Shadowverse: Evolve is a physical card game about converting a growing pool of play points into followers, spells, amulets, and carefully timed evolution. Your Leader begins at 20 Defense. Followers pressure that total or fight engaged followers; the first player whose opposing Leader reaches 0 Defense wins.
The game’s signature swing is evolution. An eligible follower on the field can transform using a card from the separate evolve deck, gaining the evolved card’s stats and abilities. The second player begins with three Evolution Points to help contest tempo, but evolving is normally limited to once per turn. Quick cards add defined opportunities to answer on the opponent’s turn.
The central loop
Shadowverse: Evolve in 60 seconds
Start at 20
Reveal a Leader, set Defense to 20 and PP to 0, draw four, then take one optional all-or-nothing mulligan.
Grow PP
Each turn, maximum PP rises by one up to 10 and remaining PP refills. Spend it to play cards and activate effects.
Build the field
Play followers and amulets into a shared five-card field. Spells resolve and go to the cemetery.
Attack
Eligible followers attack the opposing Leader or an engaged follower. Ward and card text can restrict targets.
Evolve
Normally once per turn, pay an evolve cost and place the matching evolved card from the evolve deck over its follower.
Defend and finish
Use Quick at its defined windows, preserve the board, and reduce the opposing Leader to 0 Defense before your deck runs out.
Before the showdown
What you need to play
Leader and main deck
Use one Leader and a 40–50 card main deck legal for its class or universe and the chosen format.
Evolve deck
Use 0–10 cards in a separate deck, including evolved followers and other special types permitted there, such as Advanced cards.
PP and Defense tracking
Track maximum and remaining PP separately, Leader Defense, and persistent changes or damage on followers.
Evolution Point cards
In ordinary one-on-one play, the second player receives three; the first player receives none. Keep them visible.
Uniform sleeves protect hidden information, and the main and evolve decks must remain distinguishable under current event rules. Tokens, status counters, a playmat, and the official quick guide make complex board states easier to read.
Seven zones, one readable state
The Shadowverse: Evolve play area
Standing and engaged
Vertical cards are standing; horizontal cards are engaged. Attacking and some costs engage a card. An engaged follower can normally be attacked, and engaged Ward followers can constrain targets.
Persistent information
Follower damage and lasting stat changes do not automatically disappear at the end of the turn. Use status counters and keep evolved/unevolved layers legible.
Read the role, then the text
Cards, play points, and evolution
Followers and evolved followers
Followers occupy the field, attack, and carry attack/Defense values and abilities. Matching evolved cards upgrade eligible followers from the evolve deck.
Follower damage persists · an evolved layer returns faceup to the evolve deck when it leaves the field.Spells and amulets
Spells resolve once and go to the cemetery. Amulets occupy the field and may provide immediate, activated, countdown, or lasting effects.
Both use PP and text timing; an amulet also consumes one of the five field spaces.Leaders, tokens, and Advanced cards
The Leader sets construction identity and tracks Defense. Tokens exist outside decks. Advanced cards belong in the evolve deck and use their own conditions.
Special card types follow their defined zone rules, not ordinary main-deck assumptions.How PP and Evolution Points differ
Maximum PP normally rises by one each turn to 10, and remaining PP refills to that maximum. It is renewable. An Evolution Point is a limited visible resource that can replace one PP when paying one evolve cost or an equivalent ability. It does not make evolution free, provide general PP, or let you ignore the once-per-turn evolve limit.
Use this exact order
Set up a Shadowverse: Evolve game
- 1
Prepare and reveal Leaders
Place one Leader facedown, then reveal Leaders together. Present randomized 40–50 card main decks and 0–10 card evolve decks.
- 2
Set the starting values
Each Leader begins at 20 Defense. Set maximum PP and remaining PP to 0.
- 3
Choose who goes first
Use a fair random method. The randomly selected player chooses first or second. The second player receives three Evolution Point cards.
- 4
Draw four
Each player draws a four-card opening hand from the main deck.
- 5
Take one optional mulligan
Starting with the first player, each may put the entire hand on the bottom in any order, draw four, then shuffle. The mulligan is all-or-nothing.
- 6
Begin the first turn
The first player takes the first Start Phase, increases PP normally, but skips that turn's draw. The second player draws on their first turn.
Start · Main · End
The turn structure
Grow and refill PP
Increase maximum PP by one, up to 10, then set remaining PP to that maximum.
Stand and draw
Stand your engaged cards, resolve required processing, and draw one. The first player skips the first draw.
Act in your order
Play cards, use activated abilities, attack with followers, and evolve—normally only once per turn.
Ward, Quick, hand limit
Resolve end processing, optionally engage Ward followers, allow the opponent's Quick window, then discard to seven if needed.
| Phase | Required core | Flexible or limited action |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Raise/refill PP, stand cards, draw | First player skips only the first draw |
| Main | Resolve start-of-Main abilities | Play, activate, attack; evolve once normally |
| End | Resolve end processing and hand check | Engage Ward followers; opponent may use Quick |
Main actions are flexible, not simultaneous
You may interleave legal actions and repeat the actions that remain available. Resolve costs, the chosen action, and required triggered processing before moving to the next. The board can change after every spell, attack, evolve, or ability, so reassess rather than announcing a whole turn as one block.
The End Phase hand rule applies if you have eight or more at that check; it does not prevent you from drawing or holding more than seven earlier in the turn.
Orientation creates permission
Combat, Ward, and Quick timing
Declare an attack
- Choose a standing follower that is allowed to attack and engage it.
- Target the opposing Leader or an engaged opposing follower.
- If an opposing engaged follower has Ward, obey the target restriction.
- Resolve attack and response timing in official order.
Resolve combat
- A Leader loses Defense equal to the attack after modifiers.
- Fighting followers exchange damage equal to their attack values.
- Follower damage remains; destroy a follower at 0 or less Defense.
- Process resulting abilities and zone changes before the next action.
Quick is specific interaction, not a free-form stack
The defending player gets the official Quick opportunity during an attack, and the non-turn player receives the End Phase Quick window. A card still needs Quick timing, legal targets, and paid costs. Follow the current sequencing rules when several automatic and optional effects wait; do not import timing assumptions from a different TCG.
A newly played follower normally cannot attack. After it evolves on that turn, the Play Guide permits it to attack an engaged enemy follower, while attacking a Leader normally still requires that it was in play from a previous turn unless another ability changes permission.
Keep both clocks visible
How a Shadowverse: Evolve game ends
Reduce Defense to 0
You win when the opposing Leader's Defense becomes 0 or less through combat or effects, subject to required simultaneous processing.
Force an empty draw
A player loses when they must draw but have no card in their main deck. An empty deck by itself matters when the draw is required.
Both lose means a draw
If both players would win or lose simultaneously, the game ends in a draw under the current official victory rules.
A player may also concede. Tournament match points, time procedures, and incomplete-game handling are Floor Rules questions; they are not additional ways to rewrite the in-game victory conditions.
Official construction first
Build a legal Standard deck
Choose class-based or universe-based construction. A class deck uses cards from the Leader's class and Neutral. A universe deck uses cards from its declared universe under the current universe rules. The ordinary three-copy limit applies separately to main and evolve decks, so legal cards with the same name can total three in each.
Beginner deck-building principles
Give every PP turn a job
Build a curve that can affect early turns, contest the middle, and use high PP later. There is no official universal ratio; draw practice hands and record awkward gaps.
Coordinate base and evolve cards
An evolved card without reliable access to its base is stranded. A base follower without the intended evolved payoff may still need to justify its ordinary role.
Balance board and interaction
Followers create pressure; spells, Quick effects, and utility amulets change exchanges. Too much reaction can leave no clock, while no reaction lets opposing engines run.
Build around identity, not rarity
Class or universe synergy, role coverage, and a coherent finish matter more than adding every individually powerful card the legal pool allows.
A direct beginner answer
Can I mix cards from different Shadowverse: Evolve sets?
One class or universe
Use the Standard card pool and restrictions with the ordinary Leader, main-deck, evolve-deck, and construction rules.
Two different classes
Use two Leaders and the format's class minimums and separate restriction list. Standard restrictions do not automatically apply.
Multiplayer singleton
This three-or-more-player format uses a glory card, a 50-card no-duplicate main deck, up to 20 evolve cards, and distinct setup and victory rules.
Build from event packs
Current official rules use at least 30 main-deck cards, any-size evolve deck from the pool, relaxed class/universe and duplicate limits, plus a Sealed Rush action.
As of this review, current Standard changes effective August 21, 2026 include Planetary Fracture banned and Dracomancer's Rites plus Aenea, Amethyst Rebel restricted to one, alongside earlier active restrictions. Notices with September effective dates are future changes on August 25 and must not be applied early.
Player guidance, not extra rules
Beginner strategy: spend renewable PP, protect scarce swings
Plan the whole PP turn
Compare one expensive play with two or three smaller actions. Sequence draws and information first when legal, then preserve enough PP for the interaction or evolve line you actually need.
Contest the field before it snowballs
Followers attack again if they survive. Trade when removing repeated damage, Ward, or an engine improves future turns—not merely because an engaged target exists.
Use evolution for a measurable swing
Look for immediate combat, board, or ability value. An early evolve can recover tempo; saving every Evolution Point for an imagined perfect turn can lose the board first.
Count the opponent's Quick range
Visible remaining PP and cards in hand bound what may be possible. Test with a lower-stakes action when doing so does not give away the turn.
Choose when to engage
An attack creates pressure but exposes that follower to an opposing attack. Ward can intentionally engage at End to protect other targets; use orientation as part of the plan.
Track persistent damage
A follower surviving combat may still be within range of a small effect later. Count current Defense after counters instead of rereading only the printed stat.
Respect the hand limit
If a draw-heavy turn will end above seven, decide which cards can be converted into field, value, or protection before the forced discard.
Identify the actual clock
Leader Defense, board damage, deck size, evolve resources, and future PP all matter. Attack the resource that gives your deck the most reliable path to victory.
Rules errors and strategic leaks
Common beginner mistakes
The ordinary mulligan returns the entire four-card hand to the bottom, draws four, then shuffles.
They are limited compensation and combo resources. Use one when the evolve creates meaningful tempo or advantage.
A newly played follower normally cannot attack. Specific evolution and keyword permissions define exceptions.
A visible zero PP removes Quick and activated possibilities. Sometimes that is correct; make it a deliberate commitment.
Damage persists. Destroy a follower when its Defense reaches 0 or less and track survivors accurately.
The base and evolved cards consume separate slots. Test whether each pair appears at useful times and does enough when combined.
Quick works only at the official windows and still requires legal costs, targets, and timing.
At eight or more cards during the check, discard to seven. Spend or convert surplus cards before they become forced losses.
Choose the agreement before the deck
Standard, Cross Craft, Gloryfinder, and Sealed
Shadowverse: Evolve supports meaningfully different official experiences. Do not blend their construction, setup, restriction, or victory rules. An organizer's listing identifies the format and any additional event policy.
Standard
The familiar class/universe environment with 40–50 main cards, up to 10 evolve cards, and the live Standard restriction list.
Cross Craft
Uses two Leaders of different classes, Neutral cards, required class representation, and format-specific restrictions.
Gloryfinder
Uses 30 Defense, multiplayer turn order, glory and Super-Evolution cards, singleton-oriented decks, and last-player-standing victory.
Sealed
Uses event packs, at least 30 main cards, relaxed pool construction, and a special once-per-turn option to grant Rush instead of evolve/race.
Ready to play and collect?
Move from the rules to your next evolution.
Explore Shadowverse releases
Browse boosters, crossover sets, fixed decks, Gloryfinder products, and exact English printings without confusing release identity with format legality.
Open Shadowverse: EvolveFind exact cards
Search the Card Library and track the printing, finish, rarity, and treatment you actually own or want.
Find a table
Use KLXCards store and event discovery. Search does not promise current stock, attendance, format, or sanctioned status.
Questions that decide real turns
Shadowverse: Evolve rules FAQ
How much Defense does a Leader start with?
A Leader starts at 20 Defense in ordinary one-on-one play. Effects can change Defense, including raising it above the starting value.
How large is a Shadowverse: Evolve deck?
A normal main deck has 40–50 cards. The separate evolve deck has 0–10 cards, and each player uses one Leader.
Can I mix classes in one deck?
An ordinary class deck uses the Leader's class and Neutral cards. Cross Craft deliberately uses two classes under its own rules; a universe deck instead follows the selected universe construction rules.
How many copies of one card can I include?
Normally up to three with the same card name in the main deck and up to three with that name in the evolve deck. The two decks have separate copy limits unless another rule states otherwise.
Who gets Evolution Points?
In normal one-on-one setup, the player going second receives three Evolution Point cards; the first player receives none.
Can I mulligan only some opening cards?
No. The normal mulligan is all-or-nothing: put the entire four-card hand on the bottom in any order, draw four, then shuffle. You may do this once.
Does the first player draw on turn one?
No. The first player skips the draw during the first Start Phase, but still increases maximum PP, replenishes PP, and stands cards as applicable.
How do play points work?
At the start of your turn, increase maximum PP by one up to 10, then set remaining PP to that maximum. Spending PP reduces the remaining amount for that turn.
How often can I evolve?
Normally once during your turn. Pay the evolution cost; one Evolution Point can replace one PP of that cost. Card and format rules can create specific alternatives.
Can a follower attack on the turn I play it?
Normally no. Abilities such as Storm or the specific evolve/attack permissions in the current rules can change what it may attack.
What can I attack?
A follower can normally attack the opposing Leader or an engaged opposing follower. Ward can restrict the legal target, and card text can add or remove permissions.
Does follower damage disappear at the end of the turn?
No. Damage is persistent. Track it with status counters and destroy a follower when its Defense becomes 0 or less.
When can I play Quick cards?
Quick cards use defined opponent-turn windows, including the response during an attack and the opponent's End Phase window. Follow the current Play Guide and card timing rather than treating Quick as unrestricted instant speed.
What happens to an evolved follower when it leaves play?
Its evolved card is placed faceup on top of the evolve deck and is treated as removed from the game; the underlying unevolved card goes to the appropriate destination.
What is the EX area?
It is a public area that can hold up to five cards. Cards there may be played like cards in hand by paying their costs, subject to their rules and timing.
How many cards can I keep in hand?
At the End Phase check, if the turn player has eight or more cards, they discard down to seven. Seven is the end-of-turn limit, not a prohibition against holding more earlier.
Are Japanese cards legal in English tournaments?
No. The current official English restriction policy says Japanese- and Chinese-edition cards are not permitted in official tournaments. Unofficial free play may allow them by agreement.
What should a new player buy first?
A compatible current Starter Deck or Starter Set is the clearest entry because it supplies a coherent deck and play aids. Random boosters expand a collection but do not guarantee a complete legal deck.
Table vocabulary
Shadowverse: Evolve glossary
- Advanced card
- A powerful special card placed in the evolve deck and played after fulfilling its printed conditions.
- Amulet
- A card played to the field that provides effects and may remain until removed or used.
- Banish
- Move a card to the banished area rather than its normal cemetery destination.
- Cemetery
- The public zone for destroyed followers/amulets, played spells, and discarded cards.
- Defense
- A Leader's life total or a follower's durability. A Leader at 0 or less loses; a follower at 0 or less is destroyed.
- Engaged
- Turned horizontally. An engaged follower can normally be attacked; the opposite state is standing.
- Evolution Point
- A limited second-player resource that may replace one PP when paying an evolve cost or equivalent instruction.
- Evolve deck
- A separate 0–10 card deck for evolved followers and other permitted special cards.
- EX area
- A public zone of up to five cards that acts like a second hand for playing cards.
- Follower
- A unit played to the field that can attack and participate in combat.
- Leader
- The face-up avatar establishing the deck's class or universe and tracking player Defense.
- Play point / PP
- The replenishing resource used to pay card and ability costs, with a normal maximum of 10.
- Quick
- A timing label allowing a card or ability during specific opponent-turn response windows.
- Rush
- Allows a follower to attack an engaged opposing follower on the turn it enters the field.
- Spell
- A one-time card whose effect resolves before it goes to the cemetery.
- Stand
- Turn a card vertically so it is available to attack or pay an engage cost.
- Storm
- Allows a follower to attack the opposing Leader or an engaged follower on the turn it enters the field.
- Ward
- An ability on an engaged follower that restricts which opposing target can be attacked.
- Drain
- When the attacking follower deals attack damage, its controller's Leader gains that much Defense.
Authoritative references
Official rules and resources
This guide explains current fundamentals in original KLXCards language. For a disputed interaction, use the newest official document, card text and ruling; at an event, ask a judge.
- Official Rules hub
Current Play Guide, Comprehensive Rules, Floor Rules, and special-format links.
- Official Play Guide
Illustrated setup, zones, turn progression, combat, evolution, and keywords.
- Comprehensive Rules 1.23.0
Technical rules; the official hub labels this current version updated April 30, 2026.
- Official Restrictions
Live Standard, Cross Craft, and Gloryfinder restrictions plus English-tournament language policy.
- Cross Craft rules
Two-class construction and format-specific legality.
- Sealed rules
Current Open 8/Box Battle pool, construction, and Sealed-exclusive action.
- Gloryfinder rules
Official multiplayer construction, setup, Quick, and victory differences.
Rules reviewed: August 25, 2026. This is a dated editorial review, not an automatic rules feed. Recheck restrictions, format policy, and the event listing before play.