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SHOWDOWN
Contested, conquered, cleared: how a battlefield changes hands
The three states everyone confuses, and the cleanup step that quietly decides most of them.
I
Ines R.
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9 Jul 2026 · 1 min read
Contested is a status a player applies. Conquered is an outcome. Cleared is what cleanup does when neither of the first two still make sense. Keeping them apart solves most scoring arguments before they start.
Where it goes wrong
Players treat contested as a property of the battlefield rather than something each player applies separately. Once you see it per player, a battlefield two opponents both contested stops being a paradox and becomes bookkeeping.
Drill the corner-case questions on cleanup until the order feels boring. Boring is the goal.
#showdown
#scoring