How to Play Rankbreaker
Learn the basics, master the mechanics, and discover the flow of a match. From deckbuilding to locations, this guide walks you step-by-step through everything you need to battle up the ranks—and stay there.
How to Play Rankbreaker
Rankbreaker is a fast-paced 1v1 card battler where every decision matters. Matches are short, strategic, and filled with high-stakes plays as you battle to climb The Trophaeum.
Choose from character cards, Disruptors, and Favors to create a deck that fits your playstyle. Each card has unique abilities, costs, and interactions with Rankbreaker’s diverse locations.
A full deck contains 16 cards:
Up to 1 Legendary Card (optional, but powerful)
Up to 12 Standard Cards
Up to 4 Disruptor Cards
If your deck includes a Legendary Card, you’ll have 11 Standard Cards. If you skip a Legendary, you may include the full 12 Standard Cards.
This structure keeps decks flexible but forces tough decisions — will you chase the raw power of a Legendary, or rely on consistency and disruption?
While your deck may include up to 4 Disruptor or Favor cards, only one will be drawn during a match. These cards are special:
Turn-Specific Draws: Each Disruptor or Favor is tied to a specific round. It will only enter your hand during that round.
Turn-Locked Play: Once drawn, it must be played immediately in that round — or not at all.
Additional rules keep them high-stakes:
If your hand is full, the Disruptor or Favor will destroy a random non-Legendary card to make space.
If left unused by the end of its round, it will self-destruct, vanishing from play.
This mechanic ensures that Disruptors and Favors are game-shaping moments rather than routine plays — timing and foresight are everything.
Each deck may include only one Legendary Card.
Legendary Cards represent the pinnacle of a character’s growth — they are advanced, leveled-up versions of standard cards and their variants. To unlock a Legendary, players must earn it through play, by winning matches with the base or variant versions of that character.
In battle, Legendary Cards are immune to most card abilities, unless a rule or ability specifically states otherwise. This makes them a powerful and reliable centerpiece of any deck, but also a high-risk inclusion since they take the place of a 12th Standard Card.
Players can maintain up to 20 saved decks on their account at any given time. This allows you to experiment with different strategies — aggressive rush decks, disruption-heavy builds, or Legendary-focused lineups — and switch between them as the meta evolves.
If you want to create a new deck after hitting the limit, you’ll need to delete an existing one to make room.
This system keeps your collection manageable while still offering plenty of flexibility to refine your favorite strategies.
The Play Area
Every Rankbreaker match takes place across three active locations, randomly selected from a growing pool of unique battlegrounds. Each location comes with its own rules and modifiers, forcing players to adapt their strategies every game.
You’ll play cards face-down into these locations, revealing them simultaneously with your opponent at the end of each round. Victory goes to the player who controls the majority of locations once the final round ends.
At the top of the screen, you’ll see the Player Info Bar, which displays essential information for both you and your opponent:
Profile Image & Name: Your chosen avatar and player name.
Rank: Your current standing within The Trophaeum leaderboard.
Opponent Info: Mirrored on the opposite side, showing your opponent’s profile image, name, and rank.
Wager Area: Positioned between the two profiles, where round wagers and rewards are displayed (covered in detail in the next section).
This area keeps track of who you’re facing, what’s at stake, and where you stand in the ranks.
The Wager System sits between the players’ profiles at the top of the play area and displays the current Rank Point Value of the match. It adds a strategic layer to each duel, allowing players to risk more to win more.
Key points:
Double Your Wager: Each player may double their wager twice per match, increasing the potential reward pot.
Rank Point Exchange: When the match concludes, the winner reclaims their wagered points, while the loser loses an equivalent amount, which is added to the victor’s total.
Strategy Impact: Using wagers wisely can accelerate your climb in The Trophaeum, but careless doubling can also cost valuable points.
This system ensures every match carries stakes beyond a single win — the risk and reward grow with each round.
The Location Area is the central part of the Play Area and is where most of the action happens. Each match features three random locations, each with unique abilities or effects that can influence your strategy.
Key details:
Random Selection: Locations are randomly chosen for each match, ensuring no two battles are the same.
Reveal Order: The three locations are revealed one per round in a random order, adding an extra layer of strategy as you decide where to play your cards.
Card Placement: Players place their cards in the lower half of each location. Cards remain face-down until the round ends, keeping your opponent guessing.
This setup encourages adaptation and careful planning — knowing when and where to commit your cards can make the difference between victory and defeat.
The Hand Area sits directly below the locations and is where the cards you draw from your deck are displayed.
Key points:
Drawing Cards: At the start of each round, you draw one card from your deck.
Maximum Hand Size: You can hold up to 7 cards in your hand.
Overflow Rules: If your hand is full, you cannot draw additional standard cards. The exception is Disruptor or Favor cards, which can enter your hand even at full capacity, potentially replacing a non-Legendary card.
Managing your hand is crucial — balancing card draws, timing, and placement ensures you make the most of each round.
The bottom of the Play Area contains key controls and displays to manage your turn and monitor resources:
Retreat Button: Ends the match immediately for the current round, mitigating further loss of Rank Points if the game isn’t going your way.
End Turn Button: Locks in your card placements for the round. You may undo card selections until both you and your opponent have pressed End Turn.
Energy Display: Shows the amount of energy currently available to play cards. Each card has an energy cost, so managing this resource is crucial.
Timer: Positioned at the bottom of the screen, the round timer ensures matches stay fast-paced, with a maximum of 30 seconds per round.
Together, these elements provide players with clear, actionable information while keeping the pace of the match smooth and strategic.
Match Flow
Every Rankbreaker match follows a structured flow to keep gameplay fast, strategic, and exciting. From drawing and playing cards to resolving locations and determining winners, understanding the flow ensures you can make the most of your deck, timing, and Disruptor/Favor plays.
The Drafting Phase begins before the first round of a match and sets up your starting hand:
Select a Deck: Choose one of your saved decks. Only valid decks — those with a full 16-card roster — are eligible to play.
Mulligan / Draft Panel: Once a deck is selected, you’ll enter the Draft Panel, where you can confirm your three-card opening hand.
Adjust Your Hand: Drag cards down into your hand to keep them, or up to swap them. Swapped cards are immediately returned to your deck, and the new cards are added to your hand.
This phase allows players to make early strategic choices, optimizing their opening hand for the upcoming rounds and locations.
The Play Phase is where you actively deploy cards and execute your strategy for the round:
Location Reveal: During the first three rounds, one of the three randomly selected locations is revealed at the start of the round.
Card Draw: At the beginning of each round, you draw one card from your deck.
Energy Gain: You gain one energy per round. You may play as many cards as your available energy allows. For example, in round 4, you have 4 energy, so you can play any combination of cards whose total cost does not exceed 4.
Energy Modifiers: Certain card abilities or location effects may temporarily increase or decrease your energy for a round, or permanently modify your energy for the entire match.
Card Placement: Drag cards from your hand onto the location you wish to play them. Cards are placed face-down until the reveal phase.
Strategic decisions in this phase are critical — careful energy management and placement can turn the tide of battle.
Once both players have pressed End Turn, the Reveal & Resolve Phase begins:
Reveal Order: The player with the highest current point total across all locations reveals their cards first.
Card Flip & Abilities: Cards flip from face-down to face-up in the order they were played, and each card’s ability triggers immediately.
Second Player Reveal: After the first player’s cards and abilities have resolved, the opponent’s cards are revealed and their abilities resolved in the same order.
Location Abilities: Once both players’ card abilities have resolved, location abilities trigger, potentially modifying the outcome of the round.
This phase ensures that timing, placement, and order of play all matter, allowing for strategic depth and dynamic outcomes in every match.
At the end of each round, each location’s total point value is calculated and displayed in its score box.
Key points:
Calculation Timing: Scores are determined after all card abilities and location abilities have been triggered and resolved, ensuring every effect is accounted for.
Score Display: The location’s point total is updated visibly, letting both players track which locations they control.
Strategic Implications: Understanding the current score can influence wager decisions, card placement, and Disruptor/Favor usage in subsequent rounds.
This step provides clarity on round outcomes and informs players’ strategy as they prepare for the next round.
A standard Rankbreaker match consists of 6 rounds, though certain card abilities or location effects may extend a match to 7 rounds.
Determining the Victor: After the final round, the player who controls two of the three locations is declared the winner.
Tiebreaker: If each player controls one location and the third is tied, the winner is determined by the highest total power across all locations.
Rank Point Rewards: The winner earns the Rank Point total from all wagers placed during the match.
Unusual Tie: In the rare event of a complete tie, both players are considered victors, but there is no net gain in Rank Points.
This system ensures every round and every card placement matters, creating a fast-paced, high-stakes environment where strategy and timing decide the climb to The Trophaeum.