Wizard Arena Rules

108 Playing cards:

• 29 x2 Power Cards
• 24 x2 Spell Cards
• 2 Reference cards
• 1 Folded Rule Sheet

OBJECTIVE

In Wizard Arena, you duel as a powerful magic user, blending strategy and luck to become the champion. While building up your power is a free action, casting spells drains your vital Life force, which is directly represented by the number of spell cards in your deck.

OVERVIEW

The goal is to draw Power cards until your Power Level is as close to 12 as possible without going over. Reaching exactly 12 is a Critical Hit, dealing 1 point of damage to your opponents. Exceeding 12 is an Overcharge, and you will take 4 points of damage.
Each player has a Power deck and a Spell deck. Power Cards are discarded face up into your Burn Pile, and Spells go face up into your Crypt.

HOW TO PLAY

Your Power deck contains cards numbered 1 to 6, there are also 3 Modifiers that adjust your Power, and some Bonus cards that inflict additional damage points when you win a Round.
A game is called a Match, and a Match consists of several Rounds. During each Round, players take turns drawing Power cards and casting spells. When all players finish drawing, the Round ends. Each Round typically lasts three to five turns per player.
Every Round in Wizard Arena has three Phases:

1. Power Up Phase - Players take turns drawing one Power card at a time and casting spells.
2. Final Casting Phase - After the last player draws, everyone gets one final turn to cast spells. If a spell changes any Power Level, the game returns to the Power Up phase.
3. Damage Phase - Once all players have finished casting spells, damage is calculated and applied.

At the start of a session, each player draws one Power card. The player with highest numbered card goes first. If someone draws a modifier card, they can draw again.

• In clockwise order, starting with the first, each player chooses their Faction (Fire, Ice, Feast, or Famine), then shuffles both decks and the player to their left cuts them.
• Each player draws 3 Spell cards to form their starting hand.

Drawing Power Cards

• You must draw at least one Power card during your turn. You can cast any number of spells before or after drawing a Power card. If a spell allows you to draw a Power card, you can count that as your draw. Declare “Pass” to end your turn, and the player to your left continues.
• Continue drawing until your Power Level is as close to 12 without going over.
• The Player with the highest Power Level wins the Round and deals damage to the others.
• Damage is taken from your Spell deck (your Life). Discard one card per point of damage into your Crypt.

Taking a Stand
If your Power Level is below 12 but you’re satisfied, you may take a Stand. Turn your last Power card diagonally to mark your Stand. You may still cast spells, then declare “Stand” to end your Power Up Phase.

Critical Hits
If your Power Level is exactly 12, you score a Critical Hit—all other players immediately take 1 point of Critical Hit Damage, which can be taken by discarding a spell from either your hand or your spell deck. Fan out your cards to show the result. A player can only have 1 Critical Hit per round.

Overcharging
If your Power Level exceeds 12, you have Overcharged and will take 4 points of damage at the end of the Round, unless you can cast a spell that lowers your Power Level before your turn ends. Turn the last card you drew sideways to show you’ve Overcharged and ended your Power Up Phase.

Modifier Cards
Modifiers in your Power Deck are optional. You don’t need to decide whether to use them until the end of the Round—keep them raised above other cards to show they’re pending. If you decide to use them, lower them back down. If any spell changes your Power Level, your Modifiers become optional again.

Running out of Power Cards
If you run out of Power cards, immediately gather your Burn Pile, shuffle it, and have the player on your left cut the deck.

When all players have either achieved a Critical Hit, Overcharged, or taken a Stand, the Power Up Phase ends.

SPELLS
Mastering your deck’s spells and finding strong combinations is the key to victory.
When casting Spells you read the Name, Effect, and the Type of spell out loud, then place the card into your Play Area. Note that the other players are always referred to as your Enemies in the Spell Effect descriptions.
Each Faction’s deck contains seven Spell Types: Enchantments, Curses, Conjurings, Ultimates, Incantations, Hexes, and Summonings.

• After casting an Enchantment, place it above your Play Area, face up—where it will remain in effect for the entire Match. Enchantment spells take effect before all other spells and at any time during a Match. They can be triggered multiple times in a Round.
• All other spells are placed in your Play Area so their effects are visible, then moved to your Crypt, in the order they were cast, when the Round ends.
• Hexes can only be cast at the beginning of a Round, before you draw a Power card.
• Some spells heal your Life. When healing, take cards from the top of your Crypt and place them face down on the bottom of your Spell deck. When healing multiple points, count them carefully so the final healed card ends up last.
• A Self-Healing Spell, such as your Ultimate's, Summoning's, and other spells are placed on the bottom of your spell deck after casting.
• Spells remain in effect until the Damage Phase is over.
  

After the Power Up Phase ends, each player gets one final turn to cast spells. Starting with the player to the left of the one who drew the last Power Card. If you don't wish to cast, declare "Pass", to keep the game moving along smoothly.

Spells that change Power Levels

If a player casts a spell that changes a player's Power Level during this phase, the game re-enters the Power Up Phase before another Final Casting Phase will begin. Players take turns proceeding clockwise from the caster's left. There may be situations where the Final Casting Phase is repeated many times as players keep casting counter spells. After all the players have acted, proceed to the Damage Phase.

Damage is taken by discarding cards from the top of your Spell deck (your Life) into your Crypt. Damage resolves clockwise, starting with the player closest to the winner.

• Basic Damage equals the difference in Power Level between the winning player and losing players.
• Overcharged players take 4 damage as a penalty.
• Bonus Damage cards add extra points of damage when you win a Round. Add the value of all your Bonus cards in play to your Damage total. Overcharged players also take Bonus Damage and add it to their 4-point penalty.

Ties
If all players end the Round with the same Power Level, the Round ends in a Tie and all Bonus damage is canceled. In multiplayer games, if several players tie for the highest Power Level, they are Co-Winners, but only the player with the highest amount of Bonus damage deals damage to the losing players.

Ending the Round
After Damage is resolved, discard all Power cards face up into your Burn Pile, then place all cast spells into your Crypt, in the order they were cast.
Then begin a new Round. The player to the left of the one who started the previous Round will begin the next Power Up Phase. At the start of a new Round, you may draw up to your maximum hand size of three Spell cards during your turn—or none at all.

When any player discards their last spell card, the Match is over. The remaining player(s) score 1 point for each card in their Spell deck, the highest score wins the Match.

In Multiplayer games you can choose the alternative way to play and continue playing until only one player remains.

The player to the left of the player who started the previous Match will go first. Players can vote to keep playing with the same decks or choose new Factions.

Spell Casting Tips
Look for strategic ways to use your spells. They generally fall into four types: Direct Damage, Healing, Overcharge Protection, and Disruptors.

• Direct Damage spells are quick and useful early on, helping you draw more spells into your hand.

• Healing spells take longer to use since you need to lose some Life to cast them. You might need to discard cards from your hand when taking Critical Hit damage, or take more risks early on in the game since you could handle Overcharging.

• Overcharge Protection spells are among the most valuable in your deck since they give you room to take bigger risks when drawing Power cards. It’s often best to save them for the end of a Round.

• Disruptors can affect another player’s Power Level or nullify spells. They can be mildly irritating or downright devastating to your foes.

Crafting Spell Decks
Experienced players can build and customize their own 24-card Spell Decks by combining the spell cards from any Faction. The deck must have the same spell types and quantities as a standard deck, with no more than one copy of any single Enchantment, and no more than three copies of any single Conjuring or Incantation spell.

• (3) Enchantments
• (2) Curses
• (6) Conjuring's
• (2) Ultimate's
• (6) Incantation's
• (2) Hexes
• (3) Summoning spells

• In the Feast Ultimate spell "Fauna", does it deal to damage to all the other players? No it only reflects damage back onto the player that dealt it to you.

• Critcal Hits- Can there be multiple hits during a single round? Yes. Each Critical Hit will deal 1 damage, but a single player can only score on Critical Hit per round, in the case of their Power Level being changed and then brought back to 12, it's simply a level of 12.