Choose first player
Each player rolls two dice. The higher total chooses whether to act first or second; reroll ties.
Learn Wardom: Sword and Shield
Every great strategy
starts with one card.
New to the realm? Start with the essentials, walk through your first round, then keep the rules reference close at hand.
01 · Prepare02 · Play03 · Master
Before round one
Set the realm for battle.
2 playersOne deck for each player
40–60 cardsNo more than 4 copies of each card per deck
Dice & countersTrack resolve, energy, and card effects
Prepare resources
Each player begins at 20 resolve, draws 5 cards, and starts with 5 maximum energy and 5 available energy.
Build the line
Your battlefield runs Combat first, Support second, then the Wager/Coin zone. Three Action slots, the shared Field, a 3-card Side Zone, Treasury, void, and Forbidden Zone sit alongside it.
Core objective
Win battles to deal resolve damage and claim wagers. A player loses when their resolve reaches 0, or when they are required to wager and cannot provide a legal card.
Round flow
Move through every stage in order.
- 01
Start Stage
Resolve start-of-turn effects and prepare the board. The opening setup happens before the first Resource Stage.
- 02
Resource Stage
Refill energy to your current maximum. Except for the first player on round one, draw until you hold 5 cards; if you already have 5 or more, draw 1 instead. Pay Field upkeep and resolve Resource effects.
- 03
Main Stage
Recruit Units, play or set Actions, play a Field, activate legal effects, and place a wager before you leave the stage.
- 04
Battle Stage
Reveal set Units in turn order, build any response sequences, compare the two formations, deal resolve damage, destroy a front-line Unit when eligible, and coin the losing wager.
- 05
End & Routing Stage
Resolve end effects. The winner routes Units to the Side Zone first, then the loser. Increase maximum energy by 1, up to 10, and swap who acts first next round.
Eight ordered steps
The first player takes Start, Resource, and Main; then the second player takes Start, Resource, and Main. Both players then resolve Battle and End & Routing.
Energy
Energy refreshes to your current maximum in Resource. Maximum energy starts at 5 and rises by 1 after each round, to a cap of 10.
Treasury
Claimed wagers become spendable coins. A Treasury card pays its full printed value; excess value is not returned as change, and the spent card enters the Forbidden Zone.
The wager rule
You must control a legal wager before leaving your Main Stage. Placing a card in the Coin Zone is free; True Recruit Units cannot be wagers.
Limits
Keep up to 3 Units in your Side Zone and up to 3 cards in your Action Zone. At End Stage, discard down to 8 cards in hand.
Battle calculation
Turn formation into damage.
- 1
Reveal. The first player flips set Units, then the second player. Resolve triggers and response sequences.
- 2
Total the formation. Add all face-up Combat values for your Combat total and all face-up Support values for your Support total. Combat + Support is your Battle total.
- 3
Choose the winner. The higher Battle total wins. A tie deals no resolve damage and claims no wager.
- 4
Deal resolve damage. Winner’s Combat minus loser’s Support, minimum 0. Piercing ignores the loser’s Support.
- 5
Destroy and coin. If winner’s Combat is greater than the eligible front-line Unit’s relevant stat, destroy it unless protected. Then the losing wager is coined by the winner.
Cards and timing
Know what can act—and when.
Parenthetical zone labels tell you where an effect is active. A written cost before a colon must be paid before its effect can resolve.
Unit
Has Combat/Support stats, a level, element, types, and zone-based effects. Units are normally recruited from the hand or Side Zone.
Ability Action
Normally activated during your Main Stage, then sent to the void after resolving unless its text says otherwise.
Bolt Action
Can respond during eligible Resource or Main windows, and can be activated from a set Action Zone during any stage.
Danger Action
Must remain set for a full round and meet its condition. Its cost may be paid with energy, treasury, resolve, or a legal combination stated by the card.
Cycle Action
Remains face-up after activation and can continue applying or activating its effect, subject to printed limits.
Equip Action
Attaches to a Unit and remains with it, granting the printed bonuses or statuses.
Field
Occupies the shared Field Zone. A new Field must meet the replacement-cost rule; its upkeep is paid during Resource or it is sent to the void. Text marked Rule affects both players.
Treasure
Enters the pouch/Treasury when its requirement is met. Its printed cost is the coin value gained, not a cost paid to play it.
Targeting is not the same as selecting
An effect targets a card only if its text explicitly uses the word “target”. A card with Stealth is not a legal target for that effect. If the effect instead selects or chooses a card without saying “target”, Stealth does not prevent that selection or the effect. All other restrictions still apply.
Example: Chaggai, Joker of Old selects a card but does not say “target”, so its effect can select a card with Stealth. By contrast, an effect that says “target 1 Unit” cannot target a Unit with Stealth.
True Recruiting
A written procedure, not a free Unit.
A cost of 0 does not make a True Recruit Unit an ordinary free recruit. Follow these steps during your Main Stage.
- Start with the Unit in your handIts first True Recruit cannot begin from the Side Zone, and it must enter play face-up.
- Choose an open Combat or Support positionThe normal line limit still applies unless an effect has created room for an Additional Recruit.
- Check every written requirementConfirm the required names, statuses, owners, and zones before moving anything.
- Pay the entire written procedureMove the required cards exactly as instructed. Energy and Treasury cannot replace this payment.
- Place the Unit and resolve triggersAfter the cost is paid, recruit it face-up and resolve any Placed or Recruited effects normally.
- Mark that physical copyIt remains True Recruited for the rest of the game, even if it later returns to hand. It never becomes a legal wager.
Resolving a sequence
Last added, first resolved.
- A trigger or Swift effect opens the window.
- Priority passes between players to add one legal effect or pass.
- When both players pass, resolve the newest effect first and work backward.
- Mandatory triggers must be added; optional “you can” effects may be declined.
Status reference
Status effects at a glance.
Statuses apply only to face-up Units unless a card says otherwise. Cleanse removes statuses and stat changes; Pure also blocks new statuses.
18 of 18 entries
- Stealth
- A card with Stealth cannot be targeted by card effects. An effect targets only when its text explicitly says ‘target’. Selecting or choosing a card without that word is not targeting, so Stealth does not prevent it.
- Stability
- This Unit cannot be destroyed by card effects. It can still be destroyed by battle unless another rule protects it.
- Guardian
- If another friendly Unit with Ward would be destroyed by an effect, a face-up Guardian can be destroyed in its place.
- Ward
- Marks a Unit as eligible for protection by a friendly Guardian.
- Loyalty
- After this Unit is destroyed and sent to the void, return it to its owner’s hand if another replacement such as Comeback did not move it first.
- Weaken(X)
- At each End Stage, the Unit permanently loses X Combat while Weaken remains on it.
- Poison(X)
- At each End Stage, the Unit permanently loses X Support while Poison remains on it.
- Comeback(X/Y)
- After this Unit is destroyed, recruit it from the void to an available Combat or Support slot with X/Y stats. If no slot is open, it stays in the void.
- Tenacity(X)
- This Unit withstands battle destruction when the attacking Unit’s Combat is X or lower.
- Frozen Touch
- At the start of battle, roll a die. On 4–6, freeze an eligible opposing front-line Unit until the end of the next turn.
- Frozen
- While face-up, the Unit is unaffected by card effects. Other statuses cannot be added to it, and its continuous effects do not apply.
- Corruption
- At the start of battle, roll two six-sided dice; the results become this Unit’s Combat and Support for that battle.
- Silenced
- The Unit’s effects are inactive while it is Silenced. Its printed stats, element, level, and types remain.
- Last-Will
- The first time this Unit would be destroyed during a turn, it survives for the rest of that turn. It is then destroyed during the End Stage.
- Shielded
- This Unit cannot be destroyed by battle. Shielded does not stop effect destruction.
- Rampage
- Whenever this Combat Unit destroys a Unit in battle, it permanently gains 1 Combat.
- Piercing
- When calculating resolve damage after winning battle, ignore the losing player’s Support total.
- Pure
- Clear this Unit’s statuses and prevent other statuses from being applied while it remains Pure.
Keyword reference
Read any current card with confidence.
15 of 15 entries
- Recruit
- Place a Unit onto the battlefield. A normal recruit is made from the hand or Side Zone by paying its cost.
- Additional Recruit
- Recruit beyond a zone’s normal single-Unit limit when an effect specifically permits it.
- True Recruit
- A face-up recruit from hand that uses its written procedure instead of ordinary currency. Mark that copy after it succeeds; it can never be used as a wager.
- Set / Flipped
- Set means place a card face-down. A set Unit flips during Battle; a set Action remains hidden until its legal activation window.
- Search
- Look through the stated zone for a matching card, then move it as instructed. Shuffle the deck after searching it.
- Seek X
- Reveal the top X cards of the deck, use the matching cards as instructed, then return the rest in the order required by the effect.
- Burn X
- Send the top X cards of your deck to the void, one at a time.
- Pitch
- Send the targeted card directly from the deck to the void.
- Recover
- Move a matching card from your void to your hand.
- Cleanse
- Remove all statuses and all added stat increases or decreases from a Unit.
- Destroy
- Send a card from the field to its owner’s void unless a protection or replacement effect changes that result.
- Forbid
- Move a card to the Forbidden Zone. It does not go to the void and normally cannot return.
- Equip
- Attach an Equip Action to a legal Unit. Its bonuses and granted statuses apply while attached; the Equip is destroyed with that Unit.
- Coined
- Move the losing wager into the winner’s Treasury. Its numerical cost becomes its coin value.
- Swift / Sequence
- A Swift effect can join a response sequence in its legal timing window. Players alternate adding effects or passing; the completed sequence resolves in reverse order.
Rulings hierarchy
Card text overrides the general rule when it is more specific. If a printed term has no published definition, do not invent an effect; use the written card text and the latest official Wardom ruling.