Combat

A player may attack another player's realm during Phase 4 of their turn. A battle is usually a single attack on a realm. A single round of combat is conducted by each champion who steps forward during battle, with attacks following this sequence:

A) The attacker indicates which realm will be attacked - The realm must be one they can attack, either because it is exposed or due to a special movement power that allows them to attack it. Each player has free choice over whose realms they want to attack.

B) The attacker selects a champion from their hand or pool and presents it as the attacking card - At this time, the player cannot add any artifacts, magical items, or other cards to their champion. If the attacking champion comes from the player's pool, it may already have some cards attached to it. Unless a card's special power states otherwise, there is only one round of combat.

C) The defender selects a champion from their hand or pool and presents it as the defending card - At this time, the player may not add any cards to the defending champion. Although, the defender might already have a few cards attached to it if it came from the player's pool. In the absence of any defense, the realm is razed.

D) The attacker's special power and attached cards activate first, followed by the defender's special power and attached cards. The defender is discarded if an attacker wins the round by activating their special power before the defender gets to use theirs. If this is the case the realm is razed.

E) Compare the total levels of each side. In addition to realms and holdings, it is also essential to consider any other card that can affect combat. It is the side that has the largest total that wins. When there is a tie, the defender wins.

F) The player that is losing can play one card. Another comparison of levels should be carried out. Until they win, the losing player continues to play cards one by one. The winning player can play only events or "play-at-any-time" cards. The cards go back and forth until either the losing player cannot or will not play another card. The round is over then. The winner does not have the option to play another card.

G) The player with the highest adjusted level wins that round - Tie games are always won by the defender.

H) The winner places their champion, with all of its attached cards, into their pool - He discards all allies, spells, and other non-permanent cards used in combat. The only remaining cards should be magical items and artifacts. Losers discard all the cards used in combat, including their champion and all its attachments.

I) The players have now completed one round of battle - If the attacker won the round, the realm they attacked should be razed unless its special power declares that it needs to be defeated twice. If so, the attacker may select another champion and attack again. No champion may be used more than once each turn unless its special power permits it. The attack must be made against the same realm.

If choosing to defend, the defending player must choose a new defender, although they are not required to defend at all. The battle is over if the defending realm is razed or discarded during combat.

J) After the battle is over, one of the players may be eligible to draw spoils of victory. The spoils of victory are the cards drawn from the draw pile. During a battle, the attacker receives spoils if any part of the realm they were attacking is razed or discarded. Alternatively, the defender draws spoils if the attacking champion is defeated and discarded in combat, or sent to Limbo, the Abyss, or the Void.

Spoils may be played immediately, even if it is a realm, holding, champion, rule card, magical item, artifact, or dungeon not normally allowed to be played during the current phase. Unless the card says "may be cast at any time," spells, blood abilities, allies, thief skills, and psionic powers cannot be played when drawn as spoils. In this case, the victorious player keeps the spoils in their hand.

Only a handful of champions allow an attack on more than one realm per turn. All attacks follow the order of the steps above. It is possible that several spoils of victory cards can be acquired in a single turn.