Jul 22, 2026 · 114 turns
Spell mechanics as of July 2026
These are the in-game card values, read straight off the spell cards. Mechanics can change between patches. This is a snapshot of patch 2026.07, not a lookup for any one match.
- mana cost
- casts per match
- restriction
- cost drops per cast
- drawback
- delayed
- random
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Slip
1 mana ×5 casts per matchMove a piece 1 square diagonally. Steal 1 mana.
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Juke
2 mana ×4 casts per matchMove a piece up to 2 squares vertically. It can pass through pieces. Steal 1 mana.
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Shift
2 mana ×6 casts per matchMove a piece horizontally in any distance. It can move past pieces.
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Bis-Hop2.0
3 mana ×6 casts per matchMake a Bishop leap over one piece. It can capture.
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Pengu Dive
3 mana ×6 casts per matchTeleport a piece to an empty square within a 5x5 area.
Restriction Cannot target a Pawn.
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Parkour Mech
3 mana ×2 casts per matchTransform a piece into a Knight.
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Shot in The Dark
3 mana ×3 casts per matchMake a piece invisible for 1 turn. You may move it or leave it in place.
Restriction Cannot target a Queen.
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Imposter
4 mana ×3 casts per matchSwap one of your pieces with an enemy piece of the same type.
Restriction Cannot target a Pawn or King.
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House Recruit
4 mana ×2 casts per matchCreate a Pawn on an empty square between ranks 3 and 6.
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Pounce And Purr
4 mana ×2 casts per matchLeap to an adjacent empty square and stun a nearby piece for 1 turn.
Restriction Cannot stun a King.
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Transcendence
5 mana ×2 casts per matchSelect a piece. It can wrap across the left and right edges once, and can capture.
Restriction Cannot target a King.
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Pengu Blast
5 mana ×2 casts per match Delayed effectPlace up to 3 connected bombs on ranks 2 to 7. They detonate after 3 turns and destroy everything in range.
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Chaos Summon
6 mana ×2 casts per match Random outcomeSummon a piece between ranks 3 and 6. Knight, Bishop or Rook at 30% each, Pawn at 10%.
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Queen Time
7 mana ×1 cast per matchMove a Knight, Bishop or Rook as a Queen once. It can capture.
Restriction Cannot target a King.
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Plasma Beam
8 mana ×1 cast per match Drawback: You skip your next turn.A Rook fires a beam, including diagonally, destroying everything up to 4 squares.
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Power Infusion
8 mana to start ×5 casts per matchPromote a piece by one tier, up to Rook.
Scaling Each cast reduces this spell's cost by 1, so the listed cost is the starting cost only.
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Tactical Necessity
0 mana ×4 casts per matchSacrifice a piece to destroy an enemy piece of lower value. Gain 4 mana.
Condition The target must be lower value than the piece sacrificed.
Five Knights to Nowhere
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The full story
White opened by claiming the center and then made the board stranger on purpose. Chaos Summon put fresh rooks into the fight, while Black answered with Power Infusion and turned ordinary pawns into active knights.
The middle game became a race of forced geometry. Juke pulled white pawns onto unlikely files and ranks, and the d-pawn's leap to d8 became a queen before Black could fully settle the chaos.
Black kept counterplay alive through captures, queen activity, and Tactical Necessity, but the material kept thinning. Once the queens disappeared, White's rook and passed pawns gave the position a clean direction.
Shot in the Dark briefly hid Black's king in the ending, yet the chase only delayed the verdict. White's rook landed on e8, the black king was driven to f3, and Black resigned on ply 114.
Full coaching breakdown
White's Seat
From White's seat, the early game was a mana-management question. White drafted Juke, Bis-Hop, and Chaos Summon — a flexible pawn-and-piece build — against Black's Power Infusion, Shot in the Dark, and Tactical Necessity. White's first cast was a Chaos Summon rook on d6, paying 6 mana for material while Black's Power Infusion ended the d5 pawn and equalized. The promotion on d8 turned two mana into a queen, and the fight over that square cost White a rook for a knight. The queen came through it and stayed on the board.
- goodChaos Summon on d6
the first cast paid six mana for a rook in the center, opening material and pressuring the d5 pawn
- goodJuke c3 to c5
the Juke pushed the pawn and stole mana, opening the medium-term pressure
- riskyChaos Summon on e5
the second Chaos cast created a rook on e5 but exhausted the spell family; the rook was immediately targetable
- goodJuke c5 to c7
the Juke pushed the pawn to the seventh rank, threatening promotion and stealing another mana
- riskyJuke promotion on d8
The Juke carries the d6 pawn to d8 and promotes it for two mana, which is cheap for a queen. It also invites a fight over the new queen: Black's knight comes to e8, White's rook takes it, and Black's bishop takes the rook, so White pays a rook for a knight to keep the queen alive. The queen does survive and steps to f6.
Paying two mana for a promotion is cheap, but check what the promotion square costs to defend. Here it cost a rook for a knight, which was affordable because the material lead already existed.
Black's Seat
From Black's seat, the plan was to convert pawns into knights and stay alive. Black drafted Power Infusion, Shot in the Dark, and Tactical Necessity — a build that converts material into active pieces. Black's first Power Infusion on d5 equalized material. The second on c6 added a central defender. The third on g7 defended the kingside. Black won a rook for a knight in the fight over White's new queen, but the queen survived and the position stayed lost. Black's queen took the summoned rook on e5 earlier and continued to chase, but the rook-e8 ending was unwinnable.
- goodPower Infusion on d5
the first Power Infusion converted the pawn into a knight and equalized material after White's Chaos Summon
- goodPower Infusion on c6
the second Power Infusion converted the c6 pawn and added a central defender
- goodQueen captures rook on e5
the queen took the summoned rook and cleaned up the Chaos Summon threat
- goodPower Infusion on g7
the third Power Infusion defended the kingside
- goodKnight g7 to e8
the knight attacked the new queen on d8 and started the counter-attack
- riskyPower Infusion on f5
the fourth Power Infusion converted the pawn but left Black's mana at three
- mistakeTactical Necessity e7-a7
the sacrifice was forced but the mana gain was wasted at the cap
- riskyPower Infusion on h6
the final Power Infusion converted the h6 pawn but the upgrade did not survive
When the bank is at the cap, the zero-cost Tactical Necessity is wasted. Better to use Tactical Necessity when the bank is low, or to skip the cast and preserve the bullet for a more meaningful sacrifice.
The Verdict
white
White won clean. The promotion on d8 turned two mana into a queen, and White paid a rook for a knight defending it, so the queen survived and stayed active. Black's later Tactical Necessity at the mana cap gave up a piece for nothing, and White's material edge carried the endgame.
Black's Tactical Necessity from e7 to a7 spends a piece for mana the pool cannot hold, since Black is already at the cap. The sacrifice costs material and buys nothing, and White's extra material decides the endgame from here.
Black resigned with the rook dominating e8 and the king path collapsing. The held Shot in the Dark and Tactical Necessity did not change the outcome.