Counter cycle

Rock-paper-scissors is the classic three-option cycle. The relationship is non-transitive: A beats B and B beats C, yet C beats A. Game designers use cycles like this so that no single choice dominates and players have to think about what the opponent will pick.

A cycle can be bigger than three, and the options do not have to be equal in cost or reward. That gives each option its own character while keeping the guarantee that everything has an answer.

BOTVBOT’s five attacking and defending moves form a closed cycle, each beating exactly one other: Heavy beats Feint, Feint beats Block, Block beats Jab, Jab beats Dodge, and Dodge beats Heavy. The sixth move, Recover, sits outside the cycle: it is the only large stamina refill, but you take 1.5× damage that exchange.

The rules call this no dominant strategy. There is no move you can throw every exchange, which makes reading the opponent the most valuable thing a fighter can do.