3 Areas of the Game

3.1 Areas

Hero Deck: A deck containing only Hero cards. This deck is used in all game modes. Players draw from this deck to place Heroes into Battle Zones or replenish their Bench after substitutions. Hero Deck size depends on the format.

Hot Dog Deck: A 10-card deck used to track a player’s available Hot Dogs, the game’s energy resource. The Hot Dog Deck is only used in Substitution and Playmaker Modes. Cards are not drawn from this deck; it functions as a pool for spending and recovering Hot Dogs.

Playbook: A deck of Play cards and Bonus Play cards used only in Playmaker Mode. Players draw from this deck at the start of the game and after each battle. Each Play in the Playbook must be unique. Playbook Deck size depends on the format.

Discard Pile: Where Discarded cards and spent Hot Dogs go. Players each maintain their own Discard zone.

Arena: The Arena is the shared central area of play. It contains seven Battle Zones arranged in a row between players. Battles are resolved one zone at a time, in the order established during setup.

Battle Zone: A Battle Zone is one of the seven spaces in the Arena where two opposing Heroes face off. Each zone contains one Hero from each player. Battles are resolved one zone at a time, in the order established during setup.

Bench/Hand: The terms Bench and Hand refer to the same zone: a group of cards held privately by a player. These may include Hero cards available for substitution and Play cards available for activation.

3.2 Movement Between Areas

Cards may move between different areas of the game during play. These movements typically occur as a result of game setup, card effects, substitutions, or standard game rules.

Whenever a card moves from one area to another, it loses all effects currently applied to it, unless a card specifically states otherwise. This includes Power modifications, status conditions, markers, and any temporary effects.

3.3 Inactive Battles

Inactive Battles are Battle Zones that have not yet been resolved.

Cards and effects may only interact with Inactive Battles if they specifically state they do so. Players cannot reveal, substitute, or affect Heroes in inactive zones unless a card explicitly allows it.

3.4 Randomization and Shuffling

Randomization ensures that the order of cards in a deck or hidden group is unknown to all players.

A deck is considered randomized when no player has knowledge of the order of its cards.

Players must sufficiently randomize their decks whenever a deck is shuffled. Randomization may be performed using any reasonable method, including riffle shuffling, mash shuffling, or other techniques that produce adequate mixing of cards.

Pile shuffling may be used to count cards but does not, by itself, constitute sufficient randomization.