17. Sideboard and Deck Construction
17.1 Singleton Format#
No more than one copy of any card per deck. A copy means the name of the card on the Prime face matches exactly.
Variant printings — two cards with identical Prime faces but different Reverse faces — count as the same card for singleton purposes. A deck may include only one printing of a card that has variants; the player chooses which Variant card they want at deck build time. A player may have any number of variants in their sideboard, which they may exchange between Acts, but they cannot play multiple variants in their deck simultaneously (all Prime faces in their main deck must be unique). A player may have as many variants with the same Prime face on their sideboard as they wish.
17.2 Deck Size#
60-card main deck, 15-card sideboard, 1 Homeworld.
17.3 Homeworld Restriction#
No two players may field the same Homeworld in a single game.
17.4 Sideboarding#
Between Acts, players may swap any number of cards between main deck and sideboard. Sideboards are hidden in casual play; registered for competitive play.
17.5 Faction Restriction#
Cards that have a faction listed in the type line and a faction emblem in the top left of the card are restricted in deck building. If a card has a faction emblem on the top left, then the selected Homeworld must list that faction as playable. Note a card is playable by a Homeworld if at least one of the faces (Prime or Reverse) matches the faction of the Homeworld.
17.6 Mulligan#
Mulligan procedure:
- First mulligan: return all 7 cards to the deck, reshuffle, opponent offers cut, draw 7 new cards.
- Second mulligan: return all 7 cards to the deck, reshuffle, opponent offers cut, draw 7 new cards. If the player keeps the hand, then that player selects one of the cards and places it on the bottom of their deck.
- Third mulligan: return all 7 cards to the deck, reshuffle, opponent offers cut, draw 7 new cards. If the player keeps the hand, then that player selects two of the cards and places them on the bottom of their deck. Repeat this until a player has one card in hand.
17.8 General Information Rules#
The game treats card identity as public information and card placement (which physical cards are in hand, in a deck, or face-down on the map) as private. The following rules apply at all times:
1. Own cards always visible to controller. Any player may inspect any card they control at any time, including cards in hand and the face-down sides (back faces) of any cards they control on the Map. Controllers may not show these cards to opponents except as required by a card effect.
2. Card text is public information. If any player names a card in conversation, any other player may ask for the full printed text of that card. The asked player must verbally describe the card's rules text (front face and back face, including variant backs if any). No physical card need be revealed. This rule supports informed play of bluffing mechanics such as Rite of Credence (§18) and ensures no player can win through rules opacity alone.
3. Face-down cards remain hidden. Cards face-down on the Map (Prime face of sleeper cards before they have been revealed, cards under face-down effects) are not revealed to opponents unless an effect specifically grants vision. Observer counters and similar effects (§18) may grant such vision.
4. Game state is public. Counter counts, Treasury balances, Voting Pool composition during a vote, the contents of the Depleted and Burned piles, the current values of the Galactic Factors, and which permanents are in play are all public information and must be maintained by all players.