Understand timing, targets and summoning during Ranked preparation.
Preparation phase
When checks happen and effects occur
Before battle, each side advances normal Ready skills by board position. Targets, stars, attack, resources, and empty positions may be read at different times. The next unit starting does not guarantee the previous unit’s follow-up effects have ended.
Position order
Check timing
Target selection
Multi-step effects
Live normal Ready
30 units
Immediate main effects
3 units
Delayed main effects
27 units
Board order
Positions 1–9
Basic rules
What is Ready?
30 units in live Ranked
Ready is a preparation skill activated before battle starts. This site lists the 30 live Ranked units in the normal Ready sequence and marks them with a Ready tag.
3 immediate, 27 delayed
“Immediate” only means the main effect occurs at skill start. The unit may still occupy time before the next Ready skill starts.
Board order
Order on each side
Normal Ready skills on one side follow board positions, front to back: positions 1–9, left to right and top to bottom.
123456789
Only units with normal Ready enter this sequence. A long skill in an early position delays later Ready skills on the same side.
Both sides act
Not “our side finishes, then theirs”
Your side
Your Ready sequence progresses independently by position.
⇄
Enemy side
The enemy’s Ready sequence progresses independently by position.
One side can continue while the other waits. Starting first does not always mean taking effect first; interactions depend on actual event times.
Timeline
What happens within a Ready skill
Ready is not always just “wait, effect, end.” A skill may check conditions and pick targets first, read stars, attack, or resources later, then produce one or more effects before the next unit starts.
Some later effects occur after the next Ready skill starts. Passing the turn does not mean all follow-up effects are finished.
DandeLion
0.75s
The next Ready skill starts.
1.55s
Read the selected enemy’s current attack and reduce it.
Read timing
Different states are read at different times
Identity and values can be separate
Cashew Sage selects the other ally with the highest attack at skill start, then reads that ally’s attack at 0.35s. Ranking changes do not switch targets, but changes to the selected target’s attack affect the bonus.
Conditions may be checked twice
Dragon Hoarder checks sun coins first, then reads them again at 0.25s to calculate the bonus. Stars, attack, total attack, shop state, and empty positions depend on each skill’s actual read timing.
Different 1-, 2-, and 3-star values do not imply that stars are reread during execution. Turnipette’s bonus is set by the skill that already started; stars are not reread at 0.30s.
State changes
No universal “interrupt window”
Changing a relevant state before a check may affect the result. After the check, the same change may be too late for this skill.
For example, Guaca Sage checks stars at start and reads its attack at 0.40s. Losing stars afterward does not undo a passed condition, but attack changes before 0.40s still affect the bonus. This changes the result; it does not “interrupt” the skill.
Target selection
Select targets first, read values later
Many skills select targets early. Later changes in attack rankings usually do not cause retargeting, but a target’s attack may only be read when the effect occurs.
If a target leaves before the effect-producing step starts, it is skipped without selecting a replacement. After an effect begins, swallowing, removal, death, or transformation cannot yet be described by one universal rule, so no blanket guarantee is made.
Rosen Death
At start
Randomly select a current enemy unit with more than 1 star.
0.75s
Reduce the selected target’s current stars. New units appearing later do not trigger extra target selection.
1.00s
The next Ready skill starts.
Sequential summons
Multi-step summons execute sequentially
Cabby Trainer, Beastmaster, and Orange Bros do not complete all summons or copies at once. Each step checks current valid empty positions; occupying or leaving a position can affect later steps.
Successfully created units immediately enter and occupy the board. Later skills that have not selected targets can see them, but they do not retroactively trigger Ready in the current sequence.
At 0.50s, read current stars, attack, and empty positions, then summon
0.75s
Immediate effect
Units with immediate main effects
Azure Astrologer
Princeling
Pine Gangster I
These three units’ main effects occur at skill start, but the next normal Ready skill starts at the time listed on each timeline.
Positioning tips
Why positions matter
Long skills placed early
Delays later Ready skills on the same side. At 3 stars, Cabby Trainer passes to the next unit at 3.00s.
Passing early does not mean finished
DandeLion passes the sequence at 0.75s, but reduces enemy attack at 1.55s.
The opponent keeps acting
Your waiting does not pause the enemy’s normal Ready sequence.
Quick checks
Three things to check on a timeline
Check when decisions are made, then when effects occur.
When targets, stars, or conditions are determined
When attack, resources, and empty positions are read
When effects occur and the next unit starts
A state change can affect this result only if it happens before the relevant read. Affecting the result and extending the duration are separate things.