Your first duel, clearly explained

Build the field before chasing damage

Each Sheriff starts at 30 health. A constructed deck contains 52 cards and uses up to two main races, with Beasts allowed alongside that mix. Two Deputies stay outside the main deck. Shuffle and draw seven cards.

Four phases, one clean rhythm

1. Draw: draw one card. Failing to draw during this phase loses the duel.
2. Resource: refresh Mana to the turn count and refresh Gold using the prior turn's Sheriff-damage instances.
3. Action: play cards, use abilities, summon a Deputy, and attack in the order your resources allow.
4. End: resolve end-of-turn cleanup and pass play.

Damage stays on the card

A creature's Defense is its remaining health. When it takes damage, reduce that remaining Defense and keep the new value for later attacks. Damage does not disappear just because combat ended or a new turn began. Healing can restore Defense when an effect says so; otherwise, a creature at zero Defense is destroyed.

This makes small attacks meaningful. A creature that survives at one Defense is still vulnerable to the next point of damage.

Read the opposing lane first

There are five Middle lanes and two High-Rise lanes. A Middle creature normally attacks the creature in the directly opposing lane. It may attack the opposing Sheriff only when that lane is clear of enemy creatures and Cover. This is opposing-lane combat, not open or free targeting.

Fresh High-Rise creatures are protected from single-target attacks and effects until their first attack. That protection then ends permanently. High-Rise attackers can target creatures and fire over middle-lane Cover, but they cannot attack the opposing Sheriff directly.

Mana ramps; Gold responds

Mana refreshes to the current turn number and does not carry unused points forward as extra Mana. Gold refreshes to 1 base Gold plus one bonus Gold for each separate damage instance dealt to the opposing Sheriff during your prior turn. A single five-damage hit is one instance. Five separate one-damage hits are five instances. Unspent Gold is replaced and does not bank.

Choose the right entry point

/play is the no-account AI-only Godot demo. Use it to practice against the computer. /outpost is the account-enabled Godot beta. Server-authoritative ranked play and reliable reconnect are not shipped yet.