Sigilclash guide: card rules, captures, deck building and the campaign

Updated 1 November 2026

Sigilclash is a card duel played on a three-by-three board. Each card has a number on each of its four sides, and placing a card next to an enemy card captures it if your number on the touching side is higher. Whoever owns more cards when the board is full wins. The rules fit in a sentence, but where you put each card matters far more than how strong it is, and this guide explains why.

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Sigilclash on SyphonGames.

A duel, step by step

Both players bring a deck of exactly five cards and hold all five in hand. A coin toss decides who goes first.
On your turn, pick a card from your hand, then an empty square on the board. You must play; there is no passing.
When you place a card, compare it with each enemy card directly above, below, left and right of it. Compare the two numbers on the sides that touch: if yours is higher, that card turns to your colour. Diagonals do not count, and a draw on a side captures nothing.
Captured cards can be captured back later, by the same rule.
When all nine squares are full, each player scores one point for every card on the board in their colour and one for every card still in their hand. Higher score wins; equal scores are a draw.

Because there are ten cards and nine squares, the player who goes second always finishes with one card unplayed, which counts as a point. Going first means placing five cards to their four, so the first player has more chances to capture but also leaves more cards exposed.

Where to put cards

Corners hide two sides, edges hide one. A card in a corner can only be attacked from two directions, so put cards there whose two strong sides face the middle and whose weak sides face the wall.
The centre is the most exposed square. A card there can be attacked from four sides. Play into it late, when you can capture with it, rather than early, when it can only be captured.
Look at what you leave open. Every side of your card that faces an empty square is a side your opponent can attack. A 2 facing an empty square is an invitation.
Keep a strong card back. The last few moves decide most duels, and a card with high numbers all round is most valuable when there are cards already on the board to capture.
Cards do not need to match. A card's faction makes no difference to captures; only the numbers do. Build for numbers.

Special rules

Some duels add rules, which are shown before the match starts:

Open: both hands are face up, so you can see exactly what your opponent can still play.
Same: if the card you place touches two or more cards and the touching numbers are equal on each of them, every enemy card among them is captured, even though the numbers only tie.
Plus: if the touching numbers add up to the same total on two or more sides (for example 3 against 7 on one side and 6 against 4 on another, both making 10), every enemy card among them is captured.
Combo: a card captured by Same or Plus immediately attacks its own neighbours with the normal rule, and anything it captures does the same, in a chain.
Reverse: the lower number wins instead of the higher.
Fallen Ace: a 1 beats a 9, and a 9 no longer beats a 1.
Chaos: one of Same, Plus, Reverse or Fallen Ace is added at random.

For Same and Plus, your own cards count towards the two matching sides, which lets you set them up deliberately: place a card so that one of its sides matches your own neighbour, and the matching enemy on another side is captured.

Your collection and decks

There are 100 cards across ten factions, ten of each, in ten tiers. Tier 1 cards are weakest and tier 10 strongest; a card's power is its four numbers added together. The opening of the campaign gives you eight cards to start with.

The Deck Builder holds as many decks as you like, each of exactly five different cards. Decks can be copied, and exported as a code you can import again or share. A deck's average power is a fair guide to its strength, but a card with one huge side and three weak ones is worse than its total suggests, because the weak sides will be attacked.

Essence and the Forge

Essence is earned by winning: 5 for a Quick Duel, 15 for a campaign rival (30 for a boss), 40 for the Daily Challenge, and more the longer your Endless Arena streak. Achievements and the daily login reward add more. It is spent at the Sigil Forge:

Ascend a card you own to raise its lowest side by one, up to three times per card. The cost is 40 plus 15 per tier, multiplied by the level you are going to. Ascending fixes exactly the weakness that gets cards captured, so it is the best use of essence for the cards in your main deck.
Reclaim a card from a rival you have already beaten but did not take, for 60 plus 35 per tier.

The campaign

The campaign crosses ten regions, from the Sunken Reaches to the Sigilean Core, with three rivals in each. The third is the region's boss. Beat a rival to unlock the next; clear a region to open the next one. The rivals get harder as you go, from easy in the first region to expert from the Storm Spires onwards. Campaign duels use the basic rules only.

The first time you beat a rival, you may claim one card from their hand. This is how most of your collection is built, so pick the card that fixes the biggest weakness in your deck, not simply the highest tier. Beating a boss also unlocks lore. You can replay any rival you have beaten for more essence.

Beating the final boss unlocks New Game+, in which every rival plays with two tier-10 cards in their deck and the Open, Fallen Ace and Chaos rules, and the Endless Arena.

Other modes

Quick Duel: one match against a random deck at medium difficulty.
Daily Challenge: one attempt a day against a hard opponent, with the Open and Same rules.
Practice: try out a deck with an undo button for your last move.
Boss Rush: the campaign's bosses one after another.
Endless Arena: opponents keep coming and get stronger. Every fifth is an Elite with Same, Plus and Open, every tenth an Arena Boss that adds Combo, and after ten wins Reverse is added, then Fallen Ace after twenty. Titles are awarded at streaks of 5, 10, 15 and 25.

Daily rewards and progress

Logging in on consecutive days pays essence that grows each day of the week, with a bonus and a card on day seven. There is also a free card of the day, drawn from the lowest two tiers that still have cards you do not own. Your rank rises with experience from Initiate through Adept, Veteran and Master to Grandmaster, and each faction has its own mastery level that rises as you play its cards. Progress is saved in your browser.

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