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Combat is 9-unit formation warfare. Both pixels field a 3×3 squad, the units swing in waves until one side is wiped out, and the surviving side takes the contested pixel. There’s no manual control during the fight — your strategy lives in the layout you committed beforehand.

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What you need to attack

  1. Your own pixel in Action mode with a committed layout
  2. An enemy target in Action mode with its own committed layout (Unaction pixels are immune)
  3. 0.001 ETH to pay the attack fee — paid as msg.value on the lock transaction (no escrow). The fee is the entire prize pot for the fight; the winner takes 90 % of it as cash, the protocol rakes 10 %.
When you press attack, the flow is:
  1. The Engine validates your intent and signs off on it (off-chain).
  2. You submit lockBattle and pay the 0.0005 ETH attack fee in the same call.
  3. The Engine simulates the fight off-chain the moment the lock event fires (eager simulation; both layouts were uploaded at commit time).
  4. The full replay streams to your screen over SSE — usually within ~30ms of the lock confirming.
  5. The Engine submits resolveBattle on-chain, transferring the NFT and insurance pool to the winner.

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The 9-unit formation

Each side has a 3×3 grid (9 slots). Slots are arranged in three waves: 
[0] [1] [2]   ← Wave 1 (front line)
[3] [4] [5]   ← Wave 2
[6] [7] [8]   ← Wave 3 (rear)
You fill exactly 3 of each unit: 3 Warriors, 3 Archers, 3 Shields.
CodeClassATKHPNotes
WWarrior412Balanced bruiser
AArcher310Lower HP, fires from distance (animation only — combat math is symmetric)
SShield216Tankiest body
Wave 1 fights Wave 1. When either side’s wave is fully dead, the next wave steps up. Battle ends when one side is annihilated, both sides are wiped (defender holds), or 30 rounds elapse (defender holds).

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Outcomes

OutcomeMeaningResult
AttackerWinDefender’s 9 units all dead, attacker has survivorsAttacker takes the pixel
DefenderWinAttacker’s 9 units all dead, defender has survivorsDefender keeps the pixel
DrawBoth sides annihilated in the same step (mutual KO)Defender holds — by spec
Timeout30 rounds reached, both sides still aliveDefender holds — by spec
ForfeitDefender’s plaintext layout is missing from the EngineAttacker wins by default
Forfeit is rare in practice — the formation editor uploads the plaintext to the Engine the moment you commit, so the layout is cached and ready before any attack ever lands.

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Platform commission

The 0.001 ETH attack fee is the entire prize pot. The protocol takes a flat 10 % rake on every settled battle (regardless of outcome), and the winner takes the rest as cash:
OutcomeWinnerWinner cashPlatform rakeNFT transfer
AttackerWin / ForfeitAttacker0.0009 ETH0.0001 ETHDefender’s pixel → Attacker
DefenderWinDefender0.0009 ETH0.0001 ETHAttacker’s pixel → Defender
DrawDefender (holds)0.0009 ETH0.0001 ETHNone — defender keeps own pixel
There is no per-pixel insurance bond any more. Every pixel ships from mint with zero ETH locked inside; what you stake on a battle is the attack fee and the NFT itself. This was simplified from the v1.1 model after we realised the persistent bond was effectively a constant — every Action-mode pixel always sat at 0.0005 ETH and the contract just shuffled it between captures.

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What transfers when the attacker wins

1

The NFT moves to the attacker's wallet

The pixel’s faction color flips. The map updates as soon as the indexer picks up BattleResolved.
2

The attacker takes 90 % of the attack fee as cash

0.0009 ETH lands in the attacker’s wallet. The protocol pockets the remaining 0.0001 ETH as commission.
3

The captured pixel resets to Unaction

actionEnabled is cleared on transfer, so you choose when to re-arm and re-commit a layout. The pixel comes with no bonded ETH — toggling Action again costs only gas.
4

The 24h redeem window opens for the loser

The previous owner can buy the pixel back for 0.0005 ETH within 24h — see Redeem.

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What transfers when the defender wins or the battle draws

DefenderWin — the attacker’s pixel transfers to the defender. The defender takes 0.0009 ETH cash (90 % of the attack fee). The same 24h redeem window opens for the attacker on the lost pixel. Draw — defender holds the contested pixel. The defender still pockets 0.0009 ETH as stalemate compensation, the protocol rakes 0.0001 ETH. Nothing changes hands NFT-wise. This is the load-bearing part of the design: attacking is a real risk. You’re not paying 0.001 ETH for a one-way coin flip — you’re putting your attacker pixel up against the defender’s, and a misjudged matchup costs you the NFT plus the full fee.

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Strategy: where formations matter

Since combat is deterministic given the inputs, the layout is the entire strategy surface:
  • Wave ordering. Front-loading Shields buys time for your DPS to pile on. Front-loading Warriors maximizes opening burst but you lose tanks early.
  • Mutual damage discipline. A Warrior trading into a Shield (4 dmg vs 2 dmg counter) is favorable; a Shield trading into a Warrior (2 dmg vs 4 dmg counter) loses the exchange.
  • Initiative randomness. The 50/50 coin flip means a single round can swing on luck. Build redundancy — don’t bet the fight on a single Warrior surviving Wave 1.

Lost a pixel? You have 24 hours

Learn how to redeem