How to play a game of Powerline Ultra - Fighting Trading Card Game

Hello! If you are reading this, this means you are reading the text PDF document edition of the rules as of May 1st of the year 2026! We, at Hardrock Gaming Studios, thank you for taking the time to look into our game, we hope you enjoy it! These rules are for a standard game of Powerline Ultra (PLU) and assumes you understand the basic card anatomy and field of play.

If you do not understand or know of the card anatomy and field of play, do watch the how to play video HERE, but this is the official guide and is the main point of reference for tournament play. These rules also are for a typical game of PLU. Prepare For Battle! - Nathaniel Reid (owner and head operator of Hardrock Gaming Studios)

• HOW TO WIN: In order to win a game of PLU, you reduce your rival’s (opponent) HP (Health Points) from a starting total of 100 to 0 using a pre-constructed deck consisting of at least 40 Powerline Ultra Fighting Trading Card Game cards which include: x1 Fighter Card, x1 Stage Card and an assortment of other Attack Cards, Utility Cards and/or x1 Ultimate Card (Ultimate cards are optional in your deck).

• HOW TO BUILD A DECK: In order to construct a deck for a game of PLU, as mentioned previously, you must have x1 Fighter Card, x1 Stage Card and at least 38 OTHER Attack Cards and Utility Cards. You MAY have x1 Ultimate Card in your deck if you desire. A deck for a game of PLU can have up to 3 copies of a card in your deck at a time with the same name. Some cards get reprinted but contain the same name so pick the ones with your favorite art or even releases!

• HOW TO BEGIN A GAME: You and your rival will place your Fighter Card (also known as a Character Card) in your Fighter Zone (also known as a Character Zone) faced down and your Stage Card in your Stage Zone. You and your Rival will shuffle the remaining cards in your deck and offer your rival to cut (take the top half of the deck and place it to the bottom of the deck) or tap the deck (do nothing). Draw 6 cards from the top of your deck. This is the deck you will be drawing from for the duration of the game.

• If you do not like your cards in your hand and wish to mulligan, you may take all the cards in your hand and remove them from the game by placing them outside the game, shuffle your deck, offer it to your rival to cut or tap, then draw 5 cards from the top of your deck (This action is called a Re-Draw). You and your rival determine who is going first by any legal means within your region, otherwise it is decided via coin flip. The player going SECOND reveals their Stage Card by flipping it face up. This card is to remain faced up for the duration of the game and is considered “The Active Stage” where the other faced down Stage Card is known as “The Inactive Stage”.

• You and your Rival will reveal your Fighter Cards at the same time by flipping them both face up. Apply any card abilities if applicable. Set your HP to 100 (unless an outside ability specifies otherwise), then you are now ready to begin! Get ready fighter, for you are now prepared for battle!

THE PHASES OF YOUR TURN IN PLU AND WHAT CAN YOU DO IN THEM:

• Replenish Phase: Rise all cards you control (Turn them so they are upright). Draw cards from the top of your deck until you have 6 cards in your hand. If you already have 6 cards in your hand, proceed to the end of this phase. At the end of this phase, you may declare a Re-Draw by removing all the cards in your hand, shuffle your deck, offer your rival a chance to cut or tap the deck, then draw 5 cards.

If you run of cards to draw from the top of your deck when you enter this phase, you will take all the cards in your Attack Discard Pile, shuffle them into a new deck to draw from, offer your rival the chance to cut or tap the shuffled deck and place it in your Deck Zone face down as this will be your deck to draw cards from.

If you run out of cards to draw from the top of your deck when you enter this phase AND have no cards in your Attack Discard Pile, you automatically lose the round.

Your or your rival may play a Counter Utility Card anytime in response to any action during any turn. To play a Counter Utility Card, you will place the Counter Utility Card into 1 of your open Basic Utility Zones and resolve the ability, but the card is to remain face up on the field until the Cleanup Phase.

• Charge Phase: Take 1 card from your hand or 1 card from your Attack Discard Pile and place it face up in your Power Gauge.

• Start-Up Phase: During this phase, you may activate your Fighter Card ability, the Active Stage card and any other cards abilities on the field that you control by resting them (turning the card 90 degrees clockwise) and applying the abilities. A rested card cannot Rise unless an outside ability states so. Once you are satisfied with your plays or have nothing else you wish to do on your turn, then it will be the end step of this phase.

You can also activate Basic Utility cards by placing it on one of your open Basic Utility Zones you control, resolve the ability and placing the card in your General Discard Pile.

You may also attach Attachment Utility Cards by placing them in the Active Stage Utility Zone or any Fighter Utility Zones. Stage Utility Zones and Fighter Utility Zones can only have 1 Attachment Card on them at a time. To change the Attachment Card on your Stage or Fighter, discard 1 card from your hand into the General Discard Pile, put the current Attachment Utility Card in play into its owner's General Discard Pile and then place the new Attachment Utility Card in its place. You cannot destroy or remove an Attachment Utility Card by discarding a card the same way you would replace it with a new Attachment Utility Card, only through abilities can you outright remove an Attachment Utility Card.

• Attack Phase: During this phase, you may play up to 3 Attack Cards in your Attack Zone one at a time. When you do play an attack card, you apply any outside abilities if necessary going in order of Stage then Fighter. After abilities are applied, then total up the final damage (DMG) value, then reduce your rivals HP by that amount, then you may play your second attack, follow the previous steps, then play your third attack, follow the previous steps and once you have played up to 3 attack cards, you will be at the end step of the phase.

You and your Rival can play Counter Attack Cards in response to other Attack Cards played. To play a Counter Attack Card as a response to other attack cards in play, you will place the card you wish to play in an open Basic Utility Zone you control, then apply any Stage abilities and then Fighter abilities if applicable, then you apply the Counter Attack Card ability, then total up the final damage (DMG) value, then reduce your rivals HP by that amount. Doing this does NOT count as one of your 3 Attack Cards you play during your Attack Phase. Doing this is referred to as “Counter Attacking” and is considered the “current attack in play” and/or “your current attack in play”.

You may also activate any Fighter Card abilities or Stage Card abilities or any card abilities of cards you control by resting them during this phase, even mid attack!

You may activate Basic Utility Cards during this phase as well. If you are to activate an ability during this phase, mid-attack, you apply the abilities in reverse order, including if you play Basic Utility Cards in response to other cards you play during this phase.

Cards placed in Basic Utility Zones during this phase do NOT leave the field after their abilities resolve.

• Cleanup Phase: In this phase, you will take any cards that you control in your Attack Zone and place them into your Attack Discard Pile. You will take any cards you control in your Basic Utility Zones and place them into your General Discard Pile. You can activate the abilities of any current unrested cards you control.

• End Phase: This is the end of your turn.

ADVANCED TERMS AND CONDITIONS, HELPFUL TIPS AND REMINDERS

Hello, Fighter! Now that you have a basic idea on how to play a game of PLU, here are some helpful terms and various reminders and tips to help advance your gameplay!

GOLDEN RULE: If you play a card or use an ability that contradicts the rules in any shape, way or form, you will follow the rules text of the card, then after resolution, resume the game as normal.

Fighter: This is typically referring to who you are playing as or just yourself. As you play a game of PLU, you are considered “The Fighter”, and your Rival is “A Rival Fighter” as are their minions.

Minion: A minion is a fighter generated onto your side of the field of play, generally, in an open Basic Utility Zone. Minions are generated by outside card abilities. Minions are considered Utility Fighters, making them both Utility Cards and Fighter Cards at the same time. Unless specified on the card, a minion will have 25 HP and have the same type and affiliation as your Fighter Card.

Minions cannot attack or play cards or use abilities on their own, but if an ability would have them deal DMG to a target Fighter, that is considered “DMG from an attack”.

Counter (Type / Ability): Traditionally, Counter is a card type or ability that allows you to play said card in response to almost any action of the game. Counter Attack Cards can only respond to other Attack Cards currently in play at the time of use, otherwise, they can be played as if they were Basic Attack Cards or Special Attack Cards.

Counter Utility Cards can be played against any action of the game at any time. Certain actions include: Drawing from the deck, searching your deck, activating abilities, charging cards in the Power Gauge, gaining HP, losing HP and many, many more.

Counter Abilities can be activated at any time in response to any action of the game by turning the card 90 degrees clockwise and can be found on fighters, stages, attachment utilities, etc etc.

Stage: Generally speaking, this is where the battle takes place. When a stage is active, it will remain active unless an ability would change the active stage in which the active stage gets flipped face down and the inactive stage would then be flipped face up. Any cards that were attached to the active stage would be moved to the stage utility zone of the new current active stage.

Attack: Attacks are cards you use to typically deal DMG to your rival. They will typically be identified by having a red border with the word “Attack” in the upper left corner with symbols to separate their subtypes as well as the subtype identifier in the lower right box underneath the name, inside the picture box. These cards are to be played only during the Attack Phase.

Basic Attacks are identified by their red card border with a fist symbol on the upper left corner of the card and the word “Basic” in the subtype identifier in the lower right box underneath the name, inside the picture box. These cards, typically, are made to be the fundamentals for most fighters.

Special Attacks are identified by their red card border with an explosion symbol on the upper left corner of the card with the word “Special” in subtype identifier in the lower right box underneath the name, inside the picture box. These cards, typically, will feature an ability that triggers based on who you are playing as, your affiliation, your type, etc.

Counter Attacks are identified by their red card border with a corkscrew symbol on the upper left corner of the card with the word “Counter” in the subtype identifier in the lower right box underneath the name, inside the picture box. These cards have an inherent ability to be played in response to the current attack in play or another counter attack or just another attack who's, just otherwise, been played. You can also play your Counter Attack Cards in your Attack Zone as if it were a Basic or Special attack card if you do not want to counter an attack card with this card. Countering an attack, even your own, does NOT count as one of your 3 Attack Cards you play during your Attack Phase. Doing this is referred to as “Counter Attacking” and is considered the “current attack in play” and/or “your current attack in play”. If you were to counter your own attack, you will deal the final DMG to your rival, use this info to extend your combos and “cheat” out more than 3 attacks per turn!

Critical: These cards function similarly to a level 1 or 2 super move in a fighting game. Critical cards are a subtype of another card. You may only have 1 of these cards in your deck at a time. Critical cards in your Power Gauge also count as every card type.

Utility: These cards are usually not directly an attack, these are generally a special ability or a function that isn’t directly an attack. These cards are generally going to have a blue border with the word “Utility” in the upper left corner of the card with symbols to separate their subtypes as well as the subtype identifier in the lower right box inside the ability box.

Basic Utility Cards are to be played anytime during your turn only in an open Basic Utility Zone. These cards generally have a lightning bolt symbol in the upper left corner with the word “basic” in the upper right corner of the picture box.

Attachment Utility Cards are to be played anytime during your turn only in an open Stage or Fighter Utility Zone. These cards generally have a sword equip symbol in the upper left corner with the word “Attachment” in the upper right corner of the picture box. A Fighter or Stage that has an attachment on it can only have 1 attachment on it at a time. If you wish to replace it with a different attachment in your hand, you must discard 1 card from your hand to the general discard pile, place the current attachment card into the owner's general discard pile, then place the attachment card you want to attach in play in the zone it needs to go to. If you wish to activate an Attachment Utility Card ability, you would turn it 90 degrees clockwise during your turn.

Counter Utility cards can be played anytime during any turn at any time in response to any card or action in the game in an open Basic Utility Zone you control. These cards generally will have a corkscrew arrow symbol in the upper left corner of the card with the word “Counter” in the upper right corner of the picture box.

Ultimate: The “5th” card type. These cards are generally going to have a gold border with the word “Ultimate” in the upper left corner of the card with a trophy symbol. These cards are considered to be the ultimate moves of fighters within the universe of PLU. These cards are to be played anytime during your turn by flipping 2 Light Subtype cards, 2 Medium Subtype cards and 2 Heavy Subtype cards face down in your Power Gauge, then placing it into your Attack Zone. Ultimate Cards are NOT attacks. Once you resolve the abilities of your ultimate, it is to be removed from the game. If you wish to negate your rival's ultimate, simply reveal your own ultimate card in your hand and place it into your general discard pile. You can only have 1 ultimate card in your deck. You cannot search your deck for your Ultimate card with card abilities.

Power-Up: Power-Up is a natural ability of the game for all fighters, which allows you to increase the base DMG of your current attack in play by +1 by flipping 1 card in your Power Gauge face down that has a matching subtype. Can be done multiple times to increase it by +1 for each card flipped face down, again, so long as it has a matching subtype.

Parry: Parry is a natural ability of the game for all fighters which allows you to reduce the final DMG of the current attack in play to 0 by flipping 2 cards in your Power Gauge face down that have a matching subtype as the current attack in play.

Discard: To take a card in your hand (or otherwise specified) and place it into your General Discard Pile.

Boss: Boss is an ability for fighters. Boss forces you to start the game at 75 HP and can replenish up to 5 cards instead of 6. This is a nerf for fighters as it usually is paired with a VERY powerful ability.

Status Abilities: Status abilities are abilities that affect fighters or stages in many ways. A Status Ability from an attack card is triggered when the attack with the status ability in question deals at least 1 final DMG. You can negate being affected by the Status Ability by discarding 2 cards from your hand to negate being affected by it. DMG and turns can NOT be stacked by Status Abilities. The abilities wear off at the end of the affected player's turn.

Paralyze (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to be unable to place cards in any open Basic Utility Zones. A fighter affected by this ability is considered “Paralyzed”.

Frozen (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to be unable to place cards in their Attack Zone. A fighter affected by this ability is considered “Frozen”.

Engulf (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to lose 3 HP when the affected fighter puts a card in their Attack Zone. A player who is affected by this ability is considered “Engulfed”.

Frighten (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to lose 3 HP when the affected fighter puts a card in their Basic Utility Zones. A player who is affected by this ability is considered “Frightened”.

Broken Arms (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to be unable to play cards with “Punch”, “Chop”, “Slap” or “Palm” in its name.

Broken Legs (Status Ability): This is an ability that forces the affected fighter to be unable to play cards with “Kick”, “Leg”, “Sweep” or “Slide” in its name.

REMINDER: The current Attack Card Subtypes are Light, Medium, Heavy and Critical.

REMINDER: DMG means Damage, the amount to subtract from a player's current HP.

REMINDER: HP means Health Points, this represents your life force or essence or energy. Once you have 0 or less HP, you lose.

REMINDER: The current fighter affiliations are Hero, Villain, Civilian, Anti Hero, God and Kaiju.

REMINDER: Stage types are usually tied to the fighter associated, whether it be their name or type or affiliation or some other factors, otherwise, it will be Any / All.

REMINDER: Tokens are an outside entity that can aid you in battle. These are created by card abilities and not by any other outside means. If a card claims it requires X tokens for an ability, it’s referring to the minimum amount and can possess more than required.

Vampirism: This is a fighter ability that allows you to gain HP equal to the amount of final DMG you are dealing with an attack.

Immortalized: If a card is immortalized, it cannot be used for tournament play.

Power-Up: Power-Up is a game mechanic which allows you to increase the base DMG of your attacks! To Power-Up an attack, as you play it, simply take 1 or more card(s) from your Power Gauge of the matching subtype (Light, Medium, Heavy, etc.) and flip them face down, increasing the total base DMG by 1 for each one flipped face down by this ability. This is applied before any other outside abilities if you choose to Power-Up an attack. Power-Up is NOT a counter.

Parry: Parry is a game mechanic which allows you to reduce the final DMG of any attack to 0! To parry an attack, simply flip 2 cards in your Power Gauge of the matching subtype (Light, Medium, Heavy, etc.) and flip them face down, reducing the final DMG total of the attack to 0. Parrying does not remove the abilities of an attack. Parrying is not a counter. You can counter and parry an attack at the same time.

REMINDER: If a card is to be “Destroyed”, “Discarded” or otherwise removed from the field, unless otherwise stated, is to be placed in the General Discard Pile.

REMINDER: If a card is referring to having cards flipped or flipping over, unless stated otherwise, it will always refer to being flipped face down.

REMINDER: If a card deals DMG with its ability, this is considered “Ability DMG”, which is not the same as Attack DMG or DMG from an Attack Card, even if it comes from an Attack Ability.

REMINDER: Attack DMG is referring to the final DMG an attack would deal after abilities and/or Power-Ups have been applied.

REMINDER: “X”PT refers to the amount of times you can do something per turn. (Example: 1PT is Once Per Turn, 2PT is Twice Per Turn, 3PT is Three Times Per Turn, etc.)

REMINDER: When a card would increase the DMG of an attack card, it’s increasing the current DMG value of the card.

REMINDER: You can activate Fighter and Stage abilities anytime during your turn only, unless stated otherwise, by turning the card 90 degrees clockwise.

REMINDER: You can Counter Attack your own attacks to increase the amount of attacks you play in a turn artificially without it really counting towards your 3 attacks played in the Attack Zone.

REMINDER: Currently, the card rarities are: Common, Rare, Supreme, Ultra and Promo. Card fronts for Fighters can have special variants and there ARE borderless cards, showcasing the full art of the card in question!

X-Charged: This is an ability found with Fighters that allows them to play cards with the matching X-Charged type. (Example: Static Charged lets you play other attacks that have the “Static Charged” ability, Pyro Charged lets you play other attacks that have the “Pyro Charged” ability, etc.)

Advance X: Advance X is a card ability that allows the fighter to flip down X amount of cards in your Power Gauge to add 1 card from their Attack Discard Pile and add it to their hand.

Extension X: Extension X is a card ability that allows a fighter to flip over X cards in their Power Gauge to play an additional attack during the Attack Phase and not have it count towards their 3 attacks per turn.

Defend: This is an attack ability that allows you to reduce the final DMG of an incoming attack by the base amount of the attack with the defend ability by removing the card with this ability from your Attack Discard Pile to the General Discard Pile.

Recycle: This is an ability that allows you to take all the cards presently in your Attack Discard Pile and shuffle them into your Deck Zone face down.

Empower X: This is an ability that allows you to take X cards from your hand and place it into your Power Gauge and draw the same amount of cards from the top of your deck and at the end of your turn, remove all cards in your Power Gauge to the General Discard Pile.

Charge: Charge is a term to take a card and place it into the Power Gauge. Charge is also an ability that allows the card with said ability to be charged into the Power Gauge during the end of the Replenish Phase of the controller's turn. If a card is charged into the Power Gauge this way, you cannot charge during your Charge Phase. Up to 2 cards with this ability can be triggered at once. (Order of which gets added is the controllers choice)

Power Up X: This affects your Power-Up mechanic! This is an ability that increases the value of your Power-Up to the X value stated in the ability. (Example: Power Up 2 allows you to gain +2 Base DMG for each card flipped faced down when you Power-Up instead of +1)

Lock In: This is a card ability that makes the card with said ability to remain in the zone they are placed upon until a card ability would remove it from the field. It does not leave during the Clean Up Phase like any other card in the Attack Zone or Basic Utility Zone.

Swift X: This ability allows you to flip over X cards in your Power Gauge to play the card as if it were a Counter Type card.

Amplify X: This attack ability allows you to increase base DMG of the attack by X where X is the amount of cards presently in your hand.

Shielding X: This is an ability that reduces all DMG you would take by X where X is the amount of cards in your hand.

“X” Killer: This is an ability in which if your rival does have X, (whether it be a fighter name, affiliation or type) they are dealt double the amount of final DMG for the first attack you would play during your Attack Phase. (Example: Villain Killer allows you to deal double the final DMG you would deal to your rival if they are a Villain, Hero Killer allows you to deal double the final DMG you would deal to your rival if they are a Hero, etc.)

REMINDER: In order to remove an Attachment Utility from a Fighter or Stage ability, it has to be done via, an ability or by replacing it by discarding 1 card from your hand, removing that target to the owners general discard pile and putting your new attachment in its place.

REMINDER: You can use any other kind of card to represent a minion instead of an official PLU card such as a universal minion card as long as your rival is aware of what that card is supposed to represent as a minion.

REMINDER: You can use any card with any fighter and stage, just be aware that you can only activate or use a card's abilities so long as it pertains to the fighter or stage in the capacity of which the card requires. (Example: An attack card that has “Atlas: X” can still deal DMG if you are not playing Atlas, just cannot use that particular ability.)

REMINDER: You can negate an ultimate card ability or a critical card ability by discarding your ultimate card to the general discard pile.

REMINDER: Don’t forget to charge 1 card from your hand or attack discard pile during the Charge Phase!

REMINDER: Powerline Ultra is a game, don’t lose sight on having a fun time!

REMINDER: You CANNOT search your deck for your Ultimate Card by card abilities!

REMINDER: You can heal and gain HP past your base HP.

REMINDER: The active stage can only change by card abilities.

REMINDER: You can build a deck with more than 40 cards, just be able to shuffle the entirety of it in less than 60 seconds or you forfeit the round or match!

REMINDER: Any cards you get prior to a tournament and deck submission can be included into your deck and used in tournaments!

REMINDER: Please refer to the Limited / Immortalized List when building your deck as it contains what cards can be used in a tournament and what cannot. If it is on the list, the number alongside it is the amount of copies that can exist in your deck at a time.

REMINDER: If you are a Local Game Shop (LGS) and want to support PLU, you can get a free promo card featuring your shop exclusive to your shop! Just contact us for more info at powerlineultraofficial@gmail.com

Classic Combo: This refers to a concept in which a player has 1 Light, 1 Medium and 1 Heavy attack in their Attack Zone. This is an ability that triggers at the end of your Attack Phase. If you have 1 Light, 1 Medium and 1 Heavy Attack Card, the ability triggers.

Auto Combo: This refers to a concept in which a player has 3 Light or 3 Medium or 3 Heavy attacks in their Attack Zone. This is an ability that triggers at the end of your Attack Phase. If you have 3 Light or 3 Medium or 3 Heavy Attack Cards, the ability triggers.

REMINDER: If your card ability has multiple abilities, you must use either one, not both, again, unless specified otherwise.