survival arena — TableEx

Survival Arena is a card battler for two to six players. Each player picks a character with its own deck and its own way of fighting, and then everyone trades cards until only one is left standing. It is not won by hitting hardest — it is won by spending your mana well and playing your cards at the right moment.

The goal

Bring your opponents' health down to zero before yours gets there. A player whose health runs out leaves the arena, and the last one standing wins. In team play, the team that drops the other team wins.

Setting up

Played by two to six players.
Each player picks a character out of nine, and each character has a deck of its own.
You start on 20 health, and your ceiling is 30 — healing will not carry you past thirty.
You are given 5 armor for free the moment you pick your character.
You are dealt three cards to start, and draw one more at the beginning of each of your turns.
Mana starts small and grows by one point every turn until it reaches its ceiling at ten.

How a turn goes

Your turn comes round and your mana is filled to its ceiling for this turn.
If you are poisoned or burning it hurts you here, before anything else. And if you are frozen the whole turn is lost — you neither draw nor play.
You draw one card into your hand.
You play as many cards as you like, in whatever order you like, for as long as your mana lasts.
If a card targets one enemy and there is more than one in the arena, you are shown their names to choose from.
You may also use at most two items in a turn, and items cost you no mana.
You end your turn, whatever statuses have run out fall away, and play passes to the next player.

The rules

Mana is the real constraint: every card has a price in mana, and mana does not carry over from turn to turn — whatever you do not spend is lost. Emptying it early can leave you defenceless, and hoarding all of it can waste a turn entirely.
Armor takes the hit before your health does: once it is gone, your health starts going. True damage, though, steps straight past armor and into your health however thick the armor is.
Your deck is 40 cards: twenty different cards, each of them present twice.
Armor has a budget that never refills: the total armor you can ever gain in one match is thirty, and the five you start with count against it. Once that budget is spent, no armor card will help you again. The team's shared armor has no such limit.
Your hand has a ceiling: once it is full you draw no more until you have played some of it.
The graveyard: every card you play leaves your hand for the graveyard. And if your deck runs dry you are not finished — the Recycle item returns a card from the graveyard to your hand, picked at random. Items never enter the graveyard, so only cards come back. It works only when your deck is completely empty; play it with cards still in there and it is handed back to you unspent.

Cards and items: the real difference

Cards and items are played the same way and do the same kinds of thing, but they differ in what they cost and in how hard they hit:

Cards are the ones you draw from your deck, and they are paid for out of your mana.
Items are far stronger tools. They are not drawn — they are bought from the shop with coins. And using one in battle costs you no mana at all.
Two items per turn, no more — that is the price of their strength.

The shop and your inventory

The shop is there in the menu while you play, and your coins buy two kinds of thing: items belonging to your character alone, and general items any player can use whatever they are playing, such as Recycle.

When you open the special items list in battle, you are only shown what you can actually use right now: your current character's items and the general items, nothing else. Anything you bought earlier for another character stays safe in your inventory but is hidden this round so you cannot pick it by mistake.

Targeting

Every card has something it is aimed at:

One enemy: you choose your victim from a list of opponents. And if only one enemy is left in the arena the strike goes to them without asking.
Every enemy: it lands on everyone in the arena against you at once.
A random enemy: it lands on one of them, chosen for you.
Yourself: healing, armor, mana or drawing cards.

Team play

With four or six players, the table owner can turn on team play before the match begins. It changes the game a great deal:

The health of everyone on a team is merged into one shared pool, and so is their armor.
Damage to any member comes out of the whole team's pool, and healing goes back into that shared pool.
A team only loses when its pool is completely spent, and then all of its members go out together.
Personal statuses — poison, freeze, blindness — stay on the player who caught them and do not spread to teammates.
Evasion, reflection and the counter protect the whole team against ordinary damage: one member raising them is enough for the rest. True damage, though, is only evaded by whoever raised the evasion themselves — a teammate's evasion is no help against it.

Battle statuses and effects

These are all the effects you may meet, and you will find them named in the character cards below:

Damage: it goes onto armor first, and once armor is gone it goes onto health.
True damage: it steps entirely past armor and straight into health.
Damage that pierces evasion: ordinary damage in every way except that it lands even on an evading enemy. Armor still absorbs it and reflection still returns it.
Lifesteal: it comes off your enemy's health and goes onto yours.
Healing: it gives health back, and never lifts you past your ceiling.
Shielded: a layer that takes hits in place of your health.
Poison: it gnaws at the enemy at the start of each of their turns, for a set time.
Burning: like poison — damage that repeats at the start of each turn.
Frozen: the enemy loses their whole next turn and plays nothing in it.
Weakened: it cuts the enemy's damage by a percentage for a set time.
Empowered: the opposite — it raises your own damage by a percentage.
Blinded: a blinded player's strike may swerve off its target onto another enemy, roughly half the time. It does nothing when only one enemy is left, since there is nobody for the strike to swerve onto.
Evaded: damage rolls off you for its whole duration — not one strike but every strike that comes while it stands, ordinary or true. But it stops damage only: a card that hits you and poisons you loses its hit and keeps its poison.
Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you and they take it instead, and it stands for its whole duration rather than one strike. It does not return true damage — that passes straight through it.
Counter: the strongest defence there is — an attacking card against you fails completely, its damage and all of its effects together, and its owner takes a fixed amount of damage instead. Attacking here means anything that takes health off you; a card that only binds you — webs, or a freeze on its own — passes over the top of it.
Webbed: every card the enemy plays costs them extra mana on top of its price. And if their mana no longer covers the new price, they cannot play it at all.
Evasion locked: it drops the enemy's standing evasion and stops them raising another for a time.
Dispel reflection: it strips the reflection aura off the enemy at once.
Shatter armor: it wipes out the enemy's armor entirely, however thick.
Mana theft: it reaches your own mana at once, but the enemy's pool only shrinks when their next turn opens, not before.
Drawing cards: you take extra cards from your deck into your hand.
Forced discard: the enemy loses a card from their hand, and chance picks it, not you.
Cleanse: every negative status on you falls away at once. It does not remove the useful ones — evasion, reflection or the counter.

Some cards are conditional: they hit for much more if the enemy is poisoned, frozen, burning or webbed, and hit ordinarily otherwise. So order your play — plant the status first, then swing.

What follows are the nine characters, each with its own style, deck and items. Each character's cards are listed from cheapest to dearest.

Knight

A solid fighter who knows no tricks. He carries no poison, no burning and no webs — his weapon is endurance: cheap healing he can repeat, weakening that softens what his opponents throw, and heavy direct hits at the top of the curve. The Knight wins by still being on his feet after everyone else is worn down. He has two one-mana cards and both of them heal, so he can patch himself up and attack in the same turn without wasting it.

Knight cards

Rallying cry — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once.
Last stand — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 1 health, and but you are Weakened: your own hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Pommel strike — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Field ration — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 1 health.
Shield wall — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 1 health.
Iron slash — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
War cry — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Intimidate — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 20% weaker for one turn.
Iron will — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Charge — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Piercing thrust — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Shield slam — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 20% weaker for one turn.
Knightly valor — Cost: 4 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health, and you draw one card.
Blunt force — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Retribution — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Sweeping blow — Cost: 4 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Heavy claymore — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Glorious strike — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 true damage, straight through any armor.
Justice execution — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Honorable duel — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage, and you recover 1 health.

Knight shop items

Challenge shout — Cost: 10 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 50% weaker for two turns.
Field bandage — Cost: 15 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 6 health.
Piercing spear — Cost: 20 coins. Target: a random enemy. Effect: 5 true damage, straight through any armor.
Spiked armor — Cost: 25 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn, and Shielded for 3.
Commander sword — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 8 damage.

Demon

The most violent character in the arena, and he pays for his violence in blood. Many of his cards take health from him in exchange for more damage, more mana or more cards, and he makes it back with lifesteal that turns his enemy's blood into his own health. Playing him is a race: finish the enemy before you finish yourself. Watch what you have paid out of your own health across a single turn.

Demon cards

Demonic strength — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 2 mana at once, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Dark Bargain — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Soul trade — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards, and you pay 2 of your own health.
Dark Regeneration — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health, and but you are Weakened: your own hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Demon claw — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Vile heal — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Essence drain — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: you steal 1 mana from them.
Blood sacrifice — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Chaos roar — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Reckless swing — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Terror scream — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Cursed strike — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Nightmare — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Blood boil — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Life drain — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and lifesteal 1: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Flesh render — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Hell smash — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Soul annihilation — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Blood feast — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and lifesteal 2: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Doom blade — Cost: 7 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage, and lifesteal 1: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.

Demon shop items

Eye of terror — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 50% weaker for two turns.
Cursed dagger — Cost: 20 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 7 damage.
Blood revenge — Cost: 25 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Life cup — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: lifesteal 6: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Vampire bite — Cost: 35 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage, and you recover 5 health.

Wizard

Master of mana and of control. He is the only character holding two mana cards where everyone else holds one, so he can play more in a single turn than anybody, and he freezes his opponents to steal whole turns from them. His blizzard hits everyone in the arena and freezes them together, and his Polymorph item shuts one enemy's damage down completely for a turn.

Wizard cards

Arcane bolt — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Meditation — Cost: 1 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 2 mana at once.
Magic barrier — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Scroll study — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Incinerate — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Mana surge — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 3 mana at once.
Deep freeze — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Frost wind — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Mana drain — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and you steal 1 mana from them.
Arcane wisdom — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Polymorph — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Arcane explosion — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Intellect — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Elemental fury — Cost: 3 mana. Target: a random enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Lightning shock — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Ice lance — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Fireball — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Pyroblast — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Meteor — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Blizzard — Cost: 7 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.

Wizard shop items

Frost wand — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Polymorph — Cost: 20 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 100% weaker for one turn.
Magic mirror — Cost: 25 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Laser beam — Cost: 30 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 true damage, straight through any armor.
Meteor — Cost: 35 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 5 damage.

Shadow

He does not kill with a blow, he kills with patience. The most poisonous character in the game: he plants poison and then lets it work, and one of his cards hits for three times as much against a poisoned enemy alone. He can also force an opponent to throw a card out of their hand, and steal their mana. His items are heavy poisons that leave a single enemy bleeding for several turns running.

Shadow cards

Blood ritual — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you pay 2 of your own health, and you gain 2 mana at once.
Reckless attack — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and you pay 1 of your own health.
Quick draw — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Lick wounds — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Infection — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
First aid — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Pickpocket — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: you steal 1 mana from them.
Poison dagger — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Shuriken storm — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Exploit weakness — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: if the enemy is poisoned, 3 damage; otherwise, 1 damage.
Planning — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Weakening kick — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Open wound — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Shadow heal — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 3 health.
Sabotage — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: the enemy throws away a card from their hand.
Quick stab — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Twin blade — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and 1 damage.
Backstab — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Vampiric touch — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and lifesteal 2: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Dark blade — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.

Shadow shop items

Snake venom — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Poison: 4 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Land mine — Cost: 15 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Throwing knife — Cost: 20 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Poison blade — Cost: 25 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and Poison: 3 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Deadly toxin — Cost: 35 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Poison: 3 at the start of each of their turns, for three turns.

Sand

He wins by making his enemy miss. His deck alone is the one built on blinding: five cards that blind an enemy and a sixth item beside them, so their strikes swerve onto somebody else instead of onto you. With that he carries evasion and reflection to let a turn pass without harm. He even has a blinding card that costs no mana at all, to play whenever you please.

Sand cards

Flash Dust — Cost: no mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Pocket Sand — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Mirage — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Healing Dunes — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Dirt Strike — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Quicksand — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: you steal 1 mana from them, and Weakened: their hits are 20% weaker for one turn.
Dust Choke — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Mud Trap — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Dust Devil — Cost: 3 mana. Target: a random enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Desert Survival — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once, and you draw one card.
Hide in Sand — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 1 health, and Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Sticky Mud — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Sand Avalanche — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Khamsin Wind — Cost: 4 mana. Target: a random enemy. Effect: you draw two cards, and Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Sand Grinder — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Mud Drain — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and lifesteal 1: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Sandstorm — Cost: 5 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Explosive Dust — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Earth Swallow — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Desert's Wrath — Cost: 7 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 4 damage.

Sand shop items

Cursed Hourglass — Cost: 10 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: you steal 2 mana from them.
Scorpion Trap — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Poison: 3 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Quicksand Trap — Cost: 20 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 50% weaker for two turns, and 3 damage.
Obsidian Dart — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 true damage, straight through any armor, and Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Mummified Hand — Cost: 35 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: lifesteal 7: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.

Water

Balanced and clean. He is the best at shrugging off bad statuses: two cards and a whole item for cleansing, so poison, burning and weakness never cling to him for long. He freezes his opponents and then strikes them while frozen for double damage. And his pearl draws three cards in one go.

Water cards

Refreshing Rain — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once.
Water Whip — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Healing Stream — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Purify — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: cleanse: every negative status on you is lifted.
Fluid Motion — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Deep Dive — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Ice Shard — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Water Shield — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Ebb and Flow — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Chilling Touch — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 20% weaker for one turn.
Tidal Wave — Cost: 4 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Blood Drain — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and lifesteal 1: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Whirlpool — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for two turns.
Scald — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Shatter — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: if the enemy is frozen, 4 damage; otherwise, 2 damage.
Aqua Ring — Cost: 4 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health, and cleanse: every negative status on you is lifted.
Crashing Wave — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Undertow — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and you steal 1 mana from them.
Drown — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Tsunami — Cost: 6 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 damage.

Water shop items

Holy Water Flask — Cost: 15 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 5 health, and cleanse: every negative status on you is lifted.
Pearl of the Depths — Cost: 20 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw three cards.
Ocean Trident — Cost: 25 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 6 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
High Pressure Jet — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 6 true damage, straight through any armor.
Tsunami Scroll — Cost: 35 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 4 damage, and Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for two turns.

Fire

Damage that keeps working after the turn is over. He is the burner of the game — most of what he does burns, and nothing else shares it but a single item over at Wind. He is also the only character who empowers his own strikes to make them hit harder. One of his cards hits for double against a burning enemy alone, so his order of play matters: set the fire first, then swing. And his hellish scroll sets the whole arena alight at once.

Fire cards

Kindle — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once.
Ember Spark — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Flame Slash — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Ignite — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Burning: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Torchlight — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Warmth of Flame — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Inner Flame — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Empowered: your hits are 20% stronger for one turn.
Smoke Screen — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Fire Whip — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Burning: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Flame Wave — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Molten Armor — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Pyre Study — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Combustion — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: if the enemy is burning, 4 damage; otherwise, 2 damage.
Blazing Arrow — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Phoenix Feather — Cost: 4 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health, and cleanse: every negative status on you is lifted.
Searing Grip — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Flame Burst — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Wildfire — Cost: 5 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Burning: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Immolation — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.
Inferno — Cost: 6 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 damage.

Fire shop items

Fire Trap — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Burning: 3 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Salamander Fang — Cost: 20 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage, and Burning: 2 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Molten Shield — Cost: 25 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn, and Shielded for 3.
Volcanic Hammer — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 true damage, straight through any armor, and Burning: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Inferno Scroll — Cost: 35 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and Burning: 2 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.

Spider X

He binds before he strikes. He is the only one with webs: they stick to the enemy and raise the price of every card they play, so they find their expensive cards out of reach. And he carries Spider Sense, the strongest defence in the game — an attack on you fails outright, its damage and its effects together, and the attacker takes damage instead. He also has a card that hits for double against a webbed enemy.

Spider X cards

Adrenaline Rush — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once.
Spider Jab — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Swinging Kick — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Web Shot — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Webbed: every card they play costs them 1 extra mana, for one turn.
Wall Crawl — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Patch Up — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Acrobatic Flip — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Sticky Punch — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Webbed: every card they play costs them 1 extra mana, for one turn.
Venom Bite — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Web Barrier — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Shielded for 3.
Web Grenade — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: Webbed: every card they play costs them 1 extra mana, for one turn.
Battle Analysis — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw two cards.
Whirlwind Kick — Cost: 3 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Spider Sense — Cost: 4 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Counter: an attacking card against you fails and its owner takes 2 damage, for one turn.
Flurry of Blows — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and 1 damage.
Web Pull — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and you steal 1 mana from them.
Pressure Point — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Wrapped Up — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: if the enemy is webbed, 4 damage; otherwise, 2 damage.
Aerial Takedown — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Spider Slam — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage.

Spider X shop items

Web Trap — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Webbed: every card they play costs them 2 extra mana, for two turns.
Taser Web — Cost: 20 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 damage, and Webbed: every card they play costs them 1 extra mana, for one turn.
Web Cocoon — Cost: 25 coins. Target: yourself. Effect: Shielded for 5, and Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Black Widow Sting — Cost: 30 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 5 true damage, straight through any armor, and Poison: 1 at the start of each of their turns, for one turn.
Web Storm — Cost: 35 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 3 damage, and Webbed: every card they play costs them 1 extra mana, for two turns.

Wind

The character built against defences. Whatever your opponent hides behind, Wind has an answer: an arrow that lands on an evading enemy, a barrage that stops them evading at all, a card that tears the reflection aura off them, and a cyclone that shatters their armor completely before dropping eight damage through the gap. Alongside that come freezing and a group-wide weakening. If your opponent leans on armor and evasion, this character is their nightmare.

Wind cards

Gentle Breeze — Cost: no mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you gain 1 mana at once.
Breeze Slap — Cost: 1 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage.
Wind Cutter — Cost: 2 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage.
Air Current Dodge — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.
Cyclone Blade — Cost: 2 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: Weakened: their hits are 30% weaker for one turn.
Purifying Wind — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: cleanse: every negative status on you is lifted.
Summoning Ether — Cost: 2 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card.
Misdirection — Cost: 3 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: Blinded: their strike may swerve onto another enemy, for one turn.
Wind Aura — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: Reflect: ordinary damage bounces back onto whoever hit you, for one turn.
Healing Winds — Cost: 3 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you recover 2 health.
Renewal Current — Cost: 4 mana. Target: yourself. Effect: you draw one card, and you recover 2 health.
Frost Wind Lock — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 1 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Twin Cyclone — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage, and lifesteal 2: it comes off their health and goes onto yours.
Wind Grasp — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 true damage, straight through any armor.
Wind Burst — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 3 damage.
Blasting Wind — Cost: 4 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: dispel: the enemy's reflection aura is stripped away.
Vortex Rift — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 damage.
Cold Breeze — Cost: 5 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.
Gale Devastation — Cost: 5 mana. Target: every enemy. Effect: 4 damage, and you pay 2 of your own health.
Wind Arrow — Cost: 6 mana. Target: one enemy. Effect: 2 damage that lands even on an evading enemy, and Evaded: damage rolls off you, for one turn.

Wind shop items

Wind Claw Stab — Cost: 10 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 7 damage.
Wind Flame — Cost: 13 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: 4 true damage, straight through any armor, and Burning: 2 at the start of each of their turns, for two turns.
Devastating Air Cyclone — Cost: 15 coins. Target: one enemy. Effect: the whole shield is shattered, and 8 damage.
Wind Barrage — Cost: 20 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 6 damage, and Evasion locked: their evasion drops and they cannot raise another, for one turn.
Razor Edge Whirlwind — Cost: 30 coins. Target: every enemy. Effect: 5 damage, and Frozen: they lose their next turn, for one turn.

Controls and shortcuts

Action	Computer (Windows)	Android	iPhone (iOS)
End your turn	E	Two-finger swipe down	Three-finger swipe down
Check your mana	C	Two-finger swipe left	Three-finger swipe left
Game statistics	A	Single tap on the health score	Single tap on the health score
Card details	Space	Long press on the card	Long press on the card
Play a card	Enter	Double tap on the card	Double tap on the card
Move between cards	Arrow keys	Swipe left and right	Swipe left and right

The iPhone gesture is always the Android one with three fingers instead of two.

Worth remembering

A timed status is counted in your own turns, not the table's, so something lasting one turn stays with you until the end of your next turn.
The order you play in within a single turn makes a real difference: plant the poison, the freeze or the webs first, then play the conditional card that hits so much harder for it.
The game statistics show you every player's health and armor, how many cards they hold, and the statuses hanging on them. Read it before you choose your victim.
Do not spend your two items early for nothing. An item costs you no mana, so its best moment is the turn where your mana is gone and there is nothing left in your hand to play.

Enjoy the fight. Remember that survival does not go to whoever hits hardest, but to whoever manages their mana and times their items well.