Rules Clarification

v. 2.0

RULES CLARIFICATIONS AND

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Rules Clariﬁcation

Abilities and Text

Any text in a card’s text box that has the format of “X = ...” is

not considered an ability. Only bold named text on a unit is

considered an ability, such as Unit Guard.

Abilities and other eﬀect text still exist on cards that are

exhausted; however that text is not active and cannot be

used by that card. If a card would copy the printed abilities

of a card that is exhausted, it may indeed copy those

abilities.

When paying an exhaust cost to activate a spell or ability,

fully resolve the activated eﬀects even though the

exhausted card no longer has ability or eﬀect text.

Inexhaustible text that is granted to another card is also

considered to be inexhaustible on that card.

Battle

If an attacker leaves battle before resolving its attack

(either through becoming exhausted, leaving play, or

another eﬀect), any blocker or guard does not counter and

a Phoenixborn declared as a guard would not use its guard

for the round (do not rotate it 90°).

If a blocker or guard leaves play before its battle is

resolved, the attacker will resolve a battle with the original

target of its attack.

If an unguarded unit that is the target of an attack leaves

play before that battle is resolved, the battle ends without

dealing damage, but the attacker is still exhausted.

Attackers are declared in a single step and blockers or guards

are declared in a (separate) single step. After all attacker or

blocker/guard choices have been made, eﬀects that trigger

when units are declared as an attacker/blocker/guard are

resolved in the order of Simultaneous Eﬀects (p. 17).

Card Information

If an eﬀect has a player search their draw (or other) pile for

a speciﬁed card, that player is not required to select a card,

even if there is an eligible card remaining in that pile.

If an eﬀect has a player search their discard pile or any

other area whose contents are public information, the

cards must be revealed when selected.

e.g. searching your discard pile for

an ally and placing it into your hand.

Face down cards that were public knowledge before being

placed face down underneath another card in play may be

examined by any player by request.

e.g. cards placed underneath Mount

conjurations or Canyon Shelter.

If a card in play indicates the ability to place a conjuration

into play, any player may request to see a copy of the

named conjuration from the owner’s conjuration pile for

reference.

Dice

Dice that are placed onto cards, such as with the charm

and divine dice powers, are returned to their owner’s

exhausted pool when the card they are on is discarded or

otherwise removed from play. Dice that are placed onto

cards are not considered to be in any player’s active or

exhausted pool.

When selecting a number of dice for an eﬀect, choose as

many as you can up to the indicated amount.

Miscellaneous

If a unit would ever come into play onto a full battleﬁeld, it

is discarded instead.

If a unit leaves play and then is placed back into play, it

comes into play without any tokens on it, alteration spells

attached to it, and it is not attacking, blocking or guarding.

If it left and returned to play within the same turn without

being placed in a discard pile, conjuration pile or hand, it

is considered to be the same unit and is still subject to any

other eﬀects that had applied to it (see ‘Hope Everthorn’).

You may not take main or side actions during another

player’s turn, even if a card eﬀect states you may take

additional actions this turn.

A card eﬀect cannot place a

conjuration into play that has

been destroyed but not yet

discarded unless it refers to that

speciﬁc copy (e.g. via “this unit”

or “that card”)

v. 2.0

Recommended First Fives

Here is a list of First Fives for each of the preconstructed

Ashes decks. Note that these are just recommendations

to start from, and feel free to modify your First Five to suit

your preferences and unique matchups against diﬀerent

opponents. These also may diﬀer from those found in the

Rulebook, as there are many viable approaches for how to use

each deck.

Aradel- The Mist Guardian

Summon Blue Jaguar Summon Mist Spirit

Summon Butterﬂy Monk Shifting Mist Steady Gaze

Astrea- The Goddess of Ishra

Summon Steadfast Guardian Summon Light Bringer

Summon Weeping Spirit Imperial Ninja Sun Sister

Brennen- The Children of Blackcloud

Summon Dread Wraith Chant of Worship

Blackcloud Ninja Fire Archer Crimson Bomber

Coal- The Iron Men

Chant of Revenge Hammer Knight Iron Worker

Anchornaut Strengthen

Echo- The Masters of Gravity

Chaos Gravity Sonic Swordsman

Summon Mirror Spirit Changing Winds

Gravity Training

Fiona- The Protector of Argaia

Mind Maze Summon Nightsong Cricket

Summon Mind Fog Owl Summon Majestic Titan

Confusion Spores

Harold- The Demons of Darmas

Summon Vampire Bat Swarm Drain Vitality

Master Vampire Adrenaline Rush Beast Warrior

James- The Grave King

Summon Fallen Grave Knight Rising Horde

Immortal Commander Vengeance

Jericho- The Breaker of Fate

Summon Time Hopper Summon Turtle Guard

Swift Messenger Standard Bearer Accelerate

Jessa- The Bloodwoods Queen

Summon Blood Puppet Blood Transfer

Blood Archer Living Doll Undying Heart

Koji- The Boy Among Wolves

Summon Indiglow Creeper Summon Biter

Join the Hunt Hunt Master Jungle Warrior

Leo- The Roaring Rose

Summon Orchid Dove Summon Nightshade Swallow

Memory Theft Beast Tamer Change Psyche

Maeoni- The Snakes in Silver

Summon Silver Snake Summon Gilder

Open Memories Empower Call Upon the Realms

Namine- The Song of Soaksend

Summon Squall Stallion Summon Salamander Monk

Guilt Link Magic Syphon String Mage

Noah- The Shadows of Viros

Summon Masked Wolf Summon False Demon

Small Sacriﬁce Resummon Summon Sleeping Widows

Odette- The Law of Lions

Summon Emperor Lion Summon Winged Lioness

Sword of Virtue Shield Mage Power Through

Rimea- The Ghost Guardian

Ancestral Army Summon Ghostly Mount

Summon Ancestor Spirit Augury Hollow

Rin- The Frostdale Giants

Summon Ice Golem Summon Frostback Bear

Frost Bite Frost Fang Ice Trap

Saria- The Cloudsea Siren

Summon Seaside Raven Summon Three-Eyed Owl

Abundance Rose Fire Dancer Purge

Sembali- The Spirits of Memoria

Summon Admonisher Celestial Knight

Shadow Guard Chained Creations Angelic Rescue

Victoria- The Duchess of Deception

Summon Shadow Hound Summon Shadow Spirit

Secret Door Body Inversion Flash Archer

Xander- The King of Titans

Summon Cerasaurus Mount Sacred Ground

Earthquake Raptor Herder Pain Shaman

Lulu- The Gorrenrock Survivors

Summon Emberoot Lizard Summon Omen Bringer

Fighting Spirit Inﬂame Phoenix Barrage

Orrick- The Messenger of Peace

Concentration Summon Ash Spirit Summon Ruby

Cobra Sunshield Sentry Flock Shepherd

Dimona- The Queen of Lightning

Summon Cloudburst Gryphon Rayward Knight

Crystal Archer Rayward Recruit Adept Duelist

Hope- The Artist of Dreams

Summon Fox Spirit Summon Wishing Wing

Realm Walker Dreamlock Mage Dream Fracture

v. 2.0

Individual Card FAQs

Blood Archer

Q: If placing a wound token on my Blood Archer from the

Blood Shot 1 ability would cause my Blood Archer to be

destroyed, do I still get to deal 1 damage to a target unit?

A: Yes, fully resolve the ability, even though the Blood

Archer is not in play when that part of the ability resolves.

Chained Creations

Q: If I use Chained Creations to destroy a conjuration, can I

place an exhaustion token on Resummon?

A: No. Resummon does not speciﬁcally say what kind of

conjuration it puts into play, so Chained Creations cannot

exhaust it.

Choke

Q: If I play Choke, can I still deal 1 damage to a target

Phoenixborn even if they were exhausted before I played

Choke?

A: No. Choke requires you to exhaust a Phoenixborn to

deal the damage.

Copycat

Q: If I use Copycat to resolve a copy of Meteor, how much

damage can I do?

A: Just the base 1 damage to all units. The copy of Meteor

was played without paying its play cost, so no were spent

to play it, even if one was spent to play Copycat.

Q: When I use Copycat on Odette’s Enter the Fray ability,

which Phoenixborn is dealt damage in return?

A: Yours. When using Copycat, the default assumption

should be that you become the player casting the spell and

your Phoenixborn is using any Phoenixborn ability being

copied.

Q: Can I play Copycat after my opponent uses Copycat to

copy the same spell or ability?

A: Yes. Copycat may be played immediately after the

originally copied spell or ability is resolved.

Dark Presence

Q: If I use Dark Presence to give Beast Tamer the Terrifying

1 ability in addition to Tame 1, and it attacks, can it be

blocked by a Turtle Guard with an attack value of 2?

A: Yes. Abilities like Terrifying check the relevant stat value

only during the declare blockers/guard step, and then are

otherwise irrelevant. If the Turtle Guard has an attack value

above that of the Terrifying ability when it can be declared

as a blocker, it may be declared.

Emperor Lion

Q: If I play Law of Sight while using the Emperor Lion’s

Decree ability, will I draw cards that I saw on the top of my

draw pile while searching for a Law?

A: Due to the possibility of manipulating the order of your

draw pile, you should shuﬄe your draw pile immediately

after searching your draw pile for a Law and revealing it,

despite the fact that shuﬄing is listed as the last part of

Decree’s eﬀect. This will ensure the cards drawn from Law

of Sight are random.

Fade Away

Q: Is the ‘remove from game’ text on Fade Away considered

a second eﬀect, or a modiﬁer of the ﬁrst eﬀect?

A: It is a modiﬁer of the ﬁrst eﬀect, indicating that after the

ally is destroyed, instead of discarding it, remove it from

the game.

Fade Away and Undying Heart

Q: If Fade Away destroys an ally I control that has Undying

Heart attached, do I return the ally to my hand or remove it

from the game?

A: Return it to your hand. The eﬀect of Undying Heart

returns the ally to your hand before that ally would be

discarded. Fade Away attempts to remove the ally from

the game instead of discarding it. Since the ally is returned

to your hand (and not discarded), Fade Away does not

remove the ally from play.

Ghostly Mounts

Q: If I summon Spectral Charger Mount and my opponent

destroys it with Ice Trap, what happens to the ally that was

removed from play to summon my Mount?

A: Consider placing the Mount and the ally underneath

the Mount to be a single step; thus Dismount would trigger

and place the ally into your hand.

Golden Veil

Q: When canceling one of several eﬀects on a card with

Golden Veil, such as the exhaustion token placement on

Law of Fear, what happens to the remaining eﬀects on Law

of Fear that were not currently resolving?

A: Only currently resolving eﬀects are canceled. Passive

modiﬁers like Law of Fear’s -1 attack eﬀect, Bound, and

Fleeting, are still in eﬀect after the exhaustion token

placement is canceled by Golden Veil.

Hunter’s Mark

Q: If I use Enchanted Violinist’s Song of Sorrow ability to

destroy a unit with Hunter’s Mark attached to it, do I trigger

the discard eﬀect from Song of Sorrow?

A: Yes. Hunter’s Mark modiﬁes the amount of wound

tokens placed by Song of Sorrow, but the source of the

damage is still the Enchanted Violinist, allowing you to

discard 1 card from the top of that opponent’s draw pile.

v. 2.0

Imperial Ninja

Q: What happens if I only can discard 1 card from my deck

against an Imperial Ninja’s attack?

A: If you choose to discard the card from your deck, the

Interrogate ability still causes you to discard the looked at

card, since you discarded fewer than 2 cards.

Iron Worker

Q: If I am at or above my maximum hand limit of 5, can I

still draw cards with Iron Worker’s Overtime ability?

A: Yes. You may draw 0-2 additional cards during the draw

step, regardless of how many cards you have in your hand.

Meteor

Q: If I spent to play this, am I required to deal the

damage?

A: Yes. You may not spend a and ignore the damage

boosting eﬀect of Meteor.

Mind Probe

Q: When I use Mind Probe, does my opponent get to see

the order I return the cards back to their draw pile?

A: No. You are allowed to pick up the remaining cards,

determine their order secretly, and return them to your

opponent’s draw pile.

Odette Diamondcrest

Q: How much damage does Odette take when using Enter

the Fray against a Dread Wraith?

A: If you use Enter the Fray against an undamaged Dread

Wraith, Odette is dealt 3 damage, because the Dread

Wraith’s attack is increased to 3 by the time Odette is dealt

damage by her ability.

Q: How much damage does Odette take when using Enter

the Fray and it destroys the target unit?

A: If the targeted unit is no longer in play when Odette

is dealt damage from her ability, use the attack value of

the unit at the time of its destruction (e.g. a Dread Wraith

that has a Frozen Crown and 7 wound tokens on it when

destroyed would deal 11 damage to Odette!)

Redirect

Q: What happens if I use Redirect to make a unit I control

with Armored 1 receive that damage?

A: The unit receives full damage. Since the damage was

dealt to your Phoenixborn, but received by the unit,

Armored 1 does not trigger (Damage Resolution, p. 16).

Q: If I use Redirect to make my Blood Shaman receive

enough damage for it to be destroyed, can I use Blood

Shaman’s Blood Ritual 1 ability?

A: It depends on the source of the damage dealt to your

Phoenixborn that triggered Redirect. The source of the

damage does not change when Redirect is used. If the

source of damage was your own spell, ability, or dice power,

then yes. Otherwise, Blood Ritual 1 does not trigger.

Return to Soil

Q: If I use Return to Soil to destroy a Raptor Herder, can I

remove it from the game with the rest of Return to Soil’s

eﬀect?

A: No. The destroyed Raptor Herder is not in the discard

pile at the time of resolving that part of Return to Soil.

Safeguard

Q: If I play Safeguard and pass as a main action, ending the

round, does Safeguard carry over into the next round?

A: Yes. You will be protected by Safeguard until the start

of your next turn, regardless of if the round ends between

those turns.

Shield Mage

Q: What does Shield Mage’s ability do?

A: Since your units cannot be targeted by attacks an

opponent controls, the Shield Mage’s Defensive Aura

ability essentially means your opponent must target your

Phoenixborn for an attack instead of your units. This allows

you to assign blockers more freely than if they were able to

target your units for attacks.

Strange Copy

Q: If I use Strange Copy to turn my unit into a Vampire Bat

Swarm, when it is destroyed, how does the Swarm ability

work?

A: You may spend 1 or 1 to return that unit to play as a

Vampire Bat Swarm (without tokens or alteration spells). It

is not considered to be the original unit until Strange Copy

wears oﬀ at the end of the turn.

Q: If I use Strange Copy to turn my unit into a Shield Mage

while my opponent is attacking a unit I control, what

happens?

A: The opponent continues attacking that unit. Shield

Mage’s Defensive Aura ability will not be active in time to

aﬀect the declaration of this attack.

Q: If I use Strange Copy to copy an exhausted unit, do I

copy its exhaustible abilities even if they aren’t active on

that card?

A: Yes. Per the Rules Clariﬁcations above, the Strange Copy

unit will have all of the source unit’s printed abilities, even if

the source unit is exhausted.

Q: If I transform my Psychic Vampire into a diﬀerent unit

with Strange Copy and it survives battle damage, but then

is destroyed by a reduction in life value when it transforms

back into Psychic Vampire, can I trigger Lobotomize?

A: No. Psychic Vampire is not dying from an opponent’s

eﬀect at that point, but rather from the game state change

of Strange Copy’s eﬀect wearing oﬀ.

Q: Does an ally being copied into a conjuration (or vice

versa) change its card type?

A: No, the original unit is still considered its own card type

for the purposes of cards like Chant of Revenge triggering

when an ally you control is destroyed.

v. 2.0

String Mage

Q: How does cancelling work when moving a token with

Exchange Link 1?

A: Golden Veil can cancel the entirety of the Exchange

Link 1 ability since it is played when a unit is targeted by the

eﬀect, but before resolving the eﬀect (Target, p. 26).

Transmute Magic

Q: Am I required to target all players with the last eﬀect?

A: Yes. Per the eﬀect text, you target all players at once,

then a cancel eﬀect (such as Vanish) can be declared and

resolved. Otherwise, you then change dice in the order of

your choice.

Undying Heart and Fade Away

See Fade Away.

Vampire Bat Swarm

Q: If a Vampire Bat Swarm is attacking or blocking, is

destroyed, and triggers Swarm to re-enter play, is it still

attacking or blocking?

A: No, the new Vampire Bat Swarm is not considered to be

attacking or blocking (see Rules Clariﬁcations above).

Victoria Glassﬁre

Q: When I use the Surprise! ability and I have fewer dice in

my active pool than the number of dice re-rolled for my

opponent, how many of my dice do I roll?

A: Roll as many dice as you can up to the amount re-rolled

for your opponent.

The Breaker of Fate

Accelerate

Q: If I use Copycat on Accelerate, can I take side actions on

my opponent’s turn?

A: No. Per the Rules Clariﬁcations, players can only take

main or side actions on their turn.

Blink

Q: What happens to the unit I use Blink on if, by the end of

the turn, the battleﬁeld it is returning to play onto is full?

A: Per the Rules Clariﬁcations, it is discarded.

Stasis

Q: Can Stasis be used as a reaction against Squall Stallion’s

Lightning Speed ability?

A: No. Per its eﬀect text, Stasis is considered a reaction

spell for the purposes of Lightning Speed when played

using the blue reaction text box.

The Gorrenrock Survivors

Canyon Shelter

Q: If I have multiple copies of Canyon Shelter in play,

can I activate one copy of Canyon Shelter to place a unit

underneath a diﬀerent copy of Canyon Shelter since

focusing causes some copies to be underneath others?

A: No, each copy of Canyon Shelter independently has

units underneath them.

The Messenger of Peace

Ash Spirit

Q: If I am the only player with no cards in my draw pile at

the end of the round, do I have to take 1 damage from my

own Ash Spirit’s Smolder 1 ability?

A: Yes, Ash Spirits can be a double-edged sword. Be careful

around ﬁery sheep!

Rile the Meek

Q: What happens when I use Golden Veil to stop damage

from Rile the Meek?

A: That damage, and all subsequent instances of damage

from Rile the Meek, are canceled.

The Queen of Lightning

Dimona Odinstar

Q: Is this the ﬁrst ‘Mount’ unit that references exhausted

units?

A: Yes, Dimona instead Promotes allies that have proved

their worth in battle!

Disengage

Q: Does my attacking unit become exhausted after playing

Disengage?

A: No (see Battle above).

Empyrean Mount

Q: Does Battlemaster do anything when targeting a unit for

an attack?

A: No. If you want your Empyrean Mount to battle a

speciﬁc unit, instead attack the Phoenixborn and use

Battlemaster to choose that unit as a blocker. If you

attacked the unit directly, your opponent could still

declare a guard.

Piercing Light

Q: Do multiple copies of Piercing Light stack the Overkill

ability?

A: Yes (Stacking Abilities, Glossary).

Rayward Recruit and Blessing of Lightning

Q: Must I choose a divine die on its power side when

resolving Blessing of Lightning or the Armed ability?

A: No, any divine die, regardless of what face it is on,

and including the die spent to play them, can be used to

resolve these eﬀects.

Q: Can I use the dice spent to play these cards when

resolving their eﬀects?

A: Yes, costs are paid before resolving these eﬀects, so you

may use the spent divine die.

v. 2.0

The Artist of Dreams

Hope Everthorn

Q: Can I use a reaction spell like Summon Sleeping Widows

at the end of my turn when a unit I control is destroyed as a

result of Duplicate?

A: Yes, and this reaction is considered to be used on your

turn that is currently ending with regards to the “Limit 1

reaction per turn” rule.

Q: I used Duplicate on my Vampire Bat Swarm and that

copy was destroyed before the end of this turn. If I put it

back into play with the Swarm ability, will it be destroyed as

a result of Duplicate at the end of the turn?

A: Yes, when using the Swarm ability to place that Vampire

Bat Swarm back into play, it is still under the eﬀects of

Hope’s Duplicate ability.

Double Down

Q: When a conjuration is destroyed and I play Double

Down as a result, can I place that same copy of that

conjuration into play?

A: No, conjurations must come from the conjuration pile,

and at the time of resolving Double Down, the destroyed

conjuration is not yet in the conjuration pile. You must

place 2 copies (or as many as you can) of that conjuration

from your conjuration pile.

Fox Spirit

Q: If I activate Pounce 2 by attacking an exhausted unit with

my Fox Spirit and the target of the attack changes from my

opponent’s guarding, what happens?

A: Once Pounce 2 activates, the +2 attack persists for the

remainder of the turn regardless of how the opponent

chooses to respond to the attack.

Void Pulse

Q: How does the sequencing of eﬀects work with Void

Pulse? Can I use the dice spindown eﬀect to prevent my

opponent from having the dice to play a reaction spell in

response to their unit’s being destroyed, like Final Cry?

A: Void Pulse’s secondary eﬀect of drawing cards and

changing dice is triggered “after [the unit] is destroyed.” As

the active player, you must draw cards/change dice before

your opponent has the opportunity to trigger any eﬀects

oﬀ of their unit’s destruction, such as playing Final Cry.