Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Yes, the triggered ability still resolves even if the unit is no longer at its destination or has been moved to a non-board zone. Triggers are evaluated when their condition is fulfilled and go on the chain; once on the chain, the trigger resolves regardless of whether the condition is still true. Sequence: - Unit moves, triggering the "When I move..." ability - Trigger goes on the chain - Even if the unit is moved again or removed before the trigger resolves, the trigger still resolves Nuances: - The trigger will fail to resolve properly only if the effect itself requires information about the unit that can no longer be determined (e.g., "draw a card for each friendly unit here" when "here" is undefined because the unit is no longer on board) - Triggers that simply say "When I move..." without requiring location-dependent information will resolve normally - All chain items check legality both when added to the chain and when they resolve, but this applies to the effect's requirements, not the trigger condition itself

Ruling: No, abilities that trigger when a unit attacks/defends alone do not trigger if the unit becomes alone after already gaining the attacker/defender designation with other units. Sequence: - The unit must simultaneously gain the attacker/defender designation AND be the only unit at the battlefield for the trigger condition to be met - If a unit gains the attacker/defender designation while not alone, the trigger condition is not satisfied - If another unit is later removed, making it alone, the condition does not retroactively trigger because the unit already has the attacker/defender designation Nuances: - This is different from general "when I attack" or "when I defend" triggers, which only occur once per showdown regardless of other circumstances - All conditions of a trigger must be satisfied simultaneously for it to evaluate

Ruling: Once a triggered or activated ability has been put on the chain, it resolves regardless of whether its source permanent is still alive. Nuances: - If the ability references characteristics of its source (e.g., "deal damage equal to my might"), the ability still resolves but won't do anything because the unit is no longer there and its characteristics can't be referenced.

Ruling: All units everywhere heal their damage after a combat showdown resolves, not just the units involved in that combat. Sequence: - When a showdown resolves, all damaged units (anywhere on the board) heal - This healing occurs after any combat showdown during a turn - Units damaged by spells outside of showdowns also heal after any subsequent combat showdown that same turn - If no combat showdown occurs, spell-damaged units heal at end of turn Nuances: - Units damaged by spells outside of showdowns don't heal immediately - they heal after the next combat showdown or at end of turn, whichever comes first

Ruling: Yes, all units heal after a combat concludes and at the end of turn. Nuances: - Units heal even if they were not involved in the combat - You can heal damaged units by invoking a combat with other units

Ruling: All units everywhere heal at the end of a combat showdown or end of turn. Units do not heal after a non-combat showdown. Sequence: - A unit can take damage from a challenge - If another unit initiates a combat showdown (not involving the damaged unit), the damaged unit still heals at the end of that showdown - The healed unit can then participate in a subsequent showdown at full health (if readied or moved by an effect) Nuances: - Only combat showdowns trigger healing for all units; non-combat showdowns do not trigger healing

Ruling: The last point restrictions only affect scoring from battlefields. Other sources of points (like Yasuo Windrider and Ahri Alluring) are not prevented by these restrictions and can score the winning point directly. Nuances: - The restriction requiring control of both battlefields or holding only applies to battlefield scoring - Alternate scoring effects function as direct paths to victory, not just accelerators

Ruling: Battlefield effects are symmetric and affect both players equally at all times, regardless of who controls the battlefield. The controller of the battlefield controls its abilities, but the abilities still trigger for non-controlling players. Nuances: - Whether a battlefield ability requires control depends on whether the ability text references "you" (the controller). Void Gate has no such reference, so it works for both players. - A recent patch clarified that control of a battlefield establishes control of its abilities, but this doesn't prevent non-controllers from being affected by or utilizing those abilities. - Example: Icathian Rain targeting units on an opponent-controlled Void Gate would deal 6x3 damage.

Ruling: Battlefields that say "you" only have their effects work if the player who triggers them controls the battlefield. In most cases, battlefield effects only work for the player controlling the battlefield. Nuances: - The Dreaming Tree is an exception that was errated - an attacking player draws if they play a spell targeting one of their attacking units, even though they don't control the battlefield yet - The Dreaming Tree's wording didn't match the original design intent, making it an exception to the general rule

Ruling: No, Unchecked Power does not trigger Deflect because it does not target. Cards that deal damage to all enemies do not "choose" targets, so they bypass Deflect's targeting requirement.

Ruling: Facedown cards at a battlefield do not take damage from effects like Firestorm or Tibbers. A facedown card is not actually on the board and is not even a unit until it is played to that battlefield. Nuances: - Facedown cards are technically in the "facedown zone" of that battlefield, not at the battlefield itself - If a unit is face-up at the battlefield (already played), it will take damage from these effects - Facedown cards can be played from the facedown zone for 0 energy as a reaction, and units must be played to the corresponding battlefield

Ruling: Yes, you still score (conquer) the battlefield even at 7 points; you just draw a card instead of gaining the final point. Cards that trigger on scoring/conquering will still activate. Sequence: - Win combat on a battlefield you haven't scored this turn - You score (conquer) the battlefield - Instead of gaining the 8th point, you draw a card - Cards that trigger on scoring/conquering activate Nuances: - You must not have already scored that specific battlefield this turn for the scoring to occur - At 7 points, if you would score on multiple battlefields, you draw a card for each instead of gaining points

Ruling: Cards with delayed triggers do not enter the chain twice. The card itself goes on the chain once when played, and when it resolves it creates a delayed trigger that separately goes on the chain later. Sequence: - The card (e.g., Imperial Decree or Targon's Peak) is played to the chain - When it resolves, it goes to the trash - The delayed trigger it creates goes on the chain separately (e.g., at end of turn) Nuances: - Triggered ability phrases like "when" and "at the end of turn" don't always appear at the beginning of card text, but they still indicate triggered abilities that will create chain links

Ruling: No cards ever get replaced when played. You can have as many copies of a card in play as you like, regardless of whether they share the same name or are champions. Nuances: - While you can have multiple copies in play, you can only include three copies of any card in your original deck construction.

Ruling: No, units do not heal after combat or at end of turn. This effect is not a combat effect. Nuances: - Healing after challenges is not an automatic game mechanic - Challenge resolution does not trigger healing

Ruling: Passive abilities check constantly, including during the resolution of spells and abilities. Sequence: - When a spell begins resolving that changes game state (like drawing cards) - Passive abilities immediately recognize those state changes - The passive ability applies before the spell finishes resolving Nuances: - In the first example (Draw 2, Deal 1 damage to all units), the unit gains +1 Might from drawing cards before damage is dealt, so it survives with 2 Might - In the second example (Draw 2, Kill all units with 1 or less Might), the unit gains +1 Might from drawing cards before the kill effect checks, so it survives with 2 Might - There was initially no direct rule in the CRD addressing this, but it was confirmed that passive abilities check constantly

Ruling: Conquer abilities do not trigger when you already held/conquered that battlefield. Conquering is specifically a form of scoring, and you cannot score a battlefield again if you already scored it this turn. Sequence: - You can only score a battlefield once per turn - Conquering requires scoring - If you cannot score (because you already did), you cannot conquer - If you cannot conquer, conquer abilities do not trigger Nuances: - You still gain control of the battlefield, but without scoring you cannot conquer - Scoring includes both conquering and holding; inability to score means inability to do either

Ruling: You score and conquer at the same time, then conquer triggers happen as a result. The player scores first (gaining the point), which satisfies the conquer condition, and then triggered effects from conquering occur. Sequence: - Player conquers and scores simultaneously - Conquer triggers (like Candlelit Sanctum's effect) happen after scoring - Player can use the conquered battlefield's triggered effect Nuances: - Conquer is defined as scoring from taking control of a battlefield, so scoring must happen to meet the trigger condition - Scoring itself is not a triggered event and does not go on the chain - You only get conquer effects when you score; moving away from a battlefield you already scored and returning does not trigger conquer effects again

Ruling: No, conquer effects do not trigger if the unit dies during the showdown. You don't conquer until you establish control, which happens after the showdown or combat ends, so if the unit dies before that point it is no longer on the board to see the conquer. Sequence: - Showdown or combat occurs - Unit with conquer ability may die during this phase - Control is established after showdown/combat ends - Conquer effects trigger only if the unit is still on the board at this point

Ruling: Yes, cost reductions apply to additional costs. Kraken Hunter's power cost reduction from spending buffs can be applied when using Accelerate, effectively changing the card to a 4 Energy 3 Power card. Sequence: - Additional optional costs get added to the Total Cost - Cost reductions are then applied to that Total Cost

Ruling: Countered cards do not count as being played. Cards only count as played once they have fully resolved, not when they are put onto the chain. Nuances: - There is no "on cast" concept in Riftbound - Countered cards started the process of being played but were cancelled partway through - The distinction between "play" and "played" is grammatical (present vs past tense), not mechanical - both require full resolution

Ruling: Countered spells and spells affected by Mystic Reversal do not count as played for Legion effects or similar triggers. Legion looks at resolution to establish if you played a card. Nuances: - This applies to both hard counters (like Defy or Wind Wall) and Mystic Reversal - The spell must resolve to count as played for these effects

Ruling: Discretionary actions do not pass priority. Priority is only passed during showdowns and when entering a chain. Nuances: - Discretionary actions themselves do not create a closed game state or chain upon their resolution - Moving units with a standard move does not open a chain - Moving units to a battlefield does not create a closed state, but it can create a showdown state

Ruling: Effects that modify stats "this turn" only affect units that are on the board when the effect resolves. Units that enter the board after resolution are not affected. Sequence: - The effect resolves and applies to all units currently on the board - Units summoned after resolution do not receive the modification - Exception: Units that enter the board before resolution (such as by reacting to a trigger) are affected Nuances: - This is generally true for all cards without a permanent (continuous) ability - If a card works differently, it would have very specific wording, such as: "All friendly units gain +5 might this turn and for the rest of this turn, when you summon a unit it gains +5 might until the end of this turn" - Imperial Decree is mentioned as an exception to this general rule

Ruling: Playing a gear card does start a chain, but if it's a permanent, no player receives priority before it resolves. Activated abilities of gears also start a chain. Sequence: - When you play a gear permanent, it starts a chain - The permanent resolves without players receiving priority - When you activate an ability on a gear, it starts a chain with normal priority

Ruling: Once cards are hidden at a battlefield, they can only target things at that specific battlefield. Nuances: - Zhonya's is an exception where rules-as-written currently allows it to protect all friendly units globally even when played from hidden, but rules-as-intended is that it should only affect units at the battlefield it was played from - The Zhonya's interaction is acknowledged as not matching intended design and may be clarified in future rules updates

Ruling: Hidden cards do not count as played when you hide them on the battlefield. They count as played only when you later activate them from hidden. Sequence: - When you hide a card on the battlefield, it is not played at that moment - When you later flip and activate a hidden card, that is when it counts as played Nuances: - Cards can be played from hidden, but the act of hiding them does not count as playing them

Ruling: Hidden cards do not have an exhausted or ready state while hidden. When you play a unit from hidden, it enters play following standard rules—meaning it enters exhausted unless otherwise stated, just like playing from hand. Sequence: - While hidden, cards are not considered played yet and have no ready/exhausted quality - Hidden cards are not affected by awaken steps or other effects - When you play/reveal the hidden card, it follows normal play rules at that time - Units played from hidden enter exhausted (unless an effect states otherwise) Nuances: - The physical orientation (vertical/horizontal) of hidden cards doesn't matter as long as it's clear there is a hidden card and which battlefield it belongs to - Most players hide cards in an exhausted orientation to save space, but this is not required

Ruling: All hidden cards receive the additional targeting restriction of "Here" (meaning they must target at their own battlefield), except for Tideturner which cannot target at its own location due to errata. Nuances: - The targeting restriction is not printed on the cards themselves but is added by the rules when cards become hidden - Tideturner is the sole exception to this rule

Ruling: No, hidden cards do not remain on battlefields where you no longer have units. Hidden cards are removed from battlefields that do not have a unit controlled by the same player present and are placed in their owner's trash. Sequence: - Check if a hidden card is on a battlefield - Check if that battlefield has a unit controlled by the same player who controls the hidden card - If no unit is present, remove the hidden card and place it in the owner's trash

Ruling: Yes, hidden units enter play exhausted when you react with them from hidden. Nuances: - All units enter play exhausted, including tokens, unless otherwise stated

Ruling: Yes, triggered abilities always start a chain regardless of the source, including legend abilities. You can play a reaction spell in response to a legend's triggered ability. Sequence: - Legend's triggered ability activates - Ability goes on the chain - Players can respond with reaction spells or other effects

Ruling: Legend cards are always active from the start of the game at no cost. The symbols at the top left show the color identity for deck building purposes. Sequence: - Legends are active from the start of the game - No payment or playing action is required Nuances: - The color symbols on legends determine deck color identity, not a casting cost

Ruling: Yes, triggered abilities on legends will still trigger even if the legend is exhausted. The exhausted state only prevents you from activating abilities that require exhausting as a cost. Nuances: - As long as the trigger condition (the part before the comma in the ability text) is met, the trigger will go onto the chain regardless of exhausted state - This can be relevant for trigger ordering when multiple triggers occur simultaneously - This can create reaction windows that wouldn't otherwise exist

Ruling: Yes, move triggers resolve on a chain outside the showdown before it starts. You cannot start a showdown while there is a chain, so once the move trigger chain fully resolves, the showdown can begin with its initial chain containing attack/defend triggers. Sequence: - Move trigger is added to the chain as pending - Cleanup finalizes the trigger onto the chain (step 8) - The chain resolves completely - Showdown begins (step 9 of cleanup, only if there is no chain) - Attack/defend triggers go onto the initial chain of the showdown in order: attacker triggers first, then defender triggers - Initial chain resolves (LIFO - last in, first out) Nuances: - Move triggers happen before showdown begins, so the rules about combat and showdowns don't apply to move triggers - You cannot react in response to a move itself - A showdown only begins during cleanup if there is no existing chain

Ruling: Movement abilities that trigger when a unit moves create a chain that must resolve before any potential showdown from that movement begins. These abilities can be reacted to by both players. Sequence: - Unit moves (standard move itself does not create a chain) - Movement trigger abilities go on the chain - Players can react to these abilities - Chain resolves - If the move results in entering an opponent's battlefield, combat showdown begins Nuances: - Standard moves themselves are not abilities and cannot be reacted to - "When I attack" triggers (like some Yasuo abilities) are different - they trigger during the combat showdown, not before it - Any ability or spell can be reacted to unless stated otherwise - "Add" abilities and replacement effects cannot be reacted to

Ruling: Yes, multiple Battlefield Obelisk of Power stack, and you draw an additional rune per Obelisk on the first turn.

Ruling: Multiple copies of Ezreal Prodigy stack their cost reduction effects. Each Ezreal applies its cost reduction once. Nuances: - Riftbound has no Legend Rule for any card except those with the Unique keyword, so multiple copies of the same unit can exist on board simultaneously

Ruling: Yes, multiple sources of Deflect do stack, requiring the opponent to spend additional power for each instance to target that character. Nuances: - Spirit Refuge specifically prevents multiple instances of itself from creating this scenario (it cannot create stacking Deflect on its own) - If future cards create multiple Deflect instances from different sources, they would stack like Assault or Shield

Ruling: Yes, multiple sources of both Assault and Shield keywords sum together. Sequence: - If a unit has Assault (or has been granted Assault) and receives Assault from an additional source, sum all Assault values - If a unit has Shield (or has been granted Shield) and receives Shield from an additional source, sum all Shield values Nuances: - This applies whether the keyword is inherent to the unit or granted by external sources - All granted keyword values are summed, not just the highest value

Ruling: Cost reduction effects and continuous stat modification effects only apply while cards are on the board. When checking costs or stats from other zones like graveyard or deck, only the printed values are used. Nuances: - When an effect says "play something from trash with a cost of X or lower," it refers to printed cost only - Continuous effects that modify stats (like Might) do not apply in zones outside of play

Ruling: No, you do not get priority at the end of your opponent's turn to cast reaction spells. You can only get focus on an opponent's turn if they start a showdown or specifically play a spell card. Nuances: - This is different from games like Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh - The design choice prevents having to pass priority around 4 players constantly - Reaction spells' "anytime" reminder text can be misleading if you don't understand how focus works

Ruling: For most spells, you must declare targets when you play them. Spells and effects never fizzle in Riftbound - they are either countered with specific cards (Defy/Wind Wall) or they always resolve as much as they can, though they can whiff (resolve with no impact) if target requirements aren't met. Sequence: - Declare targets when playing the spell - Spell goes on the chain - Spell resolves and does as much as it can Nuances: - Reflexive triggers (spells with "Do this:" text) work differently - they target after resolution rather than on cast - A spell can whiff if there are extra target requirements (like targeting a unit at a battlefield) and the unit gets moved between the spell going on chain and resolving

Ruling: Base speed, action, and reaction only determine when you can play something, not the order anything resolves. The order things resolve is Last In First Out (LIFO) off the chain - the last thing to go onto the chain will be the first thing to resolve. Sequence: - When combat starts, the chain is initially populated with "when I attack" triggers - Then "when I defend" triggers are added - Then both players can play reactions - Once everyone passes, the chain starts resolving with the latest played item first Nuances: - You cannot play an action after an ability has already gone on the chain - If multiple cards are discarded simultaneously, you choose the order their effects go on the chain

Ruling: Recall effects do not inherently target. An effect targets only if it requires the controller to make a choice of who, what, or where during the casting/activation process (not during resolution), and that choice is not part of a replacement effect. Nuances: - Replacement effects (indicated by "If" with "Instead") never target and do not use the chain - Triggered abilities use "When" or "At" keywords and do use the chain - Making a choice during resolution does not constitute targeting - If multiple players are involved in making choices for an effect, it does not target - Zhonya's specifically is a replacement effect (passive ability), not a triggered ability, so it doesn't target even though a choice may be made when multiple units die simultaneously

Ruling: Replacement effects indicated by the word "instead" (like Zhonya's, Sett Legend, and Unlicensed Armory's save effects) do not use the chain and cannot be reacted to. They replace one action with another without opening a reaction window. Sequence: - Unlicensed Armory can be reacted to when initially played (during the exhaust and discard) - Once the unit gains the protection, the replacement effect itself (paying 1 power to save) does not open a new chain - The replacement effect simply replaces dying with recall when it would apply Nuances: - Some replacement effects are optional, allowing the controller to choose whether to apply them and pay any indicated cost at the time they would apply - To disrupt the protection, you must respond to Unlicensed Armory when it's played (e.g., removing the targeted unit before it gains protection) or use a later chain-starting non-replacement effect

Ruling: Hidden permanents are still permanents that resolve immediately upon finalizing. They do use the chain but completely skip the step that passes priority and instantly resolve. Sequence: - The hidden unit is revealed (using the chain) - Priority passing is skipped - The unit resolves immediately Nuances: - The reveal is not an activated ability of hidden; it's the unit itself being played - Despite the "react with later for 0" wording and "play at any time" text, the unit doesn't wait on the chain like a reaction spell would - This works the same way as Shen

Ruling: Seals produce 1 Power of the respective color, which is an alternate way to produce power besides recycling a rune. They only produce power (the colored resource), not energy (the colorless/numerical resource). Nuances: - Seals do not add "one extra mana" in the sense of providing the numerical/colorless energy cost - They provide an alternate method to produce colored power without needing to recycle

Ruling: Seals generate power, not energy. When you tap a seal, you generate power without having to recycle a rune. Nuances: - Energy is generated by exhausting (tapping) runes - shown as numbers in a dark circle - Power is generated by recycling runes (putting them under your deck) - shown as symbols - Seals are an exception that generate power through exhausting instead of recycling - Power and energy are two different resources and cannot be used interchangeably

Ruling: Self-referencing pronouns (I/me/my) do not cause a unit to target itself because there is no player choice involved. Sequence: - Check if the game object is mentioned in the spell or ability text - Determine if the object is "chosen by the spell or ability's controller" - If there is no potential for player choice (as with self-reference), it is not a target Nuances: - Self-reference can be considered "a characteristic of being me" which falls under the exclusion for objects not chosen by the controller - This means effects like Yasuo, Remorseful attacking Dreaming Tree would not trigger abilities that care about targeting