Cards
All 50 cards in the game, grouped by type. Each card shows its cost in points (top right), its type, its rarity and its effect.
Edict 18 cards
A one-time effect, strong enough to cost you your chess move.
On your turn, instead of your chess move.
Reprieve
Add 15 seconds to the targeted player's clock (yours or your opponent's).
Clarifications (1)
- Time is only added if Reprieve resolves: if it is countered, it gives nothing.
Evolution
Target an allied knight or bishop: it turns into the other light piece.
Foreign Legion
Put an extra allied pawn on an empty square of your back rank, on the a, c, f or h file only.
Clarifications (1)
- Your back rank is rank 1 for White, rank 8 for Black.
Freeze
Target an enemy Subject: it can't move during its owner's next turn.
Clarifications (2)
- The king can't be frozen.
- The freeze lasts until the end of the piece owner's next turn.
Teleportation
Move a targeted allied piece to an empty square of your choice (one that would not put the enemy king in check).
Clarifications (3)
- Neither a pawn nor the king can be teleported.
- Only a check given by the teleported piece itself is forbidden: a discovered check is still allowed.
- If the chosen square is occupied when the card resolves, it has no effect.
Dragon's Breath
A targeted allied pawn pushes the Subjects on the 3 squares in front of it back by one rank: free square behind → pushed, occupied → stays put, off the board → exiled. The pawn itself never moves.
Clarifications (3)
- The breath affects your own pieces too.
- The king is never pushed.
- A piece pushed off the board is exiled: this is not a capture.
Exchange of Spies
Target an allied pawn. Your opponent then targets one of theirs: the 2 pawns swap squares.
Clarifications (4)
- Your opponent picks their pawn when the card resolves: nothing can move it in between.
- If they have no pawn left, the card has no effect.
- Each pawn keeps its color: only the squares are swapped.
- A pawn on a square shared through Cohabitation can't be picked by either player.
Surplus
Draw 3 cards, then discard 2 cards from your hand.
Clarifications (3)
- You discard 2 cards from your whole hand, not only from the cards you drew.
- If it is countered, you neither draw nor discard.
- If your deck can't provide all 3 cards, you lose the game.
Ballistic Pawn
One of your pawns standing directly behind another allied piece exiles an enemy piece standing directly in front of another allied pawn. The sacrificed pawn is exiled too.
Clarifications (3)
- The allied piece in front of the launching pawn and the aiming pawn are untouched: only the launching pawn and the targeted piece are exiled.
- The king can't be targeted.
- Exile is not a capture.
Brain Drain
Look at the top 5 cards of a targeted opponent's deck and put them back on top in any order you choose.
Clarifications (2)
- You see the top 5 cards as they are when the card resolves, not when you play it. If fewer remain, you see them all.
- If it is countered, you see nothing.
Carpooling
Target 2 allied Subjects: they move at the same time along the same vector (each following its normal rules), without capturing.
Clarifications (3)
- The king can't be moved.
- Both landing squares must be free. If either move is impossible, the card has no effect.
- Your king must not be in check after the move.
Inflation
Each player sacrifices a Relic or exiles one of their pawns, their choice. A player with neither is unaffected.
Clarifications (4)
- You pick your sacrifice when you play the card; your opponent picks theirs when it resolves.
- A player with no pawn and no Relic answers "I have nothing to give" and is unaffected.
- A sacrificed Relic goes to the graveyard; a pawn is exiled.
- A cohabiting pawn can be sacrificed: it leaves alone, the other piece on the square stays.
N55
A targeted allied knight exiles every Subject on the 4 squares forming a perpendicular cross, in the orientation you choose.
Clarifications (3)
- The cross affects your own pieces too; the king is never exiled.
- You orient the cross by choosing one of the squares your knight could jump to. Squares off the board are ignored.
- Exile is not a capture: Scavenger and Conscription don't trigger.
Back to the Source
Destroy every Relic on the board, yours and your opponent's.
Clarifications (2)
- Your own Relics are destroyed too.
- Diplomatic Immunity doesn't protect against destruction: it only stops counters.
Fell Off the Truck
Destroy a targeted enemy Relic, then put a token copy of it into play under your control.
Clarifications (1)
- The copy is put on the same square and keeps the same target: a Relic that boosted an enemy piece keeps boosting it.
Ladies First
Replaces your move. Next turn, before the draw: a free queen move within your half of the board, if you want — that queen then can't move again that turn.
Clarifications (4)
- The queen move is optional: if it isn't played before the window closes, the chance is lost.
- The stack must be empty to play it.
- The queen must stay in your half of the board.
- Queen under Berserk: if she can capture, the free move must be that capture, within your half; otherwise it is lost. After her free move, she no longer has to capture this turn, and your other pieces move normally.
Meta-Check-Morphosis
Target an allied rook, knight or bishop — the rook becomes a queen, the knight or bishop becomes a rook.
PWNED
Target an enemy pawn on the a-file: it is exiled.
Clarifications (2)
- The pawn can be on any rank of the a-file.
- Exile is not a capture.
Maneuver 6 cards
A one-time effect that comes on top of your chess move, not instead of it.
On your turn, before your chess move.
Cohabitation
This turn, move an allied Subject onto the square of another allied Subject within its reach (the square counts as empty, and must not already hold two pieces): they share the square and move independently. An enemy capture on that square sends both pieces to the graveyard.
Clarifications (3)
- The king can neither join a square nor host another piece.
- The two pieces stay together until one of them leaves the square.
- Expulsion can target either of them: it leaves the square, the other one stays.
Mimic
This turn, if the Noble you move has a twin that can move along the same vector, the twin moves at the same time — and that becomes its only possible move.
Clarifications (3)
- Pawns are never mirrored: a pawn you move goes alone.
- If several twins can mirror the move, you choose which one.
- If no twin can follow the same vector, your normal moves are still available.
Banishment
A targeted enemy piece (not the king) is Eclipsed 2 (for 2 turns: removed from the board and untouchable, then it returns to its original square and destroys the piece standing there; if that piece is the king, the Eclipsed piece is removed instead).
Clarifications (3)
- Whatever piece stands on the square when the Eclipsed piece returns is destroyed, allied or enemy. This is not a capture: Scavenger, Conscription and Bodyguard don't trigger.
- If a Relic stands on the original square, the piece returns to the nearest free square instead.
- It's a Maneuver: it doesn't replace your chess move.
Fusion
This turn, move an allied Subject onto the square of another allied Subject within its reach (the square counts as empty): it exiles that piece and gains both movements. A fused pawn can no longer promote normally.
Clarifications (3)
- The king can neither fuse nor be absorbed.
- The absorbed piece is exiled: this is not a capture.
- If you don't fuse this turn, the chance is lost.
Overtime
This turn, after your chess move, you must make a second one before passing priority (a card can't replace that move). On your next turn, you can't make a chess move — unless your king is in check. You can still play cards normally that turn.
Clarifications (3)
- Once your first move is made, the second one is mandatory: you can't pass before making it.
- On the penalized turn, if your king isn't in check, you pass instead of moving.
- Flash cards are played normally during both turns.
Rewind
Rewind the board by 2 moves (one full turn cycle). Active Relics and Edicts are rewound too; cards already played stay spent.
Clarifications (3)
- Can only be played once the game has at least 2 chess moves.
- Only the board rewinds, along with active Relics and effects: hands, decks and clocks don't change.
- It's a Maneuver: it doesn't replace your chess move.
Relic 18 cards
Stays on the board and keeps working every turn, until it is destroyed.
On your turn, instead of your chess move. You set it on an empty square of your back rank.
Minmaxxing
Lowers your deck's total cost by 1 for each copy included. If you have 4 copies in play at the same time and at most 7 pawns remain on the board (both sides combined), you win the game.
Clarifications (3)
- Only copies in play at the same time count: a destroyed copy no longer counts.
- Both sides' pawns count, cohabiting ones included.
- To have 4 copies in your deck, Minmaxxing must be its signature card.
Checkered Bishop
Target an allied bishop: it can also capture checkers-style — jump over an adjacent enemy piece diagonally and land on the empty square right behind it.
Clarifications (2)
- The jumped piece is captured: capture effects trigger.
- Only one jump per move.
Freewheeling Rook
Target an allied rook: beyond 2 squares in a straight line, it can veer diagonally (if that square is empty), then keep going straight, shifted by one file or rank. It never veers on a capture, or when the square 2 away is blocked.
Clarifications (1)
- After veering, the rook keeps going in its original direction: it still moves straight, shifted by one file or rank.
Barricade
Raise a wall between 2 neighboring files of your choice, on ranks 4 and 5: it blocks any move or attack that crosses it (diagonals included) — except a knight's, which jumps over it.
Clarifications (2)
- The wall stands between the file where you put the Relic and the file to its right: the h-file is therefore not allowed.
- It blocks both players.
Berserk
Target an allied Subject; your opponent then targets one of theirs. If either of these pieces has a capture available, its owner must make it that turn.
Clarifications (6)
- It's a permanent Relic: the obligation comes back on each of your turns while it is in play.
- When your piece has a capture available, you must make that capture with it; a Relic or an Edict can't replace that move, a Maneuver can still be played.
- If your opponent has no piece to pick (king only), the card has no effect for either player.
- Destroying the Relic lifts both obligations.
- A cohabiting piece can be picked: the obligation binds that piece, not the one sharing its square.
- With several Berserks in play, if more than one of your picked pieces has a capture available, you choose which one captures.
Bodyguard
When an allied heavy piece (rook or queen) is captured: if an allied pawn is next to its square, exile that pawn and put a piece of the captured type in its place.
Clarifications (2)
- If several allied pawns are adjacent, the one on the leftmost (then lowest) square is replaced: you don't choose.
- The replaced pawn is exiled: this is not a capture.
Matriarchy
Target an allied queen: she can swap squares with an allied Subject within her normal reach.
Clarifications (3)
- The king can't swap squares.
- Only the queen's normal moves count for her reach, not those another card gives her (Queen's Gallop).
- The swap is not a capture.
Queen's Gallop
A targeted allied queen can also move and capture like a knight.
Clarifications (2)
- The queen keeps her queen moves: the knight's moves are added to them.
- If the Relic is destroyed, the queen loses this ability.
Sidestep
Your pawns can move to an empty square right beside them. This move does not mark them as modified.
Clarifications (2)
- The sidestep never captures.
- It only applies to your pawns.
Conscription
Each time one of your pieces is captured, choose an empty square on your pawns' starting rank and create an allied pawn there.
Clarifications (3)
- Your starting rank is your pawns' rank: rank 2 for White, rank 7 for Black.
- You choose the square before the turn goes on. If no square on that rank is free, nothing happens.
- An exiled piece isn't captured: it doesn't trigger anything.
Defender
The targeted allied light piece can't be captured as long as it stays in your half of the board.
Clarifications (2)
- The protection only applies while the piece is in your half of the board (ranks 1 to 4 for White, 5 to 8 for Black). If it comes back, it is protected again.
- The piece must be in your half when you play the card.
Diplomatic Immunity
This card can't be countered. Your other Relics can't be countered either.
Clarifications (2)
- It protects your Relics while they are on the stack. Once in play, they can still be destroyed (Counterspell, Back to the Source, Fell Off the Truck).
- A Flash card is never protected.
Scavenger
Each time an enemy piece is captured, draw a card.
Clarifications (2)
- Only a capture counts: an enemy piece that is exiled (N55, PWNED, Fusion…) doesn't make you draw.
- A capture that takes two cohabiting pieces makes you draw two cards.
Unlimited Castling
Your targeted king can castle with any allied rook lined up with it on a rank or a file, even if they have already moved, as often as you like.
Clarifications (3)
- The squares between the king and the rook must be empty.
- Only the king's landing square must not be in check: the squares it crosses are not checked.
- The king lands on the second square from the edge opposite the rook, and the rook goes right next to it.
4 Knights of Victory
If you have an allied knight on each of the board's 4 corner squares, you win the game.
Clarifications (1)
- The formation is checked at the end of the turn: your opponent can still break it during the last window.
Common Ground
You no longer have a hand size limit.
Clarifications (2)
- Only you benefit from it.
- It also lifts the end-of-turn hand check, and the reduced limit once your deck is empty.
Frenzy
Each player may play one extra Flash per turn.
Clarifications (2)
- Both players benefit from it.
- Only Flash cards are affected: it doesn't allow a second Maneuver, Relic or Edict.
You Are What You Eat
A piece that captures another piece (not a Relic) turns into the piece it just captured.
Clarifications (3)
- It applies to both players' captures.
- The king never transforms.
- Taking a Relic doesn't transform the piece.
Flash 8 cards
A one-time effect you can play at almost any moment, even on your opponent's turn — often to counter their card.
Whenever you have priority, in any Flash window, on your turn or your opponent's. One Flash per player per turn; on your own turn, it uses up your card for the turn.
Not Quite Earned
The piece that was just promoted becomes the other piece of the same category instead (queen ↔ rook, knight ↔ bishop).
Clarifications (2)
- The promotion must be the last move played when you play the card. Your own promotions can be targeted as well as your opponent's.
- If the promoted piece left the board before the card resolves, it has no effect.
Parley
Your opponent may draw a card. If they do, you draw a card too.
Clarifications (2)
- Your opponent must answer before any other action.
- If they accept, they draw first, then you do.
Time Zone
Counter a card. It returns to its owner's hand. Relic or Edict: the move is given back. The card stays revealed while it is in hand.
Clarifications (3)
- Like Denial, Time Zone can target any card on the stack, including your own or a counter, and waits on the stack until it resolves.
- On a counter, that counter returns to its owner's hand, revealed.
- A card returned to hand doesn't force a discard right away: the hand is brought back to its limit at the end of the turn.
Counterspell
Destroy an enemy Relic on the targeted square.
Clarifications (1)
- The card targets one specific Relic: if that Relic has left the square when Counterspell resolves, even if another one replaced it, Counterspell has no effect.
Denial
Counter a card. If it was a Relic or an Edict, its owner gets their move back this turn.
Clarifications (6)
- Denial can target any card on the stack, including your own or a counter already played, but never itself.
- With no card to target, Denial can't be played. If only one target is possible, it is chosen automatically.
- Denial waits on the stack until it resolves: it can be countered itself, and the card it targeted then resolves normally.
- The move is only given back (countered Relic or Edict) if Denial resolves.
- If its target left the stack before Denial resolves, Denial goes to the graveyard with no effect.
- A card protected by Diplomatic Immunity can't be targeted.
Expulsion
Target an enemy Champion: your opponent sends it back to one of its starting squares, or to the nearest free square if they are all taken.
Clarifications (5)
- Two targetings: you pick the Champion when you play the card; its owner picks the square when Expulsion resolves, among the squares free at that moment. Nobody can play a card during that choice.
- All starting squares taken: they pick among the free squares of their back rank (then the next rank if it is full) closest to a starting square, counting at right angles (h8 → g7 = 2). On equal distance, they choose.
- A cohabiting Champion can be targeted: it leaves the square, the other piece stays.
- If the Champion left the board before Expulsion resolves, it has no effect.
- A piece with no starting square (two fused pawns) isn't moved: Expulsion has no effect.
Curfew
For 2 turns, no player can play a Relic, an Edict or a Maneuver. Flash cards can still be played.
Clarifications (2)
- The turn in which Curfew resolves counts: the ban lasts until the end of the following turn.
- It applies to both players, you included.
Twenty-One
If the total value of your opponent's lost pieces (graveyard and exile) is exactly 21, you win the game. Pawn 1, knight/bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9.
Clarifications (3)
- The total is counted when Twenty-One resolves.
- It must be exactly 21: above that, the card has no effect.
- The king never counts; a piece counts as what it was when it was lost.
Keywords
Words in bold on a card have a precise meaning:
- Subject
- any piece except the king.
- Champion
- any piece except the king and pawns.
- Noble
- any piece except pawns.
- Light piece
- a knight or a bishop.
- Heavy piece
- a queen or a rook.
- Twin
- another piece with the same name (queen and queen, bishop and bishop…), modified or not, controlled by the same player.
- Eclipsed X
- removed from the board for X turns, untouchable, then returns to its original square.