Rules

In Naruto Mythos TCG you and your opponent compete as the Kage of your hidden villages, deciding which ninja to send on each mission to score more points than your rival. Every game lasts exactly four rounds. After the 4th round, the player with the most Mission Points wins.

• A game lasts exactly 4 rounds. After round 4 the player with the most Mission Points wins; ties are broken by the Edge token.
• A new Mission card is revealed every round, and missions ACCUMULATE on the table (1 in round 1, up to 4 in round 4).
• Characters assigned to missions STAY on the table for the whole game and do not return to hand after losing a mission.
• Every mission is scored again EVERY ROUND: its winner (and the points it awards) can change between rounds.
• The Shinobi Shiren expansion adds a third card type: Attachments, which enhance characters or missions in play.

The game uses Character cards (your deck), a separate Mission deck, Attachment cards from the Shinobi Shiren expansion, and a set of tokens to track chakra and mission points.

Character cards

Character cards are played to assign ninjas to the Mission cards currently in play. Every card has a name, a description, a chakra cost, Power and, optionally, keywords and an effect.

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1. 1
   Character name

   The name of the character. You can have only one Character card with the same name per mission on your side.

2. 2
   Character description

   A descriptor that differentiates the card from other cards with the same character name (e.g. "Genin of Team 10").

3. 3
   Chakra cost

   The amount of chakra points required to play this card.

4. 4
   Power

   The number that is applied to win a Mission card.

5. 5
   Effect

   Cards with effects carry an icon indicating their activation timing: Instant (activates when the character is played face-up) and Continuous (remains active as long as the character is face-up on the field).

6. 6
   Rarity

   Represents the chance of finding the card in a booster pack.

7. 7
   Keywords

   Keywords can be relevant in interactions with other cards and effects.

8. 8
   Faction

   The character's faction, which may interact with other effects.

9. ·
   Set icon

   The expansion symbol. If there is no icon, the card belongs to Set 1 (Konoha Shidō).

Mission cards

Every Mission card gives a base number of mission points plus additional points based on the rank it entered play with. The rank is determined by the round in which the mission hit the table.

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1. 1
   Title

   The title of the mission.

2. 2
   Mission points

   The base points awarded to the winner of this mission.

3. 3
   Effect

   Effects that activate either during scoring or while in play.

Attachment cards

A new card type introduced by the Shinobi Shiren expansion. Attachments are not characters: they enhance a Character card or a Mission card in play and modify how it works. Full rules in chapter 10.

Title

The title of the attachment card.

Chakra cost

The amount of chakra points required to play the attachment.

Power

The value added to (or subtracted from) a character's Power, or added to your total when scoring a mission.

Condition

Specifies which type of card in play this attachment can be attached to (e.g. a friendly non-hidden character, or a mission).

Effect

The effect text with its timing icon, exactly as on Character cards.

Keywords

As on Character cards, they can interact with other effects.

Faction

The faction of the attachment card.

Rarity

The rarity symbol of the card.

Set icon

Attachments carry the Shinobi Shiren expansion icon.

Tokens

The Starter Pack contains tokens used to track your chakra points and mission points during the game. Place them in your play area and adjust them as your points go up or down. You will also find one Edge token. If you do not have the tokens with you, use any small objects, dice or custom counters.

Chakra points

Track your current chakra pool. Each round you gain 5 + 1 per character you have in play (including hidden ones). Unspent chakra is lost in the End phase.

Mission points

Track the mission points you scored. After 4 rounds the larger total wins; ties go to the holder of the Edge token.

Edge token

Given to the player who has the Edge during missions. They win all ties and start the next round (details below).

Your deck must contain at least 30 cards. On top of the deck, each player also chooses 3 different Mission cards.

Before the first round begins, both players go through setup.

1. 
   1

   First player

   Randomly determine the first player (for example with a die or a coin). That player receives the Edge token.

2. 
   2

   Mission deck

   Both players shuffle the 3 mission cards they chose face-down and randomly select 2 of them. The 2 cards from each player are put together into the mission deck, ALTERNATED so that the top and 3rd card belong to the player with the Edge token. Each player is left with 1 mission card that is not used this game. Set it aside, face-down at all times.

3. 
   3

   Starting hand

   Both players shuffle their deck and draw 5 cards. Each player may then return their whole hand to the deck, reshuffle and draw 5 new cards (mulligan, but only once; the player with the Edge token decides first).

Every round follows a fixed sequence of phases. A game lasts exactly 4 rounds. After the fourth you compare total mission points.

1. 1

   Start phase

   

   A Mission card is drawn from the top of the mission deck and placed face-up between the players, joining those already in play. Then each player gains a base 5 chakra + 1 per character they have in play (including hidden ones). Finally each player draws 2 cards and you move to the Action phase.

2. 2

   Action phase

   The player with the Edge token takes the first turn. Players alternate playing 1 card (a character or an attachment) onto a mission on the field, face-up or face-down (hidden), or revealing a previously played hidden card, or PASSING. The first player to pass in a round gains (or keeps) the Edge token. Once one player passes, the other may take successive turns until they pass too. Once both have passed, move to the Mission evaluation phase.

3. 3

   Mission evaluation phase

   

   Compare the total Power of each player's characters on each mission, starting with the D-rank mission. The higher Power wins the mission; ties go to the player with the Edge token. You need at least 1 Power to win and score a mission. The winner activates SCORE effects from the Mission card and from their characters on that mission. Repeat for the remaining missions in rank order. You score as many missions as the number of the current round.

4. 4

   End phase

   The round ends. If this was round 4, compare final scores. Otherwise both players discard leftover chakra and any Power tokens on characters, then a new round begins with a Start phase. Characters and missions STAY on the table.

On your turn you must play a card or pass (and stop participating in the Action phase for the rest of the round). You have three options:

To pay a chakra cost, return chakra tokens of an equal value to the shared pool. You may check the cost of your own hidden characters in private to make sure you can reveal them. You can only have 1 character with the same name per mission on your side. After playing a card your turn ends, unless your opponent has already passed, in which case you keep taking turns until you pass too.

Instead of playing a card face-up you can play it face-down, which means the character is hidden.

• 1Playing a card face-down costs only 1 chakra, no matter what the printed cost is.
• 2A hidden character has 0 Power and 0 cost when targeted as a character by other effects. It also has no keywords and no faction (clarified in the official FAQ).
• 3You can reveal a hidden character on your turn by paying its full printed chakra cost. This is treated as playing a card, so any effect that lets you play a character includes hidden characters.
• 4When you play a character from hidden, you apply both MAIN and AMBUSH effects.
• 5AMBUSH effects are NOT activated if the card was placed face-up from hand; they work only when it was hidden first.
• 6You can always play and reveal hidden characters, even if they have no AMBUSH effects.

You cannot assign two characters sharing the same name to the same mission side. You can, however, upgrade a character by playing a Character card with the same name but a HIGHER chakra cost (not the same or lower).

• 1When upgrading you pay only the difference in chakra cost, not the full cost of the new card (a 5-cost card on a 4-cost card costs 1 chakra).
• 2Fully cover the cheaper card: all text on the old, cheaper card is no longer referenced during gameplay.
• 3Apply the MAIN and UPGRADE effects of the new, more expensive card.
• 4An upgraded character counts as a SINGLE character, so it generates only 1 chakra in the Start phase regardless of how many cards are in the stack.
• 5For the purpose of effects only the top card of the stack is considered; the others are treated as "glued" to it. If the top card becomes hidden, the whole stack is turned face down.
• 6If an effect makes the top card leave play (defeated, returned to hand or to the deck), all cards beneath it are discarded first, in order from top to bottom of the stack.
• 7An upgraded character keeps the status of the previous card: Power tokens, for example, transfer to the newly played card.
• 8You can upgrade even when the card has no UPGRADE effect.

Card effects are applied according to the timing indicated, and in order from top to bottom of the card.

Power tokens: source and life cycle

Each Power token on a character adds +1 Power. At the end of every round remove all Power tokens from all characters. The main source of Power tokens is the POWERUP effect. Hidden cards count as characters, so they can receive tokens too, and tokens stay on the card when it switches between hidden and face-up.

Attachments enhance Character cards or Mission cards in play and modify how they function. You play them during the Action phase instead of a character, paying the chakra cost printed on the card.

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2+2

Attachment rules are on pages 18–20 of the official rulebook.

The rank of a Mission card is determined by the round it entered play. Every mission awards the base points printed on the card PLUS additional points for its rank. Note: every round you evaluate ALL missions on the table (starting from rank D), so the same mission is scored multiple times, and its winner can change from round to round.

Example: a mission that entered in round 3 with a base of 2 points is a B-rank mission and awards 2 (base) + 3 (rank B) = 5 points for every round in which you win it.

Player 2 wins!

In each cell the first number is the rank bonus and the second the base points from the mission card (e.g. "1+3" for a D-rank mission: +1 for the rank, 3 from the card). "–" = the mission is not in play yet, "0" = no points scored. Mission D goes to Player 1 in some rounds and Player 2 in others, which is re-scoring every round in action.

At the end of the 4th round the player with the most mission points wins. In case of a tie, the player in control of the Edge token at the end of the game is the winner.

• 1A game lasts exactly 4 rounds. There is no sudden-death threshold.
• 2After round 4, the player with more mission points wins.
• 3A points tie is broken by the Edge token: its holder wins.
• 4You score points by winning missions (base from the card + rank bonus).

Mythos TCG has no online judges. Most games happen at home or at a community event. These rules come straight from the rulebook.

• 1You can always look at your own hidden characters.
• 2Always be clear about the order of the played cards, especially hidden ones: do not move them around during play, and help your opponent if they ask about playing order.

A short step list to keep next to the table. The order matches the official "Simplified game plan" exactly.

The publisher runs a separate "Game mechanics" page that settles situations the rulebook does not cover. This chapter follows it. It starts with the Card Play Sequence: the order in which everything triggered by a played card is resolved.

1. 1

   A card is played

   The starting point of the sequence. Work through the following steps from top to bottom.

2. 2

   Static effects

   Check and apply simultaneously all STATIC continuous (⧗) effects. Repeat this operation after every following step.

3. 3

   Effects triggered by the card entering play

   Activate continuous effects triggered by the new card entering play. When several trigger at once, the turn player decides the order.

4. 4

   Trigger chain

   If those effects trigger further effects, add them to the chain and resolve them one by one, starting with the most recent and then working backwards, from newest to oldest.

5. 5

   First ↯ effect of the played card

   Only now do you apply the first instant effect of the card you played.

6. 6

   Effects triggered by that effect

   Activate continuous effects triggered by the played card's effect. Again: the turn player decides the order of simultaneous ones, and new triggers join the chain.

7. 7

   Remaining ↯ effects of the played card

   Apply the next instant effects of the played card and repeat the whole procedure for each of them.

The golden rule of the chain: the LAST effect to activate is the FIRST to resolve. Effects that activate at the same time are resolved at the same timing, in the order decided by the turn player. You untangle the knot backwards until you reach the effect that started it.

Snapshot targeting

Effects with multiple targets apply to all of them simultaneously, against a snapshot of the situation BEFORE the effect, not one by one. Example: Kakashi (Leader of Team 7) has 3 Power and gives +1 Power to other Team 7 characters in the mission, so Naruto counts as 4 and Sasuke as 5. The opponent plays Kabuto Yakushi (Nirvana Temple Jutsu) and hides all characters with 4 Power or less: Kakashi and Naruto get hidden. Sasuke stays safe, because his Power only drops to 4 after the effect has already checked its targets.

Core stats

When several static effects apply at once, they are applied simultaneously to the card's Core stats: the printed Power plus Power tokens, ignoring all other static effects. That is what stops bonuses from looping.

Mission state changes

Static effects with a condition must be re-checked whenever the state of the mission changes: a card was played there, a Power token was applied, or a character was moved from or to it. A card played in another mission does not change this mission's state.

The turn player

Always decides the order of simultaneous triggered effects when the order matters. Mission effects are always last. If there is no turn player at that moment (end of round, scoring), the player with the Edge is considered the turn player.

The Decider

The player who carries out an effect. With "defeat all enemy characters in this mission" you are the decider; with "the opponent defeats all their characters" they are. It matters wherever card order is meaningful: for example the order in which cards enter the discard pile.

Discard pile

It cannot be reorganised during play. If an effect defeats several targets, the decider chooses the order.

No repetition

You can never PLAY a character into a mission that already holds a character with the same name, nor MOVE a character (friendly or enemy) there if it would create a duplicate. If another interaction still causes it (taking control, returning control, removing the top card of an upgrade, playing a random character), the newly arrived duplicate is immediately discarded; this triggers no effects and does not count as a defeat.

Take control

All opponent cards on your side of the missions follow the Take Control rules. Picture it like this: the card that takes control receives a CONTROLLER token, and the controlled card a CONTROLLED token that follows it wherever it is moved or however its state changes.

How control breaks

Control ends when: the controller is hidden; the controller or the controlled card is defeated; the controller or the controlled card leaves play (returned to deck or hand); the controller itself becomes controlled. The controlled card then returns to its owner in its current state, in the same mission on their side.

Control and upgrades

You cannot use controlled cards to upgrade or be upgraded over. A controller card that gets upgraded keeps the controller condition. If the controller leaves play and is played again, it no longer controls anything: the link was lost the moment it left play, and the controlled card returns to its owner as soon as possible.

A controlled card leaves play

Discarded or defeated, it goes to the OWNER's discard pile; returned to hand, it goes to the owner's hand.

Quick counters first, then the glossary from the last page of the rulebook (p. 23), plus two entries clarified in the official FAQ (personal deck, weakest/strongest).

Chakra

The main resource. Each round you gain 5 + 1 per character in play; unspent chakra is lost at the end of the round. You pay it to play cards.

Power

A character's combat value. It is summed per side during the Mission evaluation phase.

Mission points

Scored by winning missions. After 4 rounds the larger total wins.

Edge

The priority token. The first pass in a round grants or keeps the Edge; its holder wins all ties and starts the next round.

Personal deck

Your deck of cards. When it runs out you simply stop drawing, even when an effect asks you to draw.

Discard pile

The zone where your discarded cards are placed. Do not rearrange the order of the cards during play unless an effect says so.

MAIN

This effect triggers every time you play the character.

UPGRADE

This effect triggers only when you play the character as an upgrade.

AMBUSH

This effect triggers only when you play (i.e. reveal) this character from a hidden state.

SCORE

This effect triggers only when you win the mission.

FIRST STRIKE

This effect triggers only if this character is the first character you play this round.

DUEL

This effect triggers only if the character named after the keyword is present in this mission, whether friendly or enemy.

CHAKRA +X

This character provides X additional chakra points in the Start phase, on top of the normal production.

POWERUP X

Put X Power tokens on a character. If no target is specified, it is the same character that triggered the effect.

PRINTED POWER

The Power printed on the card, ignoring Power tokens, attachments and other effects.

Hidden

Any Character card that is face down.

Non-hidden

Any Character card that is face up.

Defeat

The character is placed in the discard pile of its owner.

Hide

The character is turned face down.

Move

Place the character in another mission, following what the effect states.

Take control

The card is temporarily in your control. If any effect would remove it from play, it goes back to the original owner. If the source of the control gets hidden, leaves play or changes sides, return the controlled card to its owner (same mission, other side).

Enemy

A card on the opponent's side. All opponent characters are Enemy characters.

Friendly

A card on your side. Your characters are Friendly to all your other characters. A character is not a Friend of itself.

Leave play

When a card in play goes from a mission to the discard pile, hand or deck. All cards under it are discarded.

Weakest / Strongest

The weakest character is the one with the lowest Power, the strongest the one with the highest. Most effects target a single weakest or strongest character; if several are tied, you choose which one is affected. Effects that target ALL the weakest or strongest apply to every tied character.

FAQ

The basics straight from the rulebook plus the publisher's official rulings from the FAQ page (as of 29 August 2026), including answers about specific cards. Use the search box to filter.

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