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Playing Cards

Cards can enter the grid two ways: covered (face-down, cost deferred) or active (face-up, full activation).

Placement Rules

The one card you play from your hand each turn can be placed in any cell on the grid: main zone or out zone. There are no placement restrictions by zone.

Playing a Card Active

Pay the card's credit cost and place it face-up. The card immediately enters the activation sequence: abilities, conflicts, and flips all happen this turn.

Playing a Card Covered

Place the card face-down without paying its cost. The cost is paid at the start of your next turn when the card is automatically revealed.

Revealing a Covered Card

At the start of your turn (after drawing), all your covered cards on the grid are revealed at once. For each revealed card, you must pay its cost. If you can afford it, the card activates normally.

Cannot Afford the Cost

If you cannot afford a revealed card's cost, the card is removed from the game (not sent to the graveyard) and you still pay the cost, pushing your credits into negative territory.

Destroying Covered Cards

A covered card (standard placement) can be destroyed by:

  • Any arrow with an ability pointing at the covered card's cell
  • Firestorm dealing 1 point of damage
  • Being the landing cell of a Shockwave push
Testing
We're evaluating whether destroying a covered card with an ability arrow counts as that ability being used — triggering any associated effects. Our current position is yes, but we want to gather more play data before locking it in. Share your thoughts on Discord.

A covered card placed by Growth is more resilient: it can only be destroyed by an ability arrow, Firestorm with 1 damage, or as the Shockwave landing cell. Swap, Magnetism, and Shockwave cannot move a Growth-placed covered card.

Out Zone Activation

A card that activates in the out zone (whether placed there from hand or moved there by an ability) can only use its arrow abilities. It cannot initiate conflicts and cannot flip opponent cards. Opponent cards in the out zone also cannot be conflicted or flipped by out-zone activators.