DabCraft TCG — Game Manual and Player Codex

This is the full rulebook for DabCraft TCG. Use it however works for you:

Learning the game? Read sections 1–8 in order for a guided tutorial.
Looking up a specific rule? Jump to sections 9–15 for the reference codex.

1) What This Game Is

DabCraft TCG is a two-player lane-based card game played at the Battle Table in Minecraft.

The loop is simple:

Collect cards
Build a deck
Sit at a Battle Table with another player
Play through turn phases
First to knock the opponent from 30 HP to 0 wins

2) Starting Your First Match

You need three things:

Two players
A placed Battle Table
One deck per player

Here's how it goes:

Both players right-click the Battle Table to sit
Both sides confirm they're ready
Game starts, decks shuffle, 5-card opening hands are dealt

3) Core Match Stats

Stat	Value
Starting HP	30
Opening Hand	5 cards
Starting Energy	0
Max Energy	10

You gain 1 max Emerald Energy each Upkeep, up to a cap of 10. Your current energy refills to your current max at the start of each Upkeep. Energy does not carry over between turns.

4) Board Layout

Each player controls:

4 mob lanes
4 block lanes (one under each mob lane)
2 structure slots
1 biome slot

Here's a rough visual:

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Structure 1           Structure 2             │
│                                               │
│ [Mob 0] [Mob 1] [Mob 2] [Mob 3]    [Biome]   │
│ [Block] [Block] [Block] [Block]              │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

5) Turn Structure (Full Breakdown)

Every turn walks through six phases.

Step	Phase	Auto	What Happens
1	Upkeep	Yes	Gain 1 max energy, refill current energy to max, clear summoning sickness, fire ON_UPKEEP effects
2	Draw	Yes	Draw 1 card
3	Main Phase 1	No	Play cards, set up your lanes
4	Battle	Yes	All ready mobs attack in lane order
5	Main Phase 2	No	Post-combat plays
6	End	Yes	Resolve ON_END effects, cleanup, then pass turn after a short delay

Important turn 1 rule:

The first player still gets Upkeep and Draw on turn 1. But since the game starts at 0/0 energy, after their first Upkeep they'll be at 1/1 energy for Main Phase 1. Never 2/2 on turn 1.

6) Card Types Explained

MOB

Mobs are your fighters. They have power and toughness and they attack in lane combat.

When a mob enters the field, it has summoning sickness and can't attack until your next Upkeep clears it.

BLOCK

Blocks are support cards that sit under the mob lanes. They're not mobs, they're lane modifiers.

Key rules:

Each lane holds one block.
You can place a block in an empty lane before putting a mob there.
Playing a new block over an old one replaces it.
Replaced blocks follow "moving-sickness" timing, so the new passive doesn't kick in until your next Upkeep.
Blocks stick around even after the mob in that lane dies.

EQUIPMENT

Equipment attaches to a mob's gear slots.

Each mob has equipment slots like HELM, CHEST, PANTS, BOOTS, WEAPON, OFFHAND. One item per slot type.

BIOME

You can have one biome active at a time. It gives you a side-wide passive or on-play effect.

Playing a new biome replaces your old one.

STRUCTURE

Structures go in your 2 structure slots. They're persistent support cards that can have ON_PLAY and ON_UPKEEP effects.

POTION

Potions are spell-like effects:

INSTANT and SPLASH resolve immediately and go to discard.
LINGERING stays attached to a lane target as long as it's valid.

7) How Combat Works

Combat is automatic. It happens during the Battle phase.

Here's the sequence:

Every ready attacking mob attacks in its own lane.
If the enemy lane has a mob, they exchange combat damage.
If the enemy lane is empty, damage goes straight to the enemy player.

Effect timing during combat:

ON_ATTACK effects
ON_DEFEND effects
Damage application and lethal checks
ON_DEATH effects and cleanup

Combat damage is simultaneous, so both mobs can die in the same exchange.

8) Winning, Losing, and Forfeiting

You win by reducing your opponent's HP to 0.

You lose or forfeit if:

You leave an active match
You disconnect during an active match
You die in-world during an active match
You attempt to draw a card from an empty deck

9) Economy and Card Acquisition

Where cards come from

You've got four sources:

Card Vendor trades — buy sealed product from vendors
Natural drops — 15% drop chance from active full sets
Crafting pipeline machines — Shredder, Press, Printer
Admin commands — /dabtcg pack set_id for testing

The currently active full sets are: classic, infdav_expansion, pretty_scary, redstone, horse, create. Legacy test sets and creative-only items exist but are not included in natural drop pools or normal pack generation.

Product tiers

Pack — 8 cards
Booster Box — 16 packs
Booster Case — 4 boxes (64 packs total)

Crafting pipeline

Three machines turn materials and unwanted cards into packs:

Shredder — cards into card pulp
Press — card pulp into blank sheets
Printer — blank sheets plus ink into packs

Printer targeting:

No catalyst? Random pack from the non-legacy set pool.
Catalyst inserted? Targeted set pack. The catalyst doesn't get consumed.

Collection tools

Deck Box — deck validation and storage
Card Binder — general collection storage
Master Set Binder — numbered set completion tracking

10) Deckbuilding Rules

Current deck requirements:

Minimum deck size: 30
Max copies of any single card: 3

A solid deck usually has:

Early plays for turns 1–3
A mix of threats and interaction
Some card advantage or selection effects
A clear plan for closing out the game

11) Triggers and Effects Reference

Trigger types

Trigger	When It Fires
ON_PLAY	When the card is played
ON_UPKEEP	During controller's Upkeep phase
ON_END	During controller's End phase, before cleanup
ON_ATTACK	When the source attacks
ON_DEFEND	When the source defends
ON_DEATH	When the source dies
PASSIVE	Active while the card is on the field
ACTIVATED	When manually activated in MP1 or MP2

Effect categories

Category	Examples
Stats	STAT_MODIFIER, PASSIVE_AURA, LORD, KINSHIP
Damage and survival	DEAL_DAMAGE, HEAL, SHIELD, BARRIER, SECOND_CHANCE
Control	STUN, SILENCE, BOUNCE, EXILE, DISARM
Card advantage	DRAW_N, LOOT, CANTRIP, CYCLE, TUTOR
Deck manipulation	SCRY, SURVEIL, MILL, SHUFFLE
Lane tactics	WARCRY, CLEAVE, VANGUARD, REARGUARD, FORMATION, BATTLELINE

Full effect type breakdown

EffectType	What It Does
STAT_MODIFIER	Modifies power and/or toughness based on params and duration.
DEAL_DAMAGE	Deals direct damage to target(s).
SPAWN_CARD	Spawns a specific card onto a legal slot.
INVISIBLE	Makes target untargetable for a set number of turns.
HEAL	Restores HP to a player or mob.
STAT_SWAP	Swaps power and toughness with a target.
PASSIVE_AURA	Continuous buff while the source remains on the field.
MAX_HAND_SIZE_MODIFIER	Increases or decreases max hand size.
DOUBLE_STRIKE	Grants an extra combat strike.
TRAMPLE	Lets excess combat damage carry to the player.
STUN	Prevents target from attacking for a duration.
SILENCE	Disables target's text effects for a duration.
SECOND_CHANCE	Prevents first lethal event and leaves target at 1 HP.
BOUNCE	Returns target permanent to owner's hand.
EXILE	Moves target permanent to the Void/exile zone.
DISARM	Removes one equipment from target mob.
REGEN	Applies repeating upkeep healing.
WARCRY_LINE	Lane-order combat buff for attackers later in the line.
DRAW_N	Draws a set number of cards.
LOOT	Draws, then discards.
CANTRIP	Resolves effect, then draws 1 card.
MILL	Moves top deck cards to discard.
SHUFFLE	Shuffles the deck.
HASTE	Lets target ignore summoning sickness.
BLOODRUSH	Activated burst bonus.
SHIELD	Prevents incoming damage or destruction.
LIFELINK	Damage dealt by source heals its controller.
REACH	Allows interacting with evasive/invisible targets.
BARRIER	Reduces incoming damage by an amount for a duration.
CYCLE	Card-filter effect that replaces itself.
LORD	Passive subtype-based buff for matching allies.
KINSHIP	Conditional bonus if same-subtype ally is present.
PACK_TACTICS	Combat bonus that scales with ally count.
SACRIFICE_PAYOFF	Grants value when allied cards die or are sacrificed.
TOKEN_SYNERGY	Bonus scaling with token quantity.
WARCRY	Attack-time team buff.
CLEAVE	Splashes damage into adjacent lane.
VANGUARD	Bonus while source is in leftmost lane.
REARGUARD	Bonus while source is in rightmost lane.
FORMATION	Bonus while source is flanked by allies.
BATTLELINE	Team bonus when source occupies lane 1 at battle start.
SCRY	Look at and reorder top deck cards.
SURVEIL	Look at top cards and optionally bin to discard.
TUTOR	Searches deck for a matching card and moves it to destination.
ROTARY_SHIFT	Create signature: directional lane buff propagation with fallback draw.
TORQUE_CHAIN	Create signature: contiguous occupied-lane scaling buff.

12) Targeting Reference

Common target keys

FRIENDLY_MOB
ENEMY_MOB
ALL_FRIENDLY_MOBS
ALL_ENEMY_MOBS
ENEMY_PLAYER
LANE_MOB
EQUIPPED_MOB

Lane-relative keys

FRIENDLY_MOB_LEFT
FRIENDLY_MOB_RIGHT
ENEMY_MOB_LEFT
ENEMY_MOB_RIGHT

Area modifiers

radius: 1, 2, 3, ALL
direction: LEFT or RIGHT

13) Card Taxonomy

Rarity tiers

Rarity	Design Role
COMMON	Core curve and simple effects
UNCOMMON	Synergy glue and utility upgrades
RARE	Power spikes and stronger interaction
MYTHIC	Build-around or identity-defining cards

Subtype groups

Mob subtypes: UNDEAD, VILLAGER, BEAST, BOSS, PLAYER, PASSIVE
Region and world subtypes: PLAINS, DESERT, FOREST, SWAMP, OVERWORLD, NETHER, END
Equipment and utility subtypes: TOOL, ARTIFACT, WEAPON, OFFHAND
Potion subtypes: INSTANT, SPLASH, LINGERING

14) Quick Rules FAQ

Q: Can I place a block before I have a mob in that lane?

Yes. Blocks can be set up in empty lanes.

Q: Does a lane lose its block when the mob dies?

No. Blocks persist until replaced or removed by an effect.

Q: Can both mobs die in one combat exchange?

Yes. Combat damage is simultaneous.

Q: Can I play cards after Battle phase?

Yes, that's what Main Phase 2 is for.

Q: What happens if I leave the battle screen mid-match?

Leaving an active match counts as a forfeit.

15) Fast Reference Checklist

Turn flow:

[ ] Upkeep (auto)
[ ] Draw (auto)
[ ] Main Phase 1
[ ] Battle (auto)
[ ] Main Phase 2
[ ] End turn

Before you play a card:

Is it your turn?
Are you in MP1 or MP2?
Do you have enough energy?
Is the target slot valid?

Manual status: full tutorial and codex edition, June 2026.

DabcraftTCG