In the Universal Fighting System, players face each other in one-on-one combat

using characters from a variety of popular games and other settings.

This insert will cover the basics of how to play UFS. It is often easier to learn if you
play your first couple of games (or at least a handful of turns) as if the cards have no
text in their text boxes at all. For this reason, abilities will be covered last. You may
skip over reading about them until you are comfortable with the core mechanics of CARD TYPES
the turn structure, playing cards and handling attacks. UFS has five basic card types - Characters, Attacks, Foundations, Assets and Actions. Each card type fulfills different roles and has different rules associated with it.
For more information on using some of the specific cards in this starter deck, please There are no action cards in these starter decks.
see the FAQ insert. For advanced rules and other information, visit us at www.
CHARACTERS
JascoGames.com/UFS. A: Difficulty - Every card has a difficulty value, which determines how hard it is
Your character is your avatar. Each player controls one character (which starts to play.
the game in play) and uses attack cards and abilities to try to defeat the opposing
HOW TO WIN character and win the game. B: Name - The name of the character.

Reduce your opponent’s vitality to 0, by playing attack cards and dealing damage Your character card defines your hand size, maximum vitality (health), and has a set C: Block - Cards with this symbol in the upper right corner may be used as blocks.
with them. of abilities that you can build your deck to take advantage of. Character cards have a See The Attack Sequence - The Block Step for details.
distinct look from other cards, and some statistics that others do not have: D: Hand Size - Specific to characters. Determines how many cards you draw up to
You can also “exhaust” your opponent, which occurs when they have no cards
remaining in either their deck or discard pile. See Miscellaneous - Cycling, near during each Draw Step.
the end of this sheet. B E: Maximum Vitality - Specific to characters. How much vitality you start the game
with. Taking damage from an attack causes you to lose that much vitality. If your
vitality reaches zero, you lose the game. Your vitality may not exceed your character’s
PLAYING THE GAME A C maximum vitality at any point.
Playing a card & control checks F: Resource Symbols - These symbols govern the cards that can be played by a
Cards are played from a player’s hand, and require a successful “control check” to be character. Typically, you will choose one of the resource symbols on your chosen
made in order to play them. If unsuccessful, the attempt to play the card fails and character, and then only include cards that also have that symbol in your deck.
that card is discarded. D Example: Every card in the Mega Man starter deck has the Good (<Good>)
To play a card, first announce the card you are going to attempt to play and show resource symbol. Every card in the Dr. Wily starter deck has the Death (<Death>)
it to your opponent. Then, determine the difficulty you will need by looking at the resource symbol.
difficulty of the card, and adding 1 for each card that is already in your card pool. E It is possible to play a deck utilizing multiple resource symbols, but this is rarely done
(this addition to your difficulty is called “progressive difficulty”) as it entails some heavy risks. Details may be found online in the advanced rules.
Once you know the difficulty, make what is called a control check, or just “check”
for short. To make a check, discard the top card of your deck, and check its control F G: Text Box - The character’s abilities are printed here.
H: Vital Statistics - Specific to characters. The character’s gender (G), height (Ht),
value. In order to succeed, or “pass” your check, its value needs to be greater or equal
to the difficulty needed. H weight (Wt), and blood type (BT). On rare occasions an ability will reference one

If the value of your control check is less than the difficulty needed, you may commit
G of these values. If a value is “??”, it is undefined. See the advanced rules for details.

a number of foundations equal to the difference to pass the check. For instance, if I I: Control - Every card has a control. Including higher control values in your deck
will make it easier for you to play cards.
the difficulty needed is 6, and you check a 3, you will need to commit 3 foundations
in order to make the check successful. You may also use your character card in
addition to foundations to help pass control checks.
Once the control check has passed, add the card to your card pool. It has now been
played. If the check failed, discard the card instead. The other four card types use the same card frame, in different colors. The type of the A: Difficulty
Starting the game card can also be found below its name. B: Name of the card
At the start of a game, each player searches their deck for the character they wish C: Block
to start with and places it face down in their staging area. Then both players reveal C
their character at the same time. Shuffle and cut the decks and decide who will go A D: Speed and Zone - Specific to attacks. The number is the attack’s speed, which
first via some random method. determines how hard it is to block. The location of the “x” determines the zone (high,
mid, low) of the attack.
If in a tournament best-of-three setting, players must start the first game of each
match with the same character, and the player who lost the prior game may decide E: Damage - Specific to attacks. How much damage the attack will deal to the
who goes first in games 2 and 3. opponent if it is not blocked.
B
Both players draw cards equal to their respective characters’ hand size. Each player D F: Resource Symbols
may choose to take a mulligan, by removing their entire hand from the game then G: Card Type
drawing a new hand.Each player may only take one mulligan per game.
E H: Keywords - There are two types of keywords that may be found here.
The player who goes first starts the game with their character committed and skips
their Ready Phase during the first turn of the game. Once the game begins, players G F
Keywords in non-italics are traits, which have no direct impact on gameplay but
may be referenced by other cards or abilities.
will alternate turns until somebody wins the game.
Turn Sequence - 1) Ready Phase H Keywords in italics grant some sort of ability to the card. These abilities are called
“keyword abilities”. There may be additional rules associated with some keyword
The Ready Phase consists of three steps - the Ready Step, the Review Step, and the abilities.
Draw Step. I
In the Ready Step, the turn player (player whose turn it is) readies all of their cards. J A list of the different keyword abilities and what they do can be found later on in
this sheet.
In the Review Step, the turn player may discard 1 card from their own hand if they I: Text Box
wish. This is called “reviewing” a card.
J: Control Value
In the Draw Step, the turn player draws cards until their character’s hand size equals
Attacks have an orange frame. Dust Crusher, pictured above, is an attack. Attacks represent the punches, kicks, projectiles, and other moves used to try to deal
the number of cards in their hand. If they already have at least that many cards in
damage to the opponent.
their hand, nothing happens during this Step.
Foundations have a grey frame. They represent a character’s training, experiences and background. Foundations remain in play over the course of the game
Note that the “Ready Step” is not the same as the “Ready Phase” - when an ability
and help you to play cards. In addition, they typically have abilities that can help you in various ways during the game.
refers to the Ready Phase, it means the full sequence of Ready Step, Review Step,
and Draw Step. Assets have a green frame. They represent equipment, items, locations, and allies that benefit a character. Assets remain in play just like foundations do and
offer useful abilities, however they do not help you play cards.
Turn Sequence - 2) The Combat Phase
Actions have a blue frame. They represent maneuvers and tactics a character might use to aid themselves or disrupt their opponent. There are no action cards
The bulk of action in UFS takes place during the Combat Phase. During your
in these starter decks.
Combat Phase, you take actions called Forms. There are three kinds of Forms:
• Play a card in your hand. If you successfully play an attack, you enter the Attack GAME ZONES
Sequence. You may only play Action cards as Forms if you want to play an (F)
ability on that Action. During a game of UFS, there are several different areas cards might be in:

• Play a Form (F) ability on a card in your staging area. on them, or commit foundations or your character to help pass Control Checks.
EXAMPLE PLAY AREA (explained later)
• Pass, and end the Combat Phase.
Cards in the staging area have two states - “ready” and “committed”. To commit a
If a player fails the control check to play a card from their hand as a Form, their card, turn it sideways. To ready it, put it back upright. Abilities on committed cards
Combat Phase ends immediately. This means that trying to play high difficulty cannot be played. You ready all of your cards at the beginning of each turn.
cards can forcefully end your turn if you do not have enough ready foundations.
Make sure to weigh this risk as you decide which cards to play.
Turn Sequence - 3) The End Phase +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5
During the End Phase, both card pools are emptied, or “cleared”. To clear your card
pool, move cards to the appropriate zone (as follows), starting from the rightmost
(last) card and working your way to the left. Card Committed
Card Ready
• Any foundation or asset you played (not as a block), moves to your staging Some abilities will put face down cards in the Staging Area. These cards are
area ready. foundations with no statistics and no text box.
• Any character card you played (not as a block) with the same name as your Character Foundations Assetts Deck Discard Pile
Momentum
Card
starting character, moves to your staging area.
Your momentum represents your character’s “Super Meter.” A player’s momentum is
• Any attack that dealt damage may be added to your momentum, or you may Deck a row of face down cards typically placed next to or under the character card. Attacks
choose to discard it. that dealt damage may be added to a player’s momentum when the card pool clears
The player’s deck of cards. A deck must have a minimum of 60 cards (including the
• All other cards (including all cards played as blocks, cards added to the card during the End Phase (they may also be discarded). You need momentum to play
starting character), and there may be no more than four copies of any one card in
pool by abilities, and attacks that did not deal damage) are discarded. many of the more powerful abilities in the game.
the deck.
Once both card pools have been cleared, the turn is over and the other player’s Players may not look at, or rearrange, their momentum. When a card is added to a
Hand
turn begins. player’s momentum, they may put it anywhere in the row.
Your hand is where you hold cards you have not played yet. The contents of each
Discard Pile
player’s hand are known only to that player, so keep it hidden. Some abilities may
THE ATTACK SEQUENCE interact with your hand, such as forcing you to reveal or discard cards. Any card that is destroyed, discarded from another zone, or used for a control check
When an attack is played, the attack sequence begins, consisting of three steps - the is placed on top of the discard pile face up. Players may look at either discard pile at
Card Pool
Enhance Step, the Block Step, and the Damage Step. any time, but may not rearrange them.
When a card is played, it goes into the card pool. The first card a player plays during
The Enhance Step Removed From Game
a turn goes at the far left end, and then each card played goes to the right of the card
During the Enhance Step, players take turns playing Enhance (E) abilities. If you before it. Both players have their own separate Card Pools. When a card is “removed from the game”, it is placed in this zone, typically a pile
are playing an introductory game with no card text, ignore this step. kept off to the side. Cards in the removed from game pile cannot return to the deck
Cards stay in the card pool for the entire turn. During the End Phase, both players
or any other zone of play unless some specific effect calls for it. The removed from
Starting with the player who played the attack, players alternate turns either playing clear their card pool, moving every card to the right zone depending on its type. See
game pile is kept face up and may be looked at by either player at any time.
an enhance ability or passing. Enhance abilities that may be played must be on a card The End Phase for details.
in the staging area, an action card in the hand, or on the attack itself. Players may not Staging Area
play the same enhance ability (on the same card) more than once per Enhance Step.
Your character begins the game in your staging area, and the assets and foundations
You may still play an ability when it’s your turn during the Enhance Step, even if you that you play will go here. While a card is in your staging area, you may play abilities
passed previously. But, once both players pass in succession, the Enhance Step ends.
Example: Player A plays an attack, which enters the Enhance Step as the first part ABILITIES AND KEYWORDS
of its attack sequence.
• Player A plays an enhance ability on the attack ABILITIES
“Only playable...” - In cases where a restriction cannot be easily described using one
• Player B passes Once you are comfortable with the core mechanics of the game, (everything of the above, the words “Only playable” followed by a set of restrictions may follow
• Player A plays an enhance ability on one of his foundations preceding this section, minus the Enhance Step) read on to learn about how to the effect of the ability. Treat this as you would any other restriction; it is not part of
use abilities. the ability’s effect.
• Player B plays an enhance ability on his character card
There are two broad types of abilities - played and continuous - and three different Continuous Abilities
• Player A plays an enhance ability on one of his other foundations
types of played abilities.
Any text found on a card that does not follow the “(Type) (Cost) : (Effect)” structure
• Player B passes
Played Abilities - General is a continuous ability. Continuous abilities are not played at any particular point, but
• Player A passes instead are “always on”. If a continuous ability provides some effect after a particular
All played abilities follow the same general format:
• The Enhance Step ends. event occurs, handle that effect before any Rs to that event are played.
(Type) (Cost) : (Effect)
The Block Step Costs and Effects - Miscellaneous
Examples:
Once the Enhance Step ends, play proceeds to the Block Step. During the block • Complete as much of an effect’s instructions as possible. An effect can be
E Commit: This attack gets +1 damage. interrupted by response abilities and continuous effects. Abilities may be played,
step, the defending player may try to block the attack with a card from their hand.
The defending player may only attempt one block per attack, and you are not R Flip: After you block an attack, draw 1 card. even if their effect will fail to do anything.
required to block if you don’t want to - even if you have legal blocks in your hand. There may be additional modifiers before or after the type; this will be covered later. • When an effect refers to “this attack”, it refers to the attack currently undergoing
Any card in your hand with a block symbol in the upper right hand corner may be First, a description of the three types: an attack sequence. If it refers to “your attack”, it is the same as “this attack”,
used as a block. Attacks and blocks both have zones - high, mid, or low - represented except it won’t affect your opponent’s attack. “Your opponent’s attack” works in
Enhance (E) - Enhance abilities are played during the Enhance Step. Only a similar fashion - it will do nothing to your own attack.
by the small x in the circles next to the speed (on the attack) or block symbol (on the enhances on the current attack, cards in the staging area, or on an action card in
block), as well as the color of the entire symbol. the hand may be played. Each enhance may only be played once per enhance step. • If an effect requires an attack to deal damage, the attack must deal at least 1
A block must be no more than one zone away from the attack’s zone. That is, low damage to the opponent. It is not possible to “deal 0 damage”, an unblocked 0
Response (R) - Response abilities are played in reaction to some particular event, damage attack simply does not deal damage.
blocks cannot be used against high attacks, and high blocks may not be used against which is specified in the text of the response ability.
low attacks. • Some costs or effects will use “X” as a placeholder for a number. The text of the
Example: The response ability “R Flip: After you block an attack, draw 1 card.” effect may define a value for X; if it does not not then the player playing the
If the defending player has a block they would like to attempt to play, they announce would be played during the Block Step after you have successfully played a block
the attempt and show the card from their hand, then will need to pass a control effect may choose any non-negative, whole number (including 0) for X to be.
and the attack has been given partially or completely blocked status.
check. • To “destroy” a card means to add a card from the staging area to the discard pile.
Responses may be played only if they are on a card in the staging area, the current Only foundations and assets in the staging area can be destroyed. To add a card
The base difficulty of a block equals the block’s modifier (the number in the circle in attack if there is one, or on an action card in the hand. Each response may only be
the upper right of the block) plus the speed of the attack (the number in the circle in from any other zone to the discard pile is called “discarding” it.
played once in reaction to a given event.
the middle right of the attack). In addition, the block difficulty gets +1 for each card • When a cost or effect refers to discarding cards without specifying from which
already in the defending player’s card pool, just like playing any other card. If both players have response abilities they could play in reaction to the same event, zone, it means cards from the hand.
they alternate turns much like the Enhance Step, with the player whose turn it is
Example: Suppose the defending player wishes to attempt to block a Dust Crusher getting the first opportunity to play a response. • When a cost or effect refers to a player’s foundations, assets or character, it refers
with a copy of Master of Masters in his hand. to the ones in that player’s staging area unless otherwise specified.
Form (F) - Form abilities are played during the Combat Phase, at the same time a
player could normally play a card from their hand. Forms may be played only if they • Whenever a cost or effect asks a player to interact with card(s), it refers to that
are on a card in the staging area, or on an action card in the hand. If a Form is on a player’s own cards unless otherwise specified.
card in the staging area, that form may be played any number of times, so long as the Example: Dr. Wily’s R ability includes “After you destroy a foundation, …” This
player can pay its cost each time. means that the response ability is played in reaction to one of your foundations
Played Abilities - Costs being destroyed.

- Ability costs are often shortened to save space. When the following terms appear Holographic Buster has the ability “E Destroy 1 foundation: Your opponent
by themselves, they refer to taking the action on the card itself: destroys 1 foundation. This attack gets +2 damage.” For the cost, you must destroy
1 of your foundations. To fulfill the effect, your opponent must destroy 1 of their
“Commit” - Commit this card. foundations.
“Destroy” - Destroy this card. KEYWORD ABILITIES
“Remove” - Remove this card from the game. Some keywords grant an ability to the card they are on. If a keyword is followed by
“Flip” - Turn this card face down. (Face down cards in the staging area are a colon and a number, that number is called the keyword’s “rating”.
foundations with no statistics or text box.) A few keyword abilities are commonly found in these starter decks:
• It is possible for an ability to have no cost. If the colon comes immediately after Breaker: X - “R [Card Pool]: After you block with this card, the next card your
the ability type - Example: “E: Your next attack this turn gets +2 speed.” - the opponent attempts to play this turn gets +X difficulty. X equals the rating of the
ability is free. You may play it at the appropriate time simply by announcing Breaker keyword granting this ability.”
that you wish to do so.
Powerful: X - “E Discard 1 or more momentum: This attack gets +X damage for
• When paying a cost that includes committing some number of foundations, a each card discarded in order to pay the cost of this ability. X equals the rating of the
player’s character card may be used in place of a foundation. (similar to passing Powerful keyword granting this ability.”
control checks) Note that this only applies to costs - if an effect asks a player to
commit foundations, they may not commit their character to fulfill it. Stun: X - “E: Your opponent commits X foundations. X equals the rating of the
Dust Crusher is a high zone attack (the “x” is in the top circle next to its speed),
Stun keyword granting this ability.”
while Master of Masters has a mid zone block. (the “x” is in the middle circle next to • Ability costs may have multiple parts, separated by a comma. All of these costs
its block modifier) Mid is only one zone away from high, so the defender is allowed must be paid, in order, to play the ability. Unique - “When you have 2 or more copies of this card in your staging area,
to attempt this block. destroy 1 of them.”
• Some costs will include a number in parentheses with a plus sign. Example:
The block difficulty equals the speed of the Dust Crusher, plus the block modifier “E Discard 1 card (4+):” This means that part of the cost of the ability is to The rest of the keyword abilities currently in the game. Some of these may appear in
of Master of Masters. So in this case,4 + 3 = 7 difficulty. He will make a control make a successful control check against a difficulty equal to the number shown. cards in your particular starter deck:
check, then if it comes up short, he can commit cards in his staging area to pass the (Progressive difficulty does not get added) Combo (requirement(s)) -
check if desired.
Attempt control check costs after paying all other costs. Note that it is possible to “While this card is in your card pool, abilities on this card that have the Combo play
If the attempt to play the block fails, the block is discarded. Once a block has been “fail” to play such an ability. If you fail to play an enhance or response ability, you may restriction may not be played unless the printed values of the card(s) immediately
played, failed, or the defender has chosen not to attempt a block, determine the not attempt it a second time that Enhance Step or in reaction to the same event, preceding this card in the card pool match the requirement(s) listed after the
status of the attack. respectively (the same way you could not play it a second time if you succeeded). Combo keyword granting this ability, in order if applicable.
• If a block was successfully played, and its zone matches the attack’s zone, the Played Abilities - Restrictions While this card is not in your card pool, abilities on this card that have the Combo
attack is completely blocked. play restriction may not be played unless the printed values of the last card(s) in your
There are various modifiers and shorthands that can limit when an ability might be
• If a block was successfully played, but its zone is one zone away from that of the played. These work the same way for all types of abilities. card pool match the requirement(s) listed after the Combo keyword granting this
attack, the attack is partially blocked. ability, in order if applicable.”
Resource Symbol - An ability whose type is preceded by a resource symbol may only
• If no block was attempted or the attempt failed, the attack is not blocked. be played if your character has that resource symbol on it. Note: The second paragraph of the Combo keyword ability is primarily intended for
action cards with the Combo keyword. For practical purposes, you can worry about
Once the status of the attack is set, move on to the Damage Step. Character Name - An ability whose type is preceded by a name may only be played the first paragraph only.
The Damage Step if the player’s starting character has that name.
Example: In this set, Gemini Man has an attack with the keyword “Combo (Slam)”
During the Damage Step, the defending player takes damage depending on the First - An ability with “First” before its type may only be played if it is the first action on it. For that attack, its Combo E ability may only be played if the card immediately
status of the attack. of its type in the appropriate part of the turn. before it in the card pool has the Slam keyword trait.
• An attack that was not blocked will deal its full damage. Specifically, a First F ability may only be played if it is the very first form you play Desperation: X - “While your vitality is less than half of your maximum vitality,
during the Combat Phase, while a First E may only be played if you have not yet this card’s difficulty is X. X equals the rating of the Desperation keyword granting
• An attack that was partially blocked will deal half of its damage, rounded up. played another E during that Enhance Step. (you may pass, and then play a First E, this ability.”
• An attack that was completely blocked does not deal damage. however - so long as you haven’t played any other Es)
Flash - “Skip this attack’s Enhance Step.”
After the damage step, the attack resolves and play continues. The turn player may Desperation - An ability whose type is preceded by “Desperation” may only be
played if that player’s vitality is less than half of their maximum vitality. (This is Multiple: X - There are no cards with Multiple in these starter decks. See the
attempt their next form.
called being “at desperation”) advanced rules for details on Multiple and examples.
MISCELLANEOUS
Combo - An ability whose type is preceded by “Combo” may not be played unless Reversal - There are no cards with Reversal in these starter decks. See the advanced
Cycling the deck the requirements of the Combo keyword ability on that card are met. See the rules for details on Reversal and examples.
When a player runs out of cards in his or her deck, the game pauses while that description of keyword abilities later for details. Safe - “Attacks may not be played as a reversal to this attack.”
player “cycles” their deck. To cycle your deck, simply shuffle your discard pile, which [Timing or zone] - Some abilities may have a pair of brackets after their type Terrain - “When this card is added to your staging area or unflipped in your staging
becomes your new deck. Then remove the top 10 cards of that deck from the game. designation, describing a particular timing or game zone. Those abilities may only area, destroy all other Terrains in both players’ staging areas.”
This completes the cycle, and the game continues. be played if that description is met. For example:
Throw - “If this attack is completely blocked, it still deals half damage (rounded up)
If a player runs out of cards in the process of cycling their deck, they lose the game. [Once per turn] - This ability may only be played once per turn. during the Damage Step.”
Can’t vs Can [Your attack] - This ability may only be played during your attack. ‘Name’ Only - “This card may not be played unless your starting character is ‘Name’.
When two effects conflict, the effect that restricts takes precedence. For instance, [Card Pool] - This ability may only be played while this card is in your Card Pool. If this card is in, or would be added to your card pool, momentum, or staging area,
“players can’t draw cards” wins a conflict with “draw 1 card”, and “this attack deals no discard it unless your starting character is ‘Name’.”
damage” takes precedence over “this attack still deals half damage”. Note: A zone restriction can also be used to allow abilities to be played in zones
where they normally could not be, for example “R [Card Pool]: After you block with Note: In short, only put a ‘Name’ Only card in your deck if you will be using the
Golden Rule this card, gain 2 vitality and draw 2 cards.” named character. For instance, if you want to use a different character with the Dr.
Wily starter deck, you should replace all copies of Skull Fortress with other cards.
If the text on a card contradicts the rules, the card takes precedence.
The Resource Symbols
Here is a list of the 12 different resource symbols and their names:

Air All Chaos Death

Earth Evil Fire Good

©CAPCOM. Licensed for use by Jasco Games. No part of this product

Life Order Void Water may be reproduced without specific permission. Universal Fighting System
©2014 Jasco Games, all rights reserved. Visit our website -
Infinity: This symbol appears very rarely, and is a “wild card” symbol. See the www.jascogames.com for an instructional video on how to play.
advanced rules for details.