Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One rules – how to play and how to win

Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One quick rules

The goal

Each player controls a hero, often with sidekicks, with their own deck of 30 cards. To win, you must be the first to reduce the opposing hero’s health to zero. Heroes from every Unmatched box can be combined.

A turn: two actions

On your turn, you take exactly two actions, different or the same: Maneuver, Scheme or Attack. At the end of your turn, you keep seven cards in hand at most.

Maneuver

You first draw a card, which is mandatory, then you may move each of your fighters up to your move value. You can move through your own fighters, never opposing ones, and each space holds one fighter. To go further, discard a card and add its boost value.

Scheme

You play a scheme card face up, declaring which fighter plays it, and resolve its effect. Each card shows which fighters may play it.

Attack

A melee fighter targets an adjacent space, a ranged fighter also any space in its zone. The attacker places an attack card face down, the defender a defense card or nothing, and both are revealed together: the defender loses the attack value minus their defense value. Effects resolve immediately, during and after combat; at the same moment, the defender’s first.

Exhaustion and victory

When your deck is empty, you don’t reshuffle your discard pile: each required draw deals two damage to each of your fighters. A sidekick at zero leaves the board. As soon as a hero drops to zero, the game ends and their opponent wins.

Team play

With 3 or 4, you play in two teams that talk freely; with 3, one player controls two heroes. A player whose hero is defeated keeps playing while they have a sidekick. The team that defeats both opposing heroes wins.

Beginner pitfalls

Don’t empty your deck too fast, keep defense cards for your opponent’s turn, remember boosting to move further, and protect your hero: losing a sidekick is fine.

How to win Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One

No points

The player whose hero drops to zero loses at once, and their opponent wins.

Team play

The team that defeats both opposing heroes wins.

Hero’s remaining health

For the record, optional: it doesn’t change the winner.

Example ending

Jake’s King Arthur has only 2 health left. Emma attacks with Medusa and a card worth 5; Jake defends with a card worth 3. Arthur takes 5 − 3 = 2 damage and drops to zero: the game ends at once, and Emma wins.

Common mistakes

• Thinking a defeated sidekick makes you lose: only the hero counts.
• Reshuffling your discard pile when your deck runs out: each fighter takes two damage per required draw instead.
• Playing on after a hero falls: the game ends at once, except in team play until both heroes of a team are down.

How to set up Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One

Follow the three parts in order; in team play, follow the steps marked for teams. The youngest player goes first.