The goal
Two players face each other, you against the AI or another collector. Each has a Nexus that starts with 30 life. Use units, spells and traps to take the other Nexus down to 0 before yours falls. If both Nexuses reach 0 at the same moment, the match is a draw.
Quick start
- Pick a side. Choose Coalition or Aetherian. You receive a ready-to-play 40-card starter deck: one copy of every card in that faction's standard set.
- Open the arena. Your first match is against the AI, and you move first.
- Swap cards if you like. Before your first turn you may send any cards from your opening hand back for new ones (once).
- Play cards. Spend energy to put units in lanes, cast spells and set traps. Your energy grows by one each turn.
- End your turn. Your units attack on their own, left to right. Then it is your opponent's turn.
- Win rewards. Matches pay XP, Nexus Coins, Fragments and sometimes a card. Spend them on packs and crafting to grow your deck.
Decks and the opening hand
- A deck holds 40 to 60 cards. You can only take cards you own, and at most 3 copies of the same card.
- You can keep several decks, but one deck is active. The active deck needs at least 40 cards to go into any match.
- Decks are not locked to a faction: any cards you own can share a deck.
- Both players shuffle and draw 5 cards. The player who moves second draws 1 extra card, and the player who moves first skips their first-turn draw, to even out going first.
- Mulligan: before your first turn you may swap any number of cards from your opening hand, once per match. The cards you give back are shuffled into the deck first, so you can't draw them straight back. Taking any other action closes the swap.
- Who moves first: against the AI, you do. In online matches a coin flip decides.
The board
Each side has the same layout:
- Nexus: your life, 30 at the start. Healing can never raise it above 30.
- 5 lanes, numbered 1 to 5 from left to right. Each lane faces the enemy's lane with the same number and holds one unit and one trap (set face down).
- Field slot: one Field card at a time; a new one replaces the old.
- Sealed pile: units that were sealed away by an enemy Seal, or sent away by their own Phase, wait here.
- Hand (at most 10 cards), deck and graveyard.
Your turn
1. Start of turn
These happen automatically, in this order:
- Your maximum energy goes up by 1 (to a limit of 10) and your energy refills.
- Timers you started tick down: buffs, roots and seals you cast, your units that used Phase, your Field card, and spells that repeat each turn (they deal their damage or healing again now).
- Units with Regenerate heal.
- You draw a card (see Hand limit and running out of cards).
2. Main phase
Play as many cards as you can afford, in any order. You can also use a unit's Phase now. You can only act in the Main phase of your own turn.
3. End of turn: combat
Press End Turn. Your units now attack automatically, lane by lane (see Combat), and then your opponent's turn begins.
Energy
- You have 1 energy on your first turn, 2 on your second, and so on up to 10.
- Every card has a cost in the top left corner. Playing it spends that much energy.
- Energy refills at the start of each turn. Unspent energy does not carry over.
Reading a card
Card types and layout
- Cost
- Top left. The energy it costs to play.
- Emblem
- Top right. Shows the card's type.
- Effect icons
- Stacked under the emblem. A number like 2x goes beneath its icon.
- Attack
- Bottom left on a unit. The damage it deals.
- Health
- Bottom right on a unit. The damage it can take.
- Name
- Gold capitals at the bottom, on two lines when long.
- Spells, seals and fields
- TURN is bottom left (∞ means permanent) and the effect number is bottom right, labelled ATTACK, HEALTH, SHIELD or POWER. Two labels split by a bar, like ATK | HLTH, mean the number applies to both.
- Guard unit
- The shield replaces the unit's emblem. See Guard under Keywords.
Effect icons
Card kinds
| Kind | How you play it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Into one of your empty lanes. | A creature with Attack and Health (at least 1). It can't attack the turn it is played unless it has Charge. |
| Hero | Into one of your empty lanes. | A unit that hits harder: when it strikes the enemy Nexus directly it deals +2 extra damage. |
| Spell | Drop it on its target. | Takes effect once, then goes to the graveyard. Its default effect is Damage. See Effects. |
| Artifact | Drop it on one of your units. | Its default effect is Empower: a boost for that unit. |
| Seal | Drop it on an enemy unit. | Its default effect is Bind: it can seal the unit away. |
| Trap | Set it face down in one of your lanes that has no trap. | Springs the first time an enemy unit attacks into that lane (see Combat), then goes to the graveyard. |
| Field | Play it; it needs no target. | While it is in play, every unit you control gets +Power (the card's Power, or +1 if it has none). It lasts its TURN count, or forever if it shows ∞. A new Field replaces the old one. |
The game checks targets before it spends your energy: a card that can't be played where you dropped it is refused and costs nothing.
Spell, Artifact and Seal effects
A card's TURN number is how many of your turns its effect lasts. Without one the effect is permanent (for buffs) or happens once. Effects that repeat do so at the start of each of your turns.
| Effect | Target | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Damage | An enemy unit, or the enemy Nexus | Deals its Power in damage. If the card also has Health, that much is restored to your Nexus. With a TURN count it hits again at the start of each of your following turns (it stops if its target is destroyed). |
| Empower | One of your units | Adds Power, Health and Shield (a card with no numbers gives +1 / +1). With a TURN count the boost wears off afterwards; without one it is permanent. |
| Rally | None: all your units | The same boost as Empower, for every unit you control. |
| Heal | One of your units, or your Nexus | Restores Health, never above the maximum. With a TURN count it repeats each turn. |
| Drain | None | Takes Health life from the enemy Nexus and adds it to yours. |
| Bind | An enemy unit | Deals its Power in damage first, if it has any. A unit that survives is sealed away: it leaves the board for its owner's Sealed pile for the TURN count (forever with none), losing any buffs or roots. When time is up it returns to its lane, or the first free lane (if every lane is full it is lost), and needs a turn to recover before it can attack. |
| Root | An enemy unit | It can't attack and loses Power for the TURN count. |
Shield absorbs damage before Health does. Losing a temporary Health boost never destroys a unit: it keeps at least 1 Health.
Keywords
Keywords are the icons under a card's emblem. N stands for the number shown under the icon (it is 1 when none is printed).
| Keyword | What it does |
|---|---|
| Guard | The first attack against this unit each turn deals no damage. |
| Charge | Can attack the turn it is played. |
| Overrun | When it destroys a unit in combat, leftover damage hits the enemy Nexus. |
| Drain N | Whenever it attacks, drain N Nexus life from the enemy. |
| Mend N | When played, restore N of your Nexus life. |
| Rally N | When played, units in the lanes beside it gain +N Power. |
| Regenerate N | At the start of your turn, heals N Health. |
| Last Breath N | When it is destroyed, deal N damage to the enemy Nexus. |
| Phase N | Once per card, on your turn before combat, you can send it to your Field spot for N of your turns. It can't be attacked there, then it returns to its lane. |
Guard only softens the first attack each turn: the guard unit takes no damage from it, but it still strikes back. Phase can be used once per card, during your Main phase before combat; the unit comes back on your turn ready to fight.
Combat
Combat happens automatically when you end your turn. Your units attack from lane 1 to lane 5, one lane at a time.
- Who attacks. A unit attacks if it was already in play at the start of this turn (or has Charge), it isn't rooted, and its Power (including a Field bonus) is above 0.
- Traps. If the enemy has a trap in that lane, it springs first: it deals its Power (at least 1) to the attacker and goes to the graveyard. If that destroys the attacker, its attack is cancelled.
- Against a unit. If an enemy unit stands in the lane, both strike at the same time: the attacker deals its Power to the defender and the defender deals its Power back. Shield absorbs damage first.
- Guard. The first attack each turn against a Guard unit deals it no damage; the Guard unit still strikes back.
- Overrun. If an attacker with Overrun destroys the defender, the leftover damage hits the enemy Nexus.
- Against an empty lane. A unit with no enemy in front of it hits the enemy Nexus for its Power (Heroes add 2).
- Drain. After attacking, a unit with Drain takes that much from the enemy Nexus and gives it to its own.
- Last Breath. When a unit is destroyed, its Last Breath deals damage to the enemy Nexus.
- The end. The moment a Nexus reaches 0, combat stops and the match is over.
Hand limit and running out of cards
- Hand limit: your hand holds 10 cards. A card you draw with a full hand is burned (sent to the graveyard).
- Fatigue: if you must draw from an empty deck, your own Nexus takes damage instead: 1 the first time, then 2, 3 and so on. Watch your deck count in long matches.
Winning, losing and draws
- You win when the enemy Nexus is at 0 or below. You lose when yours is.
- If both Nexuses reach 0 at the same time (for example from Last Breath or Fatigue), the match is a draw.
- You can forfeit at any time. Online, a forfeit also happens if you let several turns time out (see Online match rules).
Ways to play
Arena: against the AI
The AI plays the other faction's starter deck, so both factions face an equally strong opponent. How tough it is depends on your level:
| AI | Your level | Handicap or edge |
|---|---|---|
| Rift Initiate | 1 to 4 | Starts with a weakened Nexus (22 life). |
| Rift Warden | 5 to 11 | No handicap and no edge. |
| Rift Tyrant | 12 to 19 | Opens with 2 extra cards. |
| Nexus Sovereign | 20+ | Starts with +1 maximum energy. |
Campaign
- The campaign follows the MortalPins story through chapters of fights, each ending in a boss. Each fight unlocks after you beat the one before it, and some need a minimum level.
- Bosses play their own deck with a rule twist, shown on the campaign page: for example a Nexus that starts higher or lower, extra opening cards, or extra energy.
- The first time you beat a fight you earn a one-time bonus of Nexus Coins and Fragments on top of the match rewards, and a chapter finale also drops a card the first time. You can replay any fight you have beaten.
Casual online
Queue for a match against another collector. Casual players are paired first come, first served.
Ranked online
Ranked matches are online matches that move your rank points. See The ranked ladder.
Friend duels
Challenge a friend from the Friends page. Friend duels are for fun and pay no rewards and no rank points, so friends can't farm wins off each other.
Online match rules
- Turn timer: you have 75 seconds for each turn. When it runs out your turn is ended for you (your units still attack).
- Timeouts: letting 3 turns in a row run out forfeits the match.
- Hidden information: you can see how many cards your opponent holds, but not which. Their traps show as face-down cards in a lane, and both decks stay hidden.
- Quick forfeits pay nothing: a forfeit before turn 6 earns nobody rewards (the forfeiting player still loses rank points in ranked).
- Same opponent limit: only your first 3 matches against the same opponent in 24 hours pay rewards and rank points. Later ones still play, for nothing.
The ranked ladder
- Unlocks at Level 3. Before that you can look at the ladder but not queue.
- Ranked matches only pair you with other ranked players, choosing whoever is waiting with the closest rank points (RP).
- A win is worth about 15 to 35 RP, more when you beat a higher-ranked player. A loss costs about 10 to 20 RP, less when you lose to a higher-ranked player. A draw changes nothing. Every 25 RP of gap moves a result by one point. RP never drops below 0.
- Seasons are monthly. A season ends at the start of the next calendar month (UTC). A new season starts everyone at half their RP from the season before.
| Tier | Rank points |
|---|---|
| Bronze | 0 to 199 |
| Silver | 200 to 499 |
| Gold | 500 to 899 |
| Platinum | 900 to 1,399 |
| Diamond | 1,400 to 1,999 |
| Nexus | 2,000+ |
The season's top 50 players appear on the ladder.
Rewards and levels
Finishing a match pays XP, Nexus Coins and Fragments. A win pays the full amount; a loss pays a smaller one, but only if the match lasted at least 6 turns (counting both players), so quick forfeits can't be farmed. Harder opponents pay more:
| Opponent | Win | Loss | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XP | Coins | Fragments | XP | Coins | Fragments | |
| Rift Initiate ×1 | 150 | 60 | 5 | 50 | 15 | 1 |
| Rift Warden ×1.25 | 188 | 75 | 6 | 62 | 19 | 1 |
| Rift Tyrant ×1.5 | 225 | 90 | 8 | 75 | 22 | 2 |
| Nexus Sovereign ×1.75 | 262 | 105 | 9 | 88 | 26 | 2 |
| Online players ×1.5 | 225 | 90 | 8 | 75 | 22 | 2 |
- Card drops: a win has a 25% chance to drop a card from the whole collection. Rarer cards drop less often, and better opponents make Rare and above more likely.
- Levels: you need 1,000 XP to leave Level 1, and each level needs 250 more than the one before. Left-over XP carries into the next level. Reaching Level 3 takes 2,250 XP in total, Level 5 takes 5,500, Level 10 takes 18,000.
- What levels unlock: ranked play (Level 3), tougher arena opponents, and the later campaign fights.
- Every new player starts with 1,000 Nexus Coins and 100 Fragments.
- Each match pays each player at most once.
Collecting cards
Factions and rarity
You choose Coalition or Aetherian when you start. The Coalition is made of four races (Lumerian, Sylvan, Xerix and Zal'Dari) with cards of their own, and there are Neutral cards too. Cards come in six rarities, from most to least common: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Valoris, Mythic, Nexus. Nexus cards never come out of packs or drops: they are earned through crafting and special rewards.
Packs
The store sells card packs, which you open in the game. Cards in a slot with no guarantee are drawn with these odds:
| Rarity | Common | Uncommon | Rare | Valoris | Mythic | Nexus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chance per card | 60% | 28% | 9% | 2% | 1% | 0% |
| Pack | Cards | Guaranteed |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus Pack | 5 | At least 1 Rare or better |
| Valoris Pack | 5 | At least 1 Valoris or better, plus 1 more Rare or better |
| Booster | 5 | At least 1 Rare or better |
| Booster | 10 | At least 2 Rare or better |
| Booster | 15 | At least 2 Rare or better, plus 1 Valoris or better |
| Booster | 20 | At least 3 Rare or better, plus 1 Valoris or better |
Boosters come in Aetherian, Coalition, mixed standard-set and per-race versions (Lumerian, Sylvan, Xerix, Zal'Dari). Full-deck bundles contain one copy of all 40 cards of a standard set, already built into a deck.
The Card Forge
Spend Nexus Coins and Fragments to craft cards. Fixed recipes craft specific cards (some can only be made this way) at a set price. A random craft picks a card of the rarity you choose:
| Rarity | Nexus Coins | Fragments |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 100 | 0 |
| Uncommon | 250 | 10 |
| Rare | 500 | 25 |
| Valoris | 1,000 | 50 |
| Mythic | 2,000 | 100 |
| Nexus | 5,000 | 250 |
- Choosing a faction or a card type for a random craft adds 15 Fragments each.
- You can power a craft with one of your pin artifacts. Each artifact can power up to 3 crafts. By giving up some of its Soul, Magic, Matter and Energy values you can buy a Fortune bonus (up to 30% chance the card comes out one rarity higher) or a Discount (up to 50% off). Artifacts with a trading history earn an extra discount; all discounts together never exceed 75%.
Nexus Coins
Besides winning them, you can buy Nexus Coins with Power at the Exchange (10 Power per coin) or with money in the store. The exchange only goes one way: coins never turn back into Power.
Fair play
- Human check: because matches pay Nexus Coins, the game asks you to tick an "I'm not a robot" box now and then. Once you have passed, you can start 12 matches (against the AI, in the campaign or in an online queue) within 6 hours; after that it asks again.
- Start limit: you can start at most 30 matches or campaign fights an hour.
- Play as yourself: one person, one account. Trading wins with another account, scripts and other tricks to farm rewards aren't allowed, and items gained through bugs or abuse can be removed. See the Terms.
- Be kind in chat: a friend message that breaks the rules can be reported to our team from the Friends chat.
Glossary
- Nexus
- A player's life total. Reduce the enemy's to 0 to win.
- Lane
- One of the 5 columns. Units attack the lane opposite theirs.
- Power / Attack
- The damage a unit or effect deals.
- Health
- The damage a unit can take before it is destroyed.
- Shield
- Extra protection that is used up before Health.
- Energy
- What you spend to play cards. It grows by one each turn, up to 10.
- Mulligan
- Swapping cards from your opening hand, once, before your first turn.
- Seal / Sealed
- A Seal card sends an enemy unit away to the Sealed pile for a while. Phase does the same for your own unit, by choice.
- Burn
- A drawn card sent straight to the graveyard because your hand was full.
- Fatigue
- Growing damage to your own Nexus when you must draw from an empty deck.
- RP
- Rank points on the ranked ladder.
- Nexus Coins
- The game currency for crafting. Earned in matches or bought with Power or money.
- Fragments
- A second crafting currency, earned in matches.
- Power
- The collector score earned on the main site. It can buy Nexus Coins.
Questions the rules don't answer? Send us a note from the contact page and we'll add it here.