6. A full turn

The full turn

Every step of a turn by its real name, and what happens between them

Earlier we said most of a turn's steps take care of themselves. They do, unless a card has something to say about them. Now that you know triggers, here's the whole turn, step by step, with the names the rules use.

1. Awaken. Ready everything of yours.
2. Beginning. First, anything that says "at the start of your turn" goes off. Then you hold each battlefield you control, and score it.
3. Channel. Channel 2 runes.
4. Draw. Draw 1.
5. Main. Play cards, move units and use abilities, for as long as you like.
6. Ending. Anything that says "at the end of turn" goes off, then the turn cleans up after itself.

The second step is the Beginning Phase, and it's where cards most often have something to say.

The start of your turn

Something that happens "at the start of your turn" is a trigger, so it goes on the chain like any other. If you have several, you choose their order. And while they're on the chain, priority passes as usual: either player can answer them with a Reaction.

Only once the chain is empty do you score your battlefields and move on to channeling.

Energy and Power wait for you

Earlier we said you exhaust a rune for 1 Energy, or recycle it for 1 Power, and pay with it. That's true, but you don't have to pay it straight away. The Energy and Power you get go into your rune pool and wait there until you pay them.

So you can exhaust runes before you know what you'll play, and an ability that adds Energy, like Energy Conduit's, adds it to your pool. But the pool doesn't keep it forever. It empties at the start of your main phase, and again at the end of every turn. Whatever you haven't paid by then is lost.

The end of the turn

The Ending step comes first: triggers that say "at the end of turn" go on the chain, and can be answered like any others. Then the turn cleans up:

• All damage on every unit heals.
• Anything that lasts this turn ends. A card that gives a unit +2 Might this turn gives it until here, and no further.
• Every rune pool empties.

"This turn" means the turn it happened in, whoever's turn that was. Give a unit +2 Might with a Reaction on your opponent's turn, and the +2 ends with their turn, not yours.

Then it's your opponent's turn, and they start again from Awaken.