Rules

These rules apply to any Dataclysm game.

A game involves only two players.

To play, each player must have a deck of cards from Dataclysm.

A deck must have a minimum of 30 cards and a maximum of 50.

A deck can have up to 3 cards with the same name.

Whenever a card's text directly contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. The card overrides only the rule that applies to that specific situation.

Any instruction impossible to perform is ignored.

A player is any of the two people playing the game.

A player's opponent is the other player.

At the beginning of a game, each player's deck is shuffled in a random order.

After shuffling the deck, the players determine who goes first by tossing a coin. Players may use other methods to determine who will play first, as long as the chosen solution has a random outcome (some common solutions could be a game of rock-paper-scissors or rolling a die). The player who wins the coin toss (or the other chosen solution), decides who goes first between them and the opponent.

Each player starts with 30 Hit Points (HP).

Each player draws 5 cards.

A game ends immediately whenever one of the two players wins, or if the game is a draw.

A player wins the game if their opponent loses the game or if an effect explicitly states so.

There are several conditions that may cause a player to lose the game.

If a player would win and lose the game simultaneously, they lose the game.

A player may concede the game at any time. If they do so, they lose the game.

If both players lose simultaneously, the game is a draw.

The only numbers used in Dataclysm are integer numbers.

Any effect that would generate a fractional number has to specify whether to round it up or down; if it doesn't, the number is rounded down.

If a rule makes a player choose a number, that player may choose between any positive number and zero.

The two slashes (//) indicate the beginning of an effect. (More info in the Effects section later)

A name between curly brackets ({}) indicates a card with that name.

Example {DRAGON} refers to a card with the name DRAGON, whereas "Dragon" refers to a card with the Dragon subtype.

A card is a Dataclysm card that is currently in play.

A card is in play if it's inside a Zone.

A card's owner is the player that started the game with that card inside their deck. If a card was copied or created by the effect of another card, that card's owner is the player who brought it into the game.

Cards may have one of four types: Troop, Cheat, Method or Settings.

Troop cards and players can be dealt damage.

When a Troop card or a player takes any amount of damage, they subtract that damage received from their current Health Points.

If a card would deal 0 damage, it deals no damage at all (effects that require a card to take or deal damage won't activate).

If a card would deal negative damage, it deals 0 damage instead.

A player draws a card by putting the first card of their deck into their hand.

Each player draws a card at the beginning of their turn.

An effect that moves cards from a player's deck to their hand without using the word "draw", doesn't count as that player drawing for the purpose of resolving effects.

Players may only draw one card at a time. If an effect has a player draw multiple cards, that player performs that many individual card draws.

Each player has a Curse value, which starts at 0 at the beginning of the game.

At the beginning of a player's turn, before the Draw Step, that player takes damage equal to their Curse.

After taking this damage, that player's Curse is reduced by 5.

A player's Curse cannot go below 0.

A card is defined by these parts: Name, Type, Text Box and Illustration.

Depending on the type, a card may also have Stats (ATK and HP) and a symbol depending on its type.

A card's name is located above the Illustration.

Two cards have the same name if their names coincide in the same language and version of the game.

Cards with the same name are considered to be the same card.

Whenever text written on a card refers to a card by its name, it uses the curly brackets ({}).

The illustration of a card is in the upper half of the card. It has no effect on the game.

For Method, Cheat and Settings cards, the card's type can be found between the illustration and the text box. Troop type cards only show their eventual subtypes.

A card's type can be Troop, Cheat, Settings and Method.

A card can have one or more subtypes.

The troop subtypes are Sandbag, Ranger, Armorer, Dragon, Undead, Magician, Barrier, Glitch, Bug, Malware and All.

A card may have the [GPU] keyword listed before its effect.

A GPU card is subject to the Great Power Unit's limitations (See rule 6.04).

The text box is below the card's type (or subtype for troops). It usually defines the card's effect.

Troop cards have a pair of numbers below the illustration. These numbers are called respectively Attack (ATK) and Health Points (HP).

A card's ATK defines its offensive power in battle.

A card's HP define how much damage it can withstand before it is destroyed.

A placeholder is a card with the Troop type that can assume different attributes depending on the situations.

Whenever a placeholder is created by a card effect, the effect that created it may define the values of any number of characteristics for the placeholder.

A placeholder's default name is "PLACEHOLDER", its default stats are 0 ATK and 0 HP, and it has no subtypes or effect.

A placeholder is subject to everything that affects troops or that affects its subtypes.

If a placeholder would be put in a zone different from the field (See Section 4), it is removed from the game instead.

The card's Type is one of a card's defining parts. For more information, consult rule 2.03.

During their turn, a player may play up to two Base troops and up to one Update troop (see Rule 3.01.8).

A troop can only be played in one of the slots on a player's field.

Some troop cards require a cost or a specific condition to be played. If a player cannot fulfil the required conditions, then that card cannot be played.

A troop card is defined by its stats, ATK and HP (See rule 2.07).

Troops can attack or be attacked during the attack step of a turn (See rule 5.03).

If damage is dealt to a troop, it permanently reduces its HP by subtracting the total of damage dealt from the troop's HP. If a troop's HP becomes 0 or lower, that troop is sent to the discard pile.

When a troop is played, it has the Startup Lag condition.

A troop is classified as an Update troop if the keyword Update() is listed before its effects.

A troop is classified as a Ritual troop if the keyword Ritual() is listed before its effects.

If a troop is neither an Update troop nor a Ritual troop, it is classified as a Base troop.

A player may play up to one Cheat card from their hand during their turn.

A Cheat card always requires a target card to resolve, listed within the Target() ability. If there's no eligible target, then that Cheat cannot be played.

When a Cheat resolves, the actions stated in its effect are followed, then it's sent to the discard pile.

A player may play up to one Method card from their hand during their turn.

When a Method resolves, the actions stated in its effect are followed, then it's sent to the discard pile.

A player may play as many Settings cards from their hand as they can during their turn.

Settings cards can only be played in the Settings slot on the field. If there's currently another Settings card in play, that card is sent to the discard pile.

The current Settings' effect is universal and it's applied to both players as long as that card remains in play.

A Zone is a place where cards can be during the game.

Each player has their own deck, hand and discard pile, while the field and void zones are shared.

The order of cards inside of the deck and discard pile zones cannot be changed, except for when an effect or rule allows it.

A card is not in play if it's not in any of the game's zones.

If an effect requires a player to do something to a zone, that action is performed on all cards in that zone.

Each player's deck must be kept in a face down pile. A player can't change the order of the cards or look at them unless it is specified by an effect.

A player can count the cards remaining in a player's deck at any time.

A player's hand is the zone where a player holds the cards that have been drawn.

A player has a maximum hand size of seven cards. At the end of their turn, a player must discard excess cards down to the maximum hand size.

A player can't reveal the hand of another player (unless specified by an effect), but can count the cards in it at any time.

The field is the zone where troops and settings cards are played. The field starts out empty.

The field is divided into 3 parts: 8 slots for each player, and a single slot in the middle for Settings cards.

A slot on the field can only hold one card.

A player's discard pile is a face-up pile of cards where discarded or destroyed cards are sent.

When a card is discarded or destroyed, its owner puts it face-up on their discard pile.

Each player can examine both discard piles whenever they want, but they can't change the order of the cards in it.

The void is a shared zone that keeps cards. Whenever a card is sent to the void, it usually leaves the game permanently with no way of getting back.

To void a card is to send it into the Void zone, a voided card is a card that's been sent to the Void.

Cards are voided face up, and each player can examine voided cards at any time.

A turn consists of 3 steps: draw step, main step and attack step.

The player who plays first in the game, skips the attack step during their first turn.

The player who plays second in the game, skips the draw step during their first turn.

Effects that trigger "At the beginning of the turn" activate at the beginning of the draw step.

During the Draw step, the player draws a card.

Any effects that would take place at the beginning of the draw step will trigger before the player draws the card.

After the player has drawn a card, the draw step ends and the Main step begins.

During the main step, the player may play their cards.

Whenever the player deems it appropriate (or if they can't play any more cards), they can end their Main step and begin the Attack step.

During the Attack step, the player's troops all attempt to attack the enemy troops or the other player, if possible.

Starting from left to right every troop on the player's field will attempt to attack the slots in front of them, or that player's opponent.

When a troop attacks, it attempts to attack the troop in the slot in front of it in the enemy frontrow.

If that slot is empty, or the troop inside it cannot be hit by the attacker, that card will attempt to attack the slot in front of it in the enemy backrow.

If that slot is also empty, or the troop inside it cannot be hit by the attacker, that card will attack the opponent directly.

If a troop successfully hits an enemy troop, it deals damage to that troop's HP equal to the attacking troop's ATK.

If a troop successfully hits the opponent directly, they will take damage equal to that troop's ATK.

If a troop enters the field during the Attack step, it will not attack during this turn.

If an attacking troop would take damage and be destroyed by an enemy effect, it still deals damage equal to its ATK and then it leaves the field.

After every troop has attacked, the player's turn ends.

Effects that trigger "At the end of the turn" activate at the end of the Attack step.

When a player's turn ends, their opponent's turn begins.

A card's effect is described in its textbox.

Effects are divided in two categories: Trigger and Passive effects.

Recurrent effects are synthesised in single keywords: these effects are called Abilities.

Effects may use specific keywords to describe in-game actions: these words are called Effect Keywords.

Cards with the [GPU] keyword before their effect are called Great Power Units.

A player can only have up to one [GPU] card in their deck.

The [GPU] keyword is an intrinsic and defining feature of the card. Therefore, it cannot be removed or negated in any way.

An effect may instruct a player to create a card.

An effect that instructs a player to create a specific card, must declare its name between curly brackets ({}) and a zone.

If a Dataclysm card with that same name exists, a copy of it is created in the declared zone.

If a Dataclysm card with that same name doesn't exist, a placeholder with that name is created in the declared zone.

If the effect creates a placeholder, it may define the values of any number of characteristics for the placeholder.

In Dataclysm, effects trigger using a Queue system. When an effect is triggered, it must wait for all previously triggered effects to resolve before it can resolve itself.

The Selection Order is a standard practice used in Dataclysm to determine the order in which two or more cards on the field are selected, whenever the resolution of an effect requires it. It works as follows:

1. Active player's frontrow, left to right;
2. Active player's backrow, left to right;
3. Opponent's frontrow, left to right;
4. Opponent's backrow, left to right.

Whenever an action causes two or more effects to trigger simultaneously, they are placed in the Queue according to the Selection Order.

Whenever an effect would choose two or more cards on the field as targets, each card is chosen individually as a target, following the Selection Order.

Whenever an effect needs to choose a troop on the field as a target based on certain criteria, and there are two or more eligible troops, the first one found is chosen following the Selection Order.

A Status is a passive effect that a card on the field may temporarily receive.

Statuses can be divided in two categories: Temporary and Permanent.