Exceed Solo Automa - By Michael Kelley (One Stop Co-Op Shop)

Table of Contents
● Pages 1-2: Basic solo rules
● Page 3: Additional rules and example of play
● Page 4-5: Reference cards and Season 3 character cards (Street Fighter)
● Page 6: Season 4 character cards (Shovel Knight)
● Page 7-8: Season 5 character cards (BlazBlue)

AI Hand - The AI’s hand is kept facedown. Spread the cards a bit so the player can see the
number at any time. This is important for their activation, as detailed below.

AI Turn - For the AI’s turn, roll a die. Compare the roll to the number of cards in the AI hand.
Range

Striking Range Retreat 1 then Strike

Strike Boost+
(1-3 is the default) (Advance 1 then Strike if at edge)

Moving Range
Move Advance 1 then Strike Boost+
(4+ is the default)
***Once the AI has enough gauge to exceed, they will do so on any turn they roll an ODD
number (1, 3, 5), ignoring the chart result. They exceed and draw 1 card for their whole turn.***

Move - When the AI performs a “Move” action, follow these steps:

1. They advance a number of spaces equal to the die value rolled
2. Discard cards from the AI’s hand equal to HALF the spaces advanced (rounded down)

Boost+ - When the AI performs a “Boost+” action, follow these steps:

1. Flip the top card of the AI’s DECK (not hand), and resolve the boost if they can afford it
2. They draw 2 cards to their hand (UNLESS the boost caused them to strike)

Move 1 then Strike - The AI retreats/advances (paying no force), then strikes.

Strikes - When a strike occurs (initiated by the human player or the AI), follow these steps:
1. If the AI initiated the strike and has a set ability they qualified for, resolve it now.
2. The human player places their attack (and resolves any set abilities). If wild swinging,
they finish selecting their attack before proceeding to the next step.
3. Perform a “Read Check” for the AI.
4. Flip the top card of the AI’s hand, and check if it is Effective or Invalid. If it is effective,
play that attack for the strike. If not, flip the next card from the AI’s hand. If all AI cards
have been flipped, the AI instead wild swings.
5. Discard all flipped cards that were not used; draw equal replacements to the AI’s hand.

Read Check - Whenever a strike is performed, the AI will either perform a “Read”,
accounting for the player’s card, or a “Panic”, ignoring it. To determine which attack the AI uses,
the player rolls a d6 die. At standard difficulty, the AI Reads on 1-2 and Panics on 3-6.

Panic - During a panic, an AI attack card is effective if the player would be in range of the
card’s attack, ignoring any effects on the player’s card. This evaluation includes effects from
the AI’s own cards and abilities, and known player effects (but not the player’s attack).
If an attack is out of range (even with abilities), the attack is invalid and the next card is flipped.
Read - During a read, the AI considers their attack card AND the player’s played attack card. If
the AI would “win” the strike (dealing more damage than they would suffer) the card is effective.
This includes the best use of AI abilities and the worst use (for them) of optional player abilities.
If none of the AI’s flipped attacks “win”, they use the attack that provides the closest result
between damage dealt and suffered, picking a random attack between tied cards.
The AI wild swings if none of their cards will deal damage, or if all will lose them the game.
During a read, if the player will lose the game from the AI’s card, it is always considered
effective. If a card will make the AI lose, that card is always considered invalid.

AI Choices - When the AI has to make a choice (how much force to spend, how far to move
from a boost, etc.), they use the following priorities (first applicable takes precedence):
1. Deal as much damage to the human player as possible
2. Suffer as little damage to the AI player as possible
3. Gain as much as possible, THEN spend as little as possible (card draw, gauge, etc.)
4. Move the AI closer to the center of the arena (avoiding “danger spaces” when possible)
5. Move the human player further from the center of the arena
6. Roll to determine a random choice if still tied

Force Costs - All discarded hand cards provide 1 force, regardless of whether they are
ultras or not. The AI will only spend gauge to pay force costs if they have already exceeded and
they have more gauge than the most expensive Ultra attack in their deck. In this case they
spend excess gauge BEFORE force from their hand.

Set Abilities - If the AI has a set ability (one that requires making a choice to spend gauge
for an effect when they set their attack), determine whether they use it as follows:
AI-initiated Strike - Activate the ability if the activation roll was less than the AI’s gauge.
Player-initiated - Activate the ability if the read roll was less than the AI’s gauge.

Reshuffling - The AI reshuffles whenever they run out of cards in their deck. However,
they cannot lose from reshuffling 2+ times. They must be defeated by losing all their life.

Adjusting Difficulty - To adjust difficulty, change the values for Read and Panic.
Increase difficulty by having them read on a 1-3,1-4, or even 1-5.
Similarly, decrease difficulty by having them read on only a 1, or even have them never read.

Specific Normal Attacks and Boosts

Block: Block is always effective when revealed by the AI during a panic strike.

Reading: If played by the AI, the human player reveals a random card from their hand. If it is a
basic attack, they must use it in the strike, and the AI resolves a read attack automatically. If it is
NOT a basic attack, they can attack with any card, and the AI resolves a panic attack.
If played against the AI, the player names a card, plays their attack, then looks through the AI’s
hand, playing the named attack if it is found (and discarding then redrawing the rest of their
cards). If not, they shuffle the AI hand, then resolve the AI’s attack as normal.

Parry: If played by the AI, roll a d6. If it is equal to or less than the number of cards in the human
player’s hand, they discard a random card.
If played against the AI, name a card, search the AI’s hand (discard the named card if able),
then discard the AI’s hand and draw a replacement hand with the same number of cards.

Dive: For a panic attack, this is considered effective if the advance would take the AI past the
player (even if it would not be in range afterwards).
This card’s boost discards one of the player’s continuous boosts. They prefer the most
expensive boost. Between equal cost boosts, discard a random player boost.
 Additional Rules and Example of Play
Danger Spaces - If an AI is facing a player fighter that places negative effect cards or allies
on the board, spaces with those cards are treated as “Danger Spaces”. The AI will prioritize not
moving onto those spaces when given a choice (see priority #4 in the “AI Choices” section).
Danger spaces are generally obvious for specific fighters… Polar Knight’s ice spikes, Litchi’s
staff, Shield Knight, Rachel’s lightning and other effects, etc. Other danger spaces (like range 1
from Zangief) will be identified in individual season cards.
If all possible moves would leave the AI on a danger space, they move using normal priorities.

Extra Actions - If an effect (like a boost) gives the AI an extra action, roll for it as though
they were taking a new turn (or take the specific action indicated). Do NOT draw 2 cards at the
end of a Boost+ action that grants an additional action.

Range Modifiers - If an effect modifies the AI’s range, adjust the AI roll chart as follows.
If they have a modifier of +1 or more to MINIMUM range, this alters their Striking Ranges that
are suddenly impossible to strike at (range 1, for example, with a +1 modifier to minimum
range). Instead those ranges are resolved using the Moving Range row, except that any
advancing movement is instead resolved as retreating movement (moving over the player
instead towards the center of the arena if they are trapped in a corner and can’t retreat enough).
If they have a modifier of +1 or more to MAXIMUM range, the Striking Range row is expanded in
its upper value by the modifier (+1 turns 1-3 striking range into 1-4 striking range).

Face-Up Attacks - If the player plays an attack face-up, the AI read attacks (without a roll).

EX Attacks (optional rule) - To give the AI a chance to use EX attacks, you may use
this optional rule. After the AI has chosen an attack from their hand (except for Block), if they
have hand cards remaining, flip those remaining cards.
If a copy of the chosen attack is flipped, the AI plays both cards as an EX attack. If not, they
attack as normal. In either case, discard ALL unplayed cards and draw replacements.

Example of Play
Turn 1: The AI is at range 5 (Moving Range) and has 4 cards in their hand.
They roll a 2, less than their hand size, triggering a “Move” action. They advance 2 spaces,
putting them at range 3 of their opponent. They discard 1 card from their hand (half of 2 spaces
moved, rounded down), leaving them with 3 cards in hand.

Turn 2: On their next turn (at range 3, Striking Range, with 3 cards) they roll a 4, triggering a
“Boost+” action. They flip the top card of their deck. It is a Cross, with a Run boost. The boost
costs 0 Force. They have a choice of how much to advance. Using the choice priorities, the first
applicable is #4: “move the AI closer to the center of the arena”. They advance to range 2.
To finish the Boost+ action, the AI draws 2 cards, bringing their hand to 5 cards.

Turn 3: On their next turn (at range 2, Striking Range, with 5 cards), they roll a 4, less than their
hand size, which triggers a strike. The human player sets a Spike.
The AI rolls a die and gets a 3, meaning (at standard difficulty) they panic for their attack.
They flip the top card of their hand, a Grasp. Considering only their cards and their range to the
opponent, this card will not hit, because it is range 1.
The next card is a Sweep. The AI only considers whether the attack is in range, and it is (Sweep
has 1-3 range, and the opponent is at range 2). They select this attack.
Sadly for the AI, the player’s Spike cancels out their Sweep’s guard, so the AI is stunned.
The AI discards the 1 card they revealed before the Sweep (Grasp), drawing 1 replacement.

Alternate Turn 3: If the AI had instead rolled a 1-2 for a read, they would have ignored the
sweep (since Spike was stunning them), and continued flipping for an attack whose damage
would exceed the player’s damage.
 Move - Move die #, then discard ½ die rounded down
Range Boost+ - Play top of deck boost, then draw 2
Strike Sequence:
Retreat 1 1. AI set abilities if they initiated
Striking
then Strike
Range Strike Boost+ 2. Human places their attack
(advance 1
(1-3) 3. Read Check
if at edge)
4. Flip cards from AI hand until effective
Moving 5. Discard unplayed cards and redraw
Advance 1
Range Move Boost+
then Strike Panic - attacks that are IN RANGE of the
(4-6)
player’s CURRENT space are effective
***If AI can exceed, they will do so and draw a Read - attacks that will deal more damage to the
card when they roll an ODD number*** player are effective

AI Priorities Normals
1. More damage to player Block: Always effective when revealed (unless
2. Less damage to AI read attack and cannot block all damage)
3. Gain more cards/gauge/etc. Reading: AI plays - player reveals random card.
4. Spend fewer cards/gauge.etc. If normal AI reads; If not, they panic
5. Move AI toward center (watch danger) Player plays - name normal card, look through
6. Move player toward edge AI’s hand, they attack with it if found
7. Random choice Parry: AI plays - roll die, if less than or equal to
player hand size, player discards random card
Force Costs Players play - name a card, discard from AI hand
Each card = 1 force if found, draw replacement hand
Only use gauge if exceeded and have gauge Dive: If panic attack, effective if advances past
beyond most expensive ultra (use before force) Discards most expensive boost

Street Fighter (Season 3) Akuma

Special Rules - All crit effects are set abilities
(see the specific rules for how these work).
If all crit abilities end up being useless for the
final selected attack (bonus power when the AI
plays a block, for example), give the AI back the
1 gauge they spent on the crit.
Unsupported AI Fighters - Dan, Sagat
Card Clarifications
Gohadoken - For the boost, the AI will not draw
up beyond a 5 card hand, and will not spend life
to take themselves below 7 life.
Goshoryuken - For the boost, the AI will always
choose the gauge gain.
Hyakkishu - For the boost, ignore the “now”
effect.

AI AGAINST Season 3 Characters

Zangief - Range 1 is considered a danger space.

C. Viper Cammy
Turn Resolution Turn Resolution
C. Viper will perform a Boost+ action on a die roll Cammy’s Striking Range is 1-4 instead of 1-3.
that equals her hand size (not move and strike).
When C. Viper plays a continuous boost, she will Card Clarifications
strike (and not draw 2) if she is at range 1-3 and CQC - Push/pull the opponent to the furthest
has at least 2 cards in her hand. space away possible.

Card Clarifications
Temple Massage - For the boost, C. Viper will
play the topmost card in her discard pile with a
continuous boost.
 Chun Li
Turn Resolution
Chun Li’s Striking Range is 1-4.
When she is exceeded, remember to increase
this range by +1 for each continuous boost.
Card Clarifications
Lightning Legs - The Critical effect is only considered
to have an effect (and is only paid for) if Chun Li has a
NON special boost active OR if her special boost
didn’t hit (going to her gauge per their hit effects).
Ken
Turn Resolution
After Ken advances 1-2 spaces as part of his action
(Move action, Advance and Strike, but NOT Retreat
and Strike) he draws 2 cards
If he has Exceeded, in addition to the above ability,
Ken now advances and strikes/retreats and strikes on
a die roll = to cards in hand OR 1 less than cards in
hand (if he has 4 cards, he will move and strike on a 3
or 4).
Card Clarifications
Hadoken - The AI will NOT use Hadoken’s choice
ability (placing it on top of the deck).
Ryu
Turn Resolution
After Ryu moves 1-2 spaces as part of his action
(Move action, Advance and Strike, Retreat and
Strike) he draws 1 card.
If he has Exceeded, he instead draws 2 cards.
Card Clarifications
Hadoken - The AI will NOT use Hadoken’s ability
(placing it on top of the deck).
Zangief
Turn Resolution
Zangief prioritizes being at range 1 over being
closer to the center of the arena (AI priority #4).
Card Clarifications
Flying Power Bomb - For the boost, roll a d6,
and halve it (rounded up). This is the range (1-3)
that Zangief “selects”.
Guile
Turn Resolution
If Guile has 0-2 cards at the start of his turn, and
has at least 1 gauge (and cannot exceed), do
NOT roll his die. Instead he spends 1 gauge,
draws 2 cards, resolves a boost from his deck,
then draws 2 more cards if he doesn't strike
(like an enhanced Boost+ action).
On his Exceeded side, he will then Strike if within
1-3 range.
He will still choose to Exceed if he has enough
gauge, instead of resolving this ability.
M. Bison
Turn Resolution
When M. Bison completes a Boost+ action that did not
cause a strike, after drawing 2 he adds 1 card from his
hand to his gauge.
When he exceeds, he adds 0-3 cards from his hand to
his gauge, not taking his hand below 2 cards.
Card Clarifications
Somersault Skull Diver - For the boost, the human
player discards a random card. If it is a special or
Ultra Attack (not a normal attack), M. Bison strikes.
Vega
Turn Resolution
Vega’s Striking Range is 1-4.
When Vega takes a Move action, he always moves towards
the nearest arena edge (instead of advancing, he may
sometimes retreat).
Card Clarifications
Rolling Crystal Flash - For the boost, move to advance
past the opponent if possible.
Sky High Claw - For the boost, move to advance past the
opponent if possible. Put the topmost continuous boost from
Vega’s discard into play.
Scarlet Terror - For the boost, place Vega at range 1 from
the opponent, on the side closer to an arena edge.
 Shovel Knight (Season 4)
Unsupported AI Fighters - Enchantress, Mole
Knight, Specter Knight
AI AGAINST Season 4 Characters
Specter Knight - If Specter Knight activated their close
2 ability and the AI panics, the AI considers attacks
with speed 0-3 as though Specter Knight had already
closed when determining their effective range.
Mole Knight - Similar to Specter Knight, if the AI
panics when Mole Knight uses his burrow ability, they
treat attacks with speed 0-3 as targeting the burrow’s
space instead of Mole Knight’s.
Plague Knight
Turn Resolution
If Plague Knight has at least one card in hand after
placing a strike from his hand (NOT after a wild
swing), he will play a random card from his hand to
use his special ability.
If he has exceeded, he will additionally discard the
top card of his DECK to boost ALL strikes, even wild
swings.
Card Clarifications
Chain Reaction - For the boost, don’t look at any
cards. Just add the top card of the AI’s deck to their
hand, and add the next card to their gauge.
Propeller Knight
Turn Resolution
Once Exceeded, Propeller Knight’s ability does NOT work
as printed. Instead, he gets +2 power if his attack is at
maximum range OR 1 less than max range.
Card Clarifications
Saber Lunge - The AI will always choose to gain Advantage
(and put the card in his gauge), even if the opponent
initiated the strike.
Launcher - For the boost, roll 1d6 and move Propeller
Knight half that number of spaces (rounded up) towards the
center of the arena (or towards the opponent if already in
the center).
Full Broadside - For the boost, shuffle Propeller Knight’s
discard and play the topmost continuous boost.
Tinker Knight
Turn Resolution
While he has not Exceeded, Tinker Knight will
NOT spend Gauge for any reason if it takes him
below 5 Gauge.
Card Clarifications
Bomb Bounce - For the boost, if Tinker Knight
has not Exceeded, flip cards from his deck until
he flips a Special Attack. Play its boost. Discard
the other flipped cards.
King Knight
Turn Resolution
When King Knight is at 1-3 range and rolls a 5 or 6 to
boost+, he instead plays a decree (if he has one available).
Select the decree played at random (shuffle the cards).
This uses King Knight’s ENTIRE TURN. He pays no force,
but also draws no cards.
Card Clarifications
Healing Hammer - Seal this card as long as King Knight
has at least 2 cards in his discard pile.
Spin Jump - For the “Edict” boost, check whether King
Knight’s attack is an EX attack AFTER selecting his final
attack card (look through his discard).
Polar Knight
Turn Resolution
When given a choice of where to place an Ice Spike, place it
closer to the player, then closer to center. When moving an
ice spike, they move the spike that is closest to the human
fighter (but not in their space), then closer to the center.
Card Clarifications
Icicle Drop - For the boost, do not remove an ice spike on
the player’s space. Also, don’t draw past a 5 card hand.
Stomp - Don’t remove a spike if the human player struck.
Removing a spike for bonus power takes precedence (per
normal AI priority).
Shovel Charge - For the push, push into as many spikes as
possible, but making sure the AI can remove a spike for
bonus power.
Shovel and Shield
Turn Resolution
When not exceeded, after Shovel Knight finishes
a Move or Boost+ action, he moves Shield Knight
1 toward the opponent, (or places her on his
space if he is closer). If he is exceeded, she
moves at the end of ALL of his turns.
Card Clarifications
Tandem Attack - For the boost, place Shield
Knight on Shovel Knight’s space (ignoring her
normal movement priorities). She may still move
afterwards, however.
Treasure Knight
Turn Resolution
The AI will use free force before spending force from
their hand or gauge.
Once Treasure Knight has exceeded, the AI
discards 1 fewer card for their Move actions.
Card Clarifications
Scuttle Slam - For the boost, add ALL AI gauge cards
to their hand, shuffle, then place random cards back in
the AI gauge (adding the top discard as normal)
Treasure Coin - For the boost, add a random card
from the AI discard pile to their hand, shuffling their
hand afterwards.
 BlazBlue (Season 5)
Special Rules - The AI starts with their Astral
Heat card in their deck.
The AI will NOT exceed if they have 0-2 cards in
hand. They resolve exceeding and overdrive
following all standard BlazBlue rules.
Unsupported AI Fighters - Litchi, Nine, Rachel
AI AGAINST Season 5 Characters
Carl - The AI hits Nirvana when able unless their
strike cancels the opponent’s attack or deals 3+
damage.
Bang
When playing with an AI Bang, you must use the optional EX
Attack rules.
Turn Resolution
When Bang takes a Boost+ action, discard 1 card from the top of his
deck at the end of the action.
When resolving his Overdrive ability, shuffle the gained cards into
his hand.
When Bang Exceeds, he spends special cards in his gauge when
able.
Card Clarifications
Infinite Chaos-Fist of the Void - On the hit effect, Bang adds the
topmost special card from his discard pile.
Bang Style Shuriken - For the strike, Bang plays a random boost
from his hand. For the boost, he takes an action.
Hakumen
Turn Resolution
When not exceeded, when Hakumen rolls equal
to his hand size (at any range), he advances 1
space (or retreats if unable), draws 1 card, but
does not strike.
Hakumen’s Overdrive effect causes him to draw
a random card from his Overdrive pile into his
hand (shuffling it in).
The AI is considered to have “drawn” on any turn
they do not strike, meaning Hakumen gets a free
card to gauge after Move actions, Boost+
actions, etc.
Jin
Turn Resolution
Jin’s non-exceeded ability is a “set ability”. He will
activate it when his activation roll (initiating) or
read check (not initiating) is less than his gauge.
However, Jin will not activate this ability,
regardless of his roll, if he has 4+ cards in his
hand (and doesn’t “need” the draw 2 effect).
Arakune
Turn Resolution
Arakune always adds cards to overdrive when able, unless it can be
added to gauge instead.
When exceeded, Arakune ignores his overdrive ability.
When exceeded and revealing an attack, search through Arakune’s
overdrive for a matching speed and play if able; otherwise, discard a
random overdrive.
Card Clarifications
permutation n, r - For the boost, if the player chooses the second
option, Arakune’s next attack is automatically a read strike.
f piecewise - Ignore the “now” portion of the boost.
f of g - For the “hit” effect, shuffle the discard pile and choose 3
cards at random.
f inverse - For the boost, seal the top card of Arakune’s deck, then
add the next card to his gauge, and the third card to his overdrive.
Carl
Turn Resolution
If Nirvana is within 1 range of the opponent, Carl uses the “Striking
Range” row, regardless of his own range.
When Nirvana moves, she moves towards the opponent. She does
not move if in the opponent’s space.
When not exceeded, Carl moves Nirvana after a Move or Boost+
action. When exceeded, he moves her any time he rolls a Strike
(and also on each Overdrive).
Carl flips Nirvana to active whenever given the option.
Card Clarifications
Laetabilis Cantata - Carl chooses to move Nirvana unless she is at
range 0-1 from the opponent.
Con Fuoco - For the boost, if given a choice, Carl will only pass the
opponent if puts Nirvana on the opposite side.
Cantabile - Carl ignores this boost if it takes Nirvana further from
the opponent.
Hazama
Turn Resolution
When Hazama initiates a strike, he places one
randomly chosen Ouroboros card on an adjacent
space closer to the player (or away from the player if
he is at range 1). He pays ZERO force to do this,
and this effect does not change if he exceeds.
Resolve the Ouroboros after the player’s strike is set,
and before selecting Hazama’s strike.
Card Clarifications
Eternal Coils - Hazama discards as many player
cards as possible, while maintaining at least one card
in his hand.
Kokonoe
Turn Resolution
When Kokonoe is able to place the Graviton in a
space, she always chooses the opponent’s
space.
Kokonoe only activates Graviton when it is on the
opponent’s space, but will always activate it when
this is the case (if she can afford the 1 force
cost).
 Noel
Turn Resolution
Noel’s non-exceeded ability is a “set ability”. She
will spend 1 gauge to get +1 speed when she
initiates a strike and her activation roll is less than
her gauge.
Card Clarifications
Bullet Storm - When using this boost, her strike
is automatically a read strike.
Platinum
Turn Resolution
Platinum always uses her Cleanup ability. For her
exceeded ability, she sustains a random boost.
For her Overdrive, she discards a random Overdrive
card, playing it if it has a continuous boost.
Card Clarifications
Dramatic Sammy - On a hit, sustain a random
continuous boost.
Miracle Jeanne - Play the two topmost continuous
boosts that do NOT cause Platinum to miss her
attack/get stunned.
Cure Dot Typhoon - Ignore the “after” effect.
Tager
Turn Resolution
Tager’s non-exceeded ability is a “set ability”. He
will spend 1 gauge to pull 2 when he initiates a
strike and his activation roll is less than his
gauge, but ONLY if he is at 3+ range.
When exceeded, he pulls 2 with his Overdrive if it
will fulfill standard AI priorities (getting the player
closer to an edge of the arena).
Nu-13
Turn Resolution
Nu-13 treats ALL ranges as Striking Range as
long as she has 4+ cards in hand.
When not exceeded, Nu-13 ALWAYS uses her
+3-4 range ability when the strike range is 4+.
Nu prioritizes maximizing her range from the
player with movement abilities.
Ragna
Turn Resolution
While exceeded, Ragna will only push the
opponent if it moves them further from the edge
of the arena (following standard AI priorities).
Card Clarifications
Devoured by Darkness - This boost is resolved
differently than what is printed. It costs 0 force.
Ragna takes 1 non-lethal damage and draws 2,
then takes another action.
Hell’s Fang - For the boost, Ragna will not spend
life to draw 1 card.
Taokaka
Turn Resolution
Taokaka’s Striking Range is 1-5.
When not exceeded and striking at range 3-5,
Taokaka will always wild swing.
Taokaka prefers to increase her distance to the
opponent for priority #4 (before going toward center).
Card Clarifications
Hexa Edge! - The card’s boost cost is reduced to 0.
Ignore the “Now” effect on the boost.
Slashy Slashy! - For the boost, if the first wild swing
drawn is invalid, Taokaka flips a second wild swing.