Foundations build downward from Kings — high-rank cards are your most urgent resource, not your most patient ones.

The layout: loom piles, exile, and foundations

Weavers uses two complete decks (104 cards). The opening layout:

• Eight foundations— one King of each suit (four suits × two decks) starts each of the eight foundations. All foundations build downward by suit from King to Ace: K→Q→J→10→9→8→7→6→5→4→3→2→A. Each foundation needs 13 cards.
• Twelve loom piles — the remaining cards are dealt into twelve piles. Only the top card of each pile is available for direct foundation plays.
• Shuttle (exile) pile — one card that is set aside when no direct foundation play exists. The Weave action processes the shuttle by threading it back through the loom piles, changing which cards are accessible.
• Limited redeals — typically three redeals are permitted before the game must end with whatever foundations have been completed.

The inverted urgency hierarchy

In most ascending patience games, Aces are the most urgent cards — foundations cannot start without them. In Weavers, Kings are the foundation starters and are already placed. The first card each foundation needs after its King is the Queen of the same suit.

This inversion means that high-rank cards (Queen, Jack, 10) are the most urgently needed for early foundation advancement. Aces are the last cards each foundation needs — they come only after the entire K-through-2 sequence for each suit is complete.

The practical consequence: do not bury Queens or Jacks beneath low-rank cards in the loom. In an ascending game, a buried Ace is the danger; in Weavers, a buried Queen is the danger. Scan loom pile tops for Queens and Jacks immediately — any that are on top can play to their foundation after the King is in place.

The Weave mechanic

When no direct foundation plays are possible from the twelve loom tops, the player executes a Weave: the shuttle card is threaded through the loom piles, changing the top card of various piles and potentially exposing new foundation-ready cards.

The Weave mechanic functions like a controlled shuffle of loom tops. It does not guarantee that better cards will be exposed — the threading sequence is deterministic based on the current state of the shuttle and loom. Planning when to Weave (and not Weave) is important:

• Weave when genuinely stuck. If no loom pile top can advance any foundation, Weave. Weaving when productive direct plays still exist wastes a move and may disrupt a favorable loom configuration.
• Verify the direct play space before Weaving. With twelve loom piles, it is easy to miss a direct play on pile ten while focused on the first eight. Check all twelve pile tops before deciding to Weave.
• Weaving uses the shuttle.If the shuttle currently holds a card that could play to a foundation, playing it there instead of using it in a Weave is almost always better — the Weave consumes that card’s direct play potential in exchange for reorganizing the loom.

Foundation reversal timing

Like Leoni's Own, Weavers permits foundation reversals between same-suit foundations. The two foundations for the same suit (one per deck) can exchange cards when the transfer creates a new legal loom play that was previously blocked.

Reversals are expensive: they undo one step of foundation progress to gain one loom opportunity. The only time a reversal is clearly worthwhile is when the loom has a card that cannot play anywhere (no foundation destination exists) and a reversal creates that destination. If the card can play after a single Weave instead, the Weave is cheaper than a reversal.

Redeal rationing

Weavers’ limited redeals (typically three) are the game’s emergency resource. A redeal reorganizes the remaining loom cards, giving a fresh configuration when the current loom is completely deadlocked.

Save redeals for true deadlocks: situations where multiple consecutive Weaves produce no foundation plays and no configuration improvement. Using a redeal with two or three viable Weaves remaining squanders it.

Redeal value is highest when many mid-rank cards (6 through 9) remain in the loom and foundations are at inconsistent levels across suits. A redeal redistributes these cards and may create favorable surface access for whichever mid-rank the lagging foundation needs next.

Frequently asked questions

How is Weavers different from Leoni's Own?

Weavers uses eight uniformly descending foundations (King to Ace). Leoni's Own uses four ascending and four descending simultaneously. Both use the loom and exile/weave mechanic, but the dual-direction requirement of Leoni's Own creates additional synchronization challenges. Read the Leoni's Own strategy guidefor that game’s specific approach.

How many cards does each Weavers foundation need?

Each of the eight foundations needs 13 cards (K through A), for 104 total across all eight foundations — matching the two-deck card count exactly.

What is the shuttle pile?

The shuttle is a single card that sits outside the loom. When the Weave action is executed, this card is threaded through the loom piles in a specific pattern, changing which cards are on top of each pile. The card that ends up on the shuttle after a Weave is whatever was displaced by the threading process.

What is a realistic win rate?

Weavers is a challenging two-deck game. The inverted urgency hierarchy and limited redeals mean that positions can degrade quickly if high-rank cards are buried early. Skilled play wins roughly 30 to 50 percent of deals. Redeals significantly influence the final outcome.