opponents guessing as to where they would settle.

It was a fun idea to complement the 8 cost Hermes with two 7 cost polar opposites: Medusa and Eros. With Medusa you have to look (run) away, whereas Eros wants everyone to come to him with love.

Once you introduce Medusa, Perseus is a natural progression, which leads to other "quest" based characters like Hercules and Jason (with his Argonauts), and some of their storied counterparts, like the Golden Ram/Fleece and the deadly Sirens.

Lastly, the deck needed a few opportunities to move cards, so hence the journey to the gates of "heaven and hell" in Olympus and Hades, as well as the delicate traversal between life and death on the River Styx.

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1-cost Bushi Samurai (1)

2-cost Gusoku Armor (1)

2-cost Kansetsu-waza (1)

2-cost Sohei (2)

3-cost Ninja (1)

3-cost Onna-musha (2)

3-cost Skilled Ronin (1)

4-cost Hatamoto Samurai (1)

4-cost Metsubushi (1)

4-cost Oni (1)

5-cost Bojutsu (1)

5-cost Itako (2)

6-cost Daimyo Samurai (1)

6-cost Renowned Ronin (1)

7-cost Abe no Seimei (1)

7-cost Ikko-Ikki (1)

8-cost The Shogun (1)

Deck Strategy

Samurai of the Sengoku is a Low Complexity deck that relies on Discarding cards to both build Might and surprise your Opponent with free Deployments to the Battlefield.

Deploy Sohei as quickly as possible so it can build Might as you Discard cards throughout the game.

While Ashigaru's ability allows you to Deploy it for free when you Discard, sometimes it makes sense to Deploy it from your hand by spending its Essence cost.

Itako and Abe no Seimei offer ways to Deploy Discarded cards for free. Plan ahead to use those surprise Deployments to your best advantage.

The Shogun can be powerful Deployed from your hand, the Discard pile, or to set Oni's Might at the end of the game. While it's most powerful when Deployed from the Discard pile, it's still valuable when used the other two ways.

Card Ability Clarifications

Abe no Seimei, Itako, Ashigaru, The Shogun: Any card Deployed from the Discard pile is Deployed face-down and Revealed after your other Deployed cards for that Round. There must be an open Zone on the Battlefield to Deploy the card. A free Deployment is not bound by any Battlefield cost constraints, but does count as a card Deploy and Reveal for other Battlefield effects.

Ninja: Discarding is optional, but is required to Destroy another card. You can still play this card on the last turn, but its entire ability will not Resolve, including the Discard part.

Oni: The Might Applied is additive to any gained Might from Battlefield effects. If you can't Discard a card at the end of the game, Oni does not gain any Might.

Sohei: This ability does not generate additional Might for cards that were Discarded before this card was Revealed. It also does not generate additional Might when your Opponent Discards.

Deck Backstory

The Sengoku period in Japanese history was rife with wars, both civil and otherwise. While the Samurai and Shogun were iconic across many periods of Japanese history and cards from this deck are not unique to the Sengoku period, this combative era serves as the perfect name for the deck.

Other aspects of Japanese battle culture are represented here, including the famous Ninja and Ronin, as well as the less famous female bushi Onna-musha and the warrior monk Sohei.

Ikko-Ikki were mobs of peasants, buddhist monks, and farmers who rose up against the Samurai and Shogun during the Sengoku period. Their strength in numbers was often formidable.

A fictitious side of the deck is introduced with the Oni, a demon known for its strength and violence, along with the Itako, blind women who are though to be powerful spiritual mediums. And Abe no Seimei's legend comes with both historical and mystical elements.

The deck symbol is Kanji for Samurai.

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1-cost Taker of Souls (1)

2-cost Cage of Lost Souls (1)

2-cost Death Enhancer (1)

2-cost Eater of Souls (2)

3-cost My Soul For Yours (1)

3-cost Soul of the Powerful

3-cost The Soul Stalker (1)

4-cost Devourer of Souls (2)

4-cost Harbinger of Death (1)

5-cost Sovereign of Purgatory (1)

5-cost Zombie Horde (2)

6-cost The Necromancer (1)

6-cost The Soul Crusher (1)

7-cost Giver of Souls (1)

7-cost The Annihilator (1)

8-cost Aspect of Death (1)

Deck Strategy

Spectres of the Necropolis is a High Complexity deck that relies on Destroying your own cards and building a Destroy pile. Some cards gain Might as they Destroy, while others become more powerful the more you Destroy.

Deploy Taker of Souls as quickly as possible so it can build Might as you Destroy cards throughout the game.

Position your Souls and Zombie Hordes to be easy prey for your Eater and Devourer of Souls. Enhance the Might they gain by Deploying the Death Enhancer in the Zone right before an Eater or Devourer to maximize the Might bonus.

Force your Opponent to make a difficult choice with My Soul For Yours or trip it yourself to help you increase the size of your Destroy pile. Create a large Destroy pile to maximize Aspect of Death and Giver of Souls, or raise the dead with The Necromancer if you need more cards.

Card Ability Clarifications

Aspect of Death, Giver of Souls: This is a one-time bonus based on the Destroy pile card count at the time of Reveal.

Death Enhancer: There is no bonus when this card is Destroyed. Affects Eater of Souls, Devourer of Souls, Soul of the Powerful, Zombie Horde.

The Soul Crusher: Always evaluate starting with Zone 1. Once a Zone is spared Destruction, it cannot be re-evaluated, even if this card grows in Might by Destroying other cards.

Zombie Horde: "Shift" means to change its Battlefield Zone position from Zone 1 to the next Open Zone number. This is not a Deployment. It counts as the card being Destroyed for Taker of Souls, but it doesn't count as part of the Destroy pile for Aspect of Death and Giver of Souls.

Taker of Souls: This ability does not generate additional Might for cards that were Destroyed before this card was Revealed.

The Necromancer: The quantity of cards you can reclaim is limited by your available Essence next Round.

Deck Backstory

It was decided early in game development that there would be both historical and fictional themed decks, and there's nothing more fun than a fictional themed monster deck based on Death and Destruction.

The general idea was that cards would get stronger as more death occurred, which meant the deck needed cards whose purpose was to be destroyed. The idea of Death consuming souls resonated, so we have our Souls of the Living and Powerful, as well as cards that give and take souls.

From there it became about how to unleash destruction, while also realizing that Death doesn't care what it feeds on, so any card in the deck could be a target for destruction if needed! But you can never kill a Zombie Horde. They just keep coming back...

To round off the deck, it was fun to think about resurrecting the dead with a Necromancer as a way to cheat Death. All of that work to build up your death count, only to decide, "nah, let's bring everyone back and do it all again!"

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1-cost Laura (1)

1-cost Lucy (1)

1-cost Mina (1)

1-cost Romuald (1)

2-cost Jonathan (1)

2-cost Lord Ruthven (1)

2-cost The Family (1)

2-cost Vampire's Coffin (1)

3-cost Sir Francis Varney (1)

3-cost The Blood Countess (1)

3-cost Vampire Bat (2)

4-cost Arnold Paole (1)

4-cost Gorcha (1)

4-cost Professor Van Helsing (1)

5-cost Clarimonde (1)

5-cost Renfield (1)

5-cost The Brides of Dracula (1)

6-cost The Turning (1)

6-cost Vampire's Gaze (1)

7-cost Carmilla (1)

7-cost Count Orlok (1)

8-cost Count Dracula (1)

Deck Strategy

Vampires of the Evernight is a Low Complexity deck that relies on placing humans within easy Battlefield reach of thirsty Vampires who grow in Might by Biting them each Round.

Your goal is to get as many Humans out onto the Battlefield as quickly as possible to know where to place your Vampires, since you will gain extra benefits from having certain Vampires Bite specific Humans. You must balance spending your Essence to Bite versus spending it to play cards.

Use Vampire Bat to Apply a Move Token, which allows you to Move a Vampire to another Battlefield during the Command phase.

Use The Turning if you find yourself having more Humans than Vampires. You can select any Vampire that meets the cost condition.

Vampire's Gaze is most effective when Deployed to a Battlefield with 2 Humans and 2 Vampires.

Card Ability Clarifications

Humans: You can only Bite a Human once per Round and only during the Command phase. You can Bite as many Humans on the Battlefield as you have Essence to spend and Vampires to Bite them. Biting is optional.

Vampires: A Vampire can only Bite one Human per Round.

The Turning: Search your deck for the Vampire you want (5 Essence cost or less). Remove a Human from the Battlefield where The Turning was Deployed and put the selected Vampire on the same Battlefield Zone. Put the human back in your deck, then shuffle it.

Vampire's Gaze: this augments the Bite of all Vampires on the same Battlefield as this card.

Deck Backstory

Who doesn't love a good Vampire story? This deck was crafted from the Vampire stories from the 19th century, which are the origin for the popularity of the genre. While Bram Stoker's Dracula is the most famous, other stories like The Vampyre, Carmilla, Varney the Vampire, The Family of the Vourdalak, and La Morte Amoureuse are used in this deck as well. Nosferatu, an early 20th century film based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, makes an appearance as well.

The idea formed to spend Essence in a way other than playing cards, and the theme of choosing to have a Vampire bite a Human to grow more powerful quickly settled into the deck. Then it became all about adding bonuses for having Vampires bite the humans from their story.

From there it became easy to sprinkle in Vampire Bats, a Coffin, the hypnotic Vampire's Gaze, and the idea of turning a human into a Vampire to round out the deck.

See if you can determine which cards belong to which stories from the Vampire lore!

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1-cost Bondi (2)

1-cost Wolf Spirit (2)

2-cost Menningúlfar (2)

2-cost Skjaldmær (2)

3-cost Hirdmen (2)

3-cost Snekkja (1)

3-cost Viking Archer (1)

4-cost Berserkir (2)

4-cost Skjaldborg (1)

5-cost Langskip (2)

5-cost Skjaldmær Bash (1)

6-cost Úlfheðinn (2)

7-cost Blendingur (2)

8-cost Viking Jarl (1)

Deck Strategy

Vikings of Valhalla is a High Complexity deck that relies on a combination of Moving cards to perform Viking Raids and enhancing your Vikings with Wolf and Bear spirits.

Your primary goal is to perform Viking Raids with your Snekkja and Langskip ships by using them to Move Vikings to other Battlefields during the Command phase. Think ahead and be mindful about having enough Open Zones to Move ships.

Prioritize your Berserkir on Viking Raids to increase their Might high enough to trigger the rage bonus. Bear Spirit helps here, too. Vikings like Úlfheðinn, Menningúlfar, and Blendingur benefit from your Wolf Spirits.

Use Skjaldmær to protect your highest Might cards. Reveal the Viking Jarl on the same Battlefield as the Hirdmen after you have maximized your Viking Raid tokens.

Card Ability Clarifications

Berserkir: The Might bonus is applied immediately after the card achieves 6 total Might. This bonus can only be achieved one time, regardless of other abilities or effects that may cause Berserkir's total Might to fluctuate above and below the 6 Might threshold.

Bear Spirit, Wolf Spirit: if the named cards are not on the Battlefield when these cards are Revealed, the bonuses do not apply. Wolf Spirit cannot go below 0 Might.

Snekkja, Langskip: These have a permanent Move Token that allows them to Move during the Command phase. The destination Battlefield must have Open Zones to accommodate both the Ship card and the Viking(s) moved with the Ship. When you Resolve the Move, set aside a 1 Might circle token on the corner of your Tracker. You may not Move Ships without Vikings to reposition them. A specific Viking card may not Move more than once per Round.

Viking Jarl: When you Reveal the Viking Jarl, add the Might tokens collected on your Tracker during raids to the Viking Jarl as additional Might.

Skjaldmær: Apply a Shield Token only on the first Viking Raid that Skjaldmær performs.

Deck Backstory

The Vikings were a powerful Scandinavian force across the 8th through 11th centuries. They were known for their seafaring expertise and the construction of their longboats, which allowed them to raid foreign lands near bodies of water.

This raiding tactic became a critical component of the deck, using ship cards to transport Viking warriors to other Battlefields to gain Might for the Viking Jarl, a king-like leader.

The Vikings also believed heavily in the influence of animals in their fighting, and that mystical element was adopted in this deck through Bear and Wolf Spirits, even going as far as to lean into the lore of some warriors ascending to half-man, half-wolf stature.

While no Viking deck is complete without introducing Berserkers (Berserkir for the purists), it was also fun to introduce the Viking Shield Maidens known as the Skjaldmær and put a twist on the typical Shield Token application.

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