Mana Blade

Mana Blade is a stylish two-player fighting card game with deep and addictive and gameplay. Pick from five unique playable characters, normal girls by day who can transform under the light of the moon into magical warriors known as "Enhancers". Each Enhancer is easy to play, but can take tens or even hundreds of games to truly master. With five characters in the base game players can enjoy 10 highly nuanced match ups in true "fighting game" fashion. How to Play: The game is divided into rounds in a "first to two wins" format. Turns are simultaneous, with players trying to out-read one another by choosing an attack from their hand to play face down and, if they wish, double down by spending Mana Crystals to power up their chosen attack for the turn. Players reveal their cards. Slash beats Breaker, Breaker beats Guard, and Guard beats Slash. If both players play the same type, the card with the fastest Hit Speed wins. In the case of a tie, the player with the Advantage token wins. Players can also play green Evade cards like "Duck" or "Sidestep", which win or lose completely depending on the attack angle of their opponent's attack (such as Straight, Vertical or Horizontal etc). If you guess right, you can counter attack, but guess wrong an you get hit for full damage. The player with the winning card claims the Advantage Token (if they didn't already have it) and applies the hit icons listed on their winning card. Some hit effects include: Damage: Reduce your opponent's life to 0 and you win! Push: Push your opponent gradually towards the edge of the arena. Push them out of the arena for a sudden death victory, or use the alternate side B arena to perform a "wall combo". Stagger / Knockdown: Your opponent suffers a Hit Speed penalty next turn, allowing you to pressure them with slower, more powerful cards. Launch: Smash your opponent off their feet and connect with a mid-air follow up attack. Push your luck by rolling the "combo die" in an attempt to combo into more powerful attack cards. When you take damage you gain Mana Crystals. These let to wager them for more damage next time you find yourself in an advantageous position. Gain 3 mana Crystals and you can spend them on a "Mana Burst", allowing you to ignore the results of combat and claim the Advantage token. In Mana Blade you don't have to discard your cards, (although you can 'cycle' them out once a turn for the next card of your deck). Instead try to build up an oppressive hand of attack cards and force your opponent to adapt or die. Every card has a counter, and players only have 6 cards at once making it impossible to answer every situation perfectly. Exploit your knowledge of the game, the cards, the characters, and your opponent's habits to claim ultimate victory. —description from the publisher