Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Targets of spells that have resolved earlier in the turn are not public knowledge. Opponents are not required to tell you what a spell targeted after it has resolved. Nuances: - You must answer what spells/abilities resolved this turn and where they were played from - If a spell created ongoing effects still visible in the game state (like a unit still affected by Cleave), that current game state information is public - If the targeted unit is no longer on board or the effect is no longer visible, you don't have to reveal what was targeted - The rules specify "play choices made for them" are public while spells are on the Chain, but this information is no longer public after resolution - Players cannot misrepresent derived information, but also cannot be compelled to provide it

Ruling: There are multiple opportunities to play cards during a showdown. Combat damage only happens when both players pass focus/priority in succession while the stack (chain) is empty. Sequence: - Any "when I move" triggers happen prior to showdown - When a unit moves to a battlefield, an initial chain happens for "when I attack"/"when I defend" triggers (if any exist) - After this resolves, the player contesting maintains focus to play an Action if they want - Priority to play a Reaction passes between players when they pass it (not automatic) - When they pass with the chain empty, the opponent gets focus automatically and can play an Action - If they do, focus returns after that chain resolves - Once both players pass back to back in succession, combat damage happens Nuances: - Focus = opportunity to start a chain during a showdown, sometimes with an Action - Priority = opportunity to add to a chain, must be a Reaction - The initial chain for attack/defend triggers is conditional - if neither player has such triggers, there is no initial chain and the first opportunity is the attacker's focus in the showdown

Ruling: There are currently no official draft rules for Riftbound. Players should use the sealed format rules from the rulebook as a temporary solution until official draft rules are released. Deck Construction (using sealed rules): - 25 card minimum deck - Up to 3 colors allowed - Legend and Champion are optional - If you don't run both Legend and Champion, draw 1 extra card at game start - Champion doesn't need to match the Legend's colors - Unlimited copies of cards allowed Nuances: - Official draft rules are being worked on by the developers - The game is expected to have proper draft rules and draft-focused design by approximately Set 4 - Using sealed rules for draft is a community workaround, not the official method

Ruling: Tokens are not considered "played" when their card type is not a type that gets played. Currently, this applies to token battlefields created when a player concedes in multiplayer games, since battlefields are not played. Nuances: - The rule also covers hypothetical future token runes and token legends - As of now, there are no other tokens besides battlefields that fall into this category

Ruling: Token units are units. A token unit generated by Viktor would enter ready if Sun Disk is active. Sequence: - Play a 2-drop unit to enable Sun Disk - Tap Sun Disk - Tap Viktor Legend to generate a token - The token enters ready due to Sun Disk's effect

Ruling: Units are continuously checked for Attacker/Defender status during a Showdown as part of the Clean-up check. When a unit like Blue Teemo is revealed as a REACTION during an open chain, its Defender trigger goes on top of the current chain. Sequence: - Units entering during a Showdown are checked for Attacker/Defender status during Clean-up - If a unit is revealed as a REACTION while a chain is open, its trigger goes on top of the existing chain - The trigger does not become pending in this scenario Nuances: - Pending status is primarily relevant when something is played while something else resolves (e.g., cards played as part of Promising Future's resolution) - Even pending effects finalize onto the chain on top of any other potential effects already there

Ruling: Yes, you can write down information about your opponent's hand when you see it through effects like Sabotage or Mindsplitter. Nuances: - There is no obligation for a player to show their opponent the notes they've taken

Ruling: Yes, you get another chance to play an action. Combat does not proceed to damage until both players pass in sequence without starting a chain. Sequence: - Attacker passes focus - Defender plays an action (starts a chain) - Chain resolves - Focus passes back to attacker - Attacker can now play an action Nuances: - Both players must pass back-to-back (in sequence) without starting a chain before proceeding to combat damage

Ruling: The first player (Player A) channels two runes and draws a card on their turn. When their turn ends, the second player (Player B) channels three runes (only on their first turn as the second player) and draws a card on their own turn. Players do not draw and channel simultaneously. Sequence: - Player A's first turn: Channel 2 runes, draw 1 card - Player A's turn ends - Player B's first turn: Channel 3 runes, draw 1 card - Subsequent turns follow the ABCD order: Awakening (untap), Beginning phase (hold points, effects), Channel (draw 2 runes), Draw (1 card from main deck) Nuances: - The second player gets 3 runes only on their first turn (as compensation for going second) - Following the ABCD turn order matters for interactions like Temporary cards that die at the start of turn before hold points are scored

Ruling: 'When I attack/defend' abilities resolve during the combat showdown's initial chain, before players can play actions. Units killed by this damage die immediately after the ability resolves during cleanup and do not participate in the subsequent combat damage step. Sequence: - Combat showdown begins when a unit moves to an occupied battlefield - Initial chain triggers all 'when I attack/defend' abilities (attacker triggers, then defender triggers) - These abilities resolve before the attacker gets priority to play actions - Cleanup happens after each ability resolves, removing dead units - After the showdown ends, players play spells and abilities - Combat damage is assigned and applied by surviving units - Combat cleanup occurs (which includes healing all units everywhere) Nuances: - Units moved into combat after the initial chain still trigger their 'when I attack/defend' abilities when assigned attacker/defender designation - A unit can only trigger its attack/defend ability once per combat, even if moved out and back in - Combat cleanup (including healing) happens even if no combat damage is dealt, as long as a combat showdown started - Combat cleanup heals all units everywhere, not just those in combat

Ruling: Buffs can only be spent on your turn, outside of combat/showdown, at base speed. Nuances: - The only exception is if the buff specifically says it can be used as an Action or Reaction

Ruling: Attacker/defender designations are assigned during the cleanup following the move. A unit moving to the battlefield cannot be Gusted based on its attacker/defender status because it's not yet designated as an attacker when the move occurs. Sequence: - Unit moves to the battlefield location - Move trigger goes on the chain (unit is already at the new location) - Attacker/defender designations are assigned during cleanup after the move - Combat showdown begins Nuances: - Moving itself doesn't trigger anything or use the chain; only "on move" effects use the chain - If a unit has an "on move" trigger (like Assault), you can Gust before that trigger resolves, since combat showdown hasn't started yet when the move trigger is on the chain - If the trigger is a "when I attack" trigger, you cannot Gust because the unit would already be in showdown - Passive effects like War Camp apply immediately when the unit arrives at the location, before move triggers resolve

Ruling: Legend abilities follow the same rules as spells regarding timing. If they don't have an "action" or "reaction" tag, they can only be activated during your turn, outside of a showdown. Sequence: - Check if the legend ability has an "action" or "reaction" tag - If no tags are present, it has the slowest activation speed - Activate only during your turn - Cannot activate during a showdown Nuances: - Lee Sin's ability specifically has no action or reaction tags, making it the slowest kind of activation speed

Ruling: Chem-Baroness Renata's second ability becomes active when you have 5 or more points in a game to 8 points. Nuances: - The ability checks your own score, not your opponent's score - The threshold is calculated as: (points needed to win) - 3

Ruling: Pack of Wonders triggers at base speed, which means it can only be activated during your turn when the chain is empty and there is no showdown. Nuances: - Cannot be used as a reaction to opponent's actions - Cannot be used during showdown - Requires completely empty chain (no active effects resolving)

Ruling: Abilities are Focus speed by default, meaning they can only be used during your turn in the Action phase, outside of showdowns. If an ability has the Action keyword, it can also be played during showdowns. If it has the Reaction keyword, it can be played at Reaction speed. Sequence: - By default: Use abilities only during your Action phase on your turn - With Action keyword: Can also use during showdowns - With Reaction keyword: Can use at Reaction speed Nuances: - Signature Spells follow the same rules as regular spells - if they say Action or Reaction, use them at appropriate timing; otherwise they are base speed

Ruling: Between games in a match, battlefields are selected first, then the player who lost the previous round chooses whether to go first or second. Sequence: - Select Legend - Choose Chosen Champion - Select Battlefield - Shuffle Decks - Determine Turn Order (loser of previous round chooses) - Draw Hand - Mulligan - Start First turn Nuances: - The first turn player also draws a card on their first turn - The second turn player gets a third rune on their first turn

Ruling: Acceptable Losses can be played regardless of how many players have gear on the board. Since it does not target gear, you can play it when only your opponent has gear, when only you have gear, or even when no players have gear on the field. Nuances: - Playing it with no gear on field can still be useful for effects that care about playing cards (like activating Legion)

Ruling: Yes, Acceptable Losses can be played even if you don't have gear as long as your opponent does. This works the same way as Cull the Weak. Nuances: - Acceptable Losses and Cull the Weak don't target - All players choose their gear/unit at resolution - Choices are made starting from turn player in turn order

Ruling: Actions can only start chains, whether during a showdown or in the action phase. They cannot be played while there is already a chain in progress. Reactions can either start a chain or be added to an existing chain. Sequence: - An Action card is played to start a chain - Priority passes between players to add Reactions to the chain - When all players pass priority, the top item on the chain (most recently added) resolves - Priority passes again between each resolution as items resolve one by one - Once the Action at the bottom resolves, the chain ends - Focus passes to the other player who may start a new chain with an Action - This continues until all players pass in succession, then combat proceeds Nuances: - The attacker can put multiple reactions on the chain at the start (or an action + reaction) before the defender responds, as long as the cards are timed correctly - Actions can only be used in neutral open or showdown open states, not while a chain exists

Ruling: Action speed spells cannot be played during the initial attack/defend trigger chain. Only Reactions can be played in response to attack/defend triggers. Actions can only be played after all attack/defend triggers have resolved. Sequence: - When a unit moves to a battlefield with an opposing unit, resolve "When I defend" triggers first - Then resolve "When I attack" triggers - During these trigger chains, only Reactions can be played in response - After all triggers resolve, a new window opens where the attacking player can play Actions or Reactions - Then players alternate playing Actions or Reactions until both pass Nuances: - Attack/defend triggers create their own chain separate from the main showdown action window - The attacker gets priority to play Actions first after triggers resolve

Ruling: No, Action-speed spells cannot be used in response to "When I Attack" triggers during the initial chain of a showdown because the initial chain is closed and Action-speed spells can only be used in open chains. Sequence: - When I Attack triggers automatically start the initial chain in a showdown - The initial chain must resolve first - After the initial chain resolves, the chain becomes open and Action-speed spells can be used - As the attacker, the opponent gets the first opportunity to use a spell after the initial chain Nuances: - Reaction-speed spells can be used to react to "When I Attack" triggers when you gain priority - Adding abilities and permanents being played give no priority

Ruling: Yes, Adaptatron can kill an opponent's gear.

Ruling: Ahri's effect triggers every time someone attacks into Ahri's battlefields, and every attacking unit gets -1. The effect does not require tapping and triggers separately for each attacking unit. Sequence: - When a unit attacks into Ahri's battlefields, Ahri's effect triggers - That attacking unit gets -1 - If multiple units attack, the effect triggers once for each attacker - Each trigger can be interacted with separately Nuances: - If a single unit attacks twice in one turn, the effect stacks (the unit would get -1 each time it attacks) - If 5 units attack, Ahri triggers 5 times, once for each individual attacker

Ruling: Yes, Ahri's Alluring ability can score the winning point. Only conquering has restrictions on scoring the final point - any other way of scoring points is unrestricted. Sequence: - You score the point for holding first - Then Ahri's ability triggers and scores its point Nuances: - This is different from conquering, which cannot score the final point - Other abilities like Red Tryndamere can also score the winning point

Ruling: Yes, Akshan can target an equipment that is already attached to another unit, and that equipment will move to Akshan. Sequence: - Target an equipment (even if already attached to another unit) - The equipment detaches from its current unit and attaches to Akshan - When Akshan leaves play, the equipment returns to the player unequipped Nuances: - The equipment becomes unequipped (returns to player) when Akshan leaves, rather than returning to its previous unit

Ruling: Yes, Akshan can steal attached equipment. His trigger makes you gain control of the equipment (you can gain control of attached equipment), then attempts to move it to base (which fails while attached). Sequence: - Akshan's trigger makes you gain control of the equipment - The trigger tries to move it to base (this fails because it's attached) - If it's an equipment, you can choose to attach it to Akshan - If you attach it to Akshan, the equipment moves to his location and becomes attached to him - If you don't attach it to Akshan, the equipment stays attached to its current unit until that unit leaves the board or the equipment becomes unattached, then it will be recalled to your base (assuming Akshan is still on the board so you control it)

Ruling: Ancient Henge can be used during Bullet Time's resolution to pay for the variable cost. You do not need to tap it in advance or declare how much energy you want to convert before resolution. Sequence: - Play Bullet Time - During Bullet Time's resolution, when you need to pay the variable cost - Use Ancient Henge's reaction ability to convert energy to power as needed Nuances: - This works because Ancient Henge is a reaction with an add ability, and it can be used during resolution when Bullet Time requires you to pay a cost - This simplifies energy generation to work 'whenever needed' without keeping reaction windows in mind

Ruling: You can attack with both Anivia and Warwick together. Since their 'When I attack' effects trigger at the same time, the attacker decides the order they resolve in, allowing you to have Anivia damage the enemy board first and then have Warwick kill the damaged units. Sequence: - Declare both Anivia and Warwick as attackers - Both 'When I attack' effects trigger simultaneously - Attacker chooses the order to resolve the triggers - Resolve Anivia's effect first to damage enemy units - Resolve Warwick's effect to kill the damaged units Nuances: - Attacking with Anivia first in a separate combat would not work because damage is healed after combat resolves

Ruling: Yes, Ava can play a hidden card to a battlefield you don't control. You play the hidden card on the battlefield where Ava attacks, not where she hides. Nuances: - You could pay 1 mind, play Hidden Blade from hand, and target a unit at a different battlefield than where Ava is hiding

Ruling: No, Azir must already be on the board to use his Ascendant Action ability. Unlike Shen/Rengar who have Reaction timing (which allows use when played from hand), only Azir's ability has Action timing, not Azir himself. Nuances: - Shen/Rengar work differently because they have Reaction timing on the card itself, allowing their abilities to be used when played from hand during appropriate windows - Azir needs to be on the board (not specifically on the battlefield) before his Action ability can be activated

No. When Azir targets a unit at Vilemaw's Lair, Azir moves to the Lair successfully, but the unit cannot move to base due to Vilemaw's Lair's restriction ('Units can't move from here to base'). The unit's move fails and it stays at Vilemaw's Lair. Azir ends up at the Lair with the unit instead of swapping positions.

Ruling: Baited Hook cannot be used during a showdown because it is base speed, not action speed. Additionally, units can only be played into a battlefield you control, not a contested one. Sequence: - Baited Hook must be used at base speed (outside of showdowns) - Units can only be played to battlefields you control - During a showdown, neither base speed abilities nor playing units into contested battlefields is allowed Nuances: - The illegal play attempted to combine multiple rule violations: using a base speed ability during a showdown and playing a unit into a contested battlefield

Ruling: Yes, you can kill a token with Baited Hook and still resolve playing a unit. Baited Hook looks back at the unit's characteristics before it changed zones and does not care that the token isn't in the trash. Nuances: - Tokens do actually go to trash when killed, they just immediately cease to exist once they arrive there - Cards that move something to a different zone as a cost or effect can "look back" at its characteristics before it changes zones

Ruling: Yes, Bard can move himself when played. The ability says "any number" of units, not "any number of other units," so Bard can include himself in the units he moves.

Ruling: No, you cannot put Beast Below's trigger on the chain if you do not control another friendly unit. To put an object on the chain, valid targets must exist for all required targets. Nuances: - You can still play Beast Below as a unit even if you cannot put its trigger on the chain - This targeting requirement is why Salvage received an errata to allow it to be played even when no gear was on the field

Ruling: No, Bellows Breath cannot target the same unit multiple times. The spell deals 1 damage to up to three different units at the same location, where each target must be a distinct unit (though you can choose fewer than three targets). Nuances: - The wording "Deal 1 to up to three units" means you select up to three different units (X, Y, Z) where some can be null/not selected, but each selected target must be different - This differs from "deal X damage divided among up to Y units" wording (like on Volibear), which would allow targeting a single unit with all the damage - Bellows Breath deals discrete 1-damage instances to separate targets rather than distributing total damage

Ruling: No. Blade Dancer Irelia's legend ability does not "choose" a unit - it only readies a unit. If Irelia, Fervent is already ready, the legend ability cannot target her and will not trigger her +1 might bonus from being chosen. Sequence: (when Irelia is exhausted and you play Discipline targeting her) - Discipline targets Irelia, triggering her +1 might from being chosen - Blade Dancer legend ability triggers, you pay 1 Power to ready Irelia - Irelia gets +1 might from being readied - Discipline resolves and Irelia gets +2 might from the spell Nuances: - The legend ability's "ready a unit" effect does not count as "choosing" that unit - If Irelia is already ready, Blade Dancer cannot ready her again and does not trigger any choose-related effects - Other effects that explicitly "choose" (like Discipline or equipping) do trigger Irelia, Fervent's +1 might bonus

Ruling: Blind Fury can be played during a showdown if you have focus, but it reveals and plays a card from the top of the main deck, not from hidden cards at the showdown battlefield. In a 1v1 game, your opponent reveals the top card of their deck and you play it to your side of the battlefield. Sequence: - Play Blind Fury (requires focus) - Opponent reveals the top card of their deck - You play that revealed card to your side of the battlefield Nuances: - In multiplayer games, you choose which opponent's deck to reveal from and play the card - The card comes from the main deck, not from hidden showdown cards - You play the opponent's card to your own board, not force them to play it on theirs

Ruling: Blitz does not hold in base. You can play Blitz to your base and move him to the battlefield next turn. Sequence: - Play Blitz to base - Next turn, move him to battlefield - He can then attack

Ruling: Yes, Blitzcrank can move enemies from Battlefield to Battlefield. There are no restrictions on the source of his target. Nuances: - Only standard moves have restrictions on moving units between Battlefields - All other moves (like Blitzcrank's ability) just do what they say without additional restrictions - Charm can also move units from Battlefield to Battlefield despite not providing explicit detail

Ruling: Blitzcrank can move any enemy unit to his battlefield regardless of ganking restrictions. Movement restrictions (like ganking requirements) only apply to Standard Moves, not to moves caused by card effects. Nuances: - Standard Moves have specific restrictions: they exhaust units, can only move between base and battlefield unless ganking, and can move multiple units to the same location at once - Effect-based moves (like Blitzcrank's ability or Charm) do not follow Standard Move restrictions - Effect moves don't require a specific name in the rules, though "effect move" is suggested as useful terminology

Ruling: Blitzcrank can be played to a battlefield you already control, which allows his ability to trigger. He can also be played to a battlefield using external effects like Miss Fortune, Buccaneer. Nuances: - You can play units to battlefields you already control - This is the usual way to use Blitzcrank's ability - External effects that play units to battlefields also work

Ruling: Caitlyn's ability can only be used on your turn when she is ready at a battlefield, the opponent has a unit on the other battlefield, and no showdown or chain is happening. Nuances: - All conditions must be met simultaneously: it must be your turn, Caitlyn must be ready at a battlefield, an opponent unit must be at the other battlefield, and no showdown or chain can be in progress.

Ruling: You cannot respond to becoming an attacker or defender because it is not a trigger. However, you can respond to Miss Fortune's on-move trigger (which happens before combat begins) to play Gust on the Poro, but this requires having an already-ready rune available. Sequence: - Miss Fortune moves to battlefield - Miss Fortune's on-move trigger goes on chain (readies a rune) - Players can respond to this trigger (this is when you could play Gust if you had a ready rune) - Trigger resolves - Combat begins and units become attackers/defenders - "When I attack" and "when I defend" triggers go on chain (units are already designated at this point) Nuances: - The rune readied by Miss Fortune's on-move trigger cannot be used to pay for Gust during the response window to that same trigger, since it hasn't resolved yet - You would need a different already-ready rune to make this play work

Ruling: Cemetery Attendant can return champion units because champion units are units. Nuances: - Champion units fall under the broader category of "units" for card effects

Ruling: Chain Items cannot be resolved during combat cleanup. Items like Deathknell can trigger during the cleanup but only finalize and resolve after the entire cleanup is complete. Sequence: - Combat cleanup occurs (including special cleanup) - Step 440.1.b (clear contested) executes - Priority is not passed until the Execute step, which happens after cleanup - Only after all cleanup steps are finished can reactions resolve Nuances: - There is no priority window between cleanup steps, even though 440.1.b appears after the "invoke special cleanup" step in the rules - The entire combat cleanup (including clearing contested) must complete before any actions can be performed - The rules could be clearer by explicitly including the "clear contested" step as part of the special cleanup formatting

Ruling: Charm cannot be played on the chain in response to Hidden Blade because Charm is neither an action nor a reaction card. Only reactions can be played on the same chain. Nuances: - If Charm were legal to play on the chain, it would start a new chain and the first chain (with Hidden Blade) would resolve first before Charm's chain begins - Once a hidden card is revealed and played on the chain, it is no longer nullified by losing control of the battlefield where it was hidden - Hidden spells implicitly have "here" added to all their targets, meaning they can only target the battlefield where they are hidden, not other battlefields - Hidden Blade played from hand can target any battlefield, but when hidden it can only target units at the battlefield where it is hidden

Ruling: Yes, Charm can move an enemy unit from anywhere on the board (including from another battlefield) to a battlefield you occupy to force a showdown, and this makes the opponent the attacker. Sequence: - Use Charm to move the enemy unit to your battlefield - A showdown is forced - The opponent becomes the attacker in this showdown Nuances: - Ganking restrictions only apply to Standard Moves, not to moves caused by card effects like Charm - You cannot move an enemy unit to your base (only between battlefields or from base to battlefield) - Charm is considered one of the best cards in the game, especially in Master Yi, largely because of this interaction

Ruling: Charm can move an enemy unit to any legal location, including the owner's base or between battlefields, as long as the unit is not moved to your own base. Nuances: - If the unit has a different controller than its owner, the owner's base is off limits (units can only be in their controller's base) - If you use Charm to move a unit to base from a battlefield that says "can't move to base," the effect whiffs because "can't" beats "can," but the unit is still a valid target