Comprehensive Rules of FE Cipher

Play Area

• Deck: Deck goes here.
• Retreat Area: This is basically the "discard pile" or "graveyard" of this game.
• Support Area: This where cards that are currently supporting go.
• Orb Area: The cards here are basically your life. Orb cards are face-down and overlap each other vertically.
• Bond Area: Cards used as bonds go here. They are related to costs. They are placed horizontally and overlapping each other.
• Vanguard Area: Units that are in the front line go here. Units here are known as "vanguard units". There is no limit to the number of units that may be here.
• Rearguard Area: Units that are in the rear line go here. Units here are known as "rearguard units". There is no limit to the number of units that may be here.

Starting the Game

• Deck is at least 50 cards. There is no max.
• A deck may contain no more than 4 copies of the same card.
• Players decide who goes first by whatever method they both deem fair (die roll, coin toss, RPS, etc.).
• Set aside one cost 1 unit from your deck face-down as a "Main Character" (now referred to as MC). Any unit can be used, as long as it has a deploy cost of 1. Be sure that this card has a marker (can be anything, even a coin or a die) to signify that it is a MC. Starter Decks come with a marker one can use. This unit counts towards the 4 card name limit.
• Both players shuffle their decks and draw six cards as their opening hand. Players may mulligan, but they send back their whole hand to the deck, shuffle it, and draw another six cards. Only one mulligan is allowed.
• After mulligan, players put the top 5 cards of their deck face-down into their orb area. These cards cannot be looked at by anyone, except by effects.
• Players start the game by flipping their MC face-up ("Stand up! The vanguard!" :P)
• Phases go: Beginning Phase, Bond Phase, Deployment Phase, then Action Phase.

Beginning Phase

• Player who goes first skips their Draw Phase.
• Units "untap" during the Draw Phase. This consists of turning any horizontal units vertical. Basically, it makes any units that have acted since last turn able to act again.

Bond Phase

• Bond Phase consists of the option to place a card from your hand into your bonds area.
• You do not draw a card if you choose to do this, unlike similar actions in other TCGs.

Deployment Phase

• During the Deployment Phase, turn player may place units from their hand into the battlefield or class change their units. Class changing consists of placing a unit with a promotion cost on top of an unpromoted unit with the same character name (this uses the promotion cost and not the deploy cost). When class changing, the player draws a card.

Notes on this Phase

• The total cost of all units played during this phase may not exceed the cards in your bond area (1 card means one cost 1 unit, 2 cards mean two cost 1s or one cost 2, 5 cards means one cost 5, five cost 1s, a cost 2 and cost 3, etc.)
  • To reiterate, when class changing, one uses the promotion cost and not the deploy cost. Keep this in mind with the above note.
• When effects activate when a unit class changes or when it enters the field promoted, the draw happens first, then the effect.
• You may play an unpromoted unit and then class change it in the same turn, as long as you pay the associated costs with each action.
  • Promoted units may be played without class changing into them as "normal units". They do not count as promoted, you pay the deploy cost, and you do not draw a card when they are played.
  • You may class change your MC and the new promoted unit is now your MC.
  • The unit the promoted unit used to be stays under the new one to signify that it has been promoted (this is key to keeping track for all sorts of effects).
• You may "level up" a unit. This consists of playing a higher costed unit on top of a lower costed unit of the same character. This is not a promotion and the former unit goes under the new unit. You pay the cost for a level up by paying the deploy cost. You may level up your MC and the new unit is now your MC.
  • You may level up on a promoted character and the new unit will be counted as promoted, but the act itself is not a promotion (thus you do not draw a card, you pay the deploy cost, and any effects that activate when you class change do not activate). All former iterations of the unit still remain under the card.
• Color restrictions are as follows: you may only deploy a unit if you have a FACE-UP card in your bond area of the same color. The amount in the bond area does not matter, as long as it is at least one. If all cards of said color in your bond area are face-down, then YOU MAY NOT PLAY THAT UNIT!
• You MAY NOT deploy a unit if a unit with the same character name is already deployed, even if it is a different card name (this is why level up is a thing, among other reasons).

Action Phase

• Action Phase consists of using the abilities of your units, in addition to moving and attacking with them.

Notes on this Phase

• Some abilities ask you to "reverse" a certain number of bonds as part of the cost. This action consists of flipping your choice of face-up cards in your bond area face-down. You must do so in order to use the skill.
  • Be sure to keep in mind what is stated above about about color restrictions.
  • Reversed bonds stay face-down, unless flipped back up by an effect.
• Some abilities require you to "tap" the unit and/or another one as part of the cost. This consists of turning the unit(s) horizontal from vertical. This must be done in order to use the effect.
• Moving consists of moving a character from the front line to the rear line, or the rear line to the front line. You tap the unit when doing so.
• When attacking, the attacker may select any target within their range. A range of 1 means from front line to front line and a range of 2 means front line to the rear line, or the rear line to the front line. Units with a range of 1-2 have the option of picking either range when attacking. You tap the unit to attack.
  • The player who goes first may not attack.
  • You may not tap a unit that has already been tapped (a tapped unit would be horizontal). This basically means a unit may not move and attack in the same turn, among other things (such as effects that have already tapped the unit).

Battle Steps

• Declare an attack by selecting which unit is attacking (by tapping it) and selecting a legal target (within range) for the attack.
  • Skills that activate upon attacking with the unit activate, along with any skills that activate when the other unit is defending activate. Turn player decides the order.
• Both players now flip the top cards of their deck face-up into their respective support areas (at the same time).
  • Any support skills that activate upon supporting an attacker activate, when the attacking character is supported, when supporting a defender, and when the defender is supported all activate now. Turn player decides the order.
  • The support power is added to the respective card's power. Say, a Marth with 40 power is attacking and is supported by a Caede with 30 support power. Marth's power is now 70. Same goes with the defender, naturally.
  • A character may not support itself. Basically, a Chrom card may not support a Chrom. If the card trying to support an attacker or defender is of the same character, then no power is added, not any skills that activate when supporting activate.
• The attacking player may now choose to discard a card with the attacking character's name (may be a different card name, but still must be a card of the character). If they do so, then the attacker performs a "critical attack" and their power is doubled (including any support power added) until the end of the battle.
• The defending player may now choose to discard a card with the defending character's name (same rules as when going for a critical attack). If they do so, then the defender performs an "evasion" and the attack is nullified, as if it never happened.
• Now, if the attack wasn't evaded, the attacker's power is compared to the defender's power. If the attacker's power is greater or EQUAL to the defender's power, then the defender is destroyed by battle. If the defender has higher power, then nothing happens. The attacker does not get destroyed.
  • When a unit is destroyed by battle, if the unit is not a MC, then it goes into the retreat area. If the unit is a MC, then instead, the controlling player takes a card from their orb area and puts it into their hand.
    • IF THE PLAYER MUST TAKE A CARD FROM THEIR ORB AREA AND CANNOT DO SO DUE TO THERE BEING NO CARDS THERE, THEN THEY LOSE THE GAME!
• At this point, regardless of any outcome, the cards in the support area must now go to the retreat area.

Ending the turn

• After the player is done with their Action Phase, their turn ends and their opponent's turn begins. Any abilities that stop working at the end of the turn now do so.

Special Notes

• If all of your bonds are face-down, then you cannot deploy any units.
• When an ability destroys a unit by battle, you may select a MC (as long as the MC is a legal target, naturally. For example, Camus can only select cost 2 or lower units, so if their MC is of a higher cost, then it would not be a legal target). If you select a MC in this way, then your opponent must add an orb to their hand, same as if it had lost a battle.
• If you still feel nervous about the rule, then go and watch some games, have someone explain them to you, or better yet, play a game! You should be able to pick up the rules quickly enough.