Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: You can only save a unit by spending a buff that is on that specific unit. You cannot spend a buff from a different unit to save another unit. Nuances: - The key phrasing is "spend its buff" (must be the unit's own buff) versus "spend a buff" (which would allow spending any buff on a unit you control)

Ruling: No, you can only spend one buff to draw one card when you conquer with Monastery of Hirana. Sequence: - The triggered ability triggers once when you conquer - You may spend a single buff as part of that one trigger - You draw one card Nuances: - Even if you have multiple units with buffs, the ability only triggers once per conquer and allows spending only one buff ("a buff", not "buffs")

Ruling: No, you cannot spend the buff from Showstopper on Sett Brawler before moving him into a battlefield because you would be trying to do that during Showstopper's effects.

Ruling: Yes, you can still do the Zhonya's interaction after the rules update. The ruling for this situation remains the same despite the rules being rewritten more cleanly.

Ruling: Yes, you can stun units in bases. Whether you can target enemy units specifically depends on the exact wording of the ability or spell. Sequence: - If the ability says "Stun an enemy unit" - you can target any enemy unit including those in bases - If the ability says "Stun an enemy unit at a battlefield" - you cannot target units in bases - If the ability says "Stun a unit" (without specifying enemy) - you can target any unit including friendly units Nuances: - Abilities that say "stun a unit" without specifying enemy can target friendly units - If an ability says "stun a unit" and only friendly units are on the board, you must stun a friendly unit

Ruling: A unit that is already stunned cannot be stunned again. Nuances: - You can target already stunned units with stun effects, but the additional stun won't do anything - The rest of the effect (beyond the stun) will still resolve normally

Ruling: No, you cannot stun units that are already stunned. However, you can still target stunned units with stun effects. Nuances: - You can target already-stunned units with stun effects, but the stun won't apply - Effects that trigger on stunning a unit (like Leona) will not trigger when the stun effect resolves on an already-stunned unit

Ruling: You cannot use standard moves to move units to a battlefield once a showdown has started. You must move multiple units at once before the showdown begins if you want them both there. Nuances: - You can still move units to a battlefield during a showdown using spells that move units, just not standard moves - You can play units to a battlefield during a showdown if you already control that battlefield (usually when defending) AND the unit has action/reaction itself (like Shen) or you play it via another action/reaction (like Stacked Deck revealing Nocture) - A showdown happens whenever a unit is moved to a battlefield the unit's owner doesn't control - this can happen multiple times during a turn - Showdowns can also happen in the end phase (e.g., if you draw Deadbloom from Aurora and play it to an enemy battlefield)

Ruling: Yes, you can summon units to your base and move them to battlefields after a showdown ends. A showdown does not end your turn, and you can perform any legal actions after it concludes. Sequence: - A showdown occurs when a unit moves to a battlefield it doesn't control - During the showdown, you cannot play base speed cards (like most units) - After the showdown ends, you can resume playing base speed cards - You can summon units to your base and then move them to battlefields - Multiple showdowns can happen in a single turn Nuances: - There are no fixed "steps" to the Action Phase - you can perform legal actions in any order you desire - Base speed cards can only be played during your turn when there is no showdown or chain happening - You can move units to the same battlefield multiple times in a turn if you have ready units available - Moving a unit only requires it to be ready (not exhausted) - no runes needed for the move itself

Ruling: Yes, you can tap 1 rune to pay for Acceleration and use that same rune for the recycling cost.

Ruling: Yes, you can exhaust two runes for energy, recycle one of those exhausted runes to play Seal, then use the floating energy to play Noxus Hopeful. Energy and power remain in your pool until used or until the end of turn/end of draw phase. Sequence: - Exhaust two runes to add 2 energy to your pool - Recycle one of the exhausted runes to add power to your pool - Use the power to play Seal (which gives you LEGION) - Use the 2 floating energy to play Noxus Hopeful (which now costs 2 energy due to LEGION discount) Nuances: - Energy and power pools empty at the end of turn and end of draw phase - Energy remains in your pool during showdowns and throughout the turn - You can float both energy (from exhausting runes) and power (from recycling runes) - Playing Seal this way means you lose one energy on your next turn (as you recycled a rune)

Ruling: Yes, you can tap 1 energy to use Hextech Ray and then tap Kaisa Daughter of the Void to pay for the power cost instead of recycling the red rune.

Ruling: No, Viktor's ability cannot be used as a defensive action during a showdown because it does not have the 'Action' tag. Nuances: - The ability allows adding a token to a battlefield you control, but the lack of an 'Action' tag means it cannot be used mid-showdown

Ruling: Yes, you can play both cards in this sequence. Energy and power exist in separate pools that persist during your turn. Sequence: - Tap Fury Rune for Energy (Energy goes into your energy pool) - Recycle Fury Rune for power - Play Seal of Rage using the power - Use the Energy from Fury Rune (still in your pool) plus Chaos Rune to play Vi, Destructive

Ruling: You can tap a resource to add energy/power as a reaction, and it cannot be responded to. However, this is effectively pointless because priority passes to the opponent after it resolves, allowing them to play reactions anyway - the same outcome as if you hadn't done it. Sequence: - Player taps resource to add energy/power as a reaction - This ability is added to the chain and cannot be responded to - The ability resolves - Priority passes to the opponent - Opponent can continue adding to the chain Nuances: - The "unreactable" nature of adding energy/power doesn't prevent the opponent from playing reactions afterward - they simply aren't reacting to the resource tap itself, but can still add to the chain - A player can use any amount of reactions before passing priority - You can force a cleanup with this, but that's about the only purpose

Ruling: Yes, you can exert a rune to add energy to your pool, then recycle that same tapped rune to generate power for another card, and still use the floated energy later in the turn. The rune pool persists throughout your turn and only empties after you draw for turn and at end of turn. Sequence: - Tap a rune to add energy to your pool - Recycle that tapped rune to pay for a card's power cost - The energy remains in your pool to spend later in the turn Nuances: - This is a major difference from Magic: The Gathering - you maintain a bank of energy for the entire turn since there is no specific order/phase structure to a turn - The rune pool empties at two specific times: after you draw for turn and at end of turn

Ruling: Yes, this is a valid play. Resources float for your entire turn, so you can tap all runes first, then use Miss Fortune's ability to ready a rune and tap it again, accumulating enough resources to play a 10-cost card as long as you don't spend the resources elsewhere. Sequence: - Tap all 9 runes for resources - Move Miss Fortune to ready a rune - Tap the readied rune for an additional resource - Play the 10-cost Volibear using the accumulated resources

Ruling: No, you cannot recycle runes and then channel them for extra mana in the same turn because the mana pool empties after the draw step. Sequence: - Mana pool empties after draw - Any mana generated before draw is lost - Recycled runes would need to be channeled in a later turn

Ruling: Yes, you can tap runes for energy at Reaction speed during an opponent's turn, and that energy will float until the turn ends. Nuances: - There is generally no strategic reason to float energy preemptively since having readied runes provides the same bluffing potential - Floating energy only matters if you need to pay power but only have readied runes available (as of the current rules)

Ruling: No, you cannot target 2 units at the same location with Dragon's Rage and make them hit each other. Nuances: - Move effects require movement between two different locations

Ruling: No, you cannot target a unit with 4 might with Gust. The 3 might restriction is a targeting restriction, and the target must be valid at the time of playing Gust. Nuances: - This means you cannot use Gust on your own 4+ might unit (like Irelia) as a way to trigger other effects while having no effect on the unit itself.

Ruling: You can target a hidden card if the spell allows targeting "facedown cards," but you cannot target a hidden card with a spell that specifically targets "unit" or "gear" because a facedown card is not a unit or gear for targeting purposes. Nuances: - A facedown card exists in a public zone and is publicly visible as a facedown card - "Unit" and "gear" refer to objects on the Board unless specified otherwise - "Facedown card" refers to a card in a Facedown Zone unless specified otherwise - The FAQ is retired and patch notes are not rules text

Ruling: You can target stunned units with Facebreaker, but stunning an already stunned unit does not trigger effects that require a unit to become stunned (like Leona's ability). Nuances: - You can use Facebreaker multiple times on the same unit to stun multiple different attackers - Applying stun to an already stunned unit does not count as "becoming stunned" for trigger purposes

Ruling: Yes, you can target units that are not at the active showdown with action cards. Nuances: - Cards played from hidden can only target units at the battlefield they were hidden at - Units from different battlefields can be made to fight each other using action cards

Ruling: A stunned unit is a legal target for Face Breaker and other stun effects. Nuances: - You won't get any "when you stun" triggers if the unit is already stunned

Ruling: You can target an already stunned unit with Zenith Blade and still get the move effect, but Radiant Dawn will not trigger because the stun part resolves without doing anything (the unit is already stunned). Nuances: - Triggers that require a target to be stunned won't activate if the unit is already stunned

Ruling: No, you cannot target the champion in the champion zone because the champion zone is not on the board; it is specifically a non-board zone. Nuances: - While the champion zone is a public zone and contains a permanent, it being a non-board zone prevents it from being targeted by effects that target units on the board.

Ruling: No, you cannot target units with 5 or more Might with Fox Fire. All targeted units must be valid targets (total Might ≤4) at the time of activation, and you need at least one valid target to play the spell. Nuances: - You cannot activate Fox Fire if your opponent controls no units with 4 Might or less - You cannot mix valid and invalid targets (e.g., a 1 Might unit and a 5 Might unit together) - All original targets must have a combined total Might of 4 or less when the spell is put on the chain

Ruling: You can target units anywhere on the board with Challenge, and it does not start a showdown. The only way to respond is by casting a reaction while Challenge is on the chain. Nuances: - Damage dealt by Challenge persists on units unless healed - A unit's might value does not decrease when it takes damage; it still deals full might damage in showdowns - A unit dies when its current damage equals or exceeds its might value

Ruling: Yes, you can target your teammate's unit with Flash. When a unit is instructed to move "to base" without further specification, it moves to its controller's base, not the spell caster's base. Sequence: - Flash can target up to 2 friendly units (including teammate's units in 2v2) - Each targeted unit moves to its own controller's base - Your units go to your base, teammate's units go to their base Nuances: - The templating "to base" is ambiguous but interpreted as "to their respective bases" - This triggers abilities like Traveling Merchant that care about moving to base - This is consistent with Portal Rescue being errata'd to prevent stealing teammate's units - The lack of errata on Flash (unlike The Syren and Unforgiven which specify "its base") suggests the current templating is intentional

Ruling: No, you cannot trigger Candlelit Sanctum before Traveling Merchant's discard and draw effect. Traveling Merchant's ability triggers when he moves, which occurs before he might conquer. Sequence: - Traveling Merchant's ability triggers when he moves - The discard and draw effect resolves - Conquest (and Candlelit Sanctum trigger) happens after movement

Ruling: No, you cannot trigger deathknell and save the unit with Zhonya's. Zhonya's is a replacement effect that prevents the unit from dying, so deathknell (which only triggers after the unit dies) never triggers. Nuances: - During a contested showdown, you can now wait to play a hidden Zhonya's after a deathknell trigger resolves (since you retain battlefield control during showdowns), allowing you to save the Zhonya's itself rather than being forced to use it or lose it - Outside of a contested showdown, when a unit dies you immediately lose battlefield control, so hidden cards are trashed in the same cleanup - this is a "save or die" situation with no option to preserve the Zhonya's - The ability to save Zhonya's during showdowns only works if the battlefield is contested; it does not work against removal spells outside of combat

Ruling: Yes, you can unhide multiple hidden cards at reaction speed, including cards from battlefields that are not being attacked. Each unhide is a separate reaction that can be chained together. Nuances: - When unhiding a card from a different battlefield (not the one being attacked), any targeting choices will be restricted to only that battlefield where the hidden card was located

Ruling: No, you cannot use Arena Bar during a Showdown to put a buff token on a unit conquering Monastery of Hirana because Arena Bar does not have the Reaction or Action keyword, so it cannot be played during a Showdown. Sequence: - A unit conquers Monastery of Hirana during a Showdown - Monastery's effect requires the unit to have a buff token when it conquers to draw a card - Arena Bar cannot be played at this timing because it lacks the Reaction or Action keyword needed to play cards during Showdowns - Therefore, you cannot add the buff token in time to get the draw

Ruling: No, you cannot get the full Baited Hook effect if you save the unit with Sett. Baited Hook references the might of the killed unit, and saving the unit means there is no killed unit. Sequence: - You will look at 5 cards - No might can be defined (since no unit was killed) - You'll recycle all the cards looked at Nuances: - This works differently than Hidden Blade, which still lets you draw 2 if the unit gets saved

Ruling: Yes, you can use Baited Hook to play Kai'sa ignoring her base cost, then pay her Accelerate cost (Tap 1 and recycle one) to have her enter ready. Sequence: - Baited Hook allows you to ignore Kai'sa's base cost - As you finalize Kai'sa to the chain (before she's on the board), you can pay the Accelerate cost - If you pay the Accelerate cost, she will enter ready

Ruling: No, you cannot interrupt Baited Hook's resolution with Altar of Souls. When Baited Hook kills a unit, Altar triggers as pending on the chain but must wait until Baited Hook completely finishes resolving before Altar can resolve. Sequence: - Activate Baited Hook (pay costs), the ability goes onto the chain and finalizes (choose which unit to kill but don't kill it yet) - Reaction opportunity - Baited Hook resolves: kill the unit - Altar triggers and goes onto the chain as pending - Baited Hook continues resolving: look at top 5 cards, choose a unit, banish it, then play that unit - The unit goes onto the chain as pending, on top of Altar - Finish resolving Baited Hook by recycling the other cards - Finalize Altar on the chain - Finalize the chosen unit on the chain (choose location, potentially pay additional costs) - The unit immediately resolves - Reaction opportunity on Altar's effect - Altar resolves: choose whether to exhaust it to do its effect or not Nuances: - Altar is only exhausted when it resolves, not when it triggers - The unit from Baited Hook is banished due to Baited Hook errata

Ruling: Yes, you can respond to the Fortified Positions battlefield trigger with Cannon Barrage to kill the unit before it gains shield. The battlefield trigger that grants shield goes on the chain when combat begins, and you can play a reaction when you have priority. Sequence: - Move occurs - Passive abilities turn on - Combat triggers (including Fortified Positions) go on the chain - Players can respond with reactions like Cannon Barrage Nuances: - Shield itself is a passive ability, but the trigger that grants shield is a triggered ability you can respond to - If a unit already has shield as a baseline ability before combat (not from a trigger), you cannot respond to kill it since there's no trigger to respond to - The showdown starting happens in the cleanup after the move, unless there is a move trigger

Ruling: Yes, you can move a unit without Ganking to another battlefield using Charm. Nuances: - Movement restrictions (like requiring Ganking to move between battlefields) only apply to standard moves - If a card effect wants movement restrictions to apply, it will specify that in the effect text

Ruling: No, you cannot use Defy on Falling Star. A card must meet both conditions (no more than 4 memory AND no more than 1 recycled rune) to be eligible for Defy. Nuances: - The use of "and" means both requirements must be satisfied, not just one - Falling Star meets the memory requirement but fails the recycled rune requirement

Ruling: Yes, you can Defy Hextech Ray. Only the printed cost is checked for Defy, and Kai'sa's power-generating ability resolves before Hextech Ray is played, so they are never on the chain together. Sequence: - Kai'sa's ability that adds resources resolves - Hextech Ray is played using those resources - You can react with Defy to Hextech Ray on the chain Nuances: - There is no chain blocking in Riftbound - you can Defy anything on the chain that is Defy-able regardless of its position - Abilities that add resources resolve instantly and can be used any time a card asks you to pay resources - Abilities that add resources can be used before, during, or after finalization/resolution - Reminder text is not rules text and should not be treated as such - Some abilities with the reaction tag (like Malzahar Fanatic) cannot be used during the playing of something

Ruling: No, you cannot use Defy on Sky Splitter even if its cost is reduced to 4 or less. Defy looks at the printed energy cost, not the modified cost. Nuances: - This same principle applies to other cost-reduction interactions - for example, Kai'sa cannot cast Sky Splitter from trash for a value of 2 even though Sky Splitter's cost can be reduced.

Ruling: You cannot Defy a Bullet Time after the opponent has paid power for it. Paying power is part of Bullet Time's effect, and once the power is paid, it is too late to Defy. Sequence: - Bullet Time must be Defied before the opponent pays any power - Once power is paid, Defy can no longer be used - If Defied before power is paid, the opponent does not need to pay any power

Ruling: Yes, you can use Defy on a spell targeting a unit with Deflect. When an effect checks a card's cost, it only checks the printed cost, not any additional costs from keywords like Deflect. Nuances: - Deflect is considered a "mandatory additional cost" but does not change the printed cost of a card - You cannot Defy a card that has a high printed cost even if it was played for less due to cost reduction effects

Ruling: Yes, you can Defy Bullet Time. Defy only looks at the printed energy and power cost in the upper left corner of the card, not any additional costs paid during resolution. Sequence: - Bullet Time is cast and goes on the chain - Defy can target it based on its printed cost (0 energy, 0 power) - If Defy is used, Bullet Time is countered and the caster doesn't have to recycle any power - If Bullet Time resolves without being countered, then the caster pays power during resolution (at which point it's too late to Defy) Nuances: - The "pay any amount of power" text on Bullet Time is not a cost, it's part of what the card does during resolution - Defy always cares about the printed cost on the card, not modified costs (this also applies to interactions like Deflect)

Ruling: No, Defy cannot target Shen. Shen is a unit, not a spell, and Defy can only target spells. Nuances: - Even though Shen is played at reaction speed, it is still a unit card and therefore not a valid target for Defy

Ruling: No, you cannot use Dragon's Rage between 2 units in the same location. The ability requires you to move a unit, and it cannot stay at the same place. Nuances: - Units cannot use the move action to move from battlefield to battlefield without ganking - Abilities like Dragon's Rage and Charm can move units anywhere (unlike the normal move action) - You can play units directly to a battlefield you control

Ruling: Yes, you can use Dragon's Rage to move an enemy unit even if there is no other enemy unit at the new location. The only initial target required is an enemy unit to be moved. If there is no target for the reflexive trigger (another enemy unit at the destination), then that part of the effect simply won't happen.

Ruling: No, you cannot use Dragon's Rage to move an enemy unit to a battlefield where their teammate is already present. Teammates cannot both occupy the same battlefield, and no more than two people can have units at a battlefield. The target would need to be rechosen because it would result in an illegal gamestate. Nuances: - Even if one unit would die as a result of Dragon's Rage, the move still cannot go through because the unit needs to be able to legally 'land' at the location when it moves - Dragon's Rage does two things (damage and movement), and both must be legal - The same restriction applies to other movement effects like Charm

Ruling: Yes, you can move an enemy unit to its controller's base with Dragon's Rage. A base is a valid location to which units can move, and Dragon's Rage doesn't restrict the effect to battlefields only. Nuances: - The ability does not restrict movement to only battlefields, so bases are valid targets for the forced movement