Every Keyword in Goblins & Gunslingers Explained

Know Your Keywords, Win More Games

In Goblins & Gunslingers, card abilities are represented as keywords — concise labels that describe a mechanic without printing the full rules text on every card. Learning what each keyword does is one of the fastest ways to improve at GNG: you'll read board states faster, set up better attacks, and avoid costly mistakes.

This guide covers every keyword in the game, organized by category, with plain-language explanations and strategy notes. For an interactive introduction to the rules, try the tutorial, or jump straight into a game at the play area.

Combat Keywords

These keywords affect how a creature behaves during the Attack Phase.

Ambush

Effect: This creature attacks immediately when played from your hand.

How it works: Normally, creatures you play during your Action Phase can't attack until your next turn — they have a form of summoning sickness. Ambush removes that restriction entirely. The moment you play an Ambush creature, it attacks.

Strategy: Ambush is one of the most flexible keywords in GNG. Use it to: deal burst damage to the opponent on a turn they don't expect it, clear a dangerous blocker the turn you need the lane open, or set up a two-creature swing in the same turn. Ambush creatures that can't survive the attack are still valuable — they deal damage and die with a purpose.

Quickdraw

Effect: This creature deals its damage before the opposing creature in combat.

How it works: In normal combat, both creatures deal damage simultaneously — both die if their Attack exceeds the other's Defense. Quickdraw breaks this symmetry: the Quickdraw creature's damage resolves first. If it deals enough damage to destroy the opposing creature, the opposing creature never gets to deal its damage back.

Strategy: Quickdraw essentially makes any creature "kill on sight." A 2-Attack Quickdraw creature beats a 2/2 and a 2/5 equally — it kills both before taking damage. Stack Quickdraw on your high-Attack, low-Defense creatures (often Humans and certain Beasts) to win trades that would normally go against you.

Double Barrel

Effect: This creature attacks twice per turn.

How it works: Most creatures make one attack per turn. Double Barrel creatures attack, resolve combat, and then attack again — either the same target or a different one.

Strategy: Double Barrel is incredibly powerful because it doubles the creature's gold income (two attack instances = two bonus gold) and doubles its damage output. Protect Double Barrel creatures aggressively — they're priority removal targets for your opponent. In the High-Rise lane, a Double Barrel creature hits two different Middle lane creatures per turn, which can dominate the middle board from safety.

Overshot

Effect: Excess damage this creature deals spills over to the next target or the opponent's HP.

How it works: If an Overshot creature deals 5 damage to a 3-Defense creature, the extra 2 damage carries forward — either to the next creature in line or directly to the opponent if no other creature is in the way.

Strategy: Overshot pairs exceptionally well with high-Attack creatures and Quickdraw. An Overshot + Quickdraw creature can chain through multiple low-defense creatures in a single attack, dealing massive damage. It also discourages the opponent from lining up Cover Tokens (0/1 blockers) — a single Overshot swing destroys the token and deals full damage to what's behind it.

Defensive Keywords

These keywords protect creatures or limit what the opponent can do.

Flying

Effect: This creature bypasses Cover Tokens when attacking.

How it works: Cover Tokens (0/1 creatures generated by certain cards) normally intercept all attacks in their lane. Flying creatures soar over them — the token stays in play but the Flying creature attacks whatever is behind it as if the token weren't there.

Strategy: Flying is the hard counter to token-heavy defensive strategies, particularly Straw Elf Cover Token generators. Even one Flying creature forces the opponent to commit a real blocker instead of relying on cheap tokens. Flying creatures in the High-Rise lane are especially hard to answer — they bypass tokens in Middle lanes when assigned to attack there.

Warrant

Effect: All enemy creatures must attack this creature first.

How it works: A creature with Warrant becomes the mandatory attack target for every opposing creature. The opponent cannot choose to attack other creatures or the player's HP directly until the Warrant creature is destroyed.

Strategy: Warrant is the definitive "tank" keyword. Place it on your highest-Defense creature or a creature with synergistic abilities (like Heal, which repairs damage to it). Warrant protects your valuable pieces from being freely attacked. Critically, Warrant does NOT prevent spell targeting — your opponent can still burn the Warrant creature with spells.

Wanted

Effect: This creature cannot be targeted by any effects.

How it works: Single-target spells, opponent abilities, and targeted effects simply cannot be applied to a Wanted creature. It is completely immune to targeting.

Strategy: Wanted is a double-edged sword. Your opponent can't remove it with spells, but you also can't buff it with targeted effects. Wanted creatures are best when they're already strong enough to not need buffs — self-sufficient threats that the opponent must answer through combat alone. A Wanted creature with high Attack in a clear lane is extremely dangerous.

Cover Tokens

Effect: Generate 0/1 creatures that block attacks in a lane.

How it works: Certain cards (not a keyword on creatures, but an effect) produce Cover Tokens — 0 Attack, 1 Defense creatures placed in a lane. They block the first attack to hit that lane, absorbing the damage before it reaches the creature or player behind them.

Strategy: Cover Tokens excel at protecting key creatures from Ambush strikes or delaying combat by one turn. Their main weakness is Overshot (the token and the damage pass through) and Flying (the token is bypassed entirely). Generate them in lanes where you have your most valuable creatures, not in empty lanes.

Value Keywords

These keywords generate additional resources or cards when triggered.

High Noon

Effect: Draw 1 card when this creature is played from your hand.

How it works: The moment you play a High Noon creature, you immediately draw a card before anything else happens. You played one card and ended up with the same hand size.

Strategy: High Noon is a card advantage keyword — it replaces itself, effectively making a High Noon creature "free" from a hand economy standpoint. Control decks love High Noon because it sustains their hand size through long games. In aggressive decks, High Noon creatures help refuel mid-combo when you've played most of your hand.

Gold Rush

Effect: Gain 1 gold when this creature is played from your hand.

How it works: Playing a Gold Rush creature immediately adds 1 gold to your current gold total for this turn.

Strategy: Gold Rush pairs naturally with gold-cost cards. On a turn where you want to play a high-gold-cost ability or a gold-required spell, play your Gold Rush creature first — the bonus gold might let you squeeze in one more action. Gold Rush also works well in Goblin decks where gold accumulates rapidly and is spent frequently.

Death Keywords

These keywords trigger when a creature dies or when a player is healed.

Last Stand (Deathrattle)

Effect: A specified effect triggers when this creature dies.

How it works: When a Last Stand creature is destroyed (in combat or by a spell), its Last Stand effect resolves immediately. Common Last Stand effects include dealing damage to the opponent, drawing a card, summoning a weaker creature, or generating a Cover Token.

Strategy: Last Stand converts every death into a resource. Against removal-heavy opponents, Last Stand creatures are frustrating to deal with — removing them costs the opponent a card AND triggers a beneficial effect. Build Last Stand chains when possible: a creature that dies and summons a smaller creature, which also has Last Stand, forces the opponent to use two removal spells to clear one original threat.

Heal

Effect: Restore HP to a player or a creature.

How it works: Heal effects restore the specified amount of HP to the target — either the player or a damaged creature. A player cannot be healed above their starting HP (30), and a creature cannot be healed above its base Defense value.

Strategy: Heal extends the game and is strongest in defensive or control strategies. Healing a Warrant creature restores its tanking capacity. Healing yourself buys one more turn to find an answer. In aggressive matchups (especially against Goblins), Heal is one of the most powerful tools available — it undoes multiple turns of damage in one effect.

Keyword Combinations and Interactions

The real depth of GNG emerges when keywords interact with each other:

• Quickdraw + Overshot: Kill the first creature before it deals damage, then spill excess damage to whatever is behind it. This combination chains kills through multiple blockers in one swing.
• Double Barrel + Last Stand: Every time a Double Barrel creature is eventually destroyed, the Last Stand fires once. Play Double Barrel + Last Stand creatures as persistent value generators — they deal double damage while alive and pay a death benefit when they die.
• Ambush + Overshot: Enter play, attack, potentially chain-kill multiple creatures immediately. A powerful Turn 4 swing.
• Warrant + Heal: Force the opponent to attack your Warrant creature, then heal it back up each turn. In the absence of burn spells, this combination can create an unkillable blocker.
• Wanted + High Noon: Play an untargetable threat that also draws you a card. High efficiency with zero downside.
• Flying + Double Barrel: A Flying + Double Barrel creature in the High-Rise lane attacks twice per turn and bypasses Cover Tokens in Middle lanes. This combination is one of the most explosive damage-dealing configurations in the game.

Quick Reference Card

• Ambush — Attack the turn you're played
• Quickdraw — Deal damage first in combat
• Double Barrel — Attack twice per turn
• Overshot — Excess damage spills to next target
• Flying — Bypass Cover Tokens
• Warrant — Enemy creatures must attack you first
• Wanted — Cannot be targeted by any effect
• Cover Tokens — 0/1 blockers that absorb one attack
• High Noon — Draw 1 card when played
• Gold Rush — Gain 1 gold when played
• Last Stand — Trigger an effect when this creature dies
• Heal — Restore HP to a player or creature

For a hands-on introduction to these keywords in context, try the interactive tutorial. Then put your knowledge to work in a full match at the play area.