To play, you purchase a starter pack with 30 cards in it. Some of those cards will be summoners. Each time you go into battle, you choose one of the summoners (usually from the splinter that the daily quest asks for) and the best of that same splinter battle cards (or neutral cards if allowed). Each battle has its defining rules specified just before you pick your cards but after your opponent has been chosen. You have (I think) 2 minutes to decide on which cards you want to use. Once your cards have been chosen, the 2 teams face off and the battle is handled automatically by the software (you sit back and watch it play out). There can sometimes be up to a 3-minute wait to find an opponent and then another wait to actually start the battle. It eats up a lot of your time just waiting.