The Circuit | Combat and Phases
The Circuit features a unique approach to turn-based combat.
In The Circuit, fighters face off in battle with two goals in mind. Knock out the opponent while also protecting oneself.
Fights are played in hands, with each set of hands counting as a round.
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Each match starts with the Draw Phase, where several moves are drawn at random from the player's repertoire, or deck.
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Next comes the Stamina Regeneration Phase, which allows players to automatically recover a limited amount of stamina to use between rounds. Stamina is used as the energy players use to execute the various moves from their repertoire.
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In the Utility Phase, fighters can play any number of utility cards from their hands to activate their effects for the turn. These effects can range from drawing extra cards to providing additional damage, among other effects. This phase is the only time in a match that Utility cards can be activated, and they cannot be reserved.
The Battle Queue Phase and Reserving
This is where plans are put into motion...
Now that cards have been drawn and energy is available, players can decide what to do with the moves now in their hands. Use them this turn? Save a move for use later by reserving it? Not use it all? The choice is up to the player.
Available energy will automatically be drained as each move is assigned to the queue for battle or reserved.
For example, on offense, after drawing a devastating uppercut alongside two other attacks, fighters can decide to:
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Use the uppercut this turn in conjunction with the other attacks drawn in the same turn. Still, the players must determine the order in which those attacks should be made, allowing opponents the opportunity to defend themselves.
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Reserve the uppercut for later use. If so, you lose the opportunity to deal that damage this turn, for the ability to swap it with another move in the future.
Once fighters are satisfied with their battle strategies, the selected moves used for this turn are stacked in the order they were played, and the fight now moves to the Battle Resolution Phase.
The Circuit | Combat and Phases
Regardless of the choices made above...
The Resolution Phase unfolds next, allowing the world to see the results as the selected attacks are pitted against the opponent's defensive prowess.
Cards from the top of each battle queue are flipped and revealed to determine the outcome of each move in real-time, as planned by each fighter.
After damage is calculated, all cards played and unused are sent to the graveyard.
As the round ends, the active deck will switch, meaning that the defender will now be attacking, and the attacker will now have to defend, starting from the draw phase again. These phases will then repeat until a winner is determined.
As cards resolve against one another:
The attacker wins if they target an area(s) the defender left unguarded, which deals damage as listed in the top left corner of the attack card.
The defender wins if they match the area(s) of the attack, preventing or mitigating damage.
