Montabi Injuries, KO Timers, and Revive Windows

In Montabi, Trainer death ends the run—but Montabi KO is a recoverable crisis with a hard timer. When a companion’s HP hits zero on the 3×3 grid, you enter a three-turn revive window. Revive it in time and the fighter returns with a manageable penalty state. Miss the window and Injury cards shuffle into that Montabi’s deck, clogging four-card draws for the rest of the route. This guide explains the full injury loop, how Injury cards behave in combat, and how Cafe nodes and prep fights interact with recovery—so you stop losing runs to deck pollution instead of Trainer HP.

Read Combat & Positioning first for AP and grid basics, then return here when elites start knocking out your evolved partners.

Montabi KO versus Trainer death

These fail states are intentionally asymmetric:

• Trainer at 0 HP —immediate run loss, regardless of Montabi health.
• Montabi at 0 HP —temporary KO; the unit stops acting and drawing until revived.

You can win fights with one Montabi down if the Trainer and survivor carry damage—but dragging KO states across multiple nodes snowballs into Injury cards. Never treat a Montabi KO as “free” just because the Trainer still stands.

The three-turn revive window

From the turn a Montabi is KO’d, you have three turns (counted within ongoing battles and according to battle UI rules) to play a revive effect, item, or Trainer ability that brings it back. Exact card names vary by species, evolution stage, and Items you purchased on the city map—always read the revive line on the card before boss fights in How to Beat Bosses.

Turn discipline tips:

• Bank AP carryover on the Trainer or your healthy Montabi so a revive card is affordable on the critical turn.
• Do not spend every attack card if the KO timer is at one turn remaining—revive first, DPS second.
• Some enemies apply effects that extend KO pressure; watch elite telegraphs documented in the boss guide.

If you revive on turn three, you survive without Injuries. If turn four begins with the Montabi still down, the injury pipeline starts.

What Injury cards do

When the revive window expires, Injury cards enter that Montabi’s personal deck. They are designed to hurt long routes:

• Unplayable clutter —Injury cards often cannot be spent like normal attacks or blocks; they occupy hand slots in your four-card draw.
• End-of-turn self-activation —many Injuries trigger automatically at end of turn (EOT), dealing extra damage, applying debuffs, or forcing discards without player input.
• Draw penalties —some Injuries reduce future draw quality or force weaker hands, compounding when multiple Injuries stack after repeated KOs.

Injuries attach to one Montabi’s deck, not the Trainer’s. A polluted damage dealer still blocks front-row lanes physically, but its card economy collapses—swap bench members via taming if injuries stack beyond Stickards cleanup.

Stacking injuries across a run

One Injury is recoverable with Cafe rests, shop purchases, and Stickards removal nodes. Two or three Injuries on the same species often mean:

• Elites take double length because hands fill with dead draws.
• Evolution power spikes at level 5 and 10 get wasted on a deck that cannot deploy new cards reliably.
• You over-focus healing that should protect Trainer HP instead.

Retire injured Montabi to the bench when biscuits allow a tame replacement from How to Tame Montabi. Tier list favorites with Injury-ridden decks fall off fast—see Tier List for swap candidates.

Cafe, prep, and city routing

Cafe nodes restore Trainer HP and sometimes offer Montabi recovery options depending on patch balance. Before an Elite or X Gang boss:

• Heal the Trainer first—see City Map & Events for routing philosophy.
• If a Montabi survived the last fight with injuries or near-KO HP, path toward Cafe or convenience store stock from Items instead of chaining fights.

Elite fights grant three level-ups versus two on normal nodes—use that XP spike when your team is healthy, not when a Montabi is one hit from another KO timer.

Some Cafe prompts let you heal or double-level one character—double-leveling an injured Montabi without clearing Injuries can accelerate evolutions you cannot actually cast. Choose heal when Injury cards are present.

Build and item interactions

Certain Builds rely on low-HP Montabi or repeated KO setups—those comps demand faster revive tools and tighter timers. Equipment, Charms, and Supplies from Items may add passive revive charges or reduce Injury severity; read storefront patch notes on Updates when numbers shift post-launch.

Fighter Trainers who stand in harm’s way need extra revive bandwidth; Student repositioning can prevent KO entirely. Compare kits on Trainers.

Boss and elite injury prevention

Boss phases in How to Beat Bosses often combine burst damage with add spawns. Prevention beats recovery:

• Keep a blocker Montabi in front columns so fragile evolutions never start KO timers.
• Enter bosses after Stickards thinning so revive cards appear consistently in four-card hands.
• Save consumable heals for Trainer HP, not Montabi chip damage, unless a KO timer is active.

Practice drill

Run three normal fights with the goal of zero Injury cards. If a Montabi drops, revive before turn three even if it costs offensive AP. If you finish the third fight with clean decks, move on to Ascension planning. If not, re-read revive card text and adjust front-row placement from the combat guide.

Injuries are Montabi’s long-term punishment for grid mistakes. Respect the three-turn clock, protect the Trainer, and route through Cafe before injuries turn a winnable elite into a deck-size death spiral.