Classic Card Battler

Build & Battle

Manacaster is a card battler where both players build the turn together. Design or draft your deck, deploy Units, Actions, and the Mana card you choose each round, then fight through attack priority, blocking, and combat lines.

Play Demo Learn the Rules Open Card Lab
50 Card Main DeckSingleton Units & Actions
Choose Your ManaDeploy any Mana from your Mana Deck
20 LifeSpend life for tempo
Opening HandDraw 14. Keep 6 or 7.

Build. Battle. Learn.

Design decks, draft plans, study the card pool, then test your strategy in Solo Mode, AI practice, or Versus.

Solo Mode progression changes your build.

Unlock cards and equipment, craft gear sets, and tune your deck before each battle.

  • Card unlocks: Expand your options as your Solo Mode collection grows.
  • Equipment Cards: Equip Item-style cards that change your PvE build and long-term plan.
  • Gear sets: Craft toward focused Solo Mode strategies, including economy and farming builds.

Versus starts with a complete card pool.

Solo Mode has progression. Versus is built for clean competition: buy the game, build with every PvP-legal card, and prove the deck in battle.

  • Designed decks: Build a deck for the constructed format without making “Constructed” the player-facing verb.
  • Chosen Mana: Tune a Mana Deck, then choose which Mana card to deploy each turn.
  • Fair card access: Every PvP-legal card is available for Versus deckbuilding.

Card Browser → Deck Builder

Browse the card pool, inspect card roles, then build legal decks directly in the embedded deckbuilder.

  • Card Browser: Search and filter the current card pool.
  • Deck Builder: Turn card ideas into legal decklists with format checks.
  • Print-ready decks: Export decks as printable PDFs for personal playtesting or collection.

The core rules that shape every match.

Manacaster’s depth comes from simultaneous turns, chosen mana, singleton main decks, and board combat.

50

Simultaneous Turns

Both players deploy mana, units, and actions each round; attack priority decides who pressures and who defends.

13

Choose Your Mana

Mana is not drawn at random. Pick which Mana card to deploy from your Mana Deck each turn.

14

Singleton Main Deck

Units and Actions are one-copy in the Main Deck, so every slot has to earn its place.

VS

Board Combat

Units stay in play, multiple blockers can stop a single attacker, and combat math matters.

Card Browser

Browse the card pool, inspect roles and keywords, then move directly into deckbuilding.

Read rules

How to Play

Short gameplay clips should teach the turn structure, Mana Deck, combat, opening hand, deck building, and keywords.

1. Build

Design or draft your deck. Units and Actions are singleton in the Main Deck; Mana is built separately.

2. Battle

Both players deploy each round. Attack priority determines who pressures and who defends.

3. Win

Reduce the opponent to 0 life or force them to draw from an empty deck.

Deploy

Both players deploy Units, Actions, and chosen Mana. Priority passes between players.

Combat

The player with attack priority declares attacks; the defender assigns blockers and combat resolves.

Post / End

Use the second deployment window, draw, untap, clear effects, and switch attack priority.

Board combat decides the fight.

Gameplay clips should show attackers, blockers, life totals, and damage previews so players can read the line.

  • Units remain in play until killed.
  • Multiple units can block a single attacker.
  • Combat math matters because pressure, blocking, and timing decide trades.

Opening Hand

Draw 14, keep 6 or 7, then shuffle the unkept cards back. Your first decision happens before turn one.

  • Keep 7 when your curve and synergy are already strong.
  • Keep 6 when filtering creates a better focused hand.
  • Secret decisions are announced simultaneously.

Updates, Bugfixes & Balance

Follow major changes, fixes, and balance notes as Manacaster develops. No fixed update cadence implied.

Latest Update

Balance Notes

Read what changed, why it changed, and how it affects deckbuilding and combat.

Read notes
Developer Notes

Why the Mana Deck has 13 cards

Your Mana Deck has 13 cards, but only 12 Mana can be in play. The extra card keeps your final deployment from becoming forced.

Open blog
Community

Starter Deck Spotlight

Feature a starter list, explain its plan, and link players into the Card Browser and Deck Builder.

Browse sample decks

Community & Player Tools

Find the public links, rules references, creator assets, and player resources connected to Manacaster.

Discord

Deck discussion, rules questions, balance feedback, and matchmaking.

Join Discord

Creator Kit

Logos, screenshots, trailer clips, and press assets for creators and coverage.

Open press kit

Events

Community draft nights, friend leagues, and tournaments when available.

View events

Card

Card details.