How to Play

Board Overview

Spirits

In a game of Elestrals, your Spirit cards are your most important resource: they are your health, and also the fuel that you use when playing cards and attacking your opponent! Knowing when to use your Spirits and when to save them is a key strategy.

Board Overview

Elestrals

Your Elestrals defend your Spirits from your opponent, and let you attack them back! Having strong Elestrals on your field is the key to victory. Each one has its own powerful effect, as well as Attack and Defense stats that determine how they do in battle.

Board Overview

Runes

Your Runes unleash magic that can strengthen your Elestrals, weaken others, draw cards, or even directly damage your opponent! Each has an Enchantment Requirement just like Elestrals do. Some Runes use the rainbow symbol; they can be cast using any of the Spirits.

Board Overview

Zones

Each player’s field is broken up into specific zones. At the start of a game, your Spirit Deck and Main Deck are put in the bottom corners of your field. The rest of the field starts out empty. Here’s what that looks like:

Playing Elestrals

Beginning a Game

To get started, each player has to have a Spirit deck with exactly 20 Spirits in it. You can mix-and-match different Spirits or play as many of the same one as you like!

Playing Elestrals

Phases

Each turn is broken into four Phases. Some Rune or Elestral Effects can only activate in certain Phases; if an effect doesn’t say when to use it, then it can only be used in the main Phase.

Playing Elestrals

Draw Phase

First, draw a card from your Main Deck. (If you can’t draw a card because your deck is empty, then your opponent wins!)

Playing Elestrals

Main Phase

During your Main Phase you can do these actions in any order as long as there isn’t an active chain. You can skip any actions you don’t want to do or can’t do.

Playing Elestrals

Battle Phase

If you have Elestrals in Attack Position, you can battle your opponent’s Elestrals! Elestrals can attack up to one time each turn.

Playing Elestrals

End Phase

If any Effect lasts “until the End Phase”, it wears off now. Some Runes and Elestrals have effects that can only activate “during the End Phase”; you can activate those now, or Cast Counter Runes, or both.

Game Mechanics

Nexus

Some effects tell you to Nexus: this moves Spirits from one of your Elestrals or Runes to a different one! Nexus instructions always tell you how many and sometimes what kind of Spirits you can move.

Game Mechanics

Chains

Counter Runes and conditional effects (ones that activate “when” an event happens) can form chains! Chains allow players to react to an action and prevent it from happening or change what it does.

Game Mechanics

Advanced Rules

What if a card’s effect contradicts a rule in this guide? If a card ever directly conflicts with the rules, then the card wins. Follow the rules for as much as possible, but follow the card’s instructions wherever they disagree. In some cases a rule will say that “effects can’t” do something; when that happens, that rule wins instead of the card.

Game Mechanics

Glossary

Active: a category of effect that players announce and add to the chain, so that it eventually resolves and impacts the game. They can be used once per turn. (11, 25)