Jul 23, 2026 · 53 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.
King Into the Shadow
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The full story
White and Black shared Juke and Transcendence, with White adding Chaos Summon and Black adding House Recruit. The center locked early, then White rebuilt material with a knight on f3 while Black kept enough mana to convert spell pressure.
The middle game revolved around f3, f5, and g8. White used Juke to move a summoned knight to f5, Black answered through the bishop line, and House Recruit on f3 forced the queenside knight and queen into repeated contact with that square.
A large resource swing came when White's rook appeared on g8 and Black used Transcendence from a8 to g8 to replace it with a black rook. That kept Black's rook active and let the queen and knight chase the white king into the open.
White resigned after Black created a pawn on g5 that attacked the king on f4. The record proves the resignation and the live resources on both sides, not a forced mate.
Full coaching breakdown
White's Seat
White's seat had the active material tools: Chaos Summon could replace a lost piece and Juke could move it vertically, while Transcendence stayed as a defensive escape resource. The problem was that several decisions treated activity as safety while Black's House Recruit map stayed live around the king.
- riskyf3 material restore
The Chaos Summon on f3 had a clear material purpose, but spending from 8 to 2 left Black with Juke, House Recruit, and Transcendence live against a newly created target.
- riskyf5 Juke activity
Moving the knight from f3 to f5 gained activity and stole mana, but the destination sat on the c8 bishop line, so the spell converted initiative into a contested piece rather than stable safety.
- riskyg8 rook incursion
The rook capture on g8 created real pressure on Black's king zone and used White's active rook well, even though the edge square was vulnerable to a held wrap spell.
- riskyking escape through e2
The king move to e2 looked serviceable because the square was not visibly attacked, yet it left the rook on g1 and Black's spell bank untouched.
- mistakef4 recruit shadow
The king step from e3 to f4 reached 6 mana for defensive spells, but it moved beside the live g5 House Recruit shadow while Black had 8 mana and a House Recruit bullet.
For White, the durable lesson is to price the opponent's recruit zones before choosing king squares, especially when a live defensive spell is being saved rather than used.
Black's Seat
Black's seat turned spells into concrete board contact rather than isolated tricks. Juke created a central pawn, House Recruit forced f3 traffic, and Transcendence transformed an apparent rook loss into a rook post on g8.
- goodcentral Juke
The Juke from e6 to e4 was a strong resource conversion because it stole mana and placed a pawn where White's center had to spend attention.
- goodf3 recruit
The House Recruit on f3 was likely strong because it forced White to spend pieces on the spawned pawn while Black's e4 pawn could keep the square contested.
- goodg8 Transcendence
The Transcendence from a8 to g8 was the clean resource swing of the game, replacing White's attacking rook and preserving Black's own rook activity.
- goodrook invasion
The rook move to g1 used the recovered rook as a direct king-area invader while Black still had queen, knight, and spell pressure.
- goodg5 recruit
The House Recruit on g5 made the shadow square concrete by creating a pawn attack on f4, but the record proves resignation under pressure rather than a tested forced line.
For Black, the lesson is to convert capped mana into defended contact squares, not just material, and this match showed that the recruit map can matter more than the material count.
The Verdict
black
Black earned the recorded win by matching ordinary piece pressure with spell contact around f3, g8, and g5, but the terminal board still had White resources, so the result should be described as resignation under pressure rather than a proved forced mate.
The critical choice was the king moving from e3 to f4 beside the live g5 House Recruit shadow while Black had 8 mana and a House Recruit bullet.
White resigned while still holding Juke and Transcendence casts, so this was a decision that lost the game rather than a position with no way out.