How to play MOC ARCANA: your first duel, step by step

1. The goal: bring the rival Community to zero

Each player starts with 100 Community Points (CP). CP stand for a token's popularity: its users, its holders, its noise on social media. Every hit you land takes CP away from your opponent.

You win when your opponent reaches 0 CP. There is a second way to win: a player who must draw from an empty deck loses. In practice, almost every duel ends on CP.

2. The three kinds of cards

Every card in MOC ARCANA is one of three types.

• Tokens are your fighters. Each one has a level (its stars), an attack value (ATK), a defence value (DEF) and a faction. Most have an effect written on the card. Tokens stay on the field until they are destroyed.
• Events are one-time cards inspired by real moments of crypto history. You play one from your hand, its effect happens at once, then it goes to the discard pile. See every Event card revealed so far.
• Personas are key figures of the Cronos ecosystem. They are also used once, but some of them can wait face-down and answer your opponent's moves (see step 5).

A deck holds 40 to 60 cards, and at least 70 % of them must be Tokens. In Free play you do not need to think about this: you get a ready-made deck.

3. The board and the first turn

Each side of the board has:

• 5 Token zones, where your Tokens fight;
• a face-down zone for hidden Personas;
• your deck, face-down;
• the Dead Wallet, the discard pile where destroyed Tokens and used Events and Personas go. Some effects bring cards back from it, so a destroyed card is not always gone for good.

You start with 5 cards in hand. The player who goes first skips their first draw and cannot attack on turn 1. This keeps the start of the duel fair.

4. A turn, phase by phase

Every turn follows the same four phases.

1. Draw: you draw one card.
2. Main: you may summon one Token, play Events and Personas from your hand, and set Personas face-down.
3. Battle: each of your Tokens on the field may attack once.
4. End: end-of-turn effects resolve, and the turn passes to your opponent.

Summoning and sacrifices

This is the one rule that makes MOC ARCANA different from many card games, so it is worth a minute.

You can summon only one Token per turn. Small Tokens come for free; strong ones ask you to sacrifice Tokens you already have on the field (they go to the Dead Wallet).

So the classic rhythm of a duel is: put small Tokens on the field in your first turns, then trade them for a giant when the moment is right. Some card effects grant extra summons, called Special summons, which break this rhythm in your favour.

5. Battle: how attacks are resolved

When one of your Tokens attacks, you choose a target among your opponent's Tokens. The result depends on two numbers only: your attacker's ATK and the defender's DEF.

• ATK higher than DEF: the defender is destroyed, and the difference is taken from its owner's CP. An attacker with 22 ATK against a defender with 15 DEF destroys it and removes 7 CP.
• ATK equal to DEF: stand-off, nothing happens.
• ATK lower than DEF: your attacker is destroyed. Nobody loses CP.
• No Token in front of you? If your opponent has no Token on the field, your attack hits their CP directly, for the full ATK.

That last rule is why an empty field is dangerous: keep at least one Token between your CP and the enemy whenever you can.

Events and Personas in a duel

Events are played from your hand during your Main phase. They are the cards that turn a duel around: protect a Token, weaken an enemy, call a giant, reset the CP.

Personas come in two kinds, and the card tells you which one it is:

• "Play it from your hand": used during your Main phase like an Event, its effect resolves at once. Some only work under a condition written on the card.
• "Set face-down": placed in your face-down zone. It stays hidden and triggers by itself during your opponent's turn, when one of their Tokens attacks or when they play an Event, as written on the card. Your opponent sees how many face-down cards you have, never which ones.

6. Your first duel in practice

1. Open the Arena in Free play. The duel starts at once against the Arcana Apprentice, with a ready-made deck.
2. Turn 1: summon your best Token of level 1 to 4. If you go first, you cannot attack yet.
3. Next turns: keep adding small Tokens, and attack only when your ATK beats the defender's DEF, or when the enemy field is empty.
4. When you hold a level 5 or 6 Token: count your sacrifices. Trading two small Tokens for a much stronger one is usually worth it, as long as your field is not left empty in front of a big attacker.
5. Keep an Event for the right moment: the best time to play a protection or a weakening Event is often just before the decisive attack, not on the turn you draw it.
6. Bring the Apprentice to 0 CP. Most first duels last a few minutes.

Five tips from the first duels

• Small Tokens are not weak, they are fuel. Without level 1 to 4 Tokens on the field, you cannot summon your giants.
• Read the DEF before you attack. An attack into a higher DEF loses your Token for nothing.
• Do not empty your field. A direct attack hits for the full ATK.
• Watch the Dead Wallet. Some factions, Fantasma first of all, bring their cards back from it.
• Count the face-down cards. If your opponent has one, your next attack or Event may trigger it. Sometimes it is worth attacking first with your weakest Token.

What comes after your first duel

• Free play stays free: replay as often as you like, and the daily challenges of the Arena count in every mode.
• Practice lets you train with cards of your own once you have 10 of them.
• The Campaign is 96 duels in 8 chapters: one per faction, then the finale against The Whale. The AI gets harder every act. It needs a 40-card deck of your own. See the Campaign.
• VS lets you challenge a friend live, turn by turn, with the same rules. With the trial decks, your friend does not even need cards.

Ready to build your own deck? Read the deck building guide, then choose a playstyle among the 7 factions. Questions about packs and wallets are answered in the FAQ.