How to Play Tao Long: The Way of the Dragon – The Tiger and the Phoenix

Game Objective

In Tao Long: The Way of the Dragon – The Tiger and the Phoenix, players are immersed in a legend where the sky dragon represents Yang, and the tiger and phoenix represent Yin. The main objective of the game is to defeat both the tiger and the phoenix or the sky dragon.

Setup

To set up the game, follow the steps below:

• Completely remove the earth dragon from the game.
• Replace the earth dragon with the tiger (ignoring the space for the last segment of the earth dragon). The tiger is composed of 3 pieces: 2 segments and 1 head.
• Leave the phoenix within reach of the player who will control the tiger. The phoenix is composed of 1 piece.

Game Flow

The game flow for the player controlling the tiger and the phoenix affects both creatures. Actions are performed in the following order:

1. Move both creatures, in the order you prefer.
2. Perform, if applicable, bite effects with both creatures, simultaneously.
3. Perform, if applicable, absorb effects (only once) or expel effects (with the tiger, if Water, or the phoenix, if Fire).
4. Perform, if applicable, extra Spirit phases (only once).

It is not allowed to fulfill a Spirit phase in such a way that neither creature can perform the corresponding action in the Matter phase, unless there is no other possible option. In any situation, each creature that cannot perform an action completely ignores it and takes 1 damage.

Actions and How to Play

The player controlling the tiger and the phoenix performs actions that affect both creatures. Here are the details:

The Tiger

• The tiger functions exactly like a dragon, except it has one less segment.
• The tiger only expels water.

The Phoenix

• The phoenix functions exactly like a dragon, except for the following particularities:
• The phoenix enters play as soon as its player's fire marker has any stones. Its player then places the phoenix piece facing the direction of their choice in any space adjacent to the tiger or as close as possible, if no adjacent spaces are available.
• The phoenix leaves play as soon as its player's fire marker runs out.
• As long as the tiger is not defeated, the phoenix re-enters play whenever its player's fire marker has any stones again.
• When moving the phoenix, treat its single piece as the head of a dragon.
• As it has no segments, the phoenix passes through portals without needing to turn them to their occupied face.
• All damage dealt to the phoenix removes fire stones instead of water stones.
• The phoenix can only expel fire.
• The phoenix always leaves play when expelling fire, as this requires its player's fire marker to run out.

Interactions between Tiger and Phoenix

• The tiger never deals damage to the phoenix and vice versa.
• If both the tiger and the phoenix are within range of a ranged attack, damage occurs for each, considering the respective highest values on the distance meter over each creature. Remember that, as every piece is an insurmountable obstacle for range, a creature is not hit if it is protected behind another.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when one of the following victory conditions is met:

• Players manage to defeat both the tiger and the phoenix.
• Players manage to defeat the sky dragon.

Defeat criteria for the creatures:

• If the phoenix is out of play with the tiger defeated, the phoenix is defeated.
• If the tiger is defeated while the phoenix is still in play, its head must also be removed from the board and placed in the lost pieces zone (as well as its last segment).

Tips for Winning

• When controlling the tiger and the phoenix, remember that you can move both creatures in the order you prefer, which can be crucial for tactical positioning and maximizing bite or expel effects.
• Consider the interaction between the tiger and the phoenix: the tiger expels water and the phoenix expels fire. Plan your actions to use these abilities complementarily, especially when dealing with the water and fire markers.
• The phoenix is more flexible in movement because it has no segments and passes through portals without turning them. Use this mobility to position it strategically, whether for attacks or to protect the tiger, remembering that one creature can protect the other from ranged attacks.