Energy System

A hybrid model combining permanent energy conversion with hand-based burst payment. Cards are their own energy.

Energizing

Once per turn, place any card face-up into your Energy Zone. It becomes a permanent energy source that generates 1 energy of its color each turn. Energized cards enter exhausted -- they are not available until they ready at the start of your next turn. This makes energizing a forward investment, not free energy the turn you place it.

Energy sources become exhausted when spent and ready at the start of your turn.

Cards are placed face-up so all players can read your energy base -- this adds a strategic layer where opponents can anticipate what you're able to play.

Hand Payment

Discard cards directly from your hand to pay costs. Each discarded card provides 1 energy of its color as a one-time burst. This supplements energized cards for big plays or off-turn activations.

Off-Turn Payment

Both energized cards and hand cards can pay for trap activations and other off-turn effects. This ensures maximum flexibility -- your Energy Zone handles base costs while hand cards enable surprise burst plays on opponents' turns.

Cost Format

Cards cost [X specific color] + [Y any color].

Examples:

• A small unit might cost 1 any (playable in any deck, turn 1)
• A mid-range spell might cost 1B + 2 any (leans Black, total cost 3)
• A Red Dragon might cost 2R + 3 any (demands Red energy, total cost 5)
• A powerful finisher might cost 3G + 4 any (heavy Green commitment, total cost 7)

Reclaim

Reclaim returns a ready (not exhausted) energized card from the Energy Zone to your hand. The only cost is losing the energy source — no action cost, no energy cost. You can Reclaim and immediately play or set the card on the same turn.

• Exhausted energy sources cannot be reclaimed — you must wait until they ready
• No limit on how many cards you can Reclaim per turn
• Reclaim does not consume your energize action — you can Reclaim and energize on the same turn
• The card returns to your hand, not to the field — traps reclaimed this way can be set face-down normally, preserving the bluff

Conduit: Dual Energy

Some Green cards have the Conduit keyword: when energized in the Energy Zone, they count as 2 energy instead of 1. Conduit costs 0 budget points -- the card is fully statted for its cost. The tension is purely opportunity cost: play a solid unit on board, or energize it for double energy value. Reclaiming a Conduit card is costlier since you lose 2 energy instead of 1.