Balance
Budget formulas, keyword costs, and balance decisions.
Budget Formulas
| Name | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Item Budget | 2 × cost + 1 | +1 card tax |
| Spell Budget | 2 × cost | No card tax |
| Trap Budget | 2 × cost | No card tax |
| Unit Budget | 2 × cost + 1 | +1 card tax |
| Unit Stat Cost | might + endurance | Raw stat total, no scaling |
Card Tax
Playing a card costs more than just energy — you're spending a card from your hand, which is a real resource. That's the card tax: the inherent cost of committing a card to the board.
Units and Items get +1
Units and items are persistent — they stay on the board and provide ongoing value. The +1 reimburses part of the card tax to keep cheap permanents viable.
Spells and Traps get no bonus
Spells and traps are one-shot effects — they resolve and leave. Their budget is purely 2 × cost with no card tax reimbursement, keeping instant effects honest.
What about setting cards?
Setting a card face-down and flipping it later lets you pay with field energy — seemingly avoiding the hand cost. But setting has real costs: you lose tempo (no immediate board impact), Set Zone slots are limited, and set cards are vulnerable to interaction (reveals, bounces, destruction) before you can activate them.
Effect Costs
| Effect | Cost Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AoE Damage X | 3 × x | Hits ~3 targets, so 3× single-target |
| Damage X | x | Single-target damage |
| Destroy | 2 | Flat cost — targeted removal |
| Draw X | 2 × x | Mid-turn selection — deck velocity in a draw-to-hand-size system |
| Fight | 4 | Flat cost — two units fight |
| Might +X | 2 × x | Stat boost on items |
Keyword Costs
| Keyword | Cost Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bounce | 2 | Flat cost |
| Burn X | x | Scales linearly with X |
| Conduit | 0 | Free — enables energy generation |
| Drain X | 2 × x | Premium — heals and damages |
| Endure | ⌊endurance / 2⌋ | Scales with endurance |
| Equip X | 0 | Free — enables item slots |
| Exhaust | 1 | Flat cost |
| First Strike | max(might − 1, 0) | Scales with might |
| Flying | ⌊(might − 1) / 2⌋ | Scales with might, halved |
| Foresight X | x | Scales linearly with X |
| Gravebound | 0 | Free — downside keyword |
| Guard | 1 | Flat cost |
| Heal X | x | Scales linearly with X |
| Hunter | max(might − 2, 2) | Scales with might, floor 2 |
| Overkill | max(might − 2, 0) | Scales with might |
| Reach | 1 | Flat cost |
| Recoil X | x | Scales linearly with X |
| Revive | 2 | Flat cost |
| Rush | min(max(might − 1, 0), 2) | Scales with might, capped at 2 |
| Sacrifice | −2 | Refund — downside keyword |
| Self Infliction X | −x | Refund — downside keyword |
| Shield X | x | Scales linearly with X |
Draw-to-Hand-Size
Players draw up to max hand size (5) at the end of their turn. No draw cap.
Players typically reach 0 cards by end of turn — cards are spent as hand payment for energy, played to the board, energized into the Energy Zone, or set face-down. The hand empties naturally, not just on all-in turns.
Why no draw cap?
Since hands drain fast every turn, a draw cap would create a frustrating stutter where players alternate between productive and starved turns. Draw-to-hand-size keeps every turn playable.
Why draw costs 2 budget per card
Mid-turn card draw is selection (seeing more of your deck this turn) rather than accumulation — you refill to 5 regardless. But every card in a 40-card deck with no resource cards is a real playable card, making deck velocity genuinely powerful. At 2 budget per draw, it's meaningful without being cheap enough to staple onto every card.
Green Ramp Balance
With 3 Conduit cards energized in a 5-slot Energy Zone, Green generates 8 energy per turn vs 5 for other colors. Combined with draw-to-hand-size, Green keeps more cards in hand as options rather than burning them as payment. That flexibility is Green's real advantage.
Why this is acceptable
Every Conduit card energized is a full-stat unit not on the board. Green trades board presence for resource advantage. Green has the resources but lacks efficient answers — no removal, no card draw, no tempo tools. It builds big and hopes big is enough.
Counterplay by color
- Red goes under it — ends the game before ramp matters
- Blue goes over it — Bounce the expensive threat, wasting Green's energy investment
- Black ignores it — graveyard recursion doesn't care about energy
- White outlasts it — Shield and Guard neutralize Green's big stats
Reclaim tension
Green is the color most torn about Reclaiming. Pulling a Conduit from the Energy Zone loses 2 energy instead of 1, so switching from ramp to board is steeper for Green. This creates a genuine decision each turn — keep ramping or start fighting.