Ethereal

Card property

If this card is in your Hand at the end of this turn, it is Exhausted.

An Ethereal card that is still in your Hand when your turn ends is Exhausted instead of discarded.

The check runs in the first phase of turn end, before your Hand is flushed, so Retain does not save it: a card with both keywords still burns.
Cards with their own end-of-turn effect, Burn, Regret, resolve that effect first and then Exhaust if they are Ethereal.
Playing the card sidesteps this; a played Ethereal card goes wherever it normally would, and only cards that also carry Exhaust go to the Exhaust pile.
Ethereal can also be granted from outside: Hex from Spectral Knight makes every card Ethereal while the knight lives.

Named by

3 relics5 powers, 1 event

Cards with Ethereal

Apparition

Skill

Ethereal.
Gain 1 Intangible.
Exhaust.

Ascender's Bane

Curse

Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Eternal.

Banshee's Cry

Attack

Deal 33 damage to ALL enemies.
Costs less for each Ethereal card played this combat.

Call of the Void

Power

At the start of your turn, add 1 random card into your Hand. It gains Ethereal.

Clumsy

Curse

Ethereal.
Unplayable.

Dazed

Status

Ethereal.
Unplayable.

Defile

Attack

Ethereal.
Deal 13 damage.

Defy

Skill

Ethereal.
Gain 6 Block.
Apply 1 Weak.

Demesne

Power

Ethereal.
At the start of your turn, gain and draw 1 additional card.

Dying Star

Attack

Ethereal.
Deal 9 damage to ALL enemies. ALL enemies lose 9 Strength this turn.

Echo Form

Power

Ethereal.
The first card you play each turn is played an extra time.

Enfeebling Touch

Skill

Ethereal.
Enemy loses 8 Strength this turn.

Fear

Attack

Ethereal.
Deal 7 damage.
Apply 1 Vulnerable.

Folly

Curse

Ethereal.
Innate.
Unplayable.
Eternal.

Lethality

Power

Ethereal.
The first Attack each turn deals 50% additional damage.

Pagestorm

Power

Whenever you draw an Ethereal card, draw 1 card.

Parse

Skill

Ethereal.
Draw 3 cards.

Pull from Below

Attack

Deal 5 damage for each Ethereal card played this combat.

Sculpting Strike

Attack

Deal 9 damage.
Add Ethereal to a card in your Hand.

Seance

Skill

Ethereal.
Transform a card in your Draw Pile into Soul.

Spirit of Ash

Power

Whenever you play an Ethereal card, gain 4 Block.

Sweeping Gaze

Attack

Ethereal.
Osty deals 10 damage to a random enemy.
Exhaust.

Veilpiercer

Attack

Deal 10 damage.
The next Ethereal card you play costs 0 .

Void

Status

Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Whenever you draw this card, lose .

Void Form

Power

Ethereal.
End your turn.
The first 2 cards you play each turn are free to play.

Named by

Notes

Cheap bodies: Defile, Fear, Defy and Parse, with Spirit of Ash, Pagestorm, Veilpiercer and Banshee's Cry paying you for playing them.
Big powers: Echo Form and Void Form are Ethereal until upgraded.
Statuses: Dazed and Void clean themselves up.
Relics: Ghost Seed gives Ethereal to Strikes and Defends, Big Hat adds 2 random Ethereal cards each combat, and Music Box copies your first Attack each turn as an Ethereal card.
Counts for: Ethereal Exhausts count for Joss Paper and Dark Embrace.

Changes by version

16 Jul 2026Related powerEidolon Exhaust IntangiblePlaytest
Reworked Eidolon card: "Exhaust your Hand. If 9 cards were Exhausted this way, gain 1 Intangible." to "Play ALL Ethereal cards in your Exhaust Pile. Exhaust."
2 Jul 2026Bug fixGhost SeedPlaytest
Fixed Ghost Seed relic adding Ethereal to Strikes and Defends generated by other players during combat
18 Jun 2026Bug fixSpectral Knightv0.107.1
Fixed cards that should be Ethereal sometimes becoming non-Ethereal after killing Spectral Knight

All 30 patch notes27 older

4 Jun 2026Bug fixSpectral KnightBeta branch
Fixed an issue where, after killing Spectral Knight, cards that would normally be Ethereal could sometimes become non-Ethereal
19 Mar 2026ChangeBeta branch
Is now Ethereal
UpgradeBeta branch
Upgrade changed from +1 card to losing Ethereal
ChangeFollyBeta branch
Folly curse is now Ethereal
20 Nov 2025Related cardCall of the VoidInternal playtest
Improved Call of the Void card wording: "At the start of your turn, add 1 random card to your Hand. It gains Ethereal."
25 Sep 2025NerfDemesneInternal playtest
Nerfed Demesne: is now Ethereal
18 Sep 2025BuffBanshee's CryInternal playtest
Buffed Banshee's Cry card: energy cost reduction on ability from 1 less per Ethereal card to 2 less per
11 Sep 2025Bug fixJoss Paper ExhaustInternal playtest
Fixed an issue where, if Joss Paper relic was triggered by an Ethereal Exhaust, the drawn card would be immediately discarded
21 Aug 2025TextInternal playtest
Updated wording
10 Jul 2025Bug fixSpirit of Ash Spectral Knight HexInternal playtest
Spirit of Ash card no longer incorrectly triggers itself when it's been given Ethereal by an effect like Spectral Knight monster's Hex power
3 Jul 2025BuffInternal playtest
Buffed Enfeeble card: no longer Ethereal
5 Jun 2025Bug fixBurnInternal playtest
Burn status cards that have Ethereal are now properly Exhausted
15 May 2025Bug fixMelancholy BurnInternal playtest
Ethereal cards now exhaust before cards with end-of-turn-in-hand effects trigger (This fixes an issue where, if you ended your turn with Melancholy and Burn in your hand, Burn would trigger before you gained block from Melancholy, causing you to take the damage instead of blocking it)
6 Mar 2025Related cardSpirit of AshInternal playtest
Spirit of Ash card reworked. "Whenever you play an Ethereal card, gain 5(7) Block."
30 Jan 2025ReworkInternal playtest
Reworked Etherburst: is now based on Ethereal cards played instead of Souls
23 Jan 2025Related relicGhost SeedInternal playtest
Added Ghost Seed shop relic: "Strikes and Defends gain Ethereal."
16 Jan 2025TextSpirit of AshInternal playtest
Spirit of Ash card's power hovertip no longer incorrectly states that all cards are Ethereal
12 Dec 2024ChangeSoulInternal playtest
Changed Soul card: no longer has Ethereal
21 Nov 2024ChangeDredge ExhaustInternal playtest
Changed Dredge card: now has Exhaust instead of Ethereal
ChangeSpirit of AshInternal playtest
Changed Spirit of Ash card: no longer gives all cards Ethereal
UpgradeCall of the Void InnateInternal playtest
Changed Call of the Void card: upgrade now increases the number of Ethereal cards generated from 1 to 2 instead of adding Innate
14 Nov 2024MentionExhaustInternal playtest
"Gain 3(4) Block for each Ethereal card in your Exhaust Pile."
ChangeVulnerableInternal playtest
"Ethereal. Apply 2(3) Vulnerable."
BlockInternal playtest
"Ethereal. When this Exhausts, gain 9(11) Block."
26 Sep 2024Bug fixSpectral Knight HexInternal playtest
Spectral Knight's Hex move now applies Ethereal to cards generated in combat
6 Sep 2024InterfaceExhaustInternal playtest
Ethereal hovertip now also always comes with Exhaust hovertip
30 Aug 2024TextInternal playtest
Shortened Ethereal tooltip
9 Aug 2024InterfaceDark EmbraceInternal playtest
Ethereal cards' interaction with Dark Embrace made more obvious through timing tweaks
12 Jul 2024MentionInnateInternal playtest
Reworked Patience card: "Innate. Ethereal. At the end of combat, gain a random relic instead of a Card Reward."
21 Jun 2024MentionInternal playtest
"Kindle 3. Ethereal. Gain 3(4) energy. Draw 2(3) cards."
MentionStrengthInternal playtest
"Kindle 2. Ethereal. Gain 11(15) Strength. At the end of your turn, lose 1 Strength."
MentionInternal playtest
"Kindle 4. Ethereal. Deal 30(40) damage."
7 Jun 2024ChangeInternal playtest
Is now Ethereal
ChangeInternal playtest
Changed Patience card: is now Ethereal
ChangeExhaustInternal playtest
Is no longer Ethereal, but gained Exhaust
4 May 2024ChangeStrengthInternal playtest
"Ethereal. Enemy loses 6(9) Strength this turn."
MentionInnateInternal playtest
"Innate. At the start of your turn, add 1 Ethereal card to your hand."
ChangeSoulInternal playtest
Changed Carve Soul: is now Ethereal
15 Sep 2023ChangeSoulInternal playtest
Twist Soul is now Ethereal