THE SHOWDOWN RULES

Tasuo Showdown Rulebook V 1.0.1

Welcome to Tasuo Showdown. A tournament of skill, power, technique, and deception. The winner can wish to fulfil their wildest dreams. Will you chase them, or get left behind?

3… 2… 1… Tasuo Showdown!

Getting Started Before you can step in the ring, you gotta suit up! Each player must have a 50-card deck to play, and your 10-card energy deck as well.

Your main deck may include up to 4 copies of each card, unless otherwise noted. A deck is allowed to include 16 Defensive cards (cards with the Shield icon in the top left corner). Of these 16 cards, 4 of them are allowed to be [Counter] cards.

Each player will also need something to keep track of Tasuo Armor, Body Count, and Clash Gauge. We recommend basic d6, and a d10 for Tasuo Armor.

Winning the Game To win in Tasuo Showdown, you have 3 options. They are as follows:

1. Your opponent’s Body Count reaches 5.

2. Your opponent’s Tasuo Armor depletes to 0.

3. If, at any point during your turn, you possess all 7 of the legendary Kaju Frags between your hand and your side of the field.

Table of Contents

0. Starting the Game

1. Phases

1.1 DOH

1.2 Play Phase

1.3 Focus Phase

1.4 Clash Phase

1.5 End Phase

2. Card Types

2.1 Legendary Item Cards

2.2 Warrior Cards

2.3 Bloodlusted Cards

2.4 Responsive Cards

2.5 Offensive Cards

2.6 Defensive Cards

3. Clash Gauge

3.1 Clash Drive

4. Zones of Play

4.1 Kio Zone

4.2 Ka Zone

4.3 Kao Zone

4.4 Legend Zones

4.5 Ultra Deck

4.6 Additional Zones

5. Calling Warriors

5.1 Normal Call

5.2 Emergency Call

5.3 Additional Call Types

6. Attacking and Defending

7. Chaining Attacks

8. Body Count

9. Battle Conditions

10. The Queue

0. Starting the Game To start the battle both players shuffle and cut their decks. Determine player one randomly (die roll, Jan Ken Pon, etc.). The winner chooses whether to go first or second. Next, both players draw 5 cards. You are allowed one free mulligan. You may return any number of cards drawn to the bottom of the deck, then draw back up to 5 cards. After this initial mulligan you are allowed to continue to mulligan one card at a time, but you must pay [1 Tasuo Armor] each time you do so. After you’re happy with your hand, shuffle your deck.

1. Phases The game of Tasuo Showdown is played in 4 phases. Each player plays through each phase during their turn. Below we will break down each of these phases in greater detail.

1.1 DOH The DOH phase, or Draw or Heal Phase when written out, is the first phase of every turn. You may choose to either draw 2 cards or heal 1 Tasuo Armor. Certain effects, abilities, and Bloodlusted cards may be activated during this phase as well.

1.2 Play Phase During the play phase, you may call warriors to the field using the various call methods. You are allowed one Normal Call (see “Callings Warriors”) per turn. (During the first turn of the game both players can Normal Call two warriors instead. Additionally, on each player’s first turn, warriors cost no Tasuo Armor to call.) You may also activate effects, abilities, Bloodlusted, Responsive, and Legendary Item cards. You may enter Tasuo Mode during this phase as well.

1.3 Charge Phase During this phase, you may equip your warriors with Legendary Item cards, you may Kaijo (Unequip an equip card and shuffle it back into the deck) one card in play you control. You may emergency call, enter Tasuo Mode, activate Bloodlusted or Responsive cards, and you may also pick up one face down card in your Legend Zone, and return it to your hand. Once per turn during this phase you may add 1 partial charge to your Kao Zone, Ka Zone, or Kio Zone.

1.4 Clash Phase This is the most important phase of each turn. During this phase you may activate bloodlusted and Responsive cards, enter Tasuo Mode, and attack your opponent’s warriors (or their Tasuo Armor if they don’t control any warrior on the field.) You may Kaijo Throw (Target a warrior your opponent controls and change the attack type to Area: Projectile and it does its original damage.) an equip card equipped to a warrior if that warrior did not attack this turn.

1.5 End Phase

During this phase, there are no specific actions that are done, but this phase is used to tidy up any effects that still need to resolve. You may activate certain effects, abilities, Bloodlusted, and Responsive cards. Also, any “end of turn” effects resolves here.

2. Card Types

The following section identifies the types of cards found in the Tasuo Showdown TCG.

2.1 Legendary Item Cards

These blue-framed cards are powerful items that impact the field of play for an extended period of time. Depending on their type, these cards either stay in play until removed by an effect or ability, or they are sent to the Deadzone after play/use. There are 4 types of Legendary Item cards; Item, Weapons, Continuum, and Arena. Legendary Item, and Legendary Item Continuum cards get placed in the Legend Zone.

2a. Items

These cards represent physical items that would be found in the world amongst our warriors. Things like a cauldron, or the shards of a Kaiju Frag, or even as simple as a candy bar. These items are activated from your hand during your turn, and sent to the Deadzone after use.

2b. Weapons

Weapon cards represent the tools of battle a warrior may wield. These cards are placed in the Legend Zone and then equipped to a selected warrior. While equipped, the effects and abilities on these cards may be activated by the chosen warrior during the Clash Phase, unless stated otherwise. They remain in play until an effect removes them or the warrior is removed from play. If a warrior is Hatsubai, Bully Bounced, Grabbed, or Thrown, any weapons [Armed] to them are placed in the [Deadzone].

2c. Continuum

Continuum cards are placed in play and effect the game state continuously. Their effects are active at all times, and can be utilized as specified by the individual card text. They remain in the Legend Zone until removed by yourself or your opponent via effect or ability.

2d. Arena 

These cards change the battlefield itself. Arena cards represent locations important to the various warrior classes. They may have simple active effects, effects that may be triggered when necessary, or even be used to create additional rules for a warrior class. When these cards use their activated effects, they are turned sideways to represent this action has been taken.

2.2 Warriors 

Warrior cards represent the characters within the Tasuo Showdown universe. They are the champions of their world, specifically invited to compete for the ultimate prize, and as such they may attack and defend themselves in battle during the Clash Phase. These cards are identified by their printed and illustrated life totals on either side of the card. They have effects, and abilities that may be used to sway the flow of battle. These cards are called in various ways to the Kio, Kao, or Ka Zones primarily, or can be called to the Gravity Zones once opened. If, at any point, a warrior reaches 0 life they are sent to the Deadzone unless stated otherwise.

2.3 Bloodlusted Cards

These cards are Purple-Framed, like Responsive cards, though they are explicitly labeled as Bloodlusted cards and behave quite differently. These cards represent a warrior quick thinking and tenacity in battle, as well as sneaky tricks. Responsive – Swift cards can typically be played at any point during your turn or set face down in the Legend Zone to be activated during your opponent’s turn. Others, such as Responsive – Offensive, or Responsive – Defensive, may only be used when specified. These cards are sent to the Deadzone after use unless stated otherwise.

2.4 Responsive Cards

Responsive cards serve as traps you set in advance for your opponent. As mentioned above, these cards share a similar card frame to Bloodlusted cards, but are typically only able to be activated during your opponent’s turn. These cards must be set, face-down, in the Legend Zone during your turn, prior to being used. Responsive cards may be activated as a response to an opponent’s action during your turn, but must have been in play for a full turn prior to doing so.

2.5 Offensive Cards

These cards represent the attacks your warriors will utilize during battle. Punches, kicks, blasts of energy, grabs, throws, etc., can all be found here. These cards are identified by an image of two crossed swords in the top right corner. These cards will also be labeled at the bottom defining what element and type of attack they represent. Certain Offensive cards are able to Target a warrior, or multiple warriors in play. These cards represent attacks that are performed with more precision than a wild punch or kick, such as a gunshot, or a spell aimed at a specific warrior. These cards must be defended against more carefully and will be mentioned again further in the Defensive Cards section. Most attacks are Chainable and can create powerful combos. Different types of attacks require different techniques to Chain and will be covered again later as well.

2.6 Defensive Cards

If there are cards to attack, there must be cards to defend. Blocks, rolls, reversals, and more are found here. A shield icon in the top left corner denotes this card type. As mentioned above, a deck may only include 16 of these in total, 4 of which may be [Counter] cards. These cards will describe the type and number of attacks they can defend against, as well as the type of defensive maneuver used. Certain attacks can only be stopped by specific types of defenses. Keeping this in mind, designing your deck to protect itself as best as possible will be paramount to most victories. Some Defensive cards can be used to stop attacks that Target. These cards represent extreme mobility and careful planning. If an attack or ability Targets, and your defense card does not specify an ability to stop a Targeted attack, it may not be used to do so. Inversely, if a Defensive card specifies that it stops a Targeted attack, it may not be used to stop an attack that does not. Many Defensive cards will say “When a warrior you control is attacked or targeted…”, and these may be used in either situation. When you use a [Counter] card, use its defensive effect, and then end your opponent’s turn. Certain card effects may allow your opponent to deal damage to you during your turn. Most of these effects can be defended against by Defensive Cards like regular attacks, however if you use a [Counter] card while it is your turn, the current turn does not end. You still get the defensive effect, but forfeit the ability to end the turn. Use your [Counter] cards wisely!

3. Clash Gauge

One of the defining aspects of Tasuo Showdown is the utilization of the Clash Gauge. When a warrior is defeated in battle it is worth Clash Gauge in various quantities for either player. Some card effects will also allow you to accumulate Clash Gauge in other ways. Clash Gauge accumulates, typically in the following ways: - When a warrior with 7 or less life is destroyed during battle, its controller gains 1 Clash Gauge and the opponent gains 2. - When a warrior with 7.5-9 life is destroyed during battle, its controller gains 1 Clash Gauge and the opponent gains 3. - When a warrior with 9.5 or more life is destroyed during battle, its controller gains 1 Clash Gauge and the opponent gains

4. (As a general rule, when warriors leave play for any reason outside of the Clash Phase, Clash Gauge is not awarded unless a card effect specifically states otherwise.)

This resource is used to amplify your attack power, make your attacks harder to defend against, and open additional zones of play. It can also be used to activate Tasuo Mode cards from your Ultra Deck (more on this to come in later sets). Activating these effects is called performing a Clash Drive.

3.1 Clash Drive

Familiarizing yourself with the various types of Clash Drives you can activate during battle will take your Tasuo Showdown experience to the next level. These effects can cause huge swings in combat and allow you to perform devastating attacks. The follow effects are the Clash Drives you can perform and their associated costs: - [-1 CG] Tasuo Tag: Using this effect after successfully chaining an attack will allow you to choose your attacking warrior and another warrior that has not yet attacked this turn and physically swap their zones. The new warrior may continue the attack from there. The new warrior is not considered to have performed their attack for the turn. - [-1 CG] Hatsubai v1, your next attack cannot be blocked and deals [+1 damage]: This effect is used before performing an attack to make it harder to defend against, and deal more damage. In addition, it includes a Hatusbai v1. This also causes the defender to discard any [Armed] weapons. - [-2 CG] Hatsubai v2, your next attack cannot be blocked or Kyushu and deals [+2 damage]: This effect is used before performing an attack to make it harder to defend against and deal more damage. In addition, it includes a Hatusbai v2. This also causes the defender to discard any [Armed] weapons. - [-2 CG] Normal Call and additional warrior this turn: This can be paid during the Play Phase to play 2 warriors in a turn as opposed to 1. - [-3 CG] Enter Tasuo Mode: This allows a warrior from your Ultra Deck to be played on top of its corresponding warrior in play. - [-3 CG] Bully Bounce: This allows you to slam a warrior into the ground for [3 DMG]. This can be done in place of an attack or can be added on to an attack. This also causes the defender to discard any [Armed] weapons. - [-5 CG] Open Gravity Zones: This opens the two additional zones on the board. Warriors, as well as any card that could be played in the Legend Zone, can be played in these Gravity Zones. - [6 CG+] CONSTANT EFFECT: After the first successful chain you perform each turn, your warriors’ attacks cannot be blocked, Ori, or Kyushu.

4.0 Zones of Play

An integral part of Tasuo Showdown are the various zones of play, not only mechanically, but from a narrative perspective as well. The following section will describe the major zones in further detail. Some of these zones enhance your warrior’s combat abilities, while others prepare you to defend your opponent’s future attacks.

4.1 KIO Zone

The Kio Zone represents a warrior’s connection to Kio Energy, the natural life energy of the universe. The Kio Zone must be charged with 2 partial charges to achieve a full charge. A Kio Energy partial charge is paid for with [1 Tasuo Armor]. A charged Kio Zone grants a warrior [+1 Life] for each full charge. One final detail about the Kio Zone; any warrior that begins the turn on the Kio Zone has any Battle Conditions effecting it removed.

4.2 KA Zone

This zone, inversely, represents emotional resonance. The power built from within. A player charges the KA Zone by placing one card from their hand or on your side of the field face down in the KA Zone. You are considered to have 1 KA Energy for every 2 cards face down in this zone. This zone allows a warrior to deal [+1 Damage] when it attacks for each full charge.

4.3 KAO Zone

If KIO is external energy, and KA is internal, KAO Energy is only achieved when a warrior is able to harmonize both aspects of being. This zone is the most difficult to charge but is also the most rewarding. A player must mill 1 card from their deck to collect a partial charge in this zone. For every 4 partial charges, you are considered to have 1 KAO Energy. A Kao Energy provides a warrior with [+1 Life] and adds [+2 Damage] to its attacks.

4.4 Legend Zones

The Legend Zones were covered quite a bit earlier, but will be addressed here again for clarity. These zones are used to play, and set Legendary Items, and face down Responsive cards, and Defensive Cards. Technically, any card can be placed face down in the Legend Zone, but only Responsive cards and Defensive Cards can be place while face down.

4.5 Ultra Deck Zone

The Ultra Deck will not see much utilization in the initial set of Tasuo Showdown, but as our players gain strength over time, as do our warriors. Eventually, a player will be allowed to have a 10 card Ultra Deck. This deck exists separately from your main deck and houses the games most powerful cards. Tasuo Mode Cards, KA Summons, and Alloid Warriors will all be found here. We won’t cover this area too much yet, but stay tuned for FAR more information as additional sets are released.

4.6 Additional Zones

There are a couple of zones left to mention that don’t quite justify a full section. The Arena Zone in the center of the board houses your Arena card. The Deadzone serves as your discard pile where cards are sent after they’re used or destroyed. Finally, the Outerzone acts as a “Removed from game” area. Some card effects require cards be sent here, far from the grasps of most players for the remainder of the game.

5.0 Calling Warriors Much like different warriors use different techniques to battle, players can use a multitude of techniques to call warriors. Our warriors are literally CALLED to arms. The following section will describe the different ways a warrior may be called.

5.1 Normal Call This will be the most common way a player will call warriors during their turn. During the first turn a player is allowed to Normal Call 2 warriors without paying their Call Costs. During subsequent turns, a player may only Normal Call 1 warrior (unless of course they use a Clash Drive to play an additional warrior.) Warriors have Call Costs based on their life. They are as follows: -7 or less life: 1 Tasuo Armor -7.5-9 life: 2 Tasuo Armor 9.5 or more life: 3 Tasuo Armor

5.2 Emergency Call These calls are special and do not count towards your one Normal Call per turn. A player can Emergency Call as many times per turn as their card effects will allow. Some decks utilize this more than others. The biggest difference between Emergency Calls and Normal Calls, however, is that Emergency Called warriors cost no Tasuo Armor to play.

5.3 Additional Call Types

Another feature that will be more relevant in additional sets of Tasuo Showdown. The Ultra Deck houses a variety of Call Types that are all variations of Emergency Calls and will not be discussed in much detail for now. Expect much more information on this in the near future. There are also warrior classes planned for future releases that have all kinds of special Call conditions that will be unique to their class which will be covered in more detail as they are revealed as well.

6.0 Attacking and Defending Combat.

The fury of battle. The heart and soul of Tasuo Showdown. There are many elements to performing attacks that we’ll cover over the next few sections. First, of course, is attacking. Attacks can be performed in a couple of different ways, from weapons to special attack cards, all the way to inherent special abilities.

6.1 Declaring an Attack

When you wish to declare an attack, announce the warrior with which you choose to do so, and announce the attack you wish to perform. If this attack comes from a weapon in play, declare so. If it comes from an attack card, place it into play to show all players the attack being performed. Announce the zone you choose to attack, and the warrior in it that you are attacking. Some attacks are simple martial moves, others target the defending warrior more skillfully. This doesn’t change the attack too much; it is mostly relevant for defending. You may then apply any Clash Drive effects you wish to.

6.2 Declaring Defense

Your opponent may now defend. Defense is almost always done via defensive cards. If a defense card is used, resolve its effects and make any necessary calculations. If the attack targets, the defense used must be able to stop a targeted attack. There are many responsive cards that can be used to stop attacks as well. If an attack is not stopped, the warrior being attacked takes damage.

6.3 Damage Calculation

When the total damage a warrior has taken exceeds their total health they are destroyed and sent to the Deadzone. If the warrior was not destroyed, and was Hatsubai, Bully Bounced, Grabbed, or Thrown, send any Weapons [Armed] to that warrior to the [Deadzone] at this time. After calculating damage from the attack, repeat Steps 6.1- 6.3 for each warrior you wish to attack with. Each warrior may attack once per turn unless a card effect states otherwise.

7.0 Chaining attacks

Similar to a fighting video game, the warriors of Tasuo Showdown can string together incredible combos. After an attack hits, if it is chainable (each attack will tell you whether it is or is not), the attacking warrior will have the opportunity to attempt to Chain another attack. If the chain is successful, that warrior may use the attack printed on their warrior card again, or if the attack was done with an attack card, they may play a new attack card. The following list will show each type of attack, and the chain requirements. All attacks that may be chained require a roll of 2d6.

8.0 Body Count

As the bodies quite literally pile up, so does a player get closer to losing the game. When you reach 5 body count, that’s it. The Tasuo Showdown is over for you. Different warriors are worth different body counts. Therein lies an opportunity for strategy. Do you run weaker warriors that are worth less body count, or do you rely on just a couple of large ones? The following breakdown shows the body count value for each warrior: - 7 or less life: 1 Body Count -7.5-9 life: 2 Body Count -9.5 or more life: 3 Body Count One last thing to note; if warrior leaves play with no damage dealt to it, no body count is awarded. If it has less than 3 damage dealt, 1 body count is awarded. If it has taken 3 or more damage, it is worth its full body count.

9.0 Battle Conditions

Certain card effects will cause warriors to suffer certain Battle Conditions. These conditions cause additional adverse effects against that warrior. This section will list the possible afflictions that may befall a warrior: Burn - Warriors with the battle alignment Burn cannot equip weapons. Each time the warrior activates an effect, ability or attacks [-1 life] at the end of each turn. Stun - Warriors with the battle alignment Stun can only use bloodlusted or responsive cards to defend. The attack damage dealt to a Stunned warrior is doubled. The Stun condition only lasts until the end of the current turn. Immobilize - Warriors that are immobilized cannot attack, or defend, and its effects and abilities are negated. This condition only lasts until the end of the current turn unless otherwise stated. Freeze – Frozen warriors cannot attack, defend, or activate effects or abilities. If they are attacked by a fire, lava, hado, earth, or steel element attack, while frozen send the warrior to the outerzone. If the warrior is attacked with an attack that does 5 damage or more send the warrior to the outerzone. This condition only lasts until the end of the current turn unless otherwise stated. Bleed - Warriors with the battle alignment Bleed cannot equip two handed weapons. Each time the warrior activates an effect, ability or attacks [-1 life]. At the end of each turn [-1 life] as well. Poison - Warriors with the battle alignment Poison cannot evade attacks. Each time the warrior activates an effect, ability or attacks [-1 life]. At the end of each turn [-1 life] as well. Broken - Warriors with the battle alignment Broken have different effects depending on the type: Arm: cannot equip two handed weapons or use punch cards. Warriors inflicted with this battle alignment twice can't use weapons, evade, Kyushu, Haki, or block attacks. Leg: The warriors attack damage is reduced by [-2] damage. Warriors inflicted with this battle alignment twice get sent to the deadzone. Back: Warriors can't attack, defend, or be equipped with weapons. Warriors inflicted with this battle alignment twice get sent to the outerzone.

10.0 The Queue

Sometimes, an effect will trigger, and a player will have a response. Sometimes a player may even choose to respond TO that response. When this happens, these effects stack up in a theoretical area called The Queue. When an effect is activated, it is immediately added to The Queue, in a pending state. If no response occurs, the effect resolves and The Queue empties. However, if a response is declared it is added to The Queue as well. Effects resolve in reverse order, but any effect that was not negated will resolve. Destroying or removing a card with a pending effect in The Queue does not remove its pending effect. Its effect must be negated to prevent resolution. Additionally, there are 2 separate windows of opportunity to respond to an effect and to add an effect to The Queue; before and after a card is played. Refer to the following example for clarity: Window 1: Before Card Is Played - Player 1 has Lunar Overflow in play. - Player 1 declares they're calling a warrior - Player 2 responds to the declaration of play with Small Chaotic Storm - It destroys Lunar Overflow, and it leaves play - Player 1 resolves their declaration of play and calls omega ki - It enters play - Lunar Overflow does not resolve because it left play before omega ki was played. Window 2: After Card Is Played - Player 1 has Lunar Overflow in play. - Player 1 declares they're calling a warrior - Player 2 says no response - Player 1 plays omega ki - Lunar Overflow triggers - Player 2 responds with Small Chaotic Storm to destroy Lunar Overflow - Lunar Overflow leaves play - Lunar still resolves because its effect was already pending and was negated