In Zephyr Wars, 2 players fight over the field of battle using a combination of units and tactic cards. This page will provide a comprehensive look at the rules of the game.
SETUP
The field of play is a 3x3 grid as represented below. Each space of the field is called a Zone.
There are 2 card types in Zephyr Wars. Unit cards and Tactic cards. Players use Units to destroy enemy Units and capture Zones. Tactic cards are unique ability based cards that can support the player on their turn. There are 30 cards in each player's deck, 20 Unit cards, 10 unique Tactic cards.
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Aside from the unit art for both factions, both decks are identical in function. It is up to the players to use deductive thinking to maximize their resources and remember what their opponent has played
throughout the game.
CARDS
UNITS
A Unit represents a soldier, and the value on the upper left hand corner represents its strength level. Units with greater values kill Units with lower values. The value of the attacking card must always be greater than the defender's in order to successfully kill it.
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Once a Unit is placed on the field, it cannot be moved unless through the special effects of certain Tactic cards. The only way to remove an enemy Unit from a Zone is to make an attack with a Unit of a higher sum. Certain Tactic cards also destroy or alter Units on the field. When a Unit is destroyed by an attacking Unit, the attacking Unit now occupies the Zone the defending Unit was in.
In this attack example, the lvl10 Unit will kill the level 8 Unit and replace its occupied Zone.
ATTACKING
To make an attack, place the attacking Unit over the defending Unit's Zone and remove the defender.
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When placing Units on the field or when attacking, they must be adjacent to other friendly Units in order to be placed. Diagonals do not count as being adjacent.
In example 1 the blue cards are adjacent with each other. The center red card is adjacent with the center bottom blue card.
In example 2 the red cards are adjacent with each other. the center red card is adjacent with every blue card.
In example 3 none of the cards on the field are adjacent with each other.
STARTING A MATCH
Before you begin playing Zephyr Wars, who goes first? Both players shuffle their decks and reveal the bottom card. The player with the stronger Unit plays first. If a player reveals a Tactic card, reveal the next card underneath until a Unit is drawn. If it is a draw, continue until there is a victor. Both players then reshuffle their decks and begin the game. If handy the starting order can simply be decided on a coin toss.
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Each player then draws 6 cards at the start of the game.
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MULLIGAN
What is a mulligan? In the event a player draws an undesirable starting hand, they can choose up to 3 cards from their starting hand to reshuffle into their deck. The player then draws new cards equal to the number of cards they discarded. This is called a mulligan. Both players are allowed to mulligan once at the beginning of the game, but not after the match starts.
TURNS
On both player's first turn, they can place a Unit in their respective Starting Zone. The Starting Zone is the middle, right, and left, Zones nearest to the player. From that point, all new Units must be played adjacent to friendly Units. If a player has NO Units on the field during the game, they can then place a Unit in one of the Starting Zones on their turn (assuming their Starting Zones aren't captured by stronger enemy Units than what they have in their hand.)
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In this example, the Zones in Red mark the Red Player's Starting Zone and the Zones in Blue mark the Blue Player's Starting Zone.
PLAYS
A player can make up to 2 plays on their turn. After the play(s), the opposing player begins their turn.
The 2 plays made on a turn can be placing 2 Units, playing 1 Unit and 1 Tactic card (or vice versa), or even playing 2 Tactic cards. However, players must make a minimum of 1 play on their turn. If absolutely no plays can be made, they must discard a card from their hand and pass their turn.
Here are several examples of how a turn can be made up of 2 plays.
PAIRING
Pairing is the act of combining 2 Units together. Paired Units add their values together making them stronger for an attack. If 2 Units are paired and played on the field, the Unit with the lower value is discarded after the play.
These Units Pair into an 11.
Units already on the field cannot be paired, only Units from the player's hand can pair.
Playing a Pair only counts as 1 play, which means a player could play 2 pairs on their turn. Units can be played with Tactic cards but not paired with them, unless stated otherwise.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Both players take their turns until one of their decks are depleted. On the turn that the last 2 cards are drawn from a player's deck immediately initiates the last turn for both players. The player with the depleted deck makes their play(s) and the opposing player gets one final turn and then the game is over.
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Each player then tallies the sum of their Unit's values on the field and compares them. The higher sum wins.
If at any point during the game one player has a Unit in every single Zone and the opposing player has no Units on the field, this counts as an automatic victory. This is called a Sweeping Victory.
SPECIFIC RULES
-Tactic cards that buff the score of Unit cards don't factor into the Unit score at the end of the game.
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-If the Tactic card Reconnaissance is played followed by Longshot, the receiving player can shuffle their hand before taking the Longshot damage.
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-Normally Tactic cards cannot be paired with Units. The Tactic card Relic Weapons is an exception. Pairing Relic Weapons also only counts as one play.
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-Players cannot go through each other's discard pile during a match.