Ascendant Card Game Brings Dice Combat to PAX West

Ascendant, a collectible card game from Washington-based company iQ Pictures, recently celebrated its second anniversary and was showcased at PAX West in Seattle. The game is set in the world of Kylia, a universe that produces a plasma-like substance called Genki and is home to seven nations of native and alien species.

Originally conceived as a setting for cartoons or a movie, Kylia now serves as the backdrop for a card game that supports 1v1, 2v2, and battle royale formats. Card costs in Ascendant equal the number of copies needed to put a card into play, and players draw a card at the start of every turn with no hand size limit.

Generators can be tapped each turn to produce Genki for card abilities. Attacks are resolved by both players rolling 20-sided dice, with the higher roll winning. Damage equals the difference between the attacker's roll and the defender's roll. All players start with 70 life, and cards on the field can modify dice rolls.

Endgame creatures can deal 20 or more damage in a single turn, making late-game turns decisive. The game's presence at PAX West follows its second anniversary, as reported by Polygon.