How to Play

Dataclysm is a one-on-one card game. Both players start with 30 HP: bring your opponent to 0 and you win. This page covers everything you need for your first match.

Before the match

Your deck

30 to 50 cards. You can include up to 3 copies of the same card, and only one [GPU] card in the whole deck.

Setting up

Shuffle both decks and toss a coin: the winner decides who goes first. Each player draws 5 cards.

The first turn

The player who goes first can't attack on their first turn. The player who goes second skips their first draw.

The field

Each player has 8 slots in two rows of four. The front row faces your opponent, the back row sits behind it.

The single slot in the middle holds the current Settings card, shared by both players.

Your turn

Draw

Draw a card from your deck.

Main

Play cards from your hand, in any order. Troops need a free slot on your field. Each turn you can play:

Base troops	up to 2
Update troop	1
Cheat	1
Method	1
Settings	as many as you want

Attack

Your troops attack on their own, one after another, including the ones you just played. You don't pick targets: see Combat below.

At the end of your turn, if you hold more than 7 cards, discard down to 7.

Card types

Troops: Your units on the field, with ATK and HP. Damage stays on a troop until it's destroyed: when its HP reaches 0, it goes to your discard pile.
Cheats: Instant effects aimed at a target, written in Target(). If nothing fits the target, you can't play the Cheat.
Methods: Instant effects with no target, like dealing 1 damage to every troop on your opponent's field.
Settings: They change the rules for both players while they stay in play. A new Settings card replaces the current one.

Updating troops

Update troops are stronger versions that grow out of a troop already on your field. To play one, send a troop with the matching subtype from your field to the discard pile, then play the Update troop in that same slot.

A troop you played this turn can't be used yet, unless the Update troop says quick: Super Sandbag's Update(Sandbag, quick) can grow out of a Sandbag you just played.

An Update troop can't be used to play another Update. Some troops have a Ritual() condition instead: once it's met, you play them like a base troop.

Super Sandbag, a 3/3 troop with Update(Sandbag, quick)

Combat

In your Attack step every troop attacks, from left to right: first your whole front row, then your back row. Each troop hits the first target in its column:

the enemy troop in the front row, right in front of it;
if that slot is empty, the enemy troop in the back row;
if both are empty, your opponent directly.

It deals damage equal to its ATK. Troops with Float() can only be hit by troops that have Float() or Range(): everyone else skips them.

Your Ranger hits the Sandbag right in front of it: 2 damage, and the Sandbag is destroyed.

Winning

You win when your opponent's HP reaches 0. A player also loses if they have to draw a card and their deck is empty. If both players lose at the same time, the match is a draw.

Reading a card

//: Marks the start of an effect: what follows is what the card does.
Float(), Start(): Abilities: short keywords for effects that appear on many cards. On the Cards page, each card lists what its abilities do.
{SKELETON}: A name in curly brackets means that exact card. Without brackets, a word like Dragon means any troop with that subtype.
Placeholders: Temporary troops created by effects. If one leaves the field, it's removed from the game.
Curse: Some cards give your opponent Curse. At the start of their turn, before drawing, they take damage equal to their Curse, then it goes down by 5.
Discard pile and Void: Destroyed and discarded cards go to their owner's discard pile, where some effects can still use them. Voided cards leave the game for good.