Mechanics

Commanders

Commanders serve as Legendary Cards that shape the identity of the empire available for deck construction. At any given point, players have the option to deploy their commander by paying its mana cost. Should the commander perish or be destroyed, its mana cost will increase by 2.

Deckbuilding

The initial step involves selecting your commander, followed by the construction of a 30-card deck. In this deck-building process, you have the flexibility to include up to 2 copies of a unique card.

Turn Order

Wolves of Rome follows a distinctive turn time order. Each time you play a card, the turn transitions to your opponent. The round concludes when both players intentionally pass their turns, resulting in both gaining 1 mana and drawing an additional card.

Actions that prompt a turn pass include playing a unit card, landmark, slow spell, or choosing to pass your turn. However, other actions such as attacking, defending, drawing cards, and playing 'fast spells' can be executed without necessitating a turn pass.

Unit/Spell/Effect Resolve Stack

All effects resolve from LEFT TO RIGHT this includes:

• Unit attacks / defends

• Spell Stack

• Board Effects

• Spell Effects

Units

Units can be played anytime you have a turn and come with a few combat stats

• Health

• Attack

• Mana cost

• Ability

• Unit type (Undead, Monster, Beast, etc.)

• Empire

• Rarity

The unit's attack and health values determine both the damage it can withstand before being defeated and the damage it can inflict on enemies. Mana cost indicates the expense of playing the unit, while the unit's ability provides an additional power. The unit type denotes its category, influencing interactions with other abilities. The empire signifies the unit's affiliation and whether it can be included in your deck relative to your commander. Rarity specifies the card's rarity within card packs.

When units are played, they are placed into the 'unit reserve,' where their end-of-round effects and other applicable combat abilities are activated. However, the declaration of an attack, allowing the units to attack the opponent and deal damage to their defending units or health pool, is only possible when you possess the attack token.

Unit ability resolution

Unit abilities at the end of a round resolve in the following order

End of round effects -> Regenerate, and other abilities -> Start of round effects

Spells

There exist two main types of spells in the game; Fast & Slow.

Slow

Slow spells can only be cast outside of combat and other casting. The enemy can respond.

Fast

Fast spells can be played anytime you can take an action and also allows the enemy to respond.

Fast spells, when exactly can they be played?

Fast spells in Wolves of Rome can be cast whenever there is an action in progress. For instance, players can cast fast spells when declaring their units as attackers, responding to their opponent's declaration of blockers, or when an opponent plays a unit, etc. . .

Spell Stack

In Wolves of Rome, it's possible to cast multiple spells in succession, creating a sequence referred to as a 'spell stack.' This stack operates as a queue system, allowing players to cast several fast spells. The resolution order follows from the most recently played spell to the earliest in the stack. (Visually from Left to Right)

Resolving The Spell Stack

After a spell cast is resolved, the player who initiated the spell stack passes their turn to their opponent. For instance, if a player plays a fast spell and their opponent allows it to resolve, the turn subsequently shifts to the opponent's control.

Combat Spell Stack Flowchart

Landmarks

Landmarks are special cards that don't have health or mana costs. They sit in a separate zone, often called the unit reserve, and provide ongoing benefits to your other units through passive abilities. Unlike regular units, you can't destroy landmarks with normal attacks or spells. They require specific cards with effects like "destroy" or "obliterate" to be removed from the game.