Highlander TCG – Type 2 Rules Update (v3.03)
- Joe Dawson
- Nov 17
- 10 min read
We are excited to bring players the latest rules update for Highlander the Card Game Type 2 (2nd Edition).
This update isn't nearly as comprehensive and sprawling as the 3.0 update, but we think the that changes introduced will make gameplay more exciting and balanced for all players.
Alongside the latest rules update, we’ve also released an accompanying set of new errata cards. These can be found in the Card Database and the Errata page.
Major Change: Prevention Is Now Its Own Keyword
One of the biggest structural updates to the ruleset is the formal separation of Prevention from Restriction effects.
Prevention now has its own keyword and its own rules section.This matters because:
Restriction stops you from playing a card from a specific source.
Prevention stops you from taking an action or gaining/using an effect—even if you could still legally play the card.
Examples from the updated rules:
“Your opponent cannot make an Exertion during their Attack Phase.” = Prevention
“Your opponent cannot play cards from an Exertion during their Attack Phase.” = Restriction
“Your opponent cannot draw any cards for the remainder of their turn.” = Prevention
“Your opponent cannot play a dodge from their Hand during their turn.” = Restriction
Any effect that ignores Restriction does not ignore Prevention unless it says so.
This separation gives more design space, reduces rules collisions, and provides a clearer foundation for future card releases.
Key Updates in v3.03
Generic In-Game Cards (amended entry)
Generic Cards are cards that can be used in any deck with any Persona. Cards are Generic Cards if:
1.) There is no text in the Card Subtype—any card that has a Persona name, “Generic Immortal,” Weapon of Choice name or a Faction name in the Card Subtype are not Generic Cards.
2.) They are not titled Watcher, Hunter or Watcher/Hunter.
When determining who goes first (amended entry)
Each player names an Attribute Gem and makes a soft exertion of five cards. You cannot name an Attribute or Gem that is not included in your Endurance at the time of the Soft Exertion.
Attack Phase Updates (amended entry)
This is the Phase where you can play or put into play Attacks.
Your Attack Chain represents the sequence of Attack opportunities you have during your Attack Phase. By default, your Attack Chain contains one Attack opportunity—your Primary Attack Opportunity (also called your Primary Attack Slot).
When preparing to attack, take note of the last resolved Defense you played or put into play, as it may modify your Primary Attack Opportunity.
If the last Defense you played or put into play was a Block, the Attack you play or put into play using your Primary Attack Opportunity cannot share active grid squares with any of the active grid squares of that Block. This rule is known as “you may not attack to areas you just blocked.”
Important: This rule applies only to the Attack you play using your Primary Attack Opportunity—it does not apply to any additional Attack opportunities that may follow it in your Attack Chain.
Cards or effects that state “your first Attack” refer specifically to the Attack you assign to your first Attack Opportunity (typically your Primary Attack). Cards or effects that state “the first Attack you play” refer to the first Attack actually played during your Attack Phase, even if that is not the one played using your Primary Attack Opportunity.
A successful Dodge will also defend against an Attack and may affect your next Attack, depending on its Card Text, if any.
Certain cards or effects that allow you to “play an additional Attack” or grant “an additional Attack opportunity” both refer to the same concept—they each add one Attack opportunity to your Attack Chain. Each opportunity in the Attack Chain may only be used once and must be used in order.
If you have more than one Attack opportunity in your Attack Chain, you may declare that you are skipping your Primary Attack Opportunity. Doing so allows you to proceed directly to your next available Attack opportunity (for example, one granted by Extra Shot). Once you declare that you are skipping an Attack opportunity, you cannot return to it later in the same Attack Phase or use any effect to regain that skipped slot. Losing an Attack or Attack opportunity—such as from playing an Evade: Escape—is not a Restriction effect. Loss effects remove Attack opportunities from your Attack Chain. Restriction effects restrict you from playing an attack.
If you are prevented or restricted from playing an Attack, or if you have lost all of your Attack opportunities, then you cannot play an Attack or make a Hard Exertion for one.
If you have not played a Special Card yet, this is your last opportunity to do so. Remember that you may only play one Special Card per turn.
Adding Additional Grids (amended entry)
You cannot add grid(s) to an Attack that is currently Hidden.
If an effect allows you to add a grid to a standing defense like a Guard, the additional grids remain active for one turn only.
Cannot be Blocked/Dodged Vs. Restriction Vs. Prevention (new entry)
These 3 effects are not the same and are not interchangeable.
An attack that cannot be blocked or dodged cannot be defended with a block or dodge from any source (your Hand, an Exertion, an effect, etc.).
A Restriction effect restricts you from playing a block or dodge from a specific source—most often your Hand—while still allowing a defense from any other legal source like an Exertion for instance.
A Prevention effect does not stop you from playing a card. It stops you from gaining or using an effect.
Calculating Numeric Modifiers (new entry)
Numeric Modifiers are any numerical adjustments that increase or decrease an effect such as Attack Damage Values, Exertion sizes, Hand Sizes, or Keyword effects like Burn, Discard, etc. Unless a card specifically defines a timing or order, all applicable, in-play, and legal modifiers are applied simultaneously.
When multiple cards or effects modify the same value, these modifiers are combined through summation, not sequencing. This means all relevant modifiers are gathered together and totaled at the same time, regardless of the order they entered play or their source. No individual modifier “checks” the value before or after another effect applies; all are calculated as part of the same total.
Mathematically, this can be expressed as:
Final Value (Vf) = Base Value (Vb) + (Σ M₁ + M₂ + M₃ …)
Where each M represents an individual modifier applied by a card or effect. Because addition and subtraction are commutative, the order of modifiers does not impact the outcome.
If a modifier includes a limitation such as “to a minimum of 1” or “to a maximum of 3”, that limitation applies only to the modifier originating from that specific effect. It does not establish a universal minimum or maximum for other modifiers or for the overall total unless explicitly stated.
For instance, a card that reads “Your non-Special Attacks do 1 less damage (to a minimum of 1)” prevents that specific –1 reduction from lowering an Attack Damage Value to be below 1, but does not prevent other effects from further reducing that Attack’s damage.
Capture Sources and Exchanging Cards (new entry)
If a card or effect allows you to exchange a card currently under a Capture source with another card from your Hand, Endurance, or another Capture source, the exchanged card does not need to meet the requirements of the original Capture source unless the effect specifically states otherwise. If a card or effect requires an “equal exchange” or to exchange cards “equally,” this simply means exchanging one card for one card.
Example 01:
Player A is playing as Walter Graham. His Persona Power states, “If you do not play a Special Card, you may exchange a card in your Hand with a card you own under a Capture effect your opponent controls.
Player A plays a Location on their first turn.
Player B plays Insightful Planning Capture Special during their first turn.
Player A uses their Persona Power during their 2nd turn to get the Location out from under Insightful Planning before it is Swept from play. Player A can place any card from their Hand in exchange, even if it does not meet the requirements of Insightful Planning (which normally Captures a Special Card).
If you exchange a captured card from under a Capture source your opponent controls with a card from your Hand, when either of those cards are swept, removed from play, or discarded, they always go to the owner’s Discard Pile.
You cannot exchange Signature captured cards from Capture Sources your opponent controls with cards from your Hand unless specifically stated that you can.
Hidden Attacks (amended entry)
Once a defense is played, whether or not the defense is successful or improper, no effect can be used to remove or capture the attack from play unless it explicitly states you may do so after playing an improper defense against a Hidden Attack. The only thing you may do at this point is either declare the attack successful or declare that you will exert for a defense.
Hybrid Gridded Cards (amended entry)
Hybrid Gridded cards are not played as both types, when a player plays a Hybrid Grid card, they should announce what card type they are playing it as. The only time you can knowingly play an improper hybrid-gridded defense against an attack is when you are defending a Hidden Attack.
Increasing Restriction Numbers (new entry)
If a Pre-Game card or effect allows you to increase the Restriction Number of a card, you cannot:
1.) Use that effect to increase the restriction number of a Signature Card unless the effect specifies that you can.
2.) Use that effect to include more than 6 copies of that card if the restriction number is R6 or 6 unless the effect specifies that you can.
3.) You cannot increase the Restriction number of a card that has already had its Restriction Number increased.
These effects happen during Deck Construction.
If a card states that you may not have any other copies of that card in your deck, you may not increase its Restriction Number.
If a card states that you cannot include other cards titled “x” in your deck, you can increase the Restriction Number of those cards. The use of “other cards” refers to cards that share a Card Title, but have different Card Text.
Just Blocked Vs Areas Blocked This Turn (new entry)
Some cards or effects refer to areas you just blocked, while others refer to areas you blocked this turn. These phrases do not mean the same thing and apply in different ways.
Just blocked” refers specifically to the grid squares covered by the last Block you played.
Areas you blocked this turn” includes all grid squares covered by any Blocks you played or put into play during the current turn.
Minimum of Maximum of Effects (new entry)
Cards and effects that state “to a minimum of #” or “to a maximum of #” apply only to the effect created by that specific card or ability. These limits are self-contained and do not apply globally to similar effects unless the card explicitly states otherwise—for example, by using phrases like “regardless of other effects” or “cannot be combined with similar effects.”
Minimums and maximums reset each turn and apply only during the Phase or interaction in which they are activated. For example, if a card states, “Draw – you may draw one card whenever you play an Attack (Max. 3),” you may draw up to three cards that turn, regardless of how many Attacks you play. The limit resets on your next turn.
Example:
• Player A plays a card that states, “You may randomly discard one card from your opponent’s Hand for each Crystal you have in play (Max 3.).
• Player A has 4 Crystals in play.
• Player A has a different card in play that states, “If you have a Crystal in play, randomly discard one card from your opponent’s Hand.”
Player A can discard 3 cards due to card #1 in play even though they have 4 Crystals in play because card #1 has a max of 3 cap. While the max of 3 effect created by card #1 in this example caps that effect to no more than 3, it does stop Player A from using the discard effect from the 2nd card in play.
Pending Attack Damage (new entry)
Pending Attack Damage is established as soon as an Attack is declared successful. This represents the Damage that will be applied to the defending player, and it is treated as an immediate effect that is resolved during their next Ability Adjustment Phase.
Once an Attack is declared successful, its Damage is considered Pending and will resolve during the Ability Adjustment Phase unless a card or effect specifically states that it reduces or prevents Pending Attack Damage. Pending Attack Damage is not prevented by removing, ignoring, or capturing the successful Attack after it has been declared successful.
Important: Pending Attack Damage is not the same as Direct Damage. Direct Damage is typically caused by Events, Edges, or other card effects, and only resolves if the source effect is still active when the Damage would be applied. Pending Attack Damage, by contrast, will still resolve even if the Attack card is no longer in play.
Removed from the Game vs Removed from Play (new entry)
These terms are not the same and are not interchangeable.
Removed from play: A card that is removed from play leaves the play area but remains part of the game. Unless a card states otherwise, it goes to its owner’s appropriate Discard Pile—or in some cases, back to their Hand or to the bottom of their Endurance. An example of this type of effect would be playing Police: Event to remove a Situation from play.
Removed from the Game (Removal Effects): A card that is removed from the game due to a Removal Effect is placed outside the game entirely. If a card in play is targeted by a removal-from-the-game effect, it is not also considered to have been removed from play.
Some cards or effects will interact specifically with removed from play or removed from the game effects—and some can interact with either—depending on the wording of the card.
Example 01:
Player A has Connor Macleod Rachel Ellenstien in play: “If your opponent removed one of your Locations, Objects, Plots, or Situations from play during their last turn, you may reveal the same card from your hand at the beginning of your Defense Phase. If you do, immediately put that card into play. This does not count as playing your Special Card for the turn. If Rachel Ellenstein leaves play, you lose one Ability.”
Player A also has a Location in play.
Player B uses a Removal Effect and removes Player A’s Location from the Game.
Because Rachel Ellenstein specifies “removed from play,” and the Location was not removed from play it was removed from the Game, Player A cannot use her effect.
Example 02:
Player A has Situation Ally in play.
Player B targets that Ally with a removal effect and removes it from the game.
During Player A’s next turn, they play the card Retribution which states: “You may only play this card if your opponent removed one of your Allies or played a Special Card that did damage to you during their last turn. Your opponent takes three damage.”
Retribution does not specify removed from play or removed from the game, so its condition is met. Player A may play Retribution.
Removing Grids (amended entry)
You cannot remove Grids or grid squares from attacks that are currently Hidden. The attack must be revealed or turned face up after playing a defense from Hand etc., before you can use an effect that would remove a grid square from the attack. You cannot remove Grids/grid squares from attacks that are already declared successful.
Satisfying Effects (new entry)
When you satisfy an effect, you are considered to have met that requirement without carrying out the effect itself. You do not perform the effect you are satisfying; you only count it as fulfilled for any card or rule that requires it.
You can find the comprehensive rule book as a downloadable PDF here:
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