The magic card deck contains 36 cards and is divided as follows:

• 22 Power cards

• 8 Dispel cards

• 1 Drain Magic card

• 1 Destroy Spell card

• 1 Rebound card

• 1 Escape card

• 1 Total Power card

• 1 Mental Duel card

Once you have established the strength of the Winds of Magic the player whose turn it is deals out the magic deck. Start by shuffling the deck then deal off a number of cards equal to the Winds of Magic. For example, if the Winds of Magic is 8 then deal off eight cards. Deal the cards face down so that neither player knows what they are. The remainder of the pack is put aside for now.

The player whose turn it is can now deal the cards between the players starting with himself. As cards are simply divided between each side both players will hold the same number of cards unless the Winds of Magic is an odd number, in which case the player whose turn it is will hold one more.

Each player now has two sets of cards: their spell cards and a number of magic cards. Unlike the spell cards which 'belong' to specific wizard models the magic cards represent the energy drawn from the Winds of Magic by the army's wizards. The number and type of magic cards will obviously vary from turn to turn depending on the strength of the Winds of Magic and the fortunes of the deal.

The magic cards are of two broad kinds: power cards and special cards. Power cards are used to 'power up' spells. Special cards have a special ability and these are discussed later. The most common special card is Dispel - this is used to counter the enemy's magic.