Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Yes, when you ready Irelia Fervent using Irelia's Legend, she receives an additional +1/+1 from being readied, for a total of +4/+4 (+2/+2 from Discipline, +1/+1 from Irelia's Legend, and +1/+1 from being readied). Sequence: - Discipline gives Irelia Fervent +2/+2 - Irelia's Legend gives her +1/+1 - Readying Irelia Fervent with Irelia's Legend triggers her ability to gain another +1/+1 - Total: +4/+4

Ruling: When 2 or more cards are recycled to the Main Deck simultaneously (such as during a mulligan), they are placed on the bottom of the deck in a random order. You shuffle only the recycled cards together, not the entire deck. Sequence: - Set aside cards for mulligan - Recycle the set-aside cards - Randomize only those recycled cards together on the bottom of the deck Nuances: - The opponent can also shuffle your recycled cards - Only the recycled cards are shuffled together, not the entire deck

Ruling: When you rest Heimerdinger, you cast just one of your rest abilities. Nuances: - An ability in this context is the full "cost: effect" structure - Heimerdinger gets a copy of each ability that has an exhaust symbol in the cost part, including that cost - When using an ability, you pay the full cost associated with that specific ability (exhaust plus any other costs) and perform that specific effect

Ruling: Taking an open battleground triggers a showdown. During a showdown, you can play cards and activate abilities that have Action or Reaction printed on them. Nuances: - Focus is not a card type; it is a term used to give a player priority - Examples of what can be played: cards like Disintegrate or abilities like Kai'Sa - Examples of what cannot be played: abilities like Lee Sin (which presumably don't have Action or Reaction)

Ruling: No, you do not have to pay the Deflect cost. Once you take control of a unit with Deflect, it becomes your friendly unit, and Deflect only applies to enemy abilities. Nuances: - The term "Opponents" in the context of Deflect refers to opponents of the controller, not the owner of the card - When you control a unit, you are not your own opponent/enemy, so your abilities targeting it are not "enemy abilities"

Ruling: When you Charm an opponent's unit to a battlefield you control, your opponent becomes the attacker and you are the defender. The attacker is the player who gave the contested status to the battlefield. Nuances: - The charmed unit's controller (your opponent) is the attacker, so they get any "when attacking" effects - The attacker gains focus and priority first - You can use Charm to move units between battlefields regardless of whether they have ganking; the restriction on inter-battlefield movement only applies to the Standard Move action

Ruling: When you move a unit via card effect, it stays in the same state (ready or exhausted). If you move an enemy unit to a battlefield you control, it creates a showdown with them as the attacker, and if they win they would gain a point. Sequence: - Play Charm on your turn - Move the enemy unit to your battlefield - Unit retains its current state (ready or exhausted) - Showdown is created with the moved unit as attacker - If the moved unit wins, they gain a point Nuances: - Charm can only be used on your turn (not during opponent's showdowns) because it lacks an action keyword - Spells and abilities without the "action" keyword cannot be played during showdowns - You must use non-action abilities before moving units into showdowns, not during them

Ruling: When you use Charm to move an enemy unit to a battlefield you control, that unit is the attacker. The unit moved to contest the battlefield you control, regardless of what effect caused that move to happen. Nuances: - This differs from Ride the Wind scenarios where if you initially move to contest an open battlefield and your opponent uses Ride the Wind in response, you remain the attacker because you were the one who applied contested first.

Ruling: The attacker (your opponent) always has focus first, even though you used Charm to initiate the showdown. The game considers your opponent's unit (and therefore your opponent) as the one who initiated the showdown. Nuances: - Even though you played the spell that caused the showdown, the game mechanics treat the opponent as the initiator because it's their unit that is attacking.

Ruling: Add abilities do not pass focus when they resolve. You retain both focus and priority after an Add ability resolves, allowing you to immediately play another action or reaction without waiting for your opponent. Sequence: - Activate the Add ability during an open state with focus - The ability goes on the chain (creating a closed state) - The ability resolves immediately and cannot be reacted to - Focus and priority remain with you - You can immediately use the added resources to play cards or activate other abilities Nuances: - Add abilities still create a chain, they just resolve immediately without allowing reactions - You can use "Reaction - Add" abilities while paying costs for spells (you don't need the resources in your pool beforehand) - Gear with "Reaction" or "Action" keywords can be used during Showdowns, despite the general rule that gear abilities are base speed - This ruling represents a functional change from earlier interpretations where Add abilities were thought to pass focus upon resolution

Ruling: When your chosen champion is killed, it goes to trash. It does not return to the champion zone like commanders do in Magic: The Gathering.

Ruling: Charm can move a unit to either battlefield or the unit's own base, regardless of the unit's normal movement restrictions like flanking. Standard move restrictions only apply when exhausting units to move them. Nuances: - You cannot move units to other players' bases or invalid locations like the trash - External effects that prevent moving to/from certain locations still apply (e.g., Vilemaw's Lair prevents moving units back to base from there) - Charm can move exhausted units since exhausting is only a cost for standard moves - Whether you can legally play Charm targeting a unit at Vilemaw's Lair with destination being base is uncertain and not definitively resolved

Ruling: You must hide Zhonya's to a battlefield you control, not to base. When you play Zhonya's from hidden, you play it to base. Nuances: - Zhonya's can be played whenever you have priority (whenever you could play a reaction), not just in response to a unit dying - You cannot play a hidden card on the same turn you hide it; you must wait until a subsequent turn

Ruling: Action spells can only be played during closed states, not in response to other effects. This means they must be played when the chain is empty. Nuances: - The relevant timing rule is found in the Reaction timing section of the rules, which specifies that reactions can be played during closed states (implying actions have different timing restrictions).

Ruling: The rule specifying what constitutes a "valid Location" for playing units is currently missing from the Comprehensive Rules, though it was present in previous versions. The current CR only states that you must choose a valid Location when playing Units, but does not define what makes a Location valid. Nuances: - The definition of "valid Location" (a Location you have control over) was in previous versions of the CR but has been accidentally omitted from the current version - Rule 352.2 exists but is incomplete without the definition of "valid Location"

Ruling: The rule stating that moving into an empty battlefield causes a showdown is found in section 425 of the rules (not in section 316.5.b.1, which only describes the consequences of such showdowns).

Ruling: Board zones are defined in the rules (rule 106), and the banish zone is included as a board zone. Nuances: - This ruling has implications for cards like Portal Rescue that interact with board zones

Ruling: When playing a Unit, you choose a Location you control on the Board where that Unit will be placed. Battlefields are categorized as Locations. Nuances: - The rules use the term "Location" rather than specifically "Battlefield" when describing where Units are placed

Ruling: 'At the start of beginning phase' effects (like Loose Cannon and Grove of the God-Willow) fully resolve before moving to the holding step where you draw your turn card. Sequence: - Beginning phase starts - Loose Cannon draw is added to chain and resolves - Grove of the God-Willow draw is added to chain and resolves - Chain fully resolves - Move to holding step - Draw turn card Nuances: - The beginning phase and holding are separate steps - You can potentially draw 3 cards in one turn (Loose Cannon, Grove, and turn draw) - For scoring hold points: you score the point first, then Grove triggers because you held

Ruling: In multiplayer games, all players can participate in a Showdown without needing invitations. Priority and focus pass in turn order. Sequence: - Attacker acts first - Turn order proceeds from attacker (skipping defender) - Defender acts last - Example: If players are seated A, D, X, Y and A attacks D, focus passes A → X → Y → D Nuances: - The invitation system was removed in version 1.1 - This change added more "chaos" to multiplayer games by allowing all players to react to combat

Ruling: Each player assigns the damage that their units do to the enemy units. Both players assign damage to each other, with the attacker assigning first. Sequence: - When assigning damage, you must first assign all your damage to killable units (enough to kill them) - Once a unit has been assigned lethal damage, any leftover damage can be assigned to the next killable unit - This continues until all damage is assigned - If the opponent buffs their units during combat and you have less might, your opponent assigns which of your units take damage (following the same rules: must kill one unit before assigning to others) Nuances: - All units contribute their full might to the fight, then players decide which enemy units to kill (unlike Magic where units battle one by one) - Edge cases exist for units that receive no damage (like Kayn) or stunned units (like Leona's ability) - You have a chance to respond with your own buff if the enemy buffs their units during combat

Ruling: After an effect resolves from the chain, the owner of the next item on the chain gets priority. If the chain is empty, priority depends on the game state. Sequence: - When chain is not empty: Owner of the next effect on chain gets priority - When chain is empty during a showdown (initial chain resolving): Attacker gets focus and priority - When chain is empty during a showdown (not initial chain): Next player after the owner of the most recent effect gets focus and priority - When chain is empty outside showdown: Current turn player gets priority Nuances: - Between each item resolving, both players get an opportunity to respond at reaction speed - If only one player passes (not a double pass), the other player can still respond at reaction speed

Ruling: The attacker gets focus first in combat, which is required to play an action. After the attacker either passes or plays something (and it fully resolves), focus passes to the defender. Sequence: - Attacker receives focus first - Attacker may pass or play an action - If attacker plays something, it resolves fully, then focus passes to defender - If attacker passes, focus passes to defender immediately - Focus continues passing between players until both pass in succession

Ruling: The controller of green Yasuo gets priority first to react to the ability on the stack, then priority passes in turn order. Nuances: - This priority rule applies even if Yasuo enters play during an opponent's turn (such as via Ride of Wind) - In a chain, the owner of the current link gets priority first

Ruling: Each player orders their own triggers. When defending, the attacking player orders their triggers first, then other non-defending players in turn order, then the defending player orders their triggers last. Sequence: - The attacking player orders their triggers and adds them to the chain - All other non-defending players order their triggers and add them to the chain in turn order - The defending player orders their triggers and adds them to the chain Nuances: - On offense, the turn player chooses the order - Each individual player controls the ordering of their own triggers

Ruling: The attacker gains Focus at the start of a showdown and becomes the active player, allowing them to play an Action or Reaction first, regardless of who was the active player before the showdown. Sequence: - Attacker gains Focus at the start of showdown - Attacker may play an Action or Reaction - If attacker chooses not to play anything, or plays something and the chain fully resolves, Focus passes to the next relevant player - If attacker passes priority and defender plays a spell, priority goes back to the attacker who can then play a reaction Nuances: - This is a change from old rules where the defender had priority - Focus is different from priority: Focus allows playing actions outside of open play states (like during showdowns), while priority determines who can play the next reaction in a chain - When the last effect on a chain resolves during a showdown, focus and priority go to the next player (except for the initial chain when it always goes to the attacker first) - If you play a reaction as defender and it resolves, you do not retain priority to start a new chain with an Action

Ruling: The player who activates the action/reaction/regular spell maintains priority to play first.

Ruling: You can win by holding a battlefield (controlling it at the start of your turn) to gain your final victory point, even if you don't control both battlefields. The restriction requiring control of both battlefields only applies when conquering (scoring during your opponent's turn), not when holding. Sequence: - Sett deck held the battlefield with Pit Rookie - Volibear deck removed only the Sett unit - Sett deck started their turn still controlling the battlefield with Pit Rookie - Sett deck gained a point for holding, which was their final victory point Nuances: - When conquering, you need to have scored the other battlefield this turn (though you don't need to control both simultaneously) - When holding, there is no restriction about controlling both battlefields

Ruling: There is a battlefield card that causes players to channel an extra rune on their first turn of the game. Sequence: - First player (Kai'Sa) channels 3 runes (2 base + 1 from battlefield) - Second player (Master Yi) channels 4 runes (3 base + 1 from battlefield) Nuances: - This is a battlefield-specific effect, not a core rule - The second player normally channels one more rune than the first player, and the battlefield bonus applies to both players

Ruling: Dreaming Tree only triggers when a spell targets a unit during the targeting step (when the spell is pending). Divine Judgement and similar cards that instruct players to "choose" units do so during the resolution step, not the targeting step, so they do not trigger Dreaming Tree. Sequence: - Targeting happens during the targeting step when a spell/ability is pending - Players choose targets during this step - The spell then resolves - Instructions like "each player chooses" on Divine Judgement happen during resolution, not targeting - Therefore these resolution-time choices don't count as targeting Nuances: - The word "choose" appears in multiple contexts in Riftbound but doesn't always mean "target" - When Dreaming Tree says "choose," it specifically refers to choices made during the targeting step - Costs also use "choose" but don't count as targeting because costs are paid during finalization, not the targeting step - This distinction is confirmed by developer intent, though the rules wording could be clearer

Ruling: Master Yi does not boost the Poro because attackers and defenders are only designated once a combat showdown starts, and a showdown cannot start while there is an item on the chain. Since Falling Star is on the chain when it resolves, the Poro is not yet a defender and does not receive Master Yi's bonus. Sequence: - Falling Star is played and goes on the chain - Falling Star resolves while still on the chain - The Poro is not yet designated as a defender because the showdown has not started - Master Yi's ability does not apply because the Poro is not defending - Falling Star kills the Poro at its base might Nuances: - The player cannot move a unit to the battlefield as a reaction to gain the Master Yi bonus, because showdowns and combats require empty chains - Units only become attackers or defenders when a combat showdown actually starts, not when the battlefield becomes contested

Ruling: Hidden Blade fails to draw cards when its target dies because "its controller" cannot be referenced once the target no longer exists. Discipline still draws a card because it uses "draw 1" (referring to the caster) rather than "its controller" (referring to the target). Nuances: - The difference is in the card text wording: "draw 1" vs "its controller draws 1" - When a card refers to "its controller" (meaning the target's controller), it needs the target to exist to determine who draws - When a card says "draw 1" without reference to the target, the caster draws regardless of whether the target still exists

Ruling: Activated abilities with reaction speed can be used in any reaction speed window, not just during your turn when the chain is empty. The reaction speed designation specifically allows the ability to be used at times beyond the default restriction. Nuances: - The default rule for activated abilities is that they can only be used during your turn when the chain is empty - When an activated ability has reaction speed specified, it overrides this default restriction and allows use in any reaction speed window

Ruling: Red Darius enters untapped when played as the second card because triggered abilities (indicated by "when" or "at") trigger after the event they're looking for has fully resolved. When you play Darius as your second card, he fully resolves and enters the board first, then his ability checks if he was the second card played this turn and triggers. Sequence: - Play Darius as your second card - Darius fully resolves and enters the board - Check for triggered abilities that care about what just happened - Darius' ability sees that a second card was just played (himself) and triggers - Darius enters untapped Nuances: - All triggered abilities with "when" or "at" timing work this way - they check after the event occurs, not during - "Play" abilities trigger after a card has been fully resolved and is on the board

Ruling: When I attack/defend triggers now happen whenever a unit becomes an attacker or defender, not just during the initial declaration phase. When Zenith Blade moves yellow Leona to the battlefield during the Focus window, she becomes an attacker and her 'When I attack' ability triggers. Nuances: - Enemy units that were already declared as defenders earlier do not trigger their 'When I defend' abilities again when a new attacker joins - The Teemo section in the FAQ provides additional clarification on this timing rule

Ruling: Warwick's trigger uses "here" which is a restriction that must be met both when the ability is placed on the chain and when it resolves. If Warwick is removed from the battlefield (moved to trash/hand), there is no longer a "here" location to reference, so the ability resolves but does nothing. Kog'Maw's deathknell uses "my battlefield" instead of "here", which functions differently, though the developers have admitted this isn't well-covered in the current comprehensive rules and will be clarified in version 1.2. Sequence: - When Warwick attacks, his trigger goes on the chain - If Warwick is killed/removed before the trigger resolves, he is no longer at any location on the battlefield - When the trigger resolves, it looks for "here" but Warwick has no "here" anymore - The ability resolves but does nothing because the restriction cannot be met - Kog'Maw's deathknell works because "my battlefield" is treated differently by developer ruling Nuances: - "Here" acts like a pointer that constantly references the unit's current location - If Warwick moves to a different battlefield before his trigger resolves, the trigger will affect the new "here" location - Abilities without locational restrictions (like Traveling Merchant's loot trigger) still resolve fully even if the unit is removed - Kog'Maw's damage occurs after combat healing but before scoring - The "my battlefield" wording needs additional rules support that doesn't currently exist in the comprehensive rules

Ruling: Targets for triggered abilities are chosen when the trigger itself finalizes on the chain, not when the permanent that creates the trigger finalizes. This distinction matters because other triggers can be added to the chain between when a permanent resolves and when its trigger finalizes. Sequence: - A permanent card is played and finalizes - The permanent resolves and may create triggered abilities - If multiple triggers occur simultaneously, they finalize in turn order (turn player first, then next player, etc.) - Each trigger's targets are chosen only when that specific trigger finalizes to the chain - Triggers resolve in reverse order (last finalized resolves first) Nuances: - This primarily matters when playing a permanent on an opponent's turn with a WYPM (When You Play Me) ability, as the opponent may control triggers that finalize before yours, potentially affecting your targeting decisions - On your own turn with a WYPM permanent, there typically cannot be interceding triggers that finalize before your own - The rule prevents players from being locked into targeting choices made during permanent finalization before seeing what other triggers might occur

Ruling: The rune pool empties after the draw phase to prevent potential exploits where players could float resources from exhausting/recycling runes during the Beginning step, then immediately re-channel those runes for excessive resources in a single turn. Sequence: - Rune pool empties after the draw step - Rune pool empties again at end of turn Nuances: - Without this rule, if your rune deck is empty, you could exhaust and recycle two runes for 2 Energy and 2 Power during the Beginning phase, then immediately re-channel those runes and have up to 14 Energy and Power that turn - The rule prevents floating energy to save up for another turn - When you exhaust/recycle runes, resources are added to your "rune pool" and can float temporarily until used or the pool is emptied - Emptying the pool is automatic and different from spending resources down to 0

Ruling: Sett only gets +4 Might from his activated ability, which can only be used during the action phase on his turn with nothing on the chain and no showdown present. When his buff is spent as a cost to play Call to Glory, this does not trigger his ability. Additionally, Call to Glory itself only grants +3 Might and only when it resolves (not when played). Sequence: - Spending the buff is a cost to play Call to Glory and happens when the spell goes on the chain - If Call to Glory is countered (like by Defy), it never resolves - Since Call to Glory didn't resolve, Sett gets no stat bonus from it - Sett's own activated ability cannot be used during showdowns Nuances: - Sett's ability is an activated ability, not a triggered ability that happens whenever a buff is spent - Call to Glory grants +3 Might (not +4) when it resolves - Costs are paid when a spell is played, but effects only happen when it resolves

Ruling: Manufactor (Faithful) is better because it generates a token immediately when played anywhere, while Drummer (Noxian) must be played at your base, wait to ready, then move to a battlefield to trigger its effect. Sequence: - Manufactor: Play to any battlefield → immediately get token - Drummer: Play to base → wait for ready phase → move to battlefield → trigger effect Nuances: - Manufactor offers flexibility to separate the unit and token to different battlefields - Drummer does not trigger its effect if played directly to a battlefield

Ruling: Banishing the card before playing it prevents complications when playing the card needs to be undone (such as when it becomes illegal during finalizing). Without banishing first, it's unclear whether to return the card to the top or bottom of the deck, or shuffle it into recycled cards. Sequence: - Card is banished first - Then the card is played - If playing needs to be undone, the card simply stays in banish Nuances: - Cruel Patron provides an example where you find the card but can't finalize its additional cost, requiring the play to be undone

Ruling: As of version 1.1, you can hide directly from the champion zone. Teemo's ability to move from champion zone to hand exists primarily to obscure whether you're hiding Teemo specifically, making it less obvious which card you're hiding from your hand. Nuances: - The ability was likely designed before hiding from champion zone was allowed in the rules - With current rules, this ability provides minimal benefit beyond obscuring which card is being hidden - Hollowed Tomb is a card that can return units to the champion zone - The champion zone currently functions mainly as where your chosen champion starts until played

Ruling: Yes, a unit with both Skyfall and Trinity equipped will score an additional point on conquest. Equipment abilities are appended to the unit's text, allowing equipment to reference each other. Nuances: - This is different from Svellsongur, which is intended to copy only a unit's printed text, not additions from equipment or other sources - The Svellsongur interaction is a specific text-copying issue that doesn't reflect how equipment generally works - Equipment effect text is appended to the unit's rules text, making the abilities part of what the unit "has"

Ruling: Both Aurora triggers enter the same chain and resolve before any showdown, as showdowns can only start in an open state. You cannot play both units to the same battlefield to start a simultaneous showdown. Sequence: - Both Aurora triggers go on the same chain - First trigger resolves, you play a card (e.g., Deadbloom to a battlefield) - Second trigger resolves, you play another card - If the second card is not a Deadbloom, it must be played to base or a battlefield you control - Since you don't control the battlefield where the Deadbloom was played (it has pending combat), you cannot reinforce there - The second unit must be played elsewhere Nuances: - Showdowns can only be started in an open state, not while a chain is resolving - You don't control a battlefield that has pending combat on it

Ruling: Azir does not have to pay the equip cost. Attach by itself doesn't involve equip cost. Nuances: - Equip is functionally short for "[Cost]: Attach this gear to a unit you control" - Attach is the result of Equip, but attaching does not equal equipping - When a card says "attach" without mentioning equip, no cost is paid

Ruling: No, you must trigger Jinx's beginning step ability before holding. Jinx triggers in the beginning step, while holding happens in the scoring step. Sequence: - Jinx's beginning step trigger resolves first - Then holding occurs in the scoring step Nuances: - This is relevant when Jinx is close to burning out and you want to avoid drawing an extra card - you cannot avoid the trigger by holding first - Temporary units die before they hold for the same reason (beginning step happens before scoring step)

Ruling: No, hidden cards that have a targeting choice must choose from that battlefield when played from hidden. Nuances: - This ruling is confirmed in the FAQ

Ruling: Yes, with the new errata text 'up to one gear', you can play Salvage when there are no gears on the board and still draw 1 card.

Ruling: Not all might reduction spells have been changed. Only some might reduction spells in set 2 do not have the "to minimum 1" clause and can reduce might below 0. There is no mass errata to all might reduction spells. Nuances: - If might is ever below 0, it is treated as 0 for interactive purposes (like dealing damage) - However, the unit actually retains the negative might value for calculation purposes - When might is modified later by other effects, all might alterations are applied together from the base value, effectively treating it as if starting from the negative value - Example: A unit at -4 might (2 base - 6 reduction) that receives +7 might becomes 3 might (2 + 7 - 6 = 3)

Ruling: Zhonya has no constraints and saves the next unit which dies, regardless of where it is on the board. When played from hidden, it works at reaction speed for any unit. Nuances: - You cannot react to a unit dying. You must play Zhonya before the unit is dead, or Zhonya will be trashed along with your hidden cards. - Zhonya resolves instantly as a permanent and cannot be reacted to, though opponents can still react to the effect that would kill the unit.