TURN SEQUENCE

1. Play cards from your hand.

2. Total up your Power and purchase cards with combined cost less than or equal
to that total. You may play additional cards even after making purchases.
3. As soon as you buy or gain a card, place it into your discard pile,
unless instructed otherwise.
END OF TURN
1. Announce that you are ending your turn. Your turn is now over.
2. Place any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile.
3. Resolve any at the end of your turn effects.
4. Place all the cards you played into your discard pile. Any unspent Power
is lost.
5. Fill each empty slot in the Line-Up with a card from the top of the main deck.
6. Draw five cards.
7. If the top card of the Super Hero stack is face down, flip it face up and read
aloud the next Super Heros First AppearanceAttack.
8. The next player starts his turn.
Do not reshuffle your discard pile just because you have no cards in your deck.
Wait until you must draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck. Then shuffle
your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
The game ends immediately when either of the following two conditions is met:
You are unable to flip up a new Super Hero on the stack.
You are unable to refill all five slots of the Line-Up.

DC Comics characters and all related elements are trademarks of and DC Comics.
WB SHIELD: TM & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
(s14)
2013 Cryptozoic Entertainment.
25351 Commercentre Dr. Suite 250, Lake Forest, CA 92630
www.cryptozoic.com

Made in China.

R U L E B O O K

OVERVIEW
In the DC Comics Deck-building Game Forever Evil, you take on the role of Sinestro,
Lex Luthor, or one of their evil and nefarious cohorts in their plot to destroy the
forces of good once and for all! While you begin armed with only the ability to
Punch your foes, as the game progresses, you will add new, more powerful cards to
your deck, with the goal of defeating as many DC Comics Super Heroes as you can.
In the end, the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points from the cards
in his or her deck wins the game.
CONTENTS
211 Game Cards
36 Punch Starting Cards
16 Vulnerability Starting Cards
111 Main Deck Cards
16 Kick Cards
12 DC Comics Super Hero Cards
20 Weakness Cards
7 Oversized DC Comics Super-Villains
1 Rulebook
6 Frozen Tokens
Lots of Victory Point Tokens
SETUP FOR YOUR FIRST GAME
1. DC Comics Super-Villains and Starting Decks
Each player is dealt a random oversized Super-Villain. Alternately, each player may
choose to play as their favorite character.
Each DC Comics Super-Villain begins with a starting deck of seven Punch cards
and three Vulnerability cards. You will use your Punch cards to buy more
powerful cards to add to your deck, improving it as the game goes on. Vulnerability
cards represent the things that occasionally cause a DC Comics Super-Villain to
falter. They dont do anything for you when drawn or played, so its best to get rid
of them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later).

TYPES OF CARDS

Card Type
Victory Points

DC COMICS
SUPER-VILLAIN

STARTER CARDS

WEAKNESS

Abilities

Special Rules Text

Card Type

Cost

DC COMICS
SUPER HERO

HERO

LOCATION

HERO WITH ATTACK

Card Name
Abilities

Victory Points

VILLIAN

Cost

SUPER POWER

EQUIPMENT

SUPER POWER
WITH DEFENSE

The different card types that you can play are: Starter, Villain, Location, Hero,
Super Power, and Equipment. Weakness cards have no card type.

2. The Main Deck

Most of the cards that you will add to your deck as the game progresses come from
the main deck. Shuffle the main deck and place it in the middle of the table. The
main deck is made up of 111 cards total.
3. The Super Hero Stack
There are twelve different Super Heroes
available to use each game. Typically,
eight Super Heroes are used for a
standard game. For a longer game, use
more than eight. No matter how
many you use, you will always
use The Flash. On his card is text
that reads, This card starts the game on
top of the Super Hero stack. If you use
eight Super Heroes, you will use seven
selected at random, plus The Flash.
Set The Flash aside and shuffle the
remaining eleven Super Hero cards face
down. Then randomly remove the number
of cards you arent going to play with
this game from the stack. The Super Hero
stack remains face down this entire time,
so no one will be able to see which Super
Heroes are being used and which ones are not. Set aside the unused Super Heroes
(still face down). Finally, place The Flash face up on top of the Super Hero stack.
Example: In a game using the typical eight Super Heroes, set aside The Flash and shuffle the rest.

Remove four of them at random, then put The Flash face up on top of the remaining seven
face-down Super Heroes.

Once you have arranged the main deck, the Line-Up, and the other stacks, it will look something like the above.
Your opening five cards in the Line-Up will vary. At the start of the game, there should be 16 Kicks,
8 Super Heros, and 20 Weaknesses in their respective stacks.

THE LINE-UP

Next, place the Kick, Super Hero, and Weakness stacks at the end of the Line-Up. You may want to turn these stacks
perpendicular to the board so that everyone can reach them. You will always use all 16 Kicks and all
20 Weaknesses each game. The number of Super Heroes you use will vary. Kicks and Super Heros are always
available to be bought or defeated during your turn (while cards remain in their stacks). Weaknesses are never
bought; they are gained only through unfriendly card effects. The main deck and the three stacks of cards on the
end are not part of the Line-Up.

4. The Line-Up
After shuffling the main deck, place the top five cards from the main deck into the Line-Up.
There is no board necessary to play this game; just reserve space for each card.

MAIN DECK

THE STACKS

GAMEPLAY
Randomly determine a player
to go first. Each player begins
by shuffling his or her deck and
drawing five cards. Players take
turns in clockwise order. You may
look at the cards in your hand at
any time.
Each turn, you may buy cards
from the Line-Up, Kick cards,
and/or the top card of the
Super Hero stack to improve your
deck. Cards you buy or gain are
always immediately placed into
your discard pile unless you are
instructed otherwise. Discard
piles are always face up. Soon
theyll be shuffled into your deck,
and then youll be drawing these
newer, more powerful cards into your hand so you can play them. Buying powerful
cards builds up the effectiveness of your deck. Thats why its called a deckbuilding game.
You can buy any number of available cards with combined cost less than or equal
to the amount of Power you have for the turn. For example, your Punch cards each
give you +1 Power. If you draw four of them and no other cards with any Power
bonuses, your total Power for the turn is 4. You can buy a single card with cost 2, 3,
or 4, or even two cards each with cost 2, assuming these options are available. Kick
cards are (usually) available if the cards in the Line-Up are too expensive, and you
may buy more than one during your turn if you wish. You may pass if you cannot buy
or do not wish to buy any cards.
Vulnerability and Weakness cards provide no Power. Since they weaken your
draws and deck, you should try to destroy them as soon as possible. You may play
them if you wish, but they have no effect when played. They are not discarded until
the end of your turn when you discard all cards you have played and any cards
that you have kept in your hand.
Order of Playing Your Cards
On your turn, you get to play the cards in your hand in the order of your choice.
When you play a card, its game text resolves immediately. When you have played
all the cards you wish to play at that time, total up the Power you have accumulated
and buy what you wish to buy from the Line-Up or the face-up stacks. You do not
have to play all of the cards in your hand before you start making purchases if you
dont wish to. You may play additional cards even after making purchases.

Ending Your Turn

1. Announce that you are ending your turn. Your turn is now over.
2. Place any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile.
3. Resolve any at the end of your turn effects.
4. Place all the cards you played into your discard pile. Any unspent Power is lost.
5. Fill each empty slot in the Line-Up with a card from the top of the main deck.
6. Draw five cards.
7. If the top card of the Super Hero stack is face down, flip it face up and read
aloud the next Super Heros First AppearanceAttack.
8. The next player starts his turn.
Sample Turn Sequence

After shuffling up your starting cards, you draw a hand of four Punches and one
Vulnerability for your first turn. You may play the four Punches for a total of 4
Power, which is enough to buy Giganta from the Line-Up. After buying it, you put
it into your discard pile. The Vulnerability provides you with no additional Power.
END OF GAME
The game ends immediately when either of the following two conditions is met:
You are unable to flip up a new Super Hero on the stack.
You are unable to refill all five slots of the Line-Up.
Return all Locations you have in play, all cards in your hand, and all cards in your
on cards in
discard pile to your deck. Then, players total up the Victory Points
their deck. Weakness cards in your deck at the end of the game will subtract Victory
Points (VP) from your total.
The player with the highest VP total is crowned the winner! In case of a tie, the tied
player with more Super Hero cards wins.
After a winner has been determined, all players will need to take apart their decks,
placing all of the cards back into their proper stacks. Be sure to return any Super
Heroes that were not used during the game to the Super Hero stack, so they can be
used in the next game.

ADDITIONAL RULES
DC Comics Super-Villains
Your Super-Villain gives you an ability that you
may choose to use typically during your turn. If a
Super-Villain has two abilities on his card, both of
them may trigger on the same turn. At the start of
games after your first, each player may choose a
Super-Villain to play with, or if you have enough,
deal two Super-Villains to each player, and then
each player chooses one.

Attacks and Defenses

Some cards allow you to make an Attack against the
other players in the game. When you play a card with an
Attack ability, each affected player has an opportunity to
avoid the Attack with a card that has a Defense ability. A
player using a Defense cards ability negates the Attack
only for that defending player. A player may only play
one Defense card per Attack. If a player doesnt avoid the
Attack, he or she is immediately affected by the Attack
cards ability. However, if the Attack requires interaction
among the players (like passing cards), the Attack wont
resolve against any players until each player has had a
chance to avoid it. Avoiding an Attack does not negate any
other abilities (like +3 Power) of a card, unless an ability
specifically counts the players successfully hit by the Attack.
The Super Heroes
When you have accumulated enough Power in a turn, you can choose to defeat
a Super Hero. If you do, take the topmost face-up card from the stack and place
it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise. The next card in the Super
Hero stack remains face down until your turn is over, so a player may defeat only
one Super Hero per turn. Super Heroes range in cost from 8 to 13, and their stack
is randomized at the start of each game, so check the stack for the current Super
Heros cost.
While The Flash runs around in circles on the DC Comics Super Hero stack, the
rest of the Super Heroes come out swinging. When a new Super Hero is revealed,
this is called his or her First Appearance. On each Super Hero (other than The
Flashs), you will find that Super Heros First AppearanceAttack.

When revealed on the Super Hero stack, this Attack

resolves immediately against each player in the game.
Each player with a Defense card may defend against
the Attack. The Attack will resolve against any players
who do not defend themselves. These Attacks do
not happen during any
players turn.

Super Heroes are Heroes. Super Hero is a title, not a card

type, so playing a Super Hero does not count as playing
two different card types.
Example: If you have the Location Happy Harbor in play and you
play a Super Hero, it counts as a Hero, so you get +1 Power.

Super Hero Cards in Your Deck

Like any other card you acquire, the experience gained
defeating a Super Hero will aid you in your future turns.
When you play a Super Hero from your hand, the text
at the top of the text box is the relevant text. The First
AppearanceAttack is no longer applicable, as the
Super Hero already made that attack when it was first
revealed from the Super Hero stack.

Weakness
Some cards force players to gain a Weakness. If this
happens, the Weakness cards are usually placed in
that players discard pile, effectively adding them to
that players deck. They have no ability when drawn
during the game and can be played or kept in your
hand and discarded at the end of your turn. At the end
of the game, each Weakness in your deck subtracts 1
Victory Point from your VP total, so youll need a plan
for destroying them at some point! If the Weakness
deck runs out, effects that would cause a player to
gain a Weakness do not do so, but any other effects
those cards have still resolve as usual. A player may still play a Defense to avoid
an Attack, even when there are no Weaknesses available to be gained.

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Shuffling Your Deck

You dont reshuffle your discard pile into your deck as soon as you run out of cards.
However, at any point during the game if there are no cards in your deck and you
need to draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck, immediately reshuffle your
discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
Locations
Location cards go straight to your discard pile when
bought or gained, just like any other card. However,
when you later draw and play a Location, that card
will remain face up and in play in front of you for the
rest of the game. Each Location has a unique effect
that can trigger during each of your turns for the rest
of the game. The word Ongoing is a reminder that
this card keeps working for you turn after turn. You
can have any number of Locations in play at once.

Destroying Cards
Some cards have an ability that allows you to destroy a
card from your hand, your deck, or even the Line-Up.
When you destroy a card, place it into a face-up pile
of destroyed cards anywhere away from the play area,
removing it from your deck and the game. You will often
get to choose which of your cards to destroy. Destroying
Vulnerability and Weakness cards will improve your
deck greatly! If Weaknesses and Kicks are destroyed,
they do not go back to their respective stacks.
Some cards can be destroyed while in any zone. Zones
are places where cards can end up, be it the Line-Up,
your discard pile, a foes discard pile, etc. If you destroy
a card like the one to the right in a foes discard pile,
you get the benefit, not the player who controlled it at
the time. If the Broadsword destroys a card, the player
who played the Broadsword gets the reward, as they
chose the card to destroy.
If a First Appearance Attack destroys a card with this
text, the player whose deck it belongs to gets the benefit,
as they chose which card to destroy.

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Gaining Cards
When a card tells a player to gain a particular card
or a card of your choice, that card is taken and
immediately placed in that players discard pile at no
additional cost, unless otherwise directed by the card.
If a card tells to you gain a card with a specific name,
card type, or cost and there are none available, you
simply dont gain the card.

Resolving Card Abilities

If a cards ability affects multiple players, and the order matters (for example,
an Attack that has each of three opponents gain a Weakness, with only two
Weaknesses remaining on the board), resolve that ability for each affected player
in clockwise order, starting from the player who played the ability.
When you play a card that triggers another effect, like on your Super-Villain or a
Location you control, fully resolve the card you are playing before resolving any
secondary effects triggered by your card play.
NEW ADDITION: VICTORY POINT TOKENS
You can now earn Victory Point tokens during the
game! When a card effect tells a player to gain
VPs, put that amount of VP tokens on your oversized
Super-Villain. Victory Point tokens come in values
of 1, 5, and 10. The amount you have is public
knowledge. At the end of the game, add those VP
tokens to your total VP.
If you steal 1 VP from another player, they may
need to make change in order to give you 1 VP.
They dont give you a 5 VP token if that is all they
have. You cannot steal VPs from a player who has
none. You cannot go into negative VP tokens. If you have none and lose 1, you
stay at 0 VP tokens. If a card effect references gaining VP or losing VP it is only
referring to the tokens.

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VARIANT GAMES
Good Guys vs Bad Guys: If there are an even number of players,
one side can play as Super Heroes, while the other side plays as Super-Villains.
You should either mix Forever Evil with another DC set or custom craft your own
main deck just for this variant. We recommend 130+ cards in the main deck for
this variant. You should not use Deathstorm, Phantom Stranger, Man-Bat Serum,
Power Ring, or Superwoman.
While you should sit next to your teammate, the turn order should not allow for
one side to take back to back turns. Additionally, set up a stack of 5 Super-Villains
and a stack of 5 Super Heroes to fight. The Bad Guy team only defeats Super
Heroes. The Good Guy team only defeats Super-Villains. When a player on
your team defeats a Super Hero/Villain, only your team suffers from the First
Appearance Attack of the next character on the stack. Attacks that players
make only hit the other team. You may play Defenses to protect a teammate.
Rule Change for Good Guys vs Bad Guys: If youre on the Good Guy team
and buy or gain a Villain, gain Victory Point tokens equal to its VP value, and
then destroy that card. This includes the Super-Villains/Heroes on the stack. Same
goes for the Bad Guy team, but with Heroes. If youre a Bad Guy, you can
never have a Hero card in your deck for any reason. Cards with VPs are worth
0 VPs when destroyed this way.
SPECIFIC CARD CLARIFICATIONS
Bizarro Power: The player who plays Bizarro Power gains a Weakness before
the Attack happens. If there is only one Weakness left on the stack when Bizarro
Power is played, that player is the only one who gains a Weakness.
Deathstorm: If your deck has 26 cards in it at end of game, this card is worth
4 VPs.
Element Woman: While this card is in your
hand, deck, discard pile, or in play, she counts as
each of the card types listed. If an Attack requires
you to discard two different card types, she will
fulfill each of the types listed, so you may only
need to discard this card.
Firestorm: This card gains the game text of the
card you place on your Super-Villain that same
turn. So it will have one cards text even on your
first play of Firestorm. Cards placed on top of
your Super-Villain this way are not in play and
cannot be interacted with in any way.

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If Firestorm has the text of a Royal Flush Gang, he looks for other Royal Flush
Gang cards, but does not count as one himself. Example: You play Firestorm who
has the RFG text, and two other RFGs. You gain 4 VPs. Each RFG sees one other,
and Firestorm sees two. If a Location is placed on your Super-Villain, it is active
only while Firestorm is in play. Since Firestorms ability only lasts until the end of
the turn, he cannot get stuck in play by revealing a card that remains in play.
Firestorm Matrix: You play the top card of
your deck no matter what. However, if that cards
cost is 5 or less, you may destroy Firestorm
Matrix to leave the new card in play for the rest
of the game. When you play the card that is
permanently in play, it is as if you had played it
from your hand. You cannot play it again on the
same turn in which it gained the Ongoing text. If
a card with a Defense ability gains the Ongoing
text, it does not allow you to use the Defense
ability. If you cant or dont destroy Firestorm
Matrix, discard the card you played and this card
at the end of your turn as usual.
Cold Gun: This card allows you to put a
Frozen token on a card in the Line-Up. You
cannot put it on a card in The Stacks. Cards
with Frozen tokens on them cannot be bought or
gained. A Frozen token does not protect a card
from being destroyed, should a card cause a
card in the Line-Up to be destroyed. A card may
have multiple Frozen tokens on it.
Insanity: If this is the only card in your hand
at the start of your turn, you will not pass a card,
but you will receive one. Cards passed to players
do not trigger when you buy or gain this card
text. This is not an Attack.
Invulnerable: If you simply discard this card to avoid an Attack, you get
nothing. If you have a Vulnerability in your hand or discard pile, you may destroy
it and then reveal this card. You cannot destroy a Vulnerability if this card is not in
your hand at the time.
Man-Bat, Catwoman: If a player has no VPs on his Super-Villain, he has
none to steal. A player cannot go into negative VPs.
Man-Bat Serum: This card only checks your VPs when you play it. If later that
same turn you are at 5+ VPs, this card doesnt see that.

14

Martian Manhunter: He is a Hero, so at a minimum you will get +2 Power.

If this card would be destroyed at the end of the turn, but it is placed on the bottom
of the main deck, it remains there instead. If you discard at least one of the card
types in his First Appearance
Attack, you gain no Weaknesses. You cannot

choose to gain the Weakness if you have some cards to discard. Same goes for
the rest of the Super Heroes.


Pandoras Box: The first card that enters the Line-Up will be the card you

revealed. Example: You reveal a 3-cost card. It and two additional cards are then
placed into the Line-Up.

Shazam!, Star Girl, Green Lantern: Super Heroes may end up on the
bottom of the main deck.

OVERSIZED SUPER-VILLIANS

Bizarro: You may return two Weakness cards

from your discard pile multiple times during your
turn if you wish. Cards destroyed by Firestorm or
Firestorm Matrix at end of game do not give you

Weaknesses.

Harley Quinn: Discarding a Defense card to

avoid an Attack counts as discarding a card for
Harleys ability. Keep in mind her ability is active
during each players turn, so discarding during
a First Appearance Attack does not activate
her ability, as that does not take place during any

players turn.

Sinestro: Foes who are not targeted by your Attacks are not eligible to avoid or

fail to avoid them.


FAQ

Q: What does the term defeat or defeated mean?

A: That term is only used referring to Super Heroes. You defeat a Super Hero
when you buy it from the top of the Super Hero stack. That Super Hero has then
been defeated.

Q: Do I gain cards that are passed to me, which then trigger when you buy or
gain this card text?
A: No, passed cards do not count as gained.
Q: What is a zone?
A: The zones are: Main deck, Line-Up, destroyed pile, in play, in your hand, in
your deck, and in your discard pile.

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 CREDITS
Game Design
Brand Management

Matt Hyra
Adam Sblendorio

Cryptozoic Entertainment

CEO
President & CCO
Chief Operating Officer
SVP Sales & Business Development

John Nee
Cory Jones
Scott Gaeta
John Sepenuk

Game Design and Development

Spencer Bateman, Richard Brady, Matt Hyra,

Marcos Payan, Nathaniel Yamaguchi

Graphic Design

Larry Renac (Lead), Nancy Valdez,

John Vineyard, Daniel Wong

Director of Operations
Director of Marketing
Marketing and Community

Playtesters

Leisha Cummins
Kat Metzen
Javier Casillas, Sara Erickson
Ryan Dromgoole, Michael B-V, Robert Gasio III,
Russ Greenwald, Herb Haneke, Kent
Heidelman, Adam Hensch, Cory Jones,
Adam May, Benjamin Slupik, Scott Slupik,
William Slupik, Tom Twedell, and many others

Cryptozoic Special Thanks Rumi Asai, William Brinkman, Phil Cape,

Alex Charsky, Dan Clark, Erika Conway, Matt
Dunn, Kyle Heuer, Matt Hoffman, Vanessa
Jimenez, Kevin Jordan, Michael Kirchhoff,
Erik Larsen, Lacy Lodes, Matthias Nagy, Ben
Stoll, Lisa Villaire, Drew Walker, MaryCarmen
Wilber, Chris Woods

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