Ultimate Combat! - Gameplay Summary

Gameplay Summary

Players in Ultimate Combat! compete to knock their opponent unconscious using cards representing various martial arts moves and techniques. Players alternate turns with each turn consisting of the following phases:

• Recovery Phase where cards which were drained of power in previous turns are recovered.
• Draw Phase where cards are drawn from the draw deck to increase the hand size back up to ten cards.
• Build Phase where the player can increase his or her total capacity for action by deploying a single foundation card.
• Activity Phase where the core actions of the game take place, including the use of an offensive technique.
• Discard Phase where one must discard if more than ten cards are currently held.

Players build up a base of power by deploying foundation cards over successive turns (akin to land cards in Magic: The Gathering), and then use those foundations to bring other cards into play. The most important of these other cards are the technique cards, which can be used to launch or block an attack. Each turn, during the activity phase, the acting player may launch an attack using a single technique which has previously been brought into play, and the other player can respond by blocking with a technique or his or her own. Any and all techniques used in an attack are discarded afterwards, so players must weigh whether to expend a technique on defense, as it will then not be available for offense. Various modifiers are applied to attack values based on whether the combatants are moving, and as a result of any advantage cards played during the attack, with the final resolution possibly including the defender taking damage.