Cards in the public Deck

These are the Cards in the default public Deck recipe. Each player gets a separately shuffled copy; Hand and Deck order remain private.

• Backward

  Move one of your pawns one square backward on its file, toward your side, without capturing. The destination must be empty and permitted. Returning to its starting square does not restore its initial two-square advance.

• Double Move

  Play two successive Moves during this Turn with the same Piece or two different Pieces, including your king. Both Moves are required. The first must leave your king out of check and cannot give check. The second may give check or checkmate. Choose any Promotion before continuing.

• Mutation

  Make one of your Pieces, including your king, jump like a knight for this displacement. Choose a permitted destination that is empty or holds an opposing Piece you can capture. Its role stays unchanged unless a pawn reaches its last rank: choose its Promotion then. This displacement uses neither Ghost nor Mimicry.

• Shield

  Protect an allied Piece other than your king, then make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. Protection already applies during this Move, even against an opposing Trap, and lasts through your opponent’s next Turn. It follows the Piece and prevents opponent-caused captures without being used up, but not your own captures, sacrifices or removals. Prepare both steps together; cancelling changes nothing. It ends if the Piece leaves the board.

• Wall

  Place a Wall on an empty square, then make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. The Wall already blocks both sides’ destinations and movement and attack lines during this Move, and lasts until the end of your opponent’s next Turn. Knights may jump over it but cannot land there. It can interrupt a line check and free a Piece shielding your king. Prepare placement and Move together; cancelling changes nothing. After expiration, the opponent’s king must remain safe, while your king may begin your Turn in check.

• Recall

  Return one of your Captured Pieces whose role was a pawn when captured to a free, permitted square on its origin file, between ranks 2 and 7. The Piece keeps its identity and history and returns as a pawn; a Sacrificed Piece cannot be chosen. Arrival effects apply, and returning does not restore the pawn's initial two-square advance.

• Sacrifice

  Sacrifice one of your pawns to attempt to capture the opposing Piece directly ahead on its file, except the king. The pawn does not move: it leaves play as a Sacrificed Piece, even if Shield protects the target or the pawn itself. A Sacrificed Piece cannot return as a Captured Piece. The Card is unavailable during Pacifism or if your pawn is under Eclipse.

• Laser ray

  Fire one of your pawns straight ahead on its file to capture the Pieces in its path, including your own. The pawn stays on its square. The ray stops at the board edge, a Wall or before the first king. Captures happen together; an opposing Piece under Shield survives without stopping the ray, but your own Shields do not protect your Pieces from this shot. You may play the Card without a victim. During Pacifism, only a line without victims is allowed; a pawn under Eclipse cannot fire. The ray itself does not give check, but its captures may open a checking line.

• Harakiri

  Sacrifice one of your attacked Pieces to attempt to capture one of its attackers, which you choose. Neither the sacrificed Piece nor the chosen attacker may be a king. Your Piece leaves its square without moving, even if Shield protects the attacker or the sacrificed Piece. It cannot return as a Captured Piece. The Card is unavailable during Pacifism or if your Piece is under Eclipse.

• Reinforcement

  Create a permanent pawn of your side on a free, permitted square: ranks 2 through 6 as White, or 3 through 7 as Black. The chosen square becomes its origin before Arrival effects apply, even if a Portal immediately moves it. The pawn never has an initial two-square advance.

• Betrayal

  Displace an opposing Piece, except the king, using its role's movement and capture patterns. It remains an opposing Piece, but may capture another Piece of its own side, except the king, and cannot capture yours. Respect obstacles and protections at the destination. A pawn keeps its forward direction, advances one square or captures diagonally; choose its Promotion if it reaches its last rank. You may expose the opposing king to check, but your king must stay out of check.

• Ghost

  Choose one of your Pieces, except your king, then immediately make its required Move, with permission to pass through other Pieces. Kings and Walls remain impassable; destination, capture and Arrival rules stay the same. Ghost creates no attacks through obstacles and applies only to this Move. Choose the complete legal Sequence before validation; cancelling changes nothing. No effect remains for a later Move or another Card.

• Mimicry

  Choose one of your Pieces, except your king, and pawn, knight, bishop, rook or queen geometry, then immediately make its required Move with that movement and capture pattern. The Piece keeps its actual role and identity; its attacks do not change. Pawn geometry follows its owner’s direction, without an initial two-square advance or en passant. An actual pawn reaching its last rank after surviving Arrival must be promoted. Choose the complete legal Sequence before validation; cancelling changes nothing. No effect remains for a later Move or another Card.

• Battering ram

  Push an opposing Piece one square with one of your rooks, bishops or your queen, without capturing. Choose a non-king target on one of your Piece's capture lines, with no Piece or Wall between them. Your Piece takes the target's square while the target is pushed one square farther in the same direction. Both displacements happen together and their destinations must be permitted; the pushed square must be empty and on the board.

• Magnet

  Pull an opposing Piece directly beside one of your Pieces, which stays on its square. Choose two non-king Pieces aligned on a rank, file or diagonal, with no Piece or Wall between them. The target arrives without capturing on the square immediately beside your Piece, toward the target's starting square; this square must be empty and permitted. You cannot choose a target that is already adjacent.

• Portal

  Link two distinct empty squares with no Portal; other effects may remain there. Then make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. Using the new Portal now is optional; an unused pair remains visible and does not expire with Turns. A non-king Piece of either side arriving at either endpoint resolves that Arrival first, then traverses if it survives and the other endpoint is empty and permits arrival without capture. The pair disappears before transport, then exit effects apply. Otherwise it remains for a later Arrival. A king may occupy a permitted endpoint without traversing. Prepare the pair and Move together; cancellation or an illegal final result changes nothing. The link relays no path, attack or square control. Breach cannot remove it.

• Clone

  Create a temporary Piece on a free, permitted square adjacent to one of your non-king Pieces; it copies that source's current role while the source stays in place. The copied role may be pawn, knight, bishop, rook or queen. Resolve creation Arrival effects, any Portal traversal and any Promotion, then immediately make one mandatory legal Move with the surviving Clone from its actual square. The creation square becomes the Clone's own origin; a pawn Clone there may have an initial two-square advance, while a rook Clone grants no castling right. Prepare creation and Move together; cancellation or an illegal final result changes nothing. The Clone remains through your opponent's next Turn and is destroyed at that Turn's end. If captured or sacrificed earlier, its identity is destroyed and cannot be returned.

• Demotion

  Permanently turn an opposing queen, rook, bishop or knight into a pawn on its current square. The Piece keeps its side, identity, history and effects; the pawn moves in its owner's direction and never has an initial two-square advance. This transformation creates no Arrival, so a Piece already on its last rank remains a pawn and Arrival effects do not apply. The result must leave your king out of check and may give check to the opposing king.

• Equivalent exchange

  Exchange one of your Pieces, except your king, for one of your Captured Pieces of no greater value. Compare the first Piece's current role with the second Piece's role when captured: pawn 1, knight or bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. The first Piece is sacrificed; the second keeps its identity and history, regains its captured role and returns to its origin. Its Arrival may use the square freed by the sacrifice or capture an opposing Piece there, then applies every Arrival effect and required Promotion. A previously Sacrificed Piece cannot return. If the complete result is illegal or leaves your king in check, nothing happens.

• Tsunami

  Shift every Piece on one rank one square left or right at the same time, without capturing, regardless of side. Choose a rank containing at least one Piece and the direction. No king may be on that rank. Every destination must stay on the board, be permitted and be empty after the simultaneous departures: Pieces next to each other can therefore advance together. If any displacement is impossible, the whole Card is illegal.

• Earthquake

  Push every Piece neighbouring a chosen square one square away at the same time, without capturing, regardless of side. Each moves directly away along its rank, file or diagonal; a Piece on the chosen square stays there. The eight neighbouring squares must contain at least one Piece, but no king. All destinations must be distinct, permitted, on the board and empty after the simultaneous departures. If any displacement is impossible, the whole Card is illegal.

• Eclipse

  Remove an opposing Piece's attacks, square control and ability to capture, except the king, until the end of your opponent's next Turn. Choose the Piece, then immediately make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. Prepare the target and Move together; cancellation or an illegal Move changes nothing. The effect applies before the Move: it may still make legal non-capturing displacements and may be captured. It no longer gives check or defends its side’s squares against your king. The effect follows the Piece if it changes square and ends if it leaves the board. Its attacks return on expiration: the opposing king must then stay out of check, but your king may begin your Turn in check.

• Charge

  Advance one of your pawns at least two squares on its file without capturing. Choose an empty, permitted destination without crossing any Piece or Wall. You may cross a Forbidden zone, but cannot land there. Choose its Promotion if it reaches its last rank. This advance does not allow en passant.

• Escape

  Displace one of your attacked Pieces, except the king, to any empty, permitted square without capturing. Ignore its usual movement pattern and obstacles between the squares. The Piece must be attacked when chosen: an attack removed by Eclipse does not qualify. The result must leave your king out of check.

• Domino

  Play a Move that captures a Piece on its arrival square, then attempt to capture the Piece just beyond it as well. En passant does not qualify. The Move must follow a rank, file or diagonal; a knight jump does not qualify, but your king may play this Move. The moving Piece stays on the first capture square during the additional effect. That effect targets the next square in the same direction and may capture one of your own Pieces. A king or protected opposing Piece survives; an empty square does nothing. No second capture is required to keep the first.

• Pacifism

  Prevent every capture, regardless of side or source, until the end of your opponent's next Turn. Then make one mandatory legal non-capturing Move with any of your Pieces, including your king. Prepare the effect and Move together; cancelling changes nothing. Moves, Cards and effects can no longer capture; Cards that require a capture become unavailable. Non-capturing displacements remain possible when legal, but attacks and checks are not removed. Traps stay armed without triggering: when Pacifism ends, a Piece already there is not captured, and a new Arrival is required. A voluntary sacrifice remains distinct from a capture.

• Forbidden zone

  Forbid every Arrival on an empty square, then make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king, respecting the new prohibition. It applies to both sides through the end of your opponent’s next Turn, including Move, Card or Portal displacement, creation and return Arrivals. The zone neither occupies its square nor blocks paths or attacks across it. Prepare placement and Move together; cancelling changes nothing.

• Ricochet

  Displace one of your rooks, bishops or your queen with exactly one change of direction. Choose an empty turning square, then a distinct, permitted destination. Each segment follows the Piece's role, without crossing a Piece or Wall; the two segments cannot lie on the same line. Only the final destination may capture an opposing Piece. Crossing the turning square does not trigger its Arrival effects.

• Permutation

  Swap the squares of two of your Pieces, except the king, at the same time without capturing. Ignore distance, their usual movement patterns and obstacles between them. Both Arrivals must be permitted; their effects and any Promotion apply. If either is impossible or your king remains in check, no swap takes place.

• Teleportation

  Displace one of your Pieces, except the king, to any empty, permitted square without capturing. Ignore its usual movement pattern and obstacles between the squares. Arrival effects apply; choose the Promotion of a pawn that reaches its last rank. Your king must stay out of check.

• Rush

  Advance two of your pawns one square each on their files at the same time, without capturing. Choose both pawns; their destinations must be permitted and empty after their joint departure. A pawn may therefore enter the square the other vacates. Choose any required Promotion. If either advance is impossible, neither happens.

• Retreat

  Return one of your Pieces, except the king, to its origin square without capturing or needing a clear path. That square must differ from its current square, be empty and be permitted. For a Reinforcement or a Clone still in play, the origin is its creation square. Returning restores neither castling rights nor a pawn's initial two-square advance, and renews no effect.

• Early promotion

  Permanently turn one of your pawns into a knight, bishop or rook on its current square. Choose the new role; queen is not available. The Piece keeps its identity, history and effects. This transformation creates no Arrival and grants no castling right, even if you choose rook. The result must leave your king out of check.

• Interposition

  Displace one of your pawns already on the board between your checked king and a Piece attacking it along a line. Choose an empty, permitted square strictly between them, without capturing or needing a clear path from the pawn. The Card creates no pawn and cannot block a knight jump or an attack with no intervening square. After all Arrival effects, your king must be free of every check.

• Freeze

  Prevent your opponent from changing one of their Pieces' squares, except the king, until the end of their next Turn. Choose the Piece, then immediately make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. Prepare the target and Move together; cancellation or an illegal Move changes nothing. The effect applies before the Move: neither its owner's Moves nor Cards may displace it. You may still force it to move, and it may be captured. It continues to control and attack from its square: Freeze does not remove check. The effect follows the Piece if it changes square and ends if it leaves the board.

• Trap

  Secretly arm an empty square to capture an opposing Piece arriving there, then make one mandatory legal Move with any allied Piece, including your king. Your own Piece may occupy the new Trap without triggering it. Prepare the placement and Move together; cancellation or an illegal final result changes nothing. The Trap does not expire with Turns: it stays armed until triggered or the game ends. It is revealed and disappears when triggered, even if Shield saves the Piece. During Pacifism, it does not trigger and stays armed; expiration causes no capture without a new Arrival. It controls no square and never gives check. If secrecy would remove a legal choice, reveal its square to the affected player before selection; the opposing king cannot arrive there, even during Pacifism. Breach cannot remove it.

• Breach

  Remove one temporary visible effect, then play a required Move with one of your Pieces, including your king. Choose the effect regardless of its owner; other effects stay in place. Removing it may make the Move possible, for example after removing Freeze or Forbidden zone. You cannot remove a permanent or secret effect such as Portal or Trap. If the complete Move is illegal, the effect stays and nothing moves.

• Inversion

  Swap the squares of one of your Pieces and one opposing Piece at the same time, without capturing. Neither may be a king. Ignore distance, their usual movement patterns and obstacles between them; each keeps its side. Both Arrivals must be permitted and their effects apply. Choose any required Promotion, even for the opposing pawn. You may put the opposing king in check, but your king must stay out of check.

• Resurrection

  Return one of your Captured Pieces whose role was a knight, bishop or rook when captured to its unoccupied, permitted origin square. It keeps its identity and history and regains that captured role; a Sacrificed Piece cannot be chosen. Arrival effects apply, and the complete result must leave your king out of check.

• Revelation

  Reveal the complete remaining order of your opponent's Deck to both players until the game ends. Revelation is then accepted irrevocably, consumed and replaced if possible. Inspect the revealed Deck as often as needed, then make one mandatory legal Ordinary Move with any allied Piece to complete the same Turn. You may revise that Move, but cannot cancel Revelation, play another Card or Discard. Later draws or exchanges update the public order without hiding it again. The Card is unavailable if that Deck is empty or already Revealed, or if no required Move can be completed.

• Sabotage

  Choose one legal Ordinary Move with any allied Piece before the result is resolved. When the complete Sequence is accepted, exchange a Card selected at random from your opponent's Hand with the top Card of their Deck, then make the chosen Move in the same Turn. You choose no Card, and preparation or cancellation reveals no result. Their Hand and Deck keep the same number of Cards. During the game, the affected player sees both exchanged Cards; you see them only while that Deck is Revealed. The result becomes visible to both players when the game ends. The Card is unavailable if the opposing Hand or Deck is empty or no required Move can be completed.