Rules

Overview

MageTCG is a 2+ player fantasy trading card game where players are powerful Mages battling to save or destroy humanity. Players use a deck of cards with multiple types — Characters, Relics, Spells, and Locations — to wage war.

Objective — Be the last player (or team) with life points remaining to win.

Deck-Out Rule — If a player must draw a card and their deck is empty, they lose the game. If multiple players would lose simultaneously, apply state-based effects to all players at once. If no players remain with life above 0 or cards in deck, the game is a draw.

Casting Cost — Each card has a Casting Cost, the amount of Æther required to play it from your hand. You must spend Æther equal to this value from sources you control unless stated otherwise.

Formats

Foundry (Draft 1v1 — 40-Card Deck)
In Foundry, a 1v1 format, players forge their decks in real time by drafting from three packs of 15 cards. Each player selects one card from their pack, then passes the rest to the player on their right. Drafting continues until all cards have been chosen. Players then assemble a 40-card deck from the cards they drafted.

Deck Size — 40
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1
Starting Life — 20
Starting Hand — 7
Hand Size Limit — None

Ascension (Constructed 1v1 — 60-Card Deck + Mage)
In Ascension, players bring a pre-built 60-card deck to battle and begin with an Iconic Character in their Mage Zone representing them as the player. Deck construction follows rarity-based copy limits (Common x4, Uncommon x3, Rare x2, Legendary x1).

Deck Size — 60 (59 in deck + 1 Mage)
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1
Starting Life — 20
Starting Hand — 7
Hand Size Limit — None

Vanguard (Singleton 1v1 — 60-Card Deck + Mage)
In Vanguard, every card in a player’s deck is unique, and they begin with an Iconic Character representing them in their Mage Zone.

Deck Size — 60 (59 in deck + 1 Mage)
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1
Starting Life — 25
Starting Hand — 7
Hand Size Limit — None

Dominion (Singleton 1v1 — 100-Card Deck + Mage)
The ultimate battle format, Dominion is designed for epic, hours-long games where every card is unique.

Deck Size — 100 (99 in deck + 1 Mage)
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1
Starting Life — 30
Starting Hand — 7
Hand Size Limit — None

SoulBound (Team 2v2 — 60-Card Deck + Mage)
Two players form a team and face another team of two. Teammates share 30 life and take their turns simultaneously: they restore, draw, and move through phases together. The team attacks and blocks as one. Each player has their own Deck, Hand, Battleground, Discard Pile, Banished Zone, Æther Chamber, Mage Zone, and Mage Body/Inventory. Teammates may discuss and plan openly. If a card says “opponent,” it can target either opposing player; “each opponent” affects both. A player can be eliminated individually (e.g., deck-out). Their teammate continues with the shared life total. A team loses when shared life is 0 or both players are eliminated.

Deck Size — 60 per player
Mage — Each player has a Mage in their Mage Zone (Revival Cost applies)
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1 per player
Starting Hand — 7 per player
Hand Size Limit — None
Team Life — 30 (shared)

Thronefall (1v1v1+, Free-for-All — 100-Card Deck + Mage)
Claim the Æther Throne. Break rivals. Be the last Mage standing.

Designed For — 3–6 players
Deck Size — 100 (99 in deck + 1 Mage) – singleton (every card unique)
Cards Drawn Per Turn — 1
Starting Hand — 7
Hand Size Limit — None
Starting Life — 40 per player

Game Modes

Game Modes are special rule sets that modify the default game experience. Unless a mode says otherwise, the following defaults are always in effect:

Relic Modes

Default Relic Mode — At the start of the game, all Mage Body slots and Inventory slots are empty. Players must cast Relics during gameplay to fill these slots.
Armory — All Mage Body slots start pre-filled with basic (common) Relics.
Arcane — Two Inventory slots start pre-filled (1 Potion, 1 Stone).

Draw Modes

Default Draw Mode — Each player draws 1 card per turn during their Draw Step.
Sevenfold — At the start of each turn, draw until you have 7 cards in hand.
Flux — Draw 3 cards each turn, then choose 2 cards from your hand and place them on the bottom of your deck in any order.
Overclock — Draw 2 cards per turn instead of 1, dramatically increasing game speed.

Location Modes

Default Location Mode — A player may cast or teleport to only 1 Location on each of their turns.
Wild Rift — Players may cast or teleport to as many Locations as they can afford each turn.

Game Variants

Speakeasy — Elite holographic-only variant for high-stakes tournaments and charity events. Deck construction rules follow the base format being played (copy limits, singleton rules, etc.).

Heroic — Constructed format using only Common and Uncommon cards. Deck construction follows rarity-based copy limits (up to 4 copies of each Common and up to 3 copies of each Uncommon). Available in Ascension, Vanguard, and Dominion.

Turn Rules

Game Start

Determine First Player — Coin flip, die roll, or highest Æther cost revealed.

Shuffle Decks — Then draw 7 cards for your opening hand.

Mulligans — The first mulligan is free. To mulligan, shuffle your hand into your deck and draw the same number of cards. Each additional mulligan may be taken freely, drawing one fewer card each time. You may mulligan down to zero cards but must keep the final hand drawn. Mulliganed cards are never revealed.

First Turn Restriction — The starting player does not draw on their first turn and may only attack if the attacking Character has Rush.

Turn Structure

Restore

Restore all Exhausted cards (turn them upright).

Dawn

Trigger effects that activate at the beginning of the turn.

Draw Step

Draw the number of cards specified by the selected format.

Main Phase

Convert to Æther — Convert up to 1 card from your hand into a face-down Æther Shard (unless a card or format says otherwise).

Spend Æther — Exhaust Æther Shards to generate Æther. Some cards or abilities may also produce Æther when triggered, exhausted, or activated.

Cast Cards — Play Characters, Relics, Spells, and Locations from your hand. Cards may only be cast during your Main Phase unless they have Snap.

Activated Abilities — Unless a card says otherwise, you may activate abilities any time you have priority. Abilities that say ‘Activate only as a Main Phase action’ can be activated only during your Main Phase when the stack is empty.

Teleport — Cast a Location or teleport to one you control by paying its cost. It becomes the Active Location until another Location becomes active.

Battle Phase

Summoning Restriction — Characters may not attack the turn they enter the Battleground unless they have Rush. Characters may block the turn they enter the Battleground.

Declare Attacks — You may only declare an attack with Restored Characters. By default, they become Exhausted unless they have Focus.

Blocking — Opponents may block with any number of Restored Characters per attacker. The attacker chooses how damage is assigned to blockers. Blocking Characters do not become Exhausted unless an effect says otherwise. Unblocked Characters deal their full Power as damage to the defending player.

Rage Blocking — If a Character with Rage is blocked, after assigning enough damage to destroy all blocking Characters (in order chosen by the attacker), any remaining damage is assigned to the defending player.

Snap Blocking — You may cast a Character with Snap any time you have priority. It can block this combat if it enters the Battleground before blockers are declared and is Restored at the moment blockers are declared.

Second Main Phase

Cast additional cards, teleport to Locations, or convert cards into Æther Shards.

End of Turn

Resolve “end of turn” triggers. Damaged Characters heal back to full Toughness. Unspent Æther empties at end of turn. Play proceeds clockwise.

Combat & Damage

Exhausted Characters — Cannot attack, cannot block, and cannot activate abilities that require Exhausting until they are Restored.

Restored Characters — May attack, block, or activate abilities as normal.

Simultaneous Damage — Damage is dealt simultaneously between attackers and blockers.

Damage Assignment Order — The attacking player chooses the order in which to assign damage to multiple blockers.

Damage Persistence — Damage does not persist between turns unless specified.

Destruction — If a Character’s Toughness reaches 0 or below, it is destroyed.

Rage Damage — After all blocking Characters are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned to the defending player.

Mage & Body Slot Rules

Mage Zone — The Mage begins the game in the Mage Zone.

Casting — It may be cast from the Mage Zone by paying its Æther cost.

Zone Replacement — If your Mage would change zones, you may instead return it to your Mage Zone.

Revival Cost — Each time you revive your Mage, its cost increases by +2 Æther for each previous revival this game.

Mage Zone Visibility — By default, Mages are revealed face-up at game start.

Face-Down Mages — If a format or card allows face-down Mages, they remain hidden until revealed or cast.

Revival Choice — If a Mage would change zones, its controller may instead choose to return it to the Mage Zone.

Control Changes — If an opponent gains control of your Mage and it would leave the battlefield, its owner decides whether it returns to the Mage Zone.

Card Types

Æther Shards — By default, you may Convert 1 card from your hand into an Æther Shard on each of your turns. Unless otherwise specified, Converted cards are placed face-down in your Æther Chamber. Each shard can be Exhausted (turned sideways) once per turn to generate 1 Æther. Some cards produce face-up Æther Shards with special rules described on the card. You may look at your face-down Shards any time. When a face-down card leaves play, reveal it.

Characters — Units used to attack and block. They have Power, Toughness, and may possess special abilities (e.g. Rage, Focus).

Spells — One-time effects that resolve and are then placed in the discard pile.

Relics — Sacred items that occupy Mage Body or Inventory slots and offer continuous or activated effects.

Locations — Territories with passive or activated abilities.

Mage — Your personal Iconic Character, representing you in the game. Castable from the Mage Zone. May be revived with +2 Æther for each revival (Revival Cost).

Zones

Primary Zones

Æther Chamber — Your resource pool and shard zone. It holds your Æther Shards (face-down by default; opponents can’t view them, you may).

Whenever a card or ability produces Æther, that Æther is added to your Æther Chamber and may be spent any time you have priority.

Unspent Æther remains through all phases of the current turn, then empties at end of turn (it does not carry over to future turns).

Banished Zone — Permanently removed cards (unless stated otherwise).

Battleground — Where Characters are cast and combat occurs. The two separate battleground slots are considered one battleground.

Deck — Your arsenal of Characters, Spells, Relics, and Locations.

Equipment Slots (x4) — Designated zones for “Item” subtype Relics.

Grave — Holds destroyed, discarded, or resolved cards.

Hand — Your active pool of castable cards (starts at 7; no maximum hand size unless restricted).

Mage Body — Five Relic slots:

• Head — Headwear

• Torso — Armor or Clothing

• Feet — Footwear

• Left Arm — Weapon or Shield

• Right Arm — Weapon or Shield

Mage Zone — Reserved for your Mage. Only cards with the prefix “Iconic” qualify for serving as your Mage. May be cast from here and revived for +2 Æther per prior revival. May be face-down if a card or format allows.

Relics Rules

Item Relics must be cast to an Inventory slot. Mage Relics must be cast to its corresponding Mage body slot. To replace a Relic occupying a slot, you must banish the current Relic.

Zone Rules

Casting on Occupied Slots — To cast to an occupied slot, banish the current card first.

Face-Down Cards — Any face-down card (Æther Shards or other cards) must be revealed to all players when it leaves play for the discard or banished zone.

Keyword Glossary

Core Game Rules

Æther — Energy used to cast cards, produced by exhausting Æther Shards. Some cards, Relics, or abilities may also produce Æther when triggered, exhausted, or activated.

Banish — Cards that are banished are placed into the Banished zone.

Exhaust — Turn a card sideways to show it’s been used. Exhausted cards cannot attack, cannot block, and cannot activate abilities that require Exhausting.

Restore — At the start of your turn, all cards you control are restored (turned upright). Restored cards may be used again normally.

Target — When a card or ability uses the word “target,” you must choose a valid legal object before casting or activating that effect.

Teleport — Teleport changes the game’s Active Location — the battleground where play currently takes place.

Activating Teleport — Players are teleported to a new Location whenever:

A Location is cast,
A player pays the cost of a Location they control to move there, or
An effect instructs a Location to become Active.
When this occurs, all players move to that Location, and it becomes the Active Location.

Active & Inactive Locations — Only the Active Location’s passive and activated abilities apply.

The previous Active Location’s effects end immediately.
Only one Location can be Active at a time.
If the Active Location leaves play, there is no Active Location until another is cast or teleported to.

Teleporting to Controlled Locations

You may not teleport to an active location.
You may teleport back to any Location you control by paying its cost again during your turn. When you do, it becomes the new Active Location and moves to the top of your stack.
When you teleport to a Location you control, move it to the top of your Location stack. Paying a Location’s cost to teleport is not casting and does not trigger “when you cast” effects.
Locations you control stack vertically; only the most recently cast or teleported-to Location becomes the Active Location.
If your topmost Location is not the most recent Location visited, it remains inactive until you teleport to it again.

Teleporting Priority & Timing

Teleporting requires priority.
If a card effect allows teleporting outside your turn, follow that effect’s timing. When it resolves, the chosen Location becomes Active immediately.

Locations Global Rule

The Active Location is global — shared by all players in every format (1v1, team, or free-for-all).

Universal Abilities (all card types)

Affinity — If you control a certain threshold (of Æther, Characters, Locations, or Relics), this card gains new abilities.

Amplify — You may pay an additional cost to enhance its effect.

Channel — Reduce cost by exhausting other cards.

Delay — Banish this card with counters on it. At the start of your Dawn step, remove a counter. It casts automatically without paying its cost when the last counter is removed.

Exchange — Discard this card, search your deck for another with equal cost, and put it into your hand.

Foresee — Look at the top card of your deck then put that card on the top or bottom of your deck.

Incarnate — This card may also be played as a Character under certain conditions.

Indestructible — Applies only to controlled characters or relics. Cards with indestructible can’t be destroyed by damage or effects.

Recall — You may cast this card from your discard pile by discarding another card of a specific type.

Scrap — You may discard this card for an alternate ability or effect.

Snap — May be cast at any time, even on opponents’ turns, as long as you have priority and can pay the cost. Characters cast with Snap can block that combat if cast before Declare Blockers.

Torrent — When you cast this, reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal a card with lesser cost. You may cast it without paying its cost.

Vanish — When this card leaves play, banish it instead of sending it to the discard pile.

Character-Specific Abilities

Afterlife — If this character is in your discard pile, you may pay its cost and return it to play exhausted at the beginning of your next draw step.

Ambush — If played face-down, you may flip it up by paying its cost at Snap speed.

Bloodborne — Damage this Character deals to another Character is lethal. When a Character dies this way, at the beginning of your next Draw Step return it from its owner’s discard pile to the Battleground under your control; it gains the type(s) of the source that destroyed it in addition to its other types.

Bloodrush — When this Character attacks alone, it gets +X/+0.

First Contact — Deals damage first during combat. If it kills its blocker, it takes no damage. If multiple blockers are assigned, the attacker assigns First Contact damage in its chosen order.

Flying — Can only be blocked by Characters with Flying or Ranged.

Focus — When this Character attacks, it doesn’t become Exhausted.

Guarded — Prevent the first source of damage dealt to this Character each turn.

Hunger — At the beginning of your next Dawn step, pay its cost again or sacrifice it.

Imposing — This character must be blocked by two or more characters.

Ironclad — While blocking, this Character takes no battle damage.

Lifegain — Heals you equal to damage dealt by the source of lifegain.

Link — Gains bonuses while paired with another specific Character type.

Multistrike — This Character deals damage multiple times each battle phase.

Phantasmal — Cannot block and is destroyed if it deals damage.

Rage — Excess damage in combat carries over to the opponent.

Rally — Gains a bonus when attacking alongside at least two other Characters.

Ranged — Characters with Ranged can block characters with flying.

Reanimate — When this Character dies, exile it; at the end of your next turn, return it to play with a -1/-1 counter.

Regenerate — Until end of turn, the next time this Character would be destroyed, instead it remains on the Battleground, becomes Exhausted, is removed from combat, and all damage is removed.

Resurrect — You may cast this Character from your discard pile by paying its cost plus 2 Æther. It enters the Battleground with Rush. At the end of turn, banish it.

Riftborn — Cannot be targeted by opponents’ cards.

Rush — Allows a Character to attack the turn it enters the Battleground.

Splitblade — This Character deals both First Contact damage and regular combat damage.

Stealth — This character cannot be blocked by characters with greater power.

Terrorize — Can only be blocked by Characters sharing a type.

Thrive — This Character enters with +1/+1 counters if you control fewer Characters than your opponent.

Toxic — Damage dealt by this Character is lethal. (Does not defeat Indestructible.)

Trap — May be played face-down; when revealed during combat, it immediately blocks.

Tunnel — Cannot be blocked except by other Characters with Tunnel.

Unblockable — A character with Unblockable cannot be blocked by another character.

Watcher — Cannot attack.

Spell-Specific Abilities

Cataclysm — You may pay an alternate cost to affect all possible targets instead of just one.

Mirror — Copy this card when cast.

Surge — You may cast this Spell from your discard pile by paying its cost plus 2 Æther. After it resolves, banish it.

Relic-Specific Abilities

Attuned — Only certain Character types can equip this Relic.

Bind — Attach this Relic to a Character.

Bonded — Functions only while another specific Relic is in play.

Kindle — You may cast this card for an alternate reduced cost; if you do, it sacrifices at the end of turn.

Overload — Relic gains cumulative counters; when maxed, it sacrifices for a powerful effect.

Recharge — This relic does not restore. After the number of turns specified, restore it during your restore step.

Location-Specific Abilities

Sanctuary — Once per turn, you may play a Character from your hand without paying its cost if it shares a type with the Location.

Sovereignty — This Location’s effect scales based on the number of Locations you control.

Stronghold — Damage to you is reduced while this Location is active.