A 2v2 card battle game you and a friend can start in a minute

How 2v2 works

1. Add your friend. Send a request by call sign, the name they chose in the game. Once they accept, you can see when they are online.
2. Invite them to a 2v2. A 2v2 always starts with an invitation. You queue as a pair.
3. Bring a deck each. Both of you choose your own race and your own seven cards. You do not have to play the same race.
4. Fight another pair. Four commanders, one board.

On your side of the board there is one homeworld, which belongs to the team, and a starbase for each of you. Team structures are tougher than in a duel, because twice as many ships are shooting at them. Lose the homeworld and you both lose.

What changes with a partner

Two energy bars

Each commander has their own energy and their own hand. Together you can put twice as much on the board, so pushes are bigger and a mistake is punished harder. A combined push from both of you, timed together, is very difficult to stop. So is theirs.

Two races at once

This is where 2v2 becomes its own game. In a duel a race has to cover its own weaknesses. With a partner, the other race can do it for you.

Roles

Good pairs split the job before the match. One defends and counter-pushes; the other applies pressure. Or one takes the left lane and the other the right. Two players both reacting to the same threat spend double the energy on it and leave the other lane open.

Playing without chat

Skyfire has no chat: no text, no voice, no emotes. That is deliberate. It means nobody you are matched with or against can say anything to you, which keeps the game pleasant for everyone, including younger players.

For 2v2 it means you coordinate the way you would at a table: by talking to your friend directly if you are in the same room or on a call, and otherwise by agreeing a plan first and reading each other's plays. It works better than it sounds. A partner's deck tells you a lot about what they are going to do.

Friendly challenges

If you would rather fight your friend than fight beside them, send a friendly challenge. It is a full, refereed battle with the real rules. It settles nothing: no rank, no rewards, nothing gained or lost. It exists for settling arguments about whose deck is better, and for trying things you would not risk on the ladder.

Getting a friend in

The usual obstacle to playing with a friend is getting them set up. Skyfire removes most of it:

• Send them a link. skyfire.planets.nu/play opens the game in a browser on a computer or a phone.
• No download, no cost. There are apps on Google Play and the App Store if they prefer one.
• Different devices are fine. Browser, Android and iOS players all play together.
• Swap call signs. A friend request goes to a call sign, the name a commander is known by in the game, so that is all you need from each other.

What 2v2 is not

There is no solo queue for 2v2 that pairs you with a stranger: you bring your own partner. And there is no co-operative mode against computer-controlled waves. It is two commanders against two commanders.