It won’t be long till casters are slinging spells and contracting beasties at the 2023 Water Tower Event in Mason, Ohio. Knowing the gameplay and the cards that will be important to this special tower meta is important. We’ll go over relevant rules, rulings, and erratas that you should be extra familiar with leading into the event!
Please make sure to read and check in on the official documents regularly at the MetaZoo Games Gameplay website!
Rulebook 2023 2/3/23
Determining a Page’s Aura Type:
The Base Aura Type(s) of a Page is what Aura Type(s) that the Page
belongs to without other Effects or Modifiers. Dual Aura Pages are considered to have 2 Base Aura Types. If a Page has more than 1 non-Neutral Aura Cost, that Page belongs to all Aura Types with its Aura Costs (i.e., if a Page’s Aura Cost is 1 Spirit and 1 Dark, that Page is considered a Spirit and Dark Beastie).
–Tower Info:
A Caster must have a minimum of 40 Pages in their Spellbook and no more than 15 Pages in their Archive. Additionally, Casters’ Spellbooks must consist of Pages totaling at least 60% of that Tower’s Aura, not including Aura Pages. The only exception to this rule are Pages with dual Auras. You are allowed an Archive of 15 Pages that you can use to modify your Spellbook between games. A Caster may not make any changes to the contents of their Spellbook or Archive once the event has started.
Terra Bonuses:
Give you boosts when you are within or nearby a certain place or object in real life. Unless otherwise specified by a Page, “nearby” means within 5 miles or within eyesight. Terra that has been Contracted into the Arena activates Terra Bonuses for all Casters in the game. Terra cannot be/is not controlled by any Caster in the game.
–Tower Info:
Tower events may have certain Terras “active” during play. These Terras do not need to be Contracted in order to be considered active, and conversely, those Terras cannot be destroyed by Page Effects. In addition to this, all Terra Bonuses active and specific for that Tower will have a 3x multiplier.
–Tower Info:
Tower events may have certain Terras “active” during play. These Terras do not need to be Contracted in order to be considered active, and conversely, those Terras cannot be destroyed by Page Effects. In addition to this, all Terra Bonuses active and specific for that Tower will have a 3x multiplier.
Official Tower Document FAQ
–Are Terras that are “active” in a pseudo environment considered owned by either Caster?
-No. Terras active in pseudos are not considered owned by either Caster. This means Pages such as Land Tax would deal 0 Damage.
4th Wall Effects:
Some Page text may reference items that wouldn’t normally exist in the game, like “dirt” or “a source of fire.” Text that interacts with anything outside the game is considered a 4th Wall Effect. These can call for objects to be within eyesight or within arm’s reach. Some Effects call for actions such as singing and creating a shadow in the area to trigger. Others simply take into account the age or nationality of the players.
–Tower Info:
Players will be asked to claim/submit four 4th Wall Items from the Offical List. Players are required to have physical representations of the items with them at the event. The Tower Event will have its own active 4th Wall Effects during the event, so keep an eye out for those to be announced!
New Keywords/Static Effects:
ENTER: Effects that resolve when a Page enters the Arena. (A
Page being Contracted into the Arena is still considered to have
entered the Arena unless the Page is a Spell or Potion).
Static Effects: Page Effects that are considered “rules” of the Page and are constantly applied/checking once a game has begun. They only become active while the Page is known information (Example: Searching your Spellbook, while in Chapter, while in a public zone, etc.) Some of these Static effects will only function while in the Arena. Static Effects will not be denoted by a keyword and will rather be at the top of the Effect text box. Sometimes these effects will be bolded or italicized.
Spellbook Restrictions: A type of Static Effect that is applied outside of the game while constructing your Spellbook and at all times during the game. These effects will include a clause similar to “You may not include this Page in a Spellbook-”, “[Page Name] may not be included in a Spellbook with-”, or any other effects written similarly.
Cryptid Nation Set Clarifications: NEW!
‘Enter’, ‘Static Effects’, and ‘Contrat’ classifications have been applied to all Cryptid Nation Set cards that previously did not have clarification. This allows Cryptid Nation card effects to have these specific game mechanics to be tied to them.
These clarifications will not be considered Errata to any Page and will primarily focus on Beasties and Artifacts intended functionality.
Status Effects / Traits:
“Status Effects are dangerous conditions that may be inflicted upon Beasties, Artifacts, or Casters. A target may only have 1 Status Effect Indicator of each type on it (except for Poison)….”
“…In cases with multiple Defenders, Status Effects may only affect the primary Defender. When a Page “automatically” inflicts a Status Effect, place that Status Effect Indicator on the target unless another effect would modify the coin flip past the automatic infliction. If an Effect would attempt to affect an automatic coin flip, resolve the Effects as if the coin flip is/was modified.”
–Tower Info:
It is valuable to read up on all the effects as there has been some new clarification to them. Status effects like Paralyze, and Confusion will be key to strategic play. Traits like Fear, First-Strike, Fleet, Flight, Infectious, Invisible, Magiproof, Trap, and Stone Skin will be on display as well!
–Confusion: UPDATED!
Can affect Beasties. When a Page is inflicted with Confusion, place a Confusion Indicator on the Page. Before a Page with Confusion resolves an Attack, flip a coin, and, if tails, activate any Attack Effect of the Beastie (If an Attack Effect would have you target a Page, you may target any legal Page with the Effect). Then, deal Damage to that Page equal to the maximum Damage that Attack deals (including all modifiers except Type Advantage and Aura Attack Advantage). Then, no Damage is dealt from the Attack, remove the Confusion Indicator, and continue Combat. If heads, the Attack occurs as
normal.
-It is worth noting that a tails coin flip does damage to the attacking beastie including modifiers to the attack. No damage is dealt to the target of the attack. Then continue combat! The combat does not end after a tails flip, the defending beastie will attack back.-
Placement:
Refers to placing a Page in the Arena via Contracting a Page, an Effect that moves a Page that is already in the Arena, or placing the Page into the Arena through an Effect. Placement only refers to the Placement of a Page in relation to it being in the Arena by itself, layered, or on-top-of or under another Page. The placement of a Page in the Arena cannot be on-top-of or under another Page unless otherwise stated by a Page Effect. No Pages are to be moved from their position at any time to aid in a specific Caster’s placement or layering. Unless stated by a Page Effect, the placement of a Page cannot be entirely covering another Page in the Arena regardless of being in an Awakened or Fatigued position.
–Tower Info:
Look for cards like ‘Flying Manta Ray’, ‘USO’, and ‘Beast of Busco’ effects to take advantage of their Arena Placement! In general, cards can be placed anywhere in the arena when they enter. That includes your opponent’s side of the field!
New Glossary Terms:
Just some of the updated terms in the Rulebook.
Any Time: The ability to take an Action on your turn or during a generated priority window.
Attack Damage: Any Damage beside the Attack Name that is printed in red. Damage Modifiers are applied in Attack Damage.
Aura Effects: Effects that ONLY generate Aura and have no other Effects. These Effects can be used without passing priority. Only Aura Effects with “any time” clauses, or Aura Pages, may be used in a
generated priority window. Unless an Effect would state otherwise.
Combat Damage: Any Effect Damage or Attack Damage that an Attacker or Defender in Combat produces.
Effect Damage: Any Damage from a written Effect on the Page not including Attack Damage.
Nullify: (Interchangeable: “Do not resolve”) To not resolve the Effects
or Traits of a Page.
Private Zone(s): Chapter or Spellbook
Public Zone(s): Arena, Limbo, Cemetery, Afterlife