Common Confusion
Plaid Hat Games maintains a FAQ for Ashes Reborn, which can be found here. Other sources of confusion are listed below.
"Blocking" vs "Guarding" (Master set rules, page 10)
Blocking is when one or more of your units are intercept opposing unit(s) attacking your Phoenixborn.
Guarding is when either your Phoenixborn or a unit with the ability Unit Guard is put in front of an opposing unit attacking one of your units. Using your Phoenixborn to guard is usually referred to as "PB Guard" and can only be done once per round. When playing with physical cards, using the Phoenixborn Guard is represented by turning your PB sideways.
How/when fatigue works (Master set rules, page 6)
Fatigue damage occurs during the Prepare Phase (start of a round) when you have to draw until you have at least 5 cards in hand. For every card below 5 you are unable to draw, you take 1 damage on your PB; this is referred to as fatigue damage. For example, if you have 3 cards in hand, and only 1 card in deck, you will take 1 fatigue damage that round. If you already have, or draw up to, at least 5 cards during the Prepare Phase, you will not take fatigue damage.
There are other cards and that can punish having an empty draw pile but these are not fatigue damage, and the damage effect is stated on the card. For an example of this, see Abundance.
When do units exhaust as part of combat resolution (Master set rules, page 10)
For attackers, exhaustion tokens are placed after resolving combat if their wounds do not exceed their life.
For blockers and unit guards, exhaustion tokens are placed as a result of countering an attack. The Alert ability (e.g. Hammer Knight) prevents exhaustion being placed as a result of countering. A guarding Phoenixborn does not get an exhaustion token.
It is possible due to the resolution of effects and abilities that a defender does not exhaust if the attacking unit they are blocking is removed from combat before countering occurs. One example is Crystal Archer's Preemptive Shot 1 which can destroy a 1-life attacker when the Archer is declared as a blocker.
Targeting specifics
Any card that says "target (something)" targets a card. Examples include "target unit," "target Phoenixborn," and, in the case of Whiplash (from the Corpse of Viros expansion), "target leftmost unit." Cards that have an effect that do not say "target," do not target (e.g. Nature's Wrath). Cards that target may be stopped by the appropriate card that cancels the effect (Golden Veil for units, Vanish for Phoenixborn or players).
Alterations target when they are attached, as per definition in the Master set rules, page 22.
"End of the round"
Abilities and effects that trigger "at the end of the round," like Cursed 1 on Blood Puppet, happen after the Recovery phase, as per Master set rules on page 13. These effects are outside of the Player Turns phase, which means Reaction cards and abilities cannot be played during this phase. However, abilities that trigger off of effects caused by end of round abilities will still trigger.
Example: At the end of the round, a player using Jessa Na Ni has a Chant of Revenge and a Blood Archer with Fade Away attached. After the recovery phase, Fade Away triggers, destroying the Blood Archer and removing it from the game. Jessa cannot use Screams of the Departed because the ability states "Once per turn," and it is not during a turn. Chant of Revenge, however, gets a status token.
Coming soon
- AOE selection and resolution
- Reaction windows (partially covered in "End of the round"
- Specific card confusion
- Strange Copy
- Void Pulse and Return to Soil
- Rowan's Conscript ability