X-Men Trading Card Game Rules X-Men Basic Game Object of the Game Setup On Your Turn Attacking with Your X-Men Hit Chart Example of the X-Men Attack Attacking with a Villain Elimination X-Men Advanced Game Building Your own Deck Advanced Game Setup Turn Sequence Power-Up Cards Rolling against the Strength of an X-Man Glossary X-Men Basic Game [top] Includes all the rules found on the playmat, in greater detail, plus an example of an attack. Object of the Game [top] Be the first person to eliminate two Villains-or the last person with any X-Men still standing-and you win! Setup [top] Place the 4 Villain cards in the middle of the playmat where it says "Villains." Decide who's going to play with which deck. Divide the damage counters between you and your opponent (each of you picks a color). Take your 3 X-Men cards from your deck and put them on the playmat where it says "X-Men." Shuffle your deck and draw a starting hand of 7 cards. Place a marker (like a penny) on the "Start" square of the Danger Room track. Roll a die to see who goes first. This person is the "Danger Room Keeper." On Your Turn (Red steps are optional.) [top] 1. If you're the Danger Room Keeper, move the Danger Room marker up one level. 2. Draw a card from your deck. 3. Untap. (If you turned any cards sideways on a previous turn, turn them right-side up again. You won't need to do this on your first turn.) 4. Play a Lightning card. The current Danger Room level must be equal to or higher than the Danger Room number on the card you wish to play. To play a card, tap (turn sideways) an X-Man that has a number in the color corresponding to the color of the Lightning card you want to play. Then do whatever the card says and put it in your discard pile. You can play as many Lightning cards as you want, as long as you have X-Men that can be tapped. 5. Attack a Villain with your X-Men. (See "Attacking with your X-Men.") You can do this only once each turn. 6. Attack your opponent's X-Men with a Villain. (See "Attacking with a Villain.") You can do this only once each turn. If you attacked a Villain with your X-Men in the previous step, you must choose a different Villain to attack your opponent's X-Men. Attacking with Your X-Men [top] Choose one of your X-Men to be the Mission Leader and tap that X-Man. You do this by playing a Mission card. The color of the Mission card will determine the color of attack. The Danger Room level must be equal to or higher than the Danger Room number on the Mission card you wish to play. (If you can't find a Mission card you can play, you can't attack.) Choose the other X-Men you wish to send in your attack and tap each one of them. You can use as many X-Men as you want in your attack, as long as they're untapped. Choose the Villain you want your X-Men to attack. If you want, you can play a Momentum card on any of the attacking X-Men, except the Mission Leader (one per X-Man). Again, the current Danger Room level must be equal to or higher than the Danger Room number on the card you wish to play. The X-Man must have a number in the color corresponding to the card you want to play (though the card colors don't have to match the color of the attack). Now add up all the Strength of your attacking X-Men, including the Mission and any Momentum cards you played. This number must be higher than the Villain's Strength in the color of attack. (If it isn't, your attack has failed and you must discard your Mission and any Momentum cards you played.) Subtract the Villain's Strength from your attacking X-Men's total Strength. Roll that many dice! Apply the results from the Hit Chart. Put damage counters on the Villain and on your X-Men team as directed (your counters go on the Villain and your opponent's on your X-Men). When a Mutant Power is activated, you may choose any one of the powers of any attacking X-Men. Your opponent makes any choices for the Villain. Put the Mission and all Momentum cards you played in your discard pile. Hit Chart [top] Die Result Effect 1 Defender's Mutant Power is activated (ignore extra 1s). 2 Attacker takes 1 damage (maximum of 1 damage, so ignore extra 2s). 3, 4, or 5 Defender takes 1 damage. 6 Attacker's Mutant Power is activated (ignore extra 6s). Momentum cards resolve first after rolling the dice (before any Mutant Powers are activated). Order of Mutant Powers: A Powers, B Powers, damage, and then C Powers. (If both powers have the same letter, the attacker's power activates first.) Distribute the damage counters as evenly as possible among your X-Men. Example of an X-Men Attack [top] You're playing the "Slashburn" deck and decide to attack a Villain with some of your X-Men. The current Danger Room level is 2. First you find a Mission card you can play (one whose Danger Room number is equal to or less than the current Danger Room level, and one in the color of attack you wish to use). Since Red appears to be the greatest Strength among your X-Men, you play Agility Trial (Strength boost of +3 and a Danger Room number of 2) and attach it to Wolverine, who becomes your Mission Leader. (Be sure to tap Wolverine when you play the card.) Agility Trial also lets you draw a card. You decide to boost Rogue's Red Strength by playing Finishing Blow, a Momentum card with a Strength boost of +1 and a Danger Room number of 1. (Again, be sure to tap Rogue when you attach the Momentum card to it.) Since Jean Grey, your remaining X-Man, has 0 Red Strength, you decide not to include her in your attack. Next you select the Villain you wish to attack. Since Magneto has the lowest Red Strength (6), you choose him. So you add up the total Red Strength of your attacking X-Men, including the Mission and Momentum cards you played, which adds up to 11 (Wolverine's 4 +3 and Rogue's 3 + 1). Subtract Magneto's Red Strength from that total and you get to roll 5 dice (11 - 6 = 5). You roll a 2, a 3, a 4, and two 6s. Because no more than one 6 counts, you ignore the extra 6. The 6 activates the attacker's Mutant Power, and you choose to use Wolverine's Mutant Power, a C Power that activates after the damage is distributed. The 2 forces you to take a damage counter, so you place it on Wolverine since his Mutant Power will allow you to remove it later on. The 3 and 4 each do damage to the defender, so you place 2 of your damage counters on Magneto. Now Wolverine's Mutant Power is activated, allowing you to remove 1 of the damage counters from him. The last step is to discard your Mission and Momentum cards from play. Attacking with a Villain [top] If you attack the other player's X-Men with a Villain, it works pretty much the same way. The biggest difference is that you don't get to play cards when you attack with a Villain, and Villains always attack all of the other player's X-Men together. Here are the steps: Choose the Villain you want to send to attack (it must be different than the one you may have just attacked using your X-Men). Choose the color of your attack. The Villain's Strength in that color must be greater than the total Strength on all the other player's X-Men in that color. (If it isn't, you'll need to back up and make a different attack.) Subtract the X-Men's total Strength from the Villain's total Strength. Roll that many dice! Apply the results from the Hit Chart just as you normally would. Remember, the Villain is now the attacker and the X-Men are the defenders. Elimination [top] When an X-Man or a Villain has as many damage counters as its hit points (always 10 for a Villain), it's eliminated from the game. A Villain needs 10 damage counters from one player, though, to be eliminated. So a Villain with 8 gold and 7 silver damage counters isn't eliminated yet. Keep track of who eliminated which Villain, and remember that the first player to eliminate 2 Villains-or the last one with any X-Men still standing-wins! In the rare occasion that an X-Men team is eliminated while taking out the second Villain, the X-Men team wins. And if a player can't draw a card at the beginning of his or her turn, he or she loses the game. X-Men Advanced Game [top] This section tells you everything you need to know to play a full X-Men game, now that you've learned the basics of the game. Building Your own Deck [top] Once you learn how to play the game, you can use your cards to make your own X-Men deck. You do that by putting new cards in your deck and taking out old ones. You can get new cards in booster packs, which have lots of cards that aren't in the starter set. You can make a deck using any cards, but you must have at least 40 cards in your deck, not counting your Villains and your X-Men. And you can have up to 3 copies of any card in your deck, except for Villains and X-Men. For example, you can have 3 Combat Training cards in a deck, but only 1 Rogue and only 1 Magneto. Pick a team of 2 to 5 X-Men with a total team value of 30 or less (and no more than 1 of the same X-Man). Pick 4 Villains (1 of each color, and no more than 1 of the same Villain.) Advanced Game Setup [top] At the beginning of the game, players reveal their X-Men. Whoever has the fewest X-Men gets to go first. If there's a tie, the person with the lowest total team value goes first. Roll a die only if there's still a tie. Next, each of you randomly selects one of your opponent's Villains. Repeat this process until you have 4 unique Villains between you on the table. Put the unselected Villains aside as you won't be using them for this game. Turn Sequence (Red steps are optional.) [top] 1. Move the Danger Room marker up one level (if you're the Danger Room Keeper). 2. Draw a card. 3. Untap your X-Men. 4. Play Lightning and Power-Up cards. 5. Attack a Villain with your X-Men. 6. Attack your opponent's X-Men with a Villain. Power-Up Cards [top] Some cards in booster packs are called Power-Up cards. You play Power-Up cards at the same time and in the same way as you play Lightning cards. Make sure the Danger Room level is high enough and then tap an X-Man with a number in the color corresponding to the color of the Power-Up card you want to play. The only difference is that Power-Up cards stay in play until something (such as another card) instructs you to discard them. Some Power-Ups tell you to attach them to a specific X-Man. This doesn't have to be the same X-Man you tapped to play the card. Rolling against the Strength of an X-Man [top] Some cards have an additional requirement in order for you to play them (besides the usual Danger Room requirement). The beginning of their rules text says something like, "Roll {CoLoR} Strength or less." This means you must roll against the {CoLoR} Strength of the X-Man you tap to play it. For example, obstacle Course says "Roll Blue Strength or less." If you tap Angel, which has a Blue Strength of 2, to play obstacle Course, you would have to roll a 1 or a 2 in order to play obstacle Course. If you don't roll a 1 or a 2, the card does nothing and is discarded. Angel can still attack, but you just can't play another card with him. Glossary [top] activate When a die roll results in a 1 or a 6, an X-Man or Villain's Mutant Power is activated (or "goes off") according to the Hit Chart. attacker The character(s) who initiated an attack (X-Men can attack a Villain, and a Villain can attack the other player's team of X-Men). battle What happens when one player's X-Men attack a Villain, or when a Villain attacks the other player's team of X-Men. booster pack A pack of extra cards that you can use in your deck in place of the cards the starter set came with. color of attack Determined by the color of the Mission card played in an X-Men attack, and by the player in a Villain attack. damage The number of damage counters you have to place on an X-Man or a Villain in battle. damage counter(s) Used to keep track of how much damage an X-Man or a Villain has taken in battle. When an X-Man or Villain has as many damage counters as its hit points, it is eliminated from the game. There are two colors of damage counters so you and your opponent can keep track of whose damage counters belong to whom. Danger Room Located on the playmat, numbered 1-10. At the beginning of each of the Danger Room Keeper's turns, he or she moves the Danger Room marker up one level. Each of the cards you play from your hand has a Danger Room number. You can play a card only if the current Danger Room level is equal to or higher than the number on the card. Danger Room Keeper The person who was randomly chosen to play first is the Danger Room Keeper. He or she is responsible for moving the Danger Room marker up one level at the beginning of each of his or her turns. defender The character(s) being attacked (the Villain when a player's X-Men attack, and the team of X-Men when a Villain attacks). die/dice roll The die roll determines the outcome of a battle. The defender's total strength is subtracted from the attacker's total strength to determine the number of dice you roll. discard pile The place where you put any cards that are removed from the game. elimination What happens when an X-Man or a Villain takes as many damage counters as its hit points. If you're the first to eliminate two Villains-or if you're the only player with X-Men still standing-you win! Hit Chart The place where you look to find the outcome of a die roll in battle. The Hit Chart will indicate who takes damage (if any) and whose Mutant Powers are activated (if any). hit points This number appearing on X-Men and Villain cards indicates how many damage counters the X-Man or Villain can take before it is eliminated from the game. Lightning card A type of card that does something when you play it and then is discarded. Mission card A type of card that you have to play in order to attack a Villain with your X-Men. Whichever X-Man you tap to play the Mission card becomes the Mission Leader, and the color of the Mission card determines the color of the attack. Mission cards are discarded from play at the end of your attack. Mission Leader The X-Man you tap to play a Mission card becomes the Mission Leader. Momentum card A type of card you can play on any of your untapped, attacking X-Men, except the Mission Leader. Momentum cards are discarded from play at the end of your attack. Mutant Power The ability found on an X-Man or a Villain card. If more than one character's Mutant Power is activated in battle, A Powers happen first, then B Powers, followed by damage, and then any C Powers. Power-Up A type of card that stays in play once you play it from your hand-until you are forced to discard it. Strength The red, green, and blue numbers appearing on X-Men and Villain cards. The total Strength in the color of attack must be greater than the defender's Strength in order for the attack to continue. There are three types (or colors) of Strength: Fighting (Red), X-Factor (Blue), and Energy (Green). Mission and Momentum cards sometimes add a Strength boost in an X-Men attack. tap/untap to turn a card sideways (or right-side up if you're untapping). team value This number appears on X-Men cards and is used to determine how many and which X-Men cards you can include in your deck. You can pick a team of two to five X-Men (no duplicates) with a total team value of 30 or less. Villain card This type of character card is placed in the center of the playing space (four total). You can attack a Villain with your X-Men, or use a Villain to attack your opponent's team of X-Men. If you're the first to eliminate two Villains, you win! X-Man card This type of character card is placed on the playing surface in front of you (two and five total). You can use your X-Men to attack a Villain, and to defend against a Villain attacking you. If you're the last person with X-Men still standing, you win! X-Men team The X-Men cards you place in front of you become your X-Men team. QUESTIONS? [top] Wizards of the Coast, Inc. P.o. Box 707 Renton, WA 98057-0707 U.S.A. 1.800-.324.6496 (within U.S.) 1.206.624.0933 (outside U.S.) questions@wizards.com (for rules questions) custserv@wizards.com (for other assistance)