> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.realapp.link/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.realapp.link/interact/arena.md).

# Arena

*Rules as of October 9, 2026*

Pick five players, choose abilities for each, and play a matchup against another lineup. Real games decide it. Your players' best ratings plus your ability payouts make up your score, and the higher score wins.

|                      |           |
| -------------------- | --------- |
| Players per lineup   | 5         |
| Salary cap           | 35        |
| Ability budget       | 30 points |
| Abilities per lineup | 5 to 10   |
| Matchup window       | 7 days    |

If a number in the app differs from this page, the app is correct.

## 1. Build your lineup

Pick exactly five players from one sport and keep their total salary at 35 or less. A player's salary depends on their recent performance and their Arena Boost.

Position limits:

* **Football:** one quarterback at most.
* **Baseball:** one starting pitcher and one relief pitcher at most.

In football, players ruled out can't be picked.

### Free agents

A free agent is a player whose Player Pass you don't own. A lineup can include up to three of them. Free agents count toward your five players and your salary cap, and they score without a boost.

You get a pool of 10 free agents each day. Injured players and players with no games left in the window are left out. You can redraw the pool once per lineup to see a different set. Free agent redraws are separate from ability redraws.

## 2. Choose your abilities

Each player is dealt a hand of **3 Target cards plus 1 Impact card**.

* Keep up to **2 abilities per player**.
* Every player must have at least one ability.
* Your lineup needs **5 to 10 abilities** in total.
* Each ability's point cost comes out of your **30-point ability budget**. You don't have to spend all of it.
* You can use **one Impact card per lineup**.
* A player can't hold two cards with the same conditions.

A card's points are its cost and also the most it can pay out.

### Ability redraws

You get **one ability redraw per lineup**, and you can use it any time before you lock. A redraw replaces one player's whole hand and clears any abilities you picked from it. Your other players' hands and picks stay the same.

## 3. Lock in and play

### The matchup window

* **Football** matchups run Wednesday through Tuesday. You can't pick a player once their game is less than an hour from kickoff.
* **Other sports** run for 7 days, starting today or tomorrow. Your lineup starts today as long as today's matchup is still open and none of your players has a game starting within the hour. Otherwise it starts tomorrow, and today's games don't count.

A challenge starts on the first day both lineups can play.

Only regular-season and postseason games played inside the window count. Preseason and all-star games don't.

### Find an opponent

Once your lineup and abilities are set, you can either:

* **Challenge** someone you pick, or
* **Find** an opponent and let Arena match you with someone at the same stake.
  * Find is not available during initial rollout

Outside football, you can't send a lineup while one of its players is in the middle of a game.

Your opponent's lineup stays hidden until both sides have locked in. Your lineup and abilities can't be changed after you lock.

### Stakes

Pick your stake before you build: free, or one of the Rax amounts shown in the app. Both sides put up the same stake, and you're only matched against lineups at your stake.

* The winner takes the pot minus a **10% fee**. With a 100 Rax stake on each side, the pot is 200 Rax and the winner gets 180 Rax.
* A tie refunds both stakes in full.
* Your stake is also refunded if a matchup expires, is declined, or is cancelled, or if nobody is matched with your lineup.
* Your Rax is held when you build your lineup and only spent once the matchup is set.

### Limits and deadlines

* You can have up to **3 matchups live or pending per sport**. Challenges you send and lineups waiting for a match each count. A challenge someone sends you only counts after you accept it.
* A discarded lineup can keep its slot for up to 24 hours.
* A challenge stays open until the first game in the challenger's lineup starts. Once you accept, you have until that same game starts to finish your lineup.
* If a challenge is declined or withdrawn, the challenger can't challenge that player again for 24 hours.
* Find won't match you against the same opponent twice within 24 hours.

## 4. Arena Performance

A player's **Arena Performance** is the Real Rating from their best single game in the window, multiplied by their Arena Boost and rounded to one decimal. Extra games give a player more chances at a high rating. Ratings from different games aren't added together.

### Arena Boost

Your Arena Boost goes up as you upgrade a player's pass. When you first reach each rarity, the boost is about:

| Pass rarity | Boost |
| ----------- | ----- |
| Common      | +1%   |
| Uncommon    | +3%   |
| Rare        | +9%   |
| Epic        | +18%  |
| Legendary   | +32%  |
| Mystic      | +56%  |
| Iconic      | +60%  |

The boost keeps growing as you upgrade within a rarity, with smaller gains closer to Iconic.

Your boost and salaries are locked in when you build the lineup. You can keep collecting afterward, but upgrades won't change a lineup that's already built.

## 5. Target cards

A Target card has one or two conditions, such as 20 points or 8 rebounds.

* **One condition:** pays the full card when it hits.
* **Two conditions:** pays 70% of the card when one hits and the full card when both hit.

A 10-point card with two conditions pays 7.0 points for one hit and 10.0 for both. A card that misses pays nothing.

Each card shows how its conditions are measured:

* **Single game:** each condition needs one game that meets it. On a two-condition card, the two can hit in different games. For example, 20 points on Monday and 8 rebounds on Thursday.
* **Across the window:** stats are added up over the whole window. Percentages are calculated from the totals, not averaged game by game.

A condition can only pay once, no matter how many times it's met.

## 6. Impact cards

An Impact card costs 5 points and has a **target Real Rating** that's specific to its player. It's judged on the player's best-game Real Rating **without** the Arena Boost.

* **Below target:** pays nothing.
* **At target:** pays 60% of the card.
* **Above target:** the payout keeps rising until the card's full-points rating, where it pays the full card.

Each card spells this out, for example: *Best rating: 60% at 3.5, nothing below, full points at 6.5.*

| Best rating (target 3.5, full points at 6.5) | Payout |
| -------------------------------------------- | ------ |
| 3.4                                          | 0.0    |
| 3.5                                          | 3.0    |
| 5.0                                          | 4.5    |
| 6.5 or higher                                | 5.0    |

## 7. Settling the matchup

A player's score is their Arena Performance plus whatever their abilities pay. Add up all five players to get your lineup total. The matchup settles the day after its last day. The higher total wins, and an exact tie is a tie.

**Example**

* Arena Performances: 11.7 + 9.0 + 8.4 + 10.2 + 7.5 = **46.8**
* Ability payouts: 7.0 + 6.0 + 4.0 (Target cards) + 4.5 (Impact card) = **21.5**
* Lineup total: 46.8 + 21.5 = **68.3**

Every Arena Performance and every ability payout is rounded to one decimal before it's added.

## FAQ

**What if one of my players doesn't play?** They score 0 for Arena Performance, and all their abilities count as misses. Your lineup still counts.

**Do preseason or all-star games count?** No. Only regular-season and postseason games in the matchup window count.

**Can I boost a player after building my lineup?** You can keep collecting, but the lineup keeps the salary and boost from when you built it.