Route an enemy card you take to your battleline, artifact line, or archives; any other destination sends it to its owner's matching zone.
Action
An ability you resolve by using the card directly, without reaping or fighting, which exhausts it.
After a Creature Enters Play
An ability that resolves after any creature enters play, including the opponent's.
After a Creature Is Destroyed
An ability that resolves after any creature is destroyed, with that creature as "it".
After a Creature Is Destroyed by This Creature's Assault Damage
An ability that resolves on a creature whose own Assault damage destroys the creature it attacks.
After a Creature Is Destroyed in a Fight With
An ability that resolves on a creature that survives a fight in which the other combatant was destroyed.
After a Creature Is Played
An ability that resolves after any creature is played from hand, including the opponent's.
After a Creature Is Played Adjacent
An ability that resolves after a creature is played into a battleline position next to this card.
After a Creature Is Used to Fight
An ability that resolves after any creature is used to fight.
After a Creature Reaps
An ability that resolves after any creature reaps, friendly or enemy.
After a Friendly Creature Is Destroyed
An ability that resolves after a friendly creature is destroyed, with that creature as "it".
After a Friendly Creature Is Used to Fight
An ability that resolves after a creature on the controller's own side is used to fight.
After a Neighbor Is Used to Fight
An ability that resolves after a battleline neighbor of this card is used to fight.
After a Player Chooses a House
An ability that resolves after a player chooses their active house, its own controller's choice by default or either player's when it watches each player.
After a Player Forges a Key
An ability that resolves after any player forges a key, acting on the player who forged.
After a Tactic Is Played but Before It Resolves
An ability that resolves after a Tactic is played, before that Tactic's own effect resolves.
After an Enemy Creature Is Destroyed
An ability that resolves after an enemy creature is destroyed during its controller's turn.
After an Enemy Creature Is Destroyed While Fighting
An ability that resolves on a bystander when an enemy creature is destroyed in a fight.
After an Enemy Creature Reaps
An ability that resolves after an enemy creature reaps.
After an Upgrade Enters Play
An ability that resolves after any upgrade enters play, including the opponent's.
After This Creature Is Used
An ability that resolves after the card carrying it is itself used.
After This Creature Prevents Damage With Its Armor
An ability that resolves after the card prevents damage with its own armor, scaled by the amount prevented.
After You Discard a Card From Your Hand
An ability that resolves after its controller discards a card from their hand.
After You Forge a Key
An ability that resolves after its controller forges a key.
After You Play a Card
An ability that resolves after its controller plays a card from hand.
After You Resolve a Damage Bonus Icon
An ability that resolves after its controller resolves a Damage bonus icon, acting on the creature it hit.
After You Resolve a Draw Bonus Icon
An ability that resolves after its controller resolves a Draw bonus icon.
After You Use a Card
An ability that resolves after its controller reaps, fights, or fires an Action.
After Your Opponent Forges a Key
An ability that resolves after the opponent forges a key.
After Your Opponent Plays a Card
An ability that resolves after your opponent plays a card.
After Æmber Is Stolen From You
An ability that resolves after Æmber is stolen from its controller, scaled by the amount stolen.
Alpha
The card can be played only as the first thing its player does on their turn.
Archive
Set cards aside face-down in your archives, out of the opponent's reach; take them to hand after picking a house on a later turn.
Armor
A value that absorbs damage — each point stops 1 — refreshing when its creature's controller readies.
Artifact
A permanent card played alongside your creatures, usually used for its Action ability.
Assault
The creature deals N damage to the creature it attacks, just before combat damage is dealt.
Before Fight
An ability that resolves when a creature is used to fight, before any combat damage.
Belong to House
Make the chosen creatures count as a named house for the given duration, overriding their printed house.
Cannot Be Used To
Bar a creature from one way of using it — reap, fight, or Action — while every other way stays open.
Capture
A friendly creature captures 1 Æmber from the opponent.
Capture Æmber
Move Æmber from a pool onto a creature, where it counts for no one until that creature leaves play, then goes to the capturer's opponent.
Choose One
Offer the controller a set of alternative effects and resolve only the one they pick.
Combat
Using one of your ready creatures during the main phase to fight an enemy creature; both deal damage equal to their power at the same time.
Conditional
Gate an effect behind an "If ..." check on the current board; it resolves only when the condition is met.
Constant Ability
A continuous rule a card applies while it stays in play, with no trigger of its own.
Creature
A unit played into your battleline that, once ready, can reap for Æmber, fight, or use an Action ability.
Damage
Deal 1 damage to a creature in play.
Deal Damage
Put pending damage on the targeted creatures; armor stops some, and a creature whose damage reaches its power is destroyed.
Deploy
The creature may enter play at any position in its controller's battleline, not only on a flank.
Destroy
Remove a creature from play; its Destroyed abilities resolve first, then it and its upgrades go to the discard pile.
Destroyed
An ability that resolves as the card is destroyed, before it reaches the discard pile.
Discard
Dig through the top of your deck, discarding as you go, until you turn up a card the filters admit or the deck runs out.
Draw
Draw 1 card.
Elusive
The first time the creature is chosen to be fought each turn, no fight damage is dealt by or to it.
End of Ready Step
An ability that resolves at the end of its controller's "ready cards" step, after every card has readied.
End of Turn
An ability that resolves at the end of its controller's turn, after cards ready and they draw.
Enhance
During deck generation, adds the listed bonus icons to random cards in the deck.
Enrage
Place a status on a creature; while enraged, its controller must use it to fight on their turn if it is able to.
Exalt
Place 1 Æmber from the common supply onto a creature, where it waits until that creature leaves play, then goes to the owner's opponent.
Exhaust
Turn a creature sideways so it cannot be used again until it readies at the end of its controller's turn.
Fight
An ability that resolves after a creature you used to fight deals and takes its combat damage.
First turn rule
On the first player's first turn, they may play or discard only one card from their hand.
Gain Chains
Take on chains, which reduce your card draw by one for every six held until they are shed.
Gain Æmber
A player moves that many Æmber from the common supply into their pool.
Generic Counters
Card-placed markers that do nothing on their own and matter only to the cards that read them.
Gigantic creature
A creature printed as two cards — a base half and an art half — that share a name and are played as one creature.
Graft a Card
Move a card in play faceup under the resolving card, out of play, until that host leaves play.
Hazardous
The creature deals N damage to any creature that attacks it, before that attacker deals combat damage.
Heal
Take damage tokens off a creature; it never removes more than is there and never changes power.
Invulnerable
The creature cannot be destroyed or dealt damage.
Leaves Play
An ability that resolves as the card leaves play by any route.
Lose Armor
Strip all remaining armor off the chosen creatures; it returns when their controller readies.
Lose Æmber
A player returns that many Æmber from their pool to the common supply, never below zero.
May
Offer the controller the choice to resolve the inner effect or decline it entirely.
Move Ward
Take the ward off one warded creature and place it on another creature.
Move Æmber to a Card
Take that many Æmber out of your pool and set it on a card, where it waits until something moves it off.
Must Fight When Used
While in play, force every creature that has a legal fight target to fight when used, barring reap and Action abilities.
Name a House
Record the house chosen on this card so a HouseLock can bar the opponent from it while the card stays in play.
Omega
The card ends the current step of the turn the moment it resolves; no more cards may be played, used, or discarded that step.
Play
An ability that resolves right after you play the card from your hand.
Play a Card from Hand or Discard Pile
The controller plays a card from their hand or discard pile right now, ignoring the active-house gate.
Play the Card Under a Card
Play a card placed under the resolving card, putting the one played into context.
Poison
The creatures this creature damages in a fight are destroyed, whatever power they have left.
Power Counter
A permanent token that raises a creature's power by one (+1) or lowers it by one (-1) while it stays in play.
Purge
Set a card aside out of the game in the purge pile, where no ability can reach it; it never returns.
Put a Card From Hand Under a Card
The controller places a card from their hand under the resolving card, face up or face down.
Put from Hand
The controller puts a card chosen from their hand directly into play.
Put from Play
Take the chosen cards out of play to a named zone — deck top, hand, or archives — shedding their in-play state.
Put the Cards Under a Card Into Play
Put every card under the resolving card into play under its owner's control.
Ready
Turn a creature upright again so it can be used, the opposite of exhausting.
Reap
An ability that resolves after you use a ready creature to reap.
Redirect Fight Damage
Before a fight, the attacker deals its outgoing fight damage to a chosen creature instead of the one it fights.
Restriction
Forbid a player an action for a stretch of the game; while active, "cannot" beats any "must" or "may".
Result Gate
Resolve one action, then a follow-up (A -> B) only when the first action actually happened.
Return
Take the card just found in the discard pile into its owner's hand.
Return Named Card to Hand
Put a card of a chosen name into your hand, from a friendly creature in play or your discard pile.
Reveal Top of Deck
Reveal the top cards of a deck to both players so a following effect can inspect or play the top one, or route the revealed cards.
Search
Search one or more of your zones for cards matching a filter, reveal what you take, and put it into your hand or archives.
Setup
Each player's starting hand: the first player draws 7 cards, the second draws 6, and each may mulligan once for one card fewer.
Shuffle
Shuffle your deck, optionally folding whole zones or your cards in play into it first.
Skirmish
The creature takes no damage back when it is used to fight.
Splash-attack
When the creature fights, it deals N damage to each neighbor of the creature it fights, at the same time as its own fight damage.
Start of Turn
An ability that resolves at the start of its controller's turn, before they forge.
Steal Æmber
Move Æmber from the opponent's pool into your own, up to what they have.
Stun
Place a status on a creature; the next time it reaps, fights, or uses an Action, it exhausts and the stun is removed instead.
Swap Deck And Discard
Exchange your deck with your discard pile, then shuffle the new deck.
Tactic
A one-shot card whose effect resolves as you play it, then goes straight to your discard pile.
Taunt
The creature's neighbors cannot be chosen to be fought unless they have Taunt themselves.
Toll
Æmber a card makes the opponent give to play an artifact or use an artifact's ability, going to the toll card's controller.
Treachery
The card enters play under your opponent's control.
Trigger Another Card's Ability
Resolve the abilities under another card's named trigger without using that card, for the player who reached for them.
Turn structure
The turn runs through eight phases in a fixed order: start of turn, forge a key, choose a house, archives, the main phase, ready, and draw, then end of turn.
Unstun
Remove the stun status from the chosen creatures, freeing them to act normally.
Upgrade
A card that attaches to a creature as you play it, changing its stats or granting it abilities while attached.
Versatile
The card may be used as if it belonged to your active house, though it is still played only on its own house's turn.
Ward
Place a one-shot shield on a creature; it absorbs the next instance of damage or the next time the creature would leave play, then is spent.
When Your Opponent Would Forge a Key
An ability that resolves when the opponent would forge a key, before the forge, and can prevent it.