Zones
Lets take a look at a game of Ascendant! There are 6 distinct zones, each with their own function.
Hand: Your hand consists of cards that you have drawn from the Arsenal. All cards can only be played from your hand
Arsenal: A pile of face down cards that act as your main deck, where all Active, Passive, Gambit, and Jumon cards go
Fountain: A resource deck, housing your Stamina cards, Genki and Finesse. These cards are played face up and are open information.
Scrapyard: Where cards go when they are used or destroyed in battle. Certain card effects can bring cards back from this pile and allow you to use them again
Battlefield: The area where cards are played and activated.
Abyss: Where spent stamina cards and normal cards that are permanently removed from the game go
Gameplay
Opening Phase
At the beginning of every turn, all players either draw 1 card from their Arsenal to their hand or purge 1 card from the Scrapyard to the Abyss.
Next, all activated card stacks are reset. The turn player may play any complete card stacks onto the battlefield.
The turn player must then declare a Ranged or Melee attack. If there are multiple opponents they must also declare the target of their attack.
Engage Phase
Once the attack is declared, the turn player may choose a weapon to use for their attack. Only one Weapon can be activated unless the card has Barrage or Swarm. Cards that affect Engage rolls are able to be used by all players before the rolls are made.
In a ranged attack, the turn player rolls non-contested for Aim. If the roll result is 11 or higher, the aim check succeeds and the turn player proceeds to Strike Phase. If the result is 10 or lower, the aim check fails and the turn player proceeds to the Finishing Phase instead. Any cards that modify Aim will impact this roll.
In a melee attack, the turn player and the target player roll contested for Speed. If the turn player rolls equal to or higher than the targeted player, the speed check succeeds and the turn player proceeds to the Strike Phase. If the targeted player rolls higher, the speed check fails and the turn player proceeds to the Finishing Phase instead. Any cards that modify Speed will impact this roll.
Strike Phase
In a ranged attack, the turn player and the target player roll contested for Ranged Damage and Defense respectively. After the rolls, the damage dealt is equal to the turn player’s roll minus the targeted player’s roll. Any cards that modify Ranged Damage and Defense will impact these rolls. Whether this attack succeeds or not, proceed to the Finishing Phase.
In a melee attack, the turn player and the target player roll contested for Melee Damage and Defense respectively. If the turn player rolls equal to or higher than the targeted player, the damage dealt is equal to the turn player’s roll. Any cards that modify Melee Damage and Defense will impact these rolls. If the attack succeeds, proceed to the Finishing Phase. However, if the targeted player rolls higher, proceed to the Counterattack Phase.
Counterattack Phase
The targeted player rolls non-contested for a Counterattack. The damage dealt is equal to the roll minus 10. Only cards with the keyword “counterattack” will impact this roll. After this roll, proceed to the Finishing Phase.
Finishing Phase
All players have the ability to activate applicable card effects, starting with the turn player, passing counter clockwise. Once all effects are resolved, the turn is over and passes clockwise to the next player.
