Rules

Winning the Game:

• Kill monsters to earn valor points (VP).

• If a player gets 30 or more valor points, the next rotation will be the game ending rotation.

• The player with the most valor points at the end of the game ending rotation wins.

• There is no monster limit during the game ending rotation.

• Players CAN NOT trade/barter during the game ending rotation.

• The player with the highest accumulated VP cost amongst Strongholds they control gets +5 VP at the end of the game. If there are ties, all the tied players get +5 VP.

• WARNING: If the monster limit is surpassed at the end of the rotation, ALL players lose the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setup:

1. Each player chooses a class (Arbiter/Blue, Necromancer/Green, Werewolf/Purple, Grandmaster/Chainmail) and finds a designated spot near them for their class.

2. Each player separates their class deck from their starting deck. (The starting deck consists of Tier 1 cards with 5 Mages and 5 Warriors. The class deck is ALL the other cards of that player's class. A class deck should have 20 Tier 2 cards, 12 Tier 3 cards, 9 Tier 4 cards, 6 Tier 5 cards, and 3 Legendary Tier cards. All Legendary Tier cards in a player's deck must be different from each other, no copies. Each card in a player's class deck may be swapped out with another card of the same class and Tier.)

3. Each player shuffles their class deck and starting deck

4. Each player draws 5 cards from their starting deck.

5. Shuffle the monster deck and find a designated spot for it. (The monster deck should have 24 Tier one monsters, 18 Tier 2 monsters, 12 Tier 3 monsters, and 6 Legendary Tier monsters. All Legendary Tier monsters in the monster deck must be different from each other, no copies. Each monster in the monster deck may be swapped out with another monster of the same Tier.)

6. Shuffle the support deck and find a designated spot for it. Flip up the top six cards of the support deck. This is the support deck selection. (The Support deck should have 11 Tier 1 mercenaries, 11 Tier 1 strongholds, 8 Tier 2 mercenaries, 8 Tier 2 strongholds, 5 Tier 3 mercenaries, 5 Tier 3 strongholds, 6 Legendary Tier mercenaries, and 6 Legendary Tier strongholds. All Legendary Tier mercenaries and strongholds in the support deck must be different from each other, no copies. Each mercenary and stronghold in the support deck may be swapped out with another card of the same Tier.)

7. Find a designated spot for the Rift.

8. Find a designated spot for the Necropolis.

9. Each player flips up the top five cards of their class deck. This is their class deck selection. Then each player may replace any number of his or her flipped cards and replace the X chosen cards with the top X cards of that player’s class deck. They shuffle the replaced cards back into their class deck.

10. Roll die to decide who goes first. Give the player who wins the first player token/card and set it to day. (The first player card is also a day/night flip card.) He/she is also the scorekeeper.

11. Choose monster limit. The monster limit is the maximum amount of monsters that can be in play at the end of the rotation. At the end of rotation if there are more monsters in play than the monster limit, all players lose the game.

You suck at deckbuilders - the monster limit is 18

Easy - the monster limit is 15

Normal (recommended) - the monster limit is 12

Hard - the monster limit is 9

Insane - the monster limit is 6

Rekt - the monster limit is 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parts of a Turn:

 

Start Step:

• The first player rolls dice for how many monsters come out of the Eye (monster deck). (Use one WarRift die for each player.)

• Eyestrike: This happens when the monster enters play (this effect happens instantly).

• Resolve any Eyestrike abilities as they become available.

• Example: If three monsters are coming out of the Eye and the first one is Giant Bloodbat, resolve his Eyestrike ability before continuing to have the remaining two enter play.

• Deathcrash: This happens when the monster dies.

• Resolve any of the “at the start of your turn effects (monsters/cards that have a “at the start of your turn effect”).

 

Mid Step:

(Do any of the following mid step actions in any order)

Play cards from your hand. (You play a card by putting it into play resolving any card effects. Playing cards is free.)

 

Playing Cards: A player may choose not to play all the cards in their hand during their turn. When a player plays a card, they do not have to attack with it or use the magicka that card gives them. (It’s usually a smart idea to play all the cards in your hand even if unnecessary because you get more draws when you draw up to five cards at the end of your turn. See end step.)

Consumed: A consumed card goes to the Necropolis.

When you play a card that is not your class type, it goes in the corresponding class type discard pile.

 

Attack monsters with the creatures you play and kill them.

• Attacking Monsters: When a creature attacks a monster, it deals damage to the monster equal to the creature’s attack value.

• If a monster's health reaches 0 you have killed the monster. It now dies and is put in the Necropolis.

• Unless a card has overwhelm (it can divide its attack) it has to use all of its attack on one monster.

Example 1: if your creature has 6 attack and there are two monsters out with 3 health. You can only damage and kill one of them.

Example 2: if your creature has 6 attack and has overwhelm, and there are two monster out with 3 health. You can damage and kill both of them.

• Creatures attack one at a time.

• Creatures only attack once.

• If a monster a creature is attacking would leave play without that creature damaging it, that creature may choose a new monster to attack. (This ruling is connected to the Ambush ability.)

• Earning Valor Points: You earn valor points by killing monsters.

• When you kill a Tier 1 monster, it gives you 1 valor point.

• When you kill a Tier 2 monster, it gives you 2 valor points.

• When you kill a Tier 3 monster, it gives you 4 valor points.

• When you kill a Legendary Tier monster, it gives you 6 valor points.

• Kill: You kill a monster by reducing it’s health to 0. It now dies and is put into the Necropolis

• Necropolis: The place where consumed cards and killed monsters go.

 

Summon cards from your class deck selection with magicka you have gained from your cards.

• Summoning Cards: You summon cards by spending magicka equal to the card’s magicka cost.

• When you summon a card, put it in the Rift

• Cards you play can combine magicka to give you a greater amount.

Example: If you have two cards that each give 1 magicka then you can summon a card that cost 2 magicka.

• You may still summon cards on opponent’s turns if you can generate magicka to spend. This is primarily for Ambush purposes only because you cannot play cards on an opponent’s turn unless that card has ambush.

• Summon: The word used when you spend magicka to put a card into the Rift.

• Rift: The place where summoned cards go. At the end of the rotation, the first player (the player who went first that rotation) shuffles the Rift cards facedown and deals them out to players counterclockwise dealing himself/herself last (deal the last player first and the first player last). Each player takes their Rift cards and puts them face down on top of their deck. DO NOT look at them.

• If a player does not summon cards to the Rift, they are not dealt any Rift cards.

• You CANNOT summon cards from another player’s class deck selection, only yours. (A player playing as the Grandmaster class cannot summon cards from the Necromancer class deck selection.)

 

Hire mercenaries from the support deck selection by discarding cards.

• Hiring Mercenaries: You hire mercenaries by discarding cards from your hand.

• Mercenaries are creatures.

• After hiring, mercenaries come into play.

• You cannot hire mercenaries on your opponent's turn unless the mercenary has ambush.

• Mercenaries go away at the end of the turn into the Support deck discard pile.

 

Gain control of strongholds from the support deck selection by spending valor points (VP).

• Gaining Control of Strongholds: You use valor points to gain control of Strongholds.

• You CAN NOT gain control of a Stronghold unless you have enough valor points (you can’t go into negative valor points).

• Strongholds stay in play till the end of the game.

• If you have 30 or more valor points and then gain control of a stronghold that brings you below 30 valor points, the next rotation will STILL be the game ending rotation.

• You can have as many strongholds as you like.

• Garrison X (Ability): A stronghold with this ability lets you store X creatures in it. This does not count as your hand. You can only take creatures out of your stronghold during your turn.

 

You may trade/barter with other players any time during a game.

• Trading/Bartering: Players can trade/barter with ANY cards in their hand and strongholds they control.

• If you trade/barter with a stronghold, the stronghold only changes ownership, it does not enter play so you do not get the “enter play” effect.

 

End Step:

1. Do any of the “at the end of your turn” effects (monsters/cards that have a “at the end of your turn” effect).

2. Players lose all their unspent magicka.

3. Put all cards played into their owner's discard pile. (If you played an opponent's card that is not your class,  it will go to that opponent's discard pile.)

4. Remove all damage from all monsters

5. Draw back up to five cards. (If you need to draw cards from your deck and your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile and it becomes your deck.)

 

Drawing cards: At the end of the turn, you draw cards until you have five in your hand.

 

Discard Pile Becoming Deck: You shuffle your discard pile and becomes your new primary deck when you NEED to, not when it is empty.

EXAMPLE: If at the end of your turn you draw back up to five cards and there were only five cards left in your primary deck (making your primary deck zero cards now), you still do not use the discard as your new deck.

 

End of Rotation:

1. The first player from the rotation that is ending shuffles the Rift cards and deals them out face down to players clockwise dealing himself last. Each player takes their Rift cards and puts them face down on top of their deck. Do NOT LOOK/PEEK at them. This is cheating.

2. If the total amount of monsters in play is more than the monster limit, all players lose the game. (Ignore this if this rotation is the game ending rotation.)

3. If this rotation is the game ending rotation, the player with the most valor points wins the game.

4. Flip the first player (day/night) token.

5. The first player token rotates clockwise.

 

Word Abilities and Rulings:

Alter: Look at the top X cards of target deck, then put any number of them on the bottom of the deck and the rest on top in any order.

• Can be used on ANY deck. Monster deck, an opponent’s primary deck, the support deck, any class deck, your primary deck.

• Does not count as needing to shuffle your discard to become your deck.

 

Ambush: This card can be played on your opponent's’ turn at any time and in response to an ability or card (can still be played on your turn.)

• A card with ambush can be played anytime during your turn or an opponent’s turn.

• You can still attack with that card and spend its magicka and do all its effects on that turn.

• If an opponent would kill a monster with attack, you may play a card with ambush and steal the kill, if possible. However, your opponent may choose a new monster to attack with the creature that would have previously brought fatal damage to the monster you killed.

• If a card has Ambush everything on the card happens instantly.

• If you play a card with Ambush and then an opponent plays a card with Ambush, they resolve in the reverse order, so your opponent would have priority.

• You cannot have players discard cards as a response with Ambush. If you wish to play a card that has ambush and makes a player discard a card, you must play that card before that player’s mid-step for that card to take advantage of the discard ability.

• If you play a card with Forcefield and Ambush in response to an effect an opponent is using on you, that player may choose a new player for his/her effects, if any.

 

Awaken: If this card would be consumed, it is discarded instead.

• This ability counts if this card is in your hand OR in play.

• When this card is consumed it is put into the according player’s discard pile instantly.

• If you would choose cards with Awaken to be consumed with a consume ability, you still get that ability’s effects but the cards are still discarded.

 

Corrupt: This card deals corrupt damage.

• Corrupt counters do not go away at the end of the turn.

• When this card deals damage, ignore that damage and instead put X corrupt counters

on the damaged monster where X is the damage dealt.

• Monsters get -1 health for each corrupt counter on them.

• If another player kills a monster with YOUR corrupt damage on it, the player who killed the monster gets ALL the valor points regardless of the corrupt damage you dealt.

 

Forcefield: Target player and everything that player controls cannot be affected by cards other players control, unless permitted.

• Targeted player is still affected by monsters.

• If you play a card with Forcefield and Ambush in response to an effect an opponent is using on you, that player may choose a new player for his/her effects, if any.

 

Overwhelm: This creature can divide its attack.

• This creature can divide its attack however it chooses

• If the creature deals 4 damage it can divide to do 2-2, 3-1, 1-1-2, etc.

 

Scout: Look or reveal the top X cards of the Monster deck. Put them back on top of the monster deck in order.

• You may choose to reveal the cards to other players.

• You may not change the order in any way through this ability.

 

RETAIN:

Once you’ve learned the basics and are ready for a more competitive and less hectic WarRift, try out retain.

• Now instead of summoned cards going to the Rift, you pay an additional 1 magicka as the retain cost for them to go immediately in your discard pile. You do not have to pay this cost if you want that card to still go in the Rift. If 1 seems too little, play with 2 or 3 as the retain cost.

 

TIDBITS:

• Creatures are class, monster, and mercenary cards. Stronghold cards are NOT creatures.

• The support deck consists of all mercenaries and strongholds.

• If the colors and designs aren't easy enough to figure out what cards go where when starting a game, always remember you can use the middle right symbol on a card to help you out.

 

TEAMS & NUMBER OF PLAYERS:

WarRift can be played with 2-4 players. We think free-for-all is more fun, but playing on teams 2v2 with the game-ending VP set to 60 is also fun. If playing this way, make the Stronghold endgame bonus +10 VP instead of +5.