Super Benji TCG Rules

Objective

Reduce your opponent’s Health to 0.

Each player starts with 20 Health. If a player must draw a card and cannot, they lose the game.

Deck Construction

Each deck contains exactly 27 cards.

You may include up to 3 copies of any card in your deck, except cards with Unique in their card type, which are limited to 1 copy each by full card name. Card types include Characters, Artifacts, Locations, and Actions, and all of these may be Unqiue.

Game Setup

Each player shuffles their deck and draws 3 cards. Randomly decide which player goes first.

Turn Structure

Each turn consists of five phases.

Start Phase

Ready all exhausted cards. Characters generate Actions and add them to your Action Pool. Resolve any effects that occur at the start of your turn. Characters also heal at the start of your turn.

Draw Phase

Draw 1 card.

Main Phase

You may play Characters, Artifacts, and Locations from your hand. You may also use abilities and play Actions. There is no limit to the number of cards you may play unless stated otherwise.

Combat Phase

First, declare attackers by choosing any number of ready Characters. Attacking Characters become exhausted unless they have Vigilance. Next, the defending player declares blockers. Each Character may block only one attacker, and each attacker may only be blocked by one Character. Only ready Characters may block. Players then enter the Action Window, starting with the attacking player. Players alternate using abilities or playing Fast Actions until both players pass. Finally, damage is dealt simultaneously. Unblocked attackers deal damage to the defending player.

End Phase

Resolve any end-of-turn effects. All unspent Actions are lost.

Action System

Characters generate Actions at the start of your turn, and when they are played. These Actions are added to a shared Action Pool. Actions cannot be saved between turns. Action types include Hero (H), Villain (V), Plus (+), Minus (-), Misc (?), and Wild (●). Abilities and Actions require specific Action types. You must spend the required types unless a card effect allows otherwise. Wild actions can be used for any action type.

Exhausting

A Character may either attack or use an ability that requires exhausting. It cannot do both in the same turn unless a card effect allows it. Characters become ready (not exhausted) at the start of their controller’s turn unless stated otherwise.

Card Types

Characters

Characters have Attack, Health, Action generation, and abilities or keywords. They cannot attack on the turn they are played unless they have Speed. They must be ready to attack or block. When a Character’s Health reaches 0 or less, it is destroyed. If a card is Unique, you may only control one card with the same Basic Name at a time. Characters also grant Actions when they are played.

Artifacts

Artifacts remain in play and provide passive or activated effects. They cannot attack or block.

Locations

Locations remain in play and affect the game. Each player may control only one Location at a time. If a new Location is played, the old one is destroyed.

Actions

Actions are one-time effects.

Slow Actions may only be played during your Main Phase. Fast Actions may be played during any Action Window. After resolving, Actions are discarded.

Tokens

Tokens behave as Characters unless stated otherwise. If a Token leaves play, it is removed from the game.

Combat Rules

Damage is dealt simultaneously. Each Character deals damage equal to its Attack. If a Character’s Health is reduced to 0 or less, it is destroyed. Unblocked attackers deal damage directly to the defending player.

Keywords

Flying: Can only be blocked by Characters with Flying or Reach.

Reach: Can block Characters with Flying.

Speed: Can attack on the turn it is played.

Vigilance: Does not exhaust when attacking.

Lethal: Any damage dealt by this Character destroys other Characters.

Pilot (X): Exhaust X other ready Characters you control to activate a “When Piloted” effect.

Exhaust: This ability requires the Character to exhaust.

Exhausted: Exhausted characters cannot attack, block, or use any ability that requires it to be exhausted.

Ready: Not exhausted

Fight: Two Characters deal damage equal to their Attack to each other.

Additional Rules

Hands are hidden. All cards in play are public.

All unspent Actions are lost at the end of each turn and cannot be carried over.

1. Objective

1.1 A player wins the game when their opponent’s Health is reduced to 0 or less.

1.2 Each player begins the game with 20 Health.

1.3 If a player is required to draw a card and cannot, that player loses the game.

2. Deck Construction

2.1 Each deck must contain exactly 27 cards.

2.2 A deck may contain no more than 3 copies of any card by name.

2.3 Cards with the Unique designation are limited to 1 copy each by full card name.

2.4 Card types are Characters, Artifacts, Locations, and Actions.

3. Game Setup

3.1 Each player shuffles their deck.

3.2 Each player draws 3 cards.

3.3 A starting player is chosen at random.

4. Turn Structure

Each turn proceeds in the following order:

4.1 Start Phase

4.1.1 All exhausted cards controlled by the active player become ready.

4.1.2 Each Character controlled by the active player generates its listed Actions.

4.1.3 Generated Actions are added to the player’s Action Pool.

4.1.4 All “start of turn” effects controlled by the active player resolve.

4.1.5 All characters heal to their maximum hit points.

4.2 Draw Phase

4.2.1 The active player draws 1 card.

4.3 Main Phase

4.3.1 The active player may play Characters, Artifacts, Locations, and Actions.

4.3.2 The active player may activate abilities.

4.3.3 There is no inherent limit to the number of cards played per turn.

4.4 Combat Phase

4.4.1 Declare Attackers

4.4.1.1 The active player chooses any number of ready Characters to attack.

4.4.1.2 Declared attackers become exhausted unless they have Vigilance.

4.4.2 Declare Blockers

4.4.2.1 The defending player assigns blockers.

4.4.2.2 Each Character may block only one attacker.

4.4.2.3 Each attacker may be blocked by only one Character.

4.4.2.4 Only ready Characters may be declared as blockers.

4.4.3 Action Window

4.4.3.1 Starting with the active player, players alternate priority.

4.4.3.2 A player with priority may either:

• Activate an ability, or
• Play a Fast Action

4.4.3.3 The Action Window ends when both players pass in succession.

4.4.4 Damage Step

4.4.4.1 All combat damage is dealt simultaneously.

4.4.4.2 Each Character deals damage equal to its Attack.

4.4.4.3 Unblocked attackers deal damage to the defending player.

4.5 End Phase

4.5.1 All “end of turn” effects resolve.

4.5.2 All remaining Actions in each player’s Action Pool are removed.

5. Action System

5.1 Action Pool

5.1.1 Actions are generated only during the Start Phase or when a Character card is played, unless otherwise specified.

5.1.2 Each player has a single shared Action Pool.

5.1.3 Actions in the pool may be spent to pay costs.

5.1.4 Actions cannot be carried over between turns.

5.2 Action Types

5.2.1 Action types include:

• Hero (H)
• Villain (V)
• Plus (+)
• Minus (-)
• Misc (?)
• Wild (●)

5.3 Paying Costs

5.3.1 A cost must be paid exactly using the required Action types.

5.3.2 Wild Actions may be used as any Action type unless restricted.

5.4 Exhausting

5.4.1 A Character may either attack or activate an ability that requires exhausting.

5.4.2 A Character cannot both attack and activate an Exhaust ability in the same turn unless explicitly stated.

5.4.3 A Character becomes ready during its controller’s Start Phase unless otherwise specified.

6. Card Types

6.1 Characters

6.1.1 Characters have Attack, Health, Action generation, and abilities.

6.1.2 A Character cannot attack on the turn it enters play unless it has Speed.

6.1.3 A Character must be ready to attack or block.

6.1.4 A Character is destroyed when its Health is 0 or less.

6.1.5 When a Character is played, add the actions listed on the card to your action pool.

6.2 Unique Rule

6.2.1 A card’s Basic Name is the portion of its name before a comma.

6.2.2 A player may control only one Unique card with the same Basic Name.

6.2.3 If a player would control more than one, they must choose one to keep and destroy the others.

6.3 Artifacts

6.3.1 Artifacts remain in play after being played.

6.3.2 Artifacts cannot attack or block.

6.4 Locations

6.4.1 A player may control only one Location.

6.4.2 If a new Location is played, the previous one is destroyed.

6.5 Actions

6.5.1 Actions resolve once and are then discarded.

6.5.2 Slow Actions may only be played during the Main Phase.

6.5.3 Fast Actions may be played during any Action Window.

6.6 Tokens

6.6.1 Tokens are treated as Characters unless otherwise specified.

6.6.2 If a Token leaves play, it is removed from the game.

7. Combat Rules

7.1 Combat damage is simultaneous.

7.2 Damage dealt is equal to a Character’s Attack.

7.3 A Character with 0 or less Health is destroyed.

8. Keywords

8.1 Flying

8.1.1 Can only be blocked by Characters with Flying or Reach.

8.2 Reach

8.2.1 Can block Characters with Flying.

8.3 Speed

8.3.1 May attack on the turn it enters play.

8.4 Vigilance

8.4.1 Does not exhaust when attacking.

8.5 Lethal

8.5.1 Any damage dealt to a Character by this source is sufficient to destroy it.

8.6 Pilot (X)

8.6.1 To activate a “When Piloted” effect, a player must exhaust X other ready Characters they control.

8.7 Exhaust (Ability)

8.7.1 The Character must exhaust as part of the cost.

8.8 Fight

8.8.1 Two Characters each deal damage equal to their Attack to the other.

9. Additional Rules

9.1 Information

9.1.1 Hands are hidden information.

9.1.2 All cards in play are public information.

9.2 Action Reset

9.2.1 All unspent Actions are removed at the end of each turn.

9.2.2 Actions cannot be carried over between turns.

9.3 Rules Precedence

9.3.1 If a card or effect contradicts the core rules, the card text takes precedence.

9.3.2 If one effect allows something and another prevents it, the effect that prevents it takes precedence.

9.3.3 Effects using “instead” replace the original event entirely.

9.4 Resolution Order

9.4.1 Effects resolve one at a time in the order they are played or triggered, unless otherwise specified.

9.4.2 Once an effect begins resolving, it cannot be interrupted.

9.4.3 If an effect contains multiple instructions, they are performed in order. If part of the effect cannot be completed, the remaining steps still resolve unless explicitly dependent.

9.4.4 If multiple effects would resolve at the same time, the active player chooses the order of their effects, then the opponent does the same.

9.4.5 Players take turns with priority.

9.5 Targeting

9.5.1 Targets must be legal targets at the time they are chosen.

9.5.2 If all targets become illegal targets before resolution, the effect fails.

9.5.3 If only some targets become illegal, the effect still resolves on remaining valid targets.

9.6 Game State

9.6.1 The game state is checked continuously for conditions to be met.

9.6.2 When a condition is met, the effects of that condition are immediately resolved, and do not use the effect resolution system. Players cannot respond to them.

9.7 Control

9.7.1 “Control” refers to cards a player currently has in play.

9.7.2 “Owner” refers to the player who began the game with the card in their deck.

9.8 Loops

9.8.1 If two effects trigger in a mandatory infinite loop that cannot be stopped, the game ends in a draw.