Morfa - Rules

Table setup

Note that unlike in most other 1v1 games, in Morfa players sit side-by-side, not across from each other. This also means that all cards are always oriented in the same direction.

• 1: "Obelisk" cards. Both players start with one in the middle field. The goal of the game is to destroy the opponent's obelisk before they destroy yours.
• 2: "Pylon" cards. Both players start with one, each in opposing fields. They provide protection to the allied Obelisk so long as they exist.
• 3: Cards from players' libraries which they pick during deckbuilding are placed here, in the Library zones, face-up.
• 4: Player Hands are located here. Note that their contents should not be hidden from the other player.
• 5: Quick Action Tokens. Both players start with three at the start of the game - you can use any object to keep track of them.
• 6: Fields - where the action happens. There are three in total - left, middle and right. One player's cards are placed at the top, while the other's are placed at the bottom of each field to signify who controls what.

Reading cards

In common

All cards share three things:

• At the top left of the card, in the big circle, is its mana (✧) cost.
• To the right of the mana cost is the card's name.
• At the very bottom edge of the card, in small font, is the info box. It spells the card's type and may have additional information depending on the specific card.
• Some cards may have an additional Elemental cost expressed as symbols to the right of their name.

Creatures

Creatures serve as the main way to play the game and interact with your opponent.

• Bottom left and right numbers signify the creature's Attack (ATK) and Health (HP) respectively.
• The main text box, right below the art, explains what the card does. Bold text signifies keyword abilities, reference for which can be found at the bottom of this page.
• Small text right above the card's name is artist credit.

Mutators

Mutators allow you to modify creatures, empowering your own or impeding your opponent's. Their main text box explains their effect.

Note that most keyword abilities have a corresponding Mutator card. You can use them as reference for abilities if you're having a hard time remembering them.

Elements

Element cards serve mainly as a resource to play other cards, but most of them can be played to achieve some sort of effect without other cards. Their played effect is listed below the large element symbol.

Enchantments

Enchantments are similar to mutators, but they are always attached to your Obelisk, providing various effects. Take note that enchantments are permanent buffs that can not be removed by your opponent once played.

Structures

The only two structure cards are the Obelisk and the Pylon. The distinction between a Unit and a Creature is important here - an effect that works on Units can influence a structure or a creature, while an effect that only works on Creatures would not be able to do anything with an Obelisk or a Pylon.

Gameplay

The two players alternate turns until one of the players wins or concedes. The player who has more cards in their deck has the first turn. If both players have the same amount of cards, throw a coin. The first player starts with 4 cards drawn and 5 mana, while the second starts with 5 cards and 6 mana.

Each player can take up to 3 actions per turn, after which their turn ends and the opponent's begins. As noted before, the goal of the game is to destroy the enemy obelisk.

Possible actions are as follows:

• Play a card: Playing units allows you to place them in the field with your obelisk. Mutators can be played on any creature on any field (including the enemy ones). You need to spend mana (✧) to play cards according to their cost. If you don't have enough mana you can't play the card.
  Non-stacking mutators can not be played on creatures who already have them.
• Command a creature: You can command any non-exhausted allied creature on field. When you do so you can choose to either attack or move.
  Attacking allows you to pick one of the opponent's units in the same field and deal damage equal to your creature's ATK to it. Units that posses damage equal or higher than their HP are defeated, sending them to the owner's discard.
  Moving allows you to move the creature to any adjacent field. Either way, both moving and attacking make the creature exhausted after finishing the action - this is usually marked by rotating it 45 degrees.
• Advance: You can move multiple units in a single action. They still act as if they are moved by normal commanding.
  There are certain limitations to this action:
  - You can only advance units that are all in the same field, and all of them will move to the same field.
  - The total mana cost of all of the units that will move can not exceed the cost of your most expensive summoned creature ("Advance move limit"). This creature does not need to be in the field with the advancing units.
• Rally: Un-exhaust all ally units. Gain ✧ for each of those units depending on their positions: 2✧ for ones that are in the field with your obelisk, 3✧ for ones in the other ones.
  This action ends your turn when performed, even if you still have actions remaining.
• Draw: Draw 2 cards (add them to hand from your deck).
  Note that your hand is limited to 6 cards. If you have more by the end of the turn, you need to discard cards until you have 6. You gain 1✧ per card discarded this way.
• Library Draw: Draw 1 from your library. This action is Swift, but costs 3✧ to perform.
  Drawing from your library allows you to choose any of the cards from it and add it to your hand. See the keywords section for an explanation of Swift actions.

Paying elemental costs

With cards that have elemental costs (symbols to the right of their name) you need to pay their elemental costs in addition to the mana cost when playing them.

To pay for an element symbol, either discard the corresponding element card or a Sal card from your hand. Sal symbols in cost can be satisfied by any element card.

You can also exhaust creatures with Source to pay for elemental costs (as a part of playing the card). Each exhausted creature pays for 1 symbol that matches one of the symbols in its cost, or Sal. Note that you can't exhaust Source creatures when you don't have anything to pay for.

Deckbuilding

There aren't a lot of limits while building your deck, but keep the following rules in mind:

• Your deck can contain 60~120 cards, inclusive.
• You can not have more than 3 copies of the same card in your deck. Unique cards and Enchantments are limited to a single copy per deck. Each element is limited to 6 copies per deck.
• At least a half of all cards in your deck must be creatures.

After building your deck, pick out any 6 cards from it - they will be in your library. The rest will be your main deck.

Keywords

Swift: This keyword indicates Swift Actions. You can perform a Swift action before each of your normal ones without actually consuming it. Using a second Swift Action in a row will still consume an action as normal though. Yin, Yang and Void: Yin cards are creatures that have more ATK than HP. Yang Creatures are ones that have more HP than ATK. Void ones are those that have an equal amount of HP and ATK.
The type of the creature depends only on the text written on the card - a 3/4 creature is always Yang, regardless of modifiers, unless an effect directly states that it changes the type.

Frontline: When a frontline unit can be attacked, only frontline units can be attacked. Ignored by units who have Ranged.

Tough: When this unit receives damage and has more than 1 remaining HP, this damage can only reduce its remaining HP to 1.

Counter-attack: When attacked, if this unit is not exhausted and is able to attack the attacker it will automatically attack. This attack will still occur even if the counter-attacker is defeated by the initial attack.

Thorns: When attacked, attacker receives damage equal to damage dealt. Ignored if attacker has ranged, unless the target also has ranged.

Armor X: Decreases all instances of damage received by the armor value (the X), but damage can never be decreased below 1 by this keyword.

Draining: Creatures attacked by this unit will exhaust. Takes priority over Counter-attack.

Ranged: Ignores Frontline, Counter-attack and Thorns. Counter-attack and Thorns will not be ignored if target also has Ranged.

Vampirism: This unit heals for amount of damage it deals whenever it attacks. This does not count overkill damage.

Immortal: This unit is transferred back to the owner's hand instead of the discard when defeated.

Rush: You can command this unit immediately after playing it, without using up an action - as this is a part of the card's effect.

Leader: Played ally units can be summoned in the same field as this unit.

Trickster: Can only be attacked by other tricksters, unless there are no non-trickster allies

Source: Can be exhausted to satisfy 1 element cost of an element in its cost, or Sal. Sal element cost can only satisfy Sal itself, not other elements.

Manaless: Creature does not grant mana when it un-exhausts.

Tireless: Creature does not exhaust, and ignores any effects that would force it to exhaust.

Servant: When an ally exhausts, this creature can be exhausted instead. Can be combined with tireless

Seek: Seeking is drawing cards of your choice. You always shuffle after seeking, and you always seek when drawing from library.

Evolve: Creatures with this keyword replace an allied creature when played. This removes any damage, but transfers the mutators and other tokens from the old creature. Evolve is often restricted (ex. "Evolve a yang creature"), but when it's not you can replace any allied creature. When you evolve, cover the old creature with the new one. This overlap is retained when the creature is moved between hand, fields or library - just like a mutator. A creature that was evolved can be played ignoring the Evolve keyword - it counts as already being satisfied.

Triggers

All triggers only activate their effects after the associated action was taken.

Kill: [effect] - The effect happens whenever this unit defeats another unit.

Defeat: [effect] - The effect happens when this unit is defeated.

Exhaust or Exhausted: [effect] - The effect happens when this unit is exhausted.

Attack: [effect]- The effect happens whenever this unit attacks.

Move: [effect] - The effect happens when this unit moves.

Played: [effect] - The effect happens when this card is played.

"⤥: [Effect]" OR "X✧: [Effect]" - Manual trigger, also referred to as "Actives". You can command the unit to execute the effect instead of attacking/moving. "⤥" means "Exhaust" and "X✧ " means "pay X✧". If both are present, you need to do both.

Some manual triggers literally have "X✧" as their cost. You can pay any amount of✧ to activate such a trigger, and the effect will be adjusted depending on the amount.

Etc. And Rulings

• Quick action tokens allow you to spend them during your turn to perform an additional, fourth, action. Only one such token can be used every turn. Each player starts the game with 3 of those.
• Each rage token increases the damage the unit will deal with its next attack by 1. Rage tokens are spent when used.
• You normally can't command your creatures to attack allies or themselves.
• A barrier completely nullifies the next instance of damage, and is spent afterwards. A creature can not have multiple barriers at a time.
• Mana is capped at 30, anything obtained beyond that is lost.
• A "+X/+X token" or a "-X/-X token" are called "power tokens". They modify the unit's stats, and are themselves the source of the effect - so if a card that applied power tokens goes out of play the power tokens will remain and still provide the stat adjustment. The left value is an ATK modification, and the right one refers to HP.
• If your main deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile and make it your deck. Any cards that you discard after that go into a new discard pile.
• If there are any events that happen at the same time and rules don't specify priority (for example if moving multiple creatures with Move: triggers by using Advance), the player whose turn it currently is is free to decide the order in which they will occur.
• Unless specified otherwise (Anywhere/Everywhere), any card effects only affect units in the same field.
• When a unit with mutators is transferred directly between hand, field, or library the mutators remain on the unit. Playing a unit with mutators does not incur any additional cost. If a unit with mutators is transferred anywhere besides hand, field, or library, all of the mutators are discarded.
  Power tokens behave in the same way.
• Hands and libraries are open information - you don't hide them from the other player. The two players can also check each other's decks before the game.
• "Remaining HP" is just a shorthand for "HP - damage" and "Healing" is "Removing damage".
• "Full healing" is healing for the amount of HP equal to the unit's maximum HP.
• When a unit has both Frontline and Trickster the effect of Frontline takes over and the unit will be attackable by non-tricksters. The unit can still attack tricksters though.
• Vampirism can save a unit with Counter-attack that was defated by the initial hit, as long as vampirism can remove enough damage for the unit to be at 1 or more remaining HP after resolving the counter-attack.
• A unit can only have damage while on the field.