Player's Guide
Welcome to the Four Empires Trading Card Game Player's Guide! With the help of our Player’s Guide, you can jump right in and learn how to play the game with our Quick-Start Guide, or check out the in-depth guide that follows after! This Player’s Guide covers all the basics you need to start playing right away, however, if you can’t find the answer to your question in the Player’s Guide, join our discord! We have a Text Channel specifically for answering any TCG questions, plus we have plenty of other fun things in the Discord for you to check out.
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With so many ways to play, fight for your Empire your way!
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Quick-Start Guide
This guide is a quick breakdown of how to play the Four Empires Trading Card Game. It covers the basics you need to know to jump right into a game. If you'd like to learn more, following this is the full in-depth breakdown of the Four Empires Trading Card Game. Have fun in your adventures!
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Player Hit Points: Each Player starts the game with 100 Hit Points, which can only be lost through direct attacks on the Player. A Player can only be attacked directly when the Player has no Character Cards or Obstruction Cards on the field.
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Turn Order: The turn order can be decided by a coin flip, dice roll, or mutual agreement.
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Drawing Cards: Players start the game with 5 cards and draw a 6th and 7th on their first turn. Players continue to draw 2 cards on their turn throughout the game.
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First Turn: In a 2 - Player match, the Player who goes first cannot play an Obstruction card or more than one Character Card on their first turn.
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Character Cards: Players can place 2 Character cards on their side of the field on their turn, though some cards’ effects allow players to summon more. Players are limited to 5 Character Cards on their side of the field at any time.
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Summoning Fatigue: Character Cards cannot attack the turn they are summoned, this is called Summoning Fatigue.
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Magic Items: During a player’s turn, each Character Card they control may equip one Magic Item Card. However, a Character Card is limited by the equipment slots they have.
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Defensive Line Cards: You may place one Obstruction Card or Siege Weapon Card every turn, but you can only have three Obstruction or Siege Weapon Cards on your side of the field at any time.​​​​
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Attacking: When a Character Card attacks another card, you compare the ATK of the attacking card with the DEF of the defending card. Whichever card has the lower number, goes to the owner's Graveyard.
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Multi-Attacks: Multiple Cards can attack at the same time. When this happens, add the ATK stat of the attacking cards together.
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Blitz: If a player has no Character Cards on their side of the field, and an opponent has at least 3 Character Cards on their side of the field, the player can choose to Blitz at the cost of 10 Hit Points. When you Blitz, Character Cards that you bring to the field on your turn will NOT have Summoning Fatigue. (Cards brought to the field by another card’s effect, are not affected by Blitz and may still have Summoning Fatigue)
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Mulligan Rule: Players can Mulligan the first turn for free and also get another one to use at any point in the game at the cost of one card. To Mulligan, Players return all the cards in their hand to their deck, reshuffle their deck, and pull out a hand with one less card than before. Note: You cannot Mulligan and Blitz in the same turn.
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Winning the Game: If any Player’s Hit Points hit 0, they are eliminated. When all other Players are eliminated, the final remaining Player wins the game!
card breakdown
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1. CARD NAME
2. CARD TYPE
3. EMPIRE
4. EQUIPMENT SLOTS
5. ATTACK STAT
6. DEFENSE STAT
7. CARD EFFECT
8. SET SYMBOL
9. SET NUMBER
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1. CARD NAME
2. CARD TYPE
3. EQUIPMENT SLOT TYPE
4. MATERIAL
5. CLASSIFICATION
6. CARD EFFECT
7. MAGIC ITEM BREAKDOWN
8. SET SYMBOL
9. SET NUMBER
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Starting RULES
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Each Player starts the game with 100 Hit Points, a freshly shuffled Deck with 50-70 cards, and a goal of bringing their Opponent’s Hit Points to zero. They start the game by drawing 5 Cards from their Deck and adding them to their hand, they then draw a 6th and 7th on their turn.
There are five types of cards in The Four Empires Trading Card Game: Character Cards, Magic Item Cards, Instant Cards, Obstruction Cards, and Siege Weapon Cards. You can learn more about these cards in their dedicated sections in the Player’s Guide.
After deciding the turn order (either by calling a Coin Flip, Dice Roll, or through Mutual Agreement) a Player will take their turn. Players begin their turn by drawing TWO cards from their Deck and adding them to their hand, then they may place down two Character Cards and one Obstruction or Siege Weapon Card (unless a card’s effect says otherwise). They also can equip one Magic Item Card onto each Character Card on their side of the field. Once that Player has finished doing as they like on their turn, they end their turn and the next Player’s turn begins.
First-Turn Rules: The Player that goes FIRST on a Two-Player match cannot play an Obstruction Card, and can only play ONE Character Card on their first turn.
Here are some keywords to keep in mind while learning the Four Empires Trading Card Game:
Deck: To play, each player needs a Deck, which is a personalized collection of 50-70 cards. All Decks must be freshly shuffled before starting the game. To learn more about the rules for creating a personalized Deck, check out the Deck Construction section of the Player’s Guide!
Hand: The cards each Player holds that are ready to use but have not been played yet. As the name suggests, cards in the "Hand" are generally held in a Player's physical hand, hidden from their Opponents. Cards can be added to the hand by Drawing or by Card Effects.
Field: The playing area where active cards are placed during the Game. Generally, Players can only place cards on their side of the field. Each Player’s side of the field has two Major Sections: The Defensive Line (where Obstruction and Siege Weapon cards are placed), and The Battlefront (where Character Cards and Magic Items are placed). To learn more about where cards go on the field, check out the Card Positioning section of the Player’s Guide. You can also find additional information in the respective card’s section of the guide as well.
Graveyard: The pile where most cards go when they're destroyed during the game. Each Player has an individual Graveyard.
Character Cards: Your main way of attacking in The Four Empires Trading Card Game. Character Cards have an Attack (ATK) stat and a Defense (DEF) stat that determine their strength. On their turn, Players may only place down 2 Character Cards unless a card allows them to play more.
Magic Item Cards: Cards that are equipable, and act as modifiers to most Character Cards. Character Cards can only equip one Magic Item Card per turn.
Instant Cards: One-time use cards that don’t need a Character Card to be played.
Obstruction Cards: Defensive Line Cards that block their owner’s side of the field from attacks.
Siege Weapon Cards: Defensive Line Cards that are used to attack an opponent’s side of the field.
DECK CONSTRUCTION
Each player must have a Deck with 50 to 70 cards in it. Here are the rules to building a game ready Deck!*
Duplicate Cards: You may have up to 3 of the same Card in your Deck. Some cards have Alternate Arts, however, if the card has the same Name, Title, ATK, DEF, and Effect, then it would be considered the same card when Deck building
Deck Limits: In your Deck, you must not exceed more than 1 Entity, 3 Paragons, 6 Scouts, and 12 Champions.
Restricted Cards: A few cards are so powerful that they must be limited to one per Deck. The current Restricted Cards are listed below.
Restricted Cards:
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Chain of Abundance
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The Gray March
Summoning Deck: Some cards mention being brought to the field from the Summoning Deck. These cards are separated from your standard Deck and are generally brought to the field by another card's effect. Cards in your Summoning Deck are not counted in your Deck card count.
CHARACTER CARDS
​Character Cards are the primary way to attack your opponent in the Four Empires Trading Card Game. Each Character Card has both an Attack Stat (ATK) and a Defense Stat (DEF). These are either added to or subtracted from depending on card effects and what a Character has equipped. During their turn, a player can place down 2 Character Cards (with some card effects allowing them to place down more than that).
Base ATK & Base DEF: Base ATK & DEF are the ATK and DEF stats that are written on the card before Effects or Magic Items are added to the stats.
Equipment Slots: You can see the Equipment slots available to each Character Card above their ATK bubble. Generally, every humanoid Character Card has 6 Equipment Slots that can be utilized (a Headpiece, Backpiece, Neckpiece, Ring, Mainhand, and Off-Hand).
Some Character Cards, like Beasts and Entities, do not have any Equipment Slots.
Summoning Fatigue: The turn a Character Card is summoned to the field, they cannot attack due to Summoning Fatigue. However, they can still use Magic Item effects.
Tributes: To summon certain cards, you must Tribute Character Cards. When Character Cards are Tributed, they are sent to their Graveyard with all their Magic Items. Generally, when Paragons are Tributed for the Entity of their Empire, the Paragon gives double the bonus that a standard Warrior of the same empire would give.
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Character Allegiances: Certain Cards have effects that interact with Cards from specific Empires. You can find a Character Card's Empire in the top right Corner of the Art frame, and usually in their Type as well.
Card Types: A card's Type can be found underneath the card's name. In the Card Type, you can find keywords relevant to certain effects such as “Golden Bear Champion" or "Cobalt Shark Paragon".
For example, Jaiten Bronzeclaw gains +4 ATK and +4 DEF for every Champion card on his side of the field.
MAGIC ITEM CARDS
Magic Item Cards are cards that you equip to Character Cards. They act as modifiers, where you attach them to a Character Card, and they can add both a positive and/or a negative effect. The Types of Magic Items are: Two-Hander, Main-Hand, Off-Hand, Headpiece, Backpiece, Neckpiece, and Ring. You can tell what Equipment Slot a Magic Item Card fills by the symbol in the top left corner of its art frame; it will also be written out underneath the card's name in the Card Type.
Facedown Cards: Some Magic item cards can be placed facedown on the Character Card they are equipped to and can be activated as a Reaction to an Opponent's move. These are mostly Magic Items that add modifiers after they are revealed; however, they can also be one-time-use Magic Items that can act as traps. Facedown cards can be revealed during the Owner's turn without it having to be a Reaction to something as well.
Reactions: Some card effects mention Reactions. A Reaction happens directly after a specified event that is mentioned in the Reaction card's effect. If the card is a facedown card and is revealed as a Reaction, the card's effect is activated.
Cooldowns: Some cards have Cooldowns that occur after their effect. Cards with Cooldowns are unable to use their effect for a specified number of turns after their effects are triggered. The turn on which the effect is used is not included in the Cooldown period.
Corax Magic Items and Tekovian Steel Magic Items: Corax is a Magically Conductive metal in the world of The Four Empires, and Tekovian Steel is an extraordinarily strong steel forged in the volcanoes of Tekovia. Many Magic Items are made with Corax and Tekovian Steel. You can tell if an item is one of these materials by the material's symbol in the top right corner of the art frame as well as the label in the top left corner of the card's Effect Box. Some cards' effects change depending on how many Corax or Tekovian Steel Magic Items are on the field.
INSTANt Cards
Some cards are played, as the title suggests, instantly. Instant Cards don't need to be equipped to a Character Card to be played and are sent to your Graveyard directly after use. Instant Cards can ONLY be used on your turn unless otherwise stated in a card's effect. You can tell a card is an Instant Card as it'll say that in its Card Type underneath the card's name.
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obstRUCTION Cards
Obstruction cards are placed on your Defensive Line next to Siege Weapon Cards. Obstructions are used to protect your side of the field. Obstruction Cards must be destroyed before anything else on your field is attacked, or affected by an Enemy Effect.
Each player is limited to a maximum of 3 Defensive Line Cards on their side of the field at a time, and may only play one per turn unless a card effect says otherwise.
SIEGE WEAPON Cards
Siege Weapon Cards are placed on your Defensive Line alongside Obstruction Cards. Siege Weapon Cards are used to attack the other side of the field. Some Siege Weapons similar to The Ballista can attack over “most obstructions” as well as Enemy Character Cards to damage an Opponent’s Hit points directly, however, cards similar to Shielding Light will still block its attack.
To attack with Siege Weapon cards generally, Character Cards with Main-Hand Equipment Slots must not attack. If a Player has enough Character Cards on the field to attack with their Siege Weapon more than once, they are allowed to do so. Character Cards with Summoning Fatigue CANNOT attack with a Siege Weapon.
Each Player is limited to a maximum of 3 Defensive Line Cards on their side of the field at a time, and may only play one per turn unless a card effect says otherwise.
BATTLE RULES
Players may only attack, equip Magic Item Cards, or use an effect on their turn unless using a Reaction or otherwise stated on a card effect. Generally, each Character Card that doesn't have Summoning Fatigue gets one attack on their turn.
Character Cards have an Attack Stat (ATK) and a Defense Stat (DEF). When a card attacks another card, you compare the ATK of the attacking card with the DEF of the defending card. Whichever card has the lower number, goes to the Owner's Graveyard. If the ATK and DEF are equal, both Character Cards are destroyed.
When attacking an Obstruction that has the same DEF as your ATK, the Obstruction is destroyed. However, the Attacker is not.
When a Character Card is destroyed it is sent to the Owner’s Graveyard with all of the Magic Item Cards the Character Card has equipped. Unless stated otherwise in a card's effect, the Owner of the card does not lose any Hit Points.
Direct Attacks: Player Hit points are only lost when a Player is attacked directly. Players can only be attacked directly when they have no Character Cards or Obstruction Cards on their side of the field.
Attacking with Multiple Cards: Players may choose to attack with multiple Character Cards at the same time. When you do this, you combine the ATK stats of all the Character Cards attacking.
Blitz: If a player has no Character Cards on their side of the field, and an opponent has at least 3 Character Cards on the side of the field, the player can choose to Blitz at the cost of 10 Hit Points. When you Blitz, Character Cards that you bring to the field on your turn will NOT have Summoning Fatigue. Cards brought to the field by another card’s effect, are not affected by Blitz and may still have Summoning Fatigue. You cannot Blitz on your first turn.
Summoning Fatigue: Character Cards cannot attack the first turn they are summoned due to Summoning Fatigue, they can use Magic Item effects, however.
Banishing: When a card is Banished it is removed from play for the rest of the game. It is not sent to the Owner's Graveyard.
card positioning
The graphic below is an example of how to lay out your card positions while playing The Four Empires Trading Card Game. There are 3 Defensive Line Card positions up front, 5 Character Card positions on the bottom row, and your Deck with a spot for your Graveyard in front of it, on the side. If you have a Summoning Deck, that can be placed next to your standard Deck or Graveyard.
Note: Magic Item Cards have been designed to slide under the Character Card they are equipped to! Just leave the bottom edge visible after sliding the Magic Item Card underneath the Character Card and it will still show you some of the most important information.
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Thanks for playing The Four Empires Trading Card Game!
To learn more about the world of The Four Empires and find our Live-Action Short Films, Live-Play TTRPG, Events, and more, go to: