CyBall 101: Gameplay
5 - 6 minutes
Learn all about how to play CyBall—from its mechanics to basic strategies.
Topics to read before diving into this course:
At the end of this article, you will be able to answer the following questions:
How do I play CyBall?
How do I win in CyBall?
How do I play the game?#Copy URL to this article section
Currently, Exhibition is the only game mode available in CyBall. There will be more game modes in the future.
Exhibition is a 3v3 CyBall match spanning 6 Key Events or rounds.
Key Events#Copy URL to this article section
CyBall matches in Exhibition are composed of Key Events. Key Events highlight the skill of CyBlocs that are important in the round. Key Events are random and are classified as either Solo (1v1) or Tandem (2v2) and either Single Skill (1 skill highlighted) or Dual Skill (2 skills highlighted).
In each Key Event, players are given 30 seconds to select the CyBloc/s and the Tactic Card that they want to play for that round. If a player fails to lock-in the CyBlocs and their Tactic Card, that player’s CyBlocs chosen for that round will be randomized, and no Tactic Card will be played.
Playing a 2v2 key event, also known as Tandem
Tactic Cards#Copy URL to this article section
Tactics Cards are the lifeblood of CyBall. These are abilities with various effects that players can use to influence Key Events.
At the beginning of each half, each player draws a random of 6 cards from their decks of 50. Unused remaining cards by the end of the first half will be discarded. When a player uses a Tactic card, they will draw a new card to replace it by the next turn.
Tactic Cards do a wide array of things, including disrupting your opponents cards and CyBlocs, enhancing your skills, and stealing and gaining Tactic Power.
A set of tactic cards
Tactic Power#Copy URL to this article section
Tactic power is the resource used to play Tactic Cards. Each player starts the game with 4 Tactic Power, and does not generate more for the rest of the game, except with the use of certain Tactic Cards.
When putting tactic cards at play, you expend tactic power
How do I win?#Copy URL to this article section
In deciding the winner for each round, you need to compute the CyBall Power.
The CyBall Power is the value of the highlighted skills of the CyBloc/s chosen for that round plus any Trait and Tactic Cards that affect the value of the relevant skills. The higher CyBall Power value should win, but this may be affected by the Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Rating.
If both players’ CyBall Power are the same, the ball goes out of bounds, and the round ends in a tie.
After the six Key Events, the player with more Key Events won is the winner of the match.
Hitting a goal because of a higher tactic power than the opponent
Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Rating#Copy URL to this article section
The Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Rating affects the chances that the shot of the team with the higher rating for that round will go through.
At the start of each half, the player gets to choose 1 from the 5 Strategies in the game: Ultra Defensive, Defensive, Balanced, Offensive, and Ultra Offensive. Each one of these corresponds to a number (shown below) called the Individual Match Balance
Selecting a strategy before each half of the game
Strategies and their corresponding value of Individual Match Balance
The Individual Match Balance of both players are added to get the Total Match Balance (shown below). The Total Match Balance then corresponds to the Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Range.
If the difference between the winning team’s CyBall Power and the losing team’s CyBall Power falls within the Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Range, there is a chance that the shot will be blocked by the goalkeeper.
Corresponding Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Range per Total Match Balance
Here is an example computation of a gameplay:
Team A
100 CyBall Power
Strategy: Ultra Defensive (Individual Match Balance of -2)
Team B
89 CyBall Power
Strategy: Ultra Defensive (Individual Match Balance of -2)
CyBall Power Difference: 100 - 89 = 11
Total Match Balance: -2 + -2 = -4 (corresponds to Goalkeeper Shot-Stopping Range of 1 to 20)
11 CyBall Power Difference falls within 1 to 20. This means that there is a chance that the shot will be blocked by Team B’s goalkeeper.
Tie-Breaker#Copy URL to this article section
If after the 6 key events, the scores are tied, the game goes to the Penalty Phase. Here, you are randomly assigned as playing the offense or defense.
The game going to penalty phase as tie-breaker
If you are on the offensive, you get to choose where you will try to shoot the ball: Left, Middle, and Right.
If you are on the defensive, you will try to guess where you will need to defend the goal: Left, Middle, and Right.
You should be able to predict your opponent’s move in order to shoot the ball or to defend the goal.
This goes on for 5 attempts. After the 5th attempt, the offensive and the defensive will exchange roles. Another 5 attempts will happen. The player who has more shots that go in wins.
In case the tie is still not broken, the game goes into the Sudden Death Phase.
Sudden Death#Copy URL to this article section
Whatever the player’s role is at the start of the tie breaker (i.e. offensive or defensive) will be their role at the start of the Sudden Death Phase.
The players will still need to choose from the 3 options (i.e. Left, Middle, Right) where they want to shoot or defend. However, after each shot attempt, positions are reversed.
The first player to score a goal will win the match.
And that’s all the information you need to know to start owning the field in CyBall! This NFT game really nailed the balance between being easy to learn and hard to master, and will surely get a lot of people hooked!