Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Facebreaker targets both your unit and an enemy unit, so it does activate effects that trigger when you target your own units. Nuances: - Works with both hidden and action trigger effects that care about targeting your own units

Ruling: Yes, Facebreaker triggers The Dreaming Tree because you're targeting a friendly unit. Nuances: - The trigger occurs because Facebreaker targets a friendly unit, which satisfies The Dreaming Tree's condition

Ruling: Yes, Fae Porter triggers cards that care about targeting. It always targets a unit when the ability goes on the stack, regardless of whether you pay the cost. Sequence: - Fae Porter's ability triggers and targets a unit - The ability resolves - You decide whether to pay the cost to move the targeted unit Nuances: - The "may" in the ability text refers to paying the cost, not to targeting - Reaver's Row works the same way (always triggers and targets, then you decide if you want to pay)

Ruling: Yes, Fan's effect stops Yasuo from dealing damage because Yasuo's ability requires him to be "here" and Fan moves him away from that location. Nuances: - Yasuo's damage ability specifically checks if he is "here" - When Fan's effect resolves, Yasuo is no longer at the original location

Ruling: No, Fight or Flight does not exhaust the unit being targeted. The exhaust cost for standard movement is the cost for using it, while other movement effects only change a unit's status if they explicitly say they do.

Ruling: Fiora Legend does not trigger when a 4 Might unit is played on Trifarian War Camp, even though Volibear Legend does trigger in that scenario. Fiora Legend and Volibear Legend are mutually exclusive in this interaction. Sequence: - When a 4 Might unit is played on Trifarian War Camp, it enters ready (already Mighty) - Volibear Legend triggers because it sees the unit enter play - Fiora Legend does not trigger because she needs to see a non-Mighty unit become Mighty, which is not happening here Nuances: - Yellow (non-Legend) Fiora uses "While I'm Mighty" language, not "become," so she will gain her text effect when played directly on Trifarian War Camp - Fiora Legend will also not see a 4 Might unit played to War Camp as a trigger - The Chinese translation may use "become" where the English uses "While," which can cause confusion

Ruling: Yes to both situations. Fiora Legend triggers when Sett enters play as a 4 Might unit before his When You Play Me buff resolves, and she triggers again when Sett uses his activated ability. Sequence: - Sett enters play as a 4 Might unit - Fiora sees him as 4 Might and can trigger - Sett's When You Play Me buff then resolves, making him Mighty - When Sett activates his ability, you pay the buff cost (making him 4 Might) - The ability goes on the chain - Cleanup happens while he's at 4 Might (Fiora can trigger) - The +4 Might resolves, making him 8 Might and Mighty again

Ruling: A buff that brings Fiora to 5 might makes her Mighty. Nuances: - The question arose due to concerns about layers, but buffs applied to Fiora count toward making her Mighty when they bring her to the 5 might threshold.

Ruling: Yes, if Fiora attacks or defends alone, after Mask of Foresight resolves she becomes 5 Might and gains the keywords associated with that Might level. She remains 5 Might for the rest of the turn. Nuances: - If Fiora is defending, she also gains Shield, which makes her 6 Might instead of 5 Might

Ruling: Yes, Fiora's ability triggers when the -might effect expires at the end of the opponent's turn, and she will be ready again at the start of your next turn. Sequence: - Opponent's end of turn occurs - Expiration phase happens (Watcher effect expires) - Fiora's ability triggers when you have a mighty unit again - Fiora exhausts (if you choose to pay the cost) - Start of your turn occurs - Fiora awakens (becomes ready) Nuances: - The ability triggers even if Fiora is already exhausted, but you cannot pay the cost (exhausting her) if she's already exhausted - Exhausting Fiora is the cost to channel the rune, not an automatic effect - Triggers go on the chain unless targeting is required and no valid target exists

Ruling: Fiora's "When I Attack/Defend" ability only triggers if she is in a 1v1 situation at the exact moment she is designated as attacker or defender. Once triggered and resolved, the bonus cannot be removed. Sequence: - Fiora must be designated as attacker or defender - At that exact moment, it must be a 1v1 situation - If both conditions are met simultaneously, the ability triggers - Once resolved, she gains the bonus permanently for that combat Nuances: - If combat starts as 1v2 and later becomes 1v1, the ability does NOT trigger because the designation timing has already passed - If combat starts as 1v1 (triggering the ability) and later more units are added, she keeps the bonus because the ability uses "when" not "while"

Ruling: You choose one specific battlefield, and all enemy units at that battlefield take 3 damage. Nuances: - The phrase "at a battlefield" indicates you must choose a target battlefield, not that it affects all battlefields - Cards that affect all battlefields use different wording (see Unchecked Power and Flurry of Blades for comparison)

Ruling: Fizz Trickster does NOT work with Drag Under. Cards like Fizz Trickster look at the base cost (printed number) on the card, not the final modified cost. Nuances: - This works the same way as Defy with Sky Splitter - it checks the printed energy cost - Cost reductions like Drag Under do not change what Fizz Trickster sees

Ruling: Fizz, Trickster targets the spell. Nuances: - The targeting happens when you choose which spell to play, not on resolution

Ruling: You only pay the fury cost, not the printed cost. The fury payment is an alternate cost that replaces the normal cost. Nuances: - The card text does not explicitly say "ignoring my cost" even though functionally it works that way - "Alternate cost" is not formally defined in the core rules, but this ruling was confirmed by developers during spoiler season - This same templating issue applies to other cards like Immortal Phoenix

Ruling: Flurry of Blades does not require paying recycle costs for Deflect because it does not target units. Nuances: - Flurry of Blades programmatically selects units rather than having the controller choose targets - The phrase "deal 1 to" does not mean targeting - the spell blankets all units at battlefields without the controller making choices - Unlike targeted spells which cannot be played without valid targets, Flurry of Blades can be played even with no units at battlefields

Ruling: Yes, Forecaster activates vision when played alone because it's a passive effect that includes itself. Multiple Forecasters do stack, so playing a mech with multiple Forecasters in play will trigger vision multiple times. Sequence: - Each instance of vision triggers separately - When each trigger resolves, you look at the top card of your deck - For each trigger, you choose whether or not to recycle that card Nuances: - If you don't recycle the top card and nothing else happens between triggers resolving, each instance of vision will see the same card - This means you could look at the same card X times in a row if you don't recycle it - You can recycle through your entire library this way if desired

Ruling: No, you cannot use both abilities. Exhausting your legend is a cost for both Forge of the Fluft's ability and your legend's ability (like Azir's Sand Soldier creation), so you cannot exhaust your legend once to pay both costs, nor can you activate two abilities at the same time. Sequence: - You must choose which ability to activate - Exhaust your legend to pay the cost of that one ability - You cannot activate the other ability that also requires exhausting your legend until it readies

Ruling: Forge of the Future does not activate when killed by an opponent's Adaptatron conquering a base because Forge of the Future is an activated ability, not a triggered ability.

Forgotten Monument completely prevents the process of scoring there. That means no conquer triggers, no hold triggers, and no points from doing those things. “Extra” points such as those from Renata Glasc, Mastermind are unaffected. You can still gain control of the battlefield following a showdown—you just can’t conquer it.

Ruling: Fortified Position does not trigger on surprise defense. The battlefield must be controlled for its ability to trigger, and "you" on a battlefield always refers to the controller. Nuances: - If the battlefield is uncontrolled when a unit arrives via surprise defense, there is no controller to satisfy the "you" in the trigger condition - This same principle applies to other battlefield abilities with "you" in their trigger conditions

Ruling: Fortified Position's effect does start a Chain. You can play an Action card once the Chain resolves, but only during Combat Showdown. Nuances: - Effects with "When" triggers start a Chain - This is different from Shield-Assault, which doesn't start a Chain because its trigger is "When you defend" rather than an effect that gives Shield

Ruling: Fortified Position is a defend trigger that goes onto the initial chain. The target unit must be declared when the trigger is put on the chain (when it finalizes onto the chain), not upon resolution. Sequence: - Fortified Position triggers when you defend - The trigger goes onto the initial chain - You choose the target unit as the trigger finalizes onto the chain - Opponents can react with spells or abilities before it resolves - Upon resolution, the chosen unit gains shield 2 Nuances: - It is possible to kill the targeted unit with a spell before it gains the shield bonus - The "choose a unit" wording indicates targeting, so the choice is made when the trigger goes on the chain, not at resolution - This is not a reflexive trigger (which would require "do this" wording)

Ruling: Fox Fire targets the units when put on the chain, not the battlefield. You must choose a legal set of targets (units with total Might 4 or less) when casting. Sequence: - When casting Fox Fire, target any number of units whose total Might adds up to 4 or less - If targeted units gain Might as a reaction, choose a subset of the original targets with 4 or less total Might on resolution - Some of the original targets become illegal, but you choose which ones to affect Nuances: - You cannot target all units on the battlefield and then choose on resolution; you must choose a legal set of targets initially - If a new unit appears after targeting (like a hidden Teemo), it cannot be targeted by Fox Fire since targets are chosen when the spell is put on the chain - If you targeted a unit with Deflect and paid the additional cost, but that unit becomes illegal on resolution, you do not get the Deflect cost refunded

Ruling: Fox-Fire kills any number of units whose combined might is 4 or less (e.g., a 2 might and a 2 might, or a 3 might and a 1 might). You must choose and declare targets when playing the spell, before opponents can react. Sequence: - Choose targets when playing the spell (units whose combined might is 4 or less at a single battlefield) - Opponent can react knowing your targets - Spell resolves and kills the targeted units (if still legal targets) Nuances: - All targeted units must be at the same battlefield ("at a battlefield" means only one battlefield) - If an opponent buffs a targeted unit in response, making the combined might exceed 4, the targets become illegal and the spell has no effect - This works similarly to other targeted removal like Gust - you can buff units out of range as counterplay

Ruling: Fox-Fire targets. If the total Might of the targets becomes illegal (over 4) upon resolution, you choose a subgroup from among the initial targets that is still legal (4 Might or less). Sequence: - Fox-Fire is cast and targets are chosen - If a reaction spell increases the targets' Might above 4 - Upon resolution, choose a subgroup of the initial targets with total Might of 4 or less

Ruling: Fox-Fire targeting a group of units does not change how Deflect works. You must pay Deflect costs for each targeted unit that has Deflect. Sequence: - Deflect costs are paid when selecting the targets - This applies to each unit with Deflect in the targeted group

Ruling: Foxfire deals 4 damage total that must be distributed among units, not 4 damage to each unit. Nuances: - You can distribute the 4 damage in any combination (e.g., four 1-Might units, two 2-Might units, one 2-Might unit and two 1-Might units, etc.) - The key word is "total" which indicates the damage is shared across targets

Ruling: No, Frigid Touch alone cannot kill a unit. Units die only when they have nonzero damage marked on them that is at least equal to their Might, so it always takes at least 1 point of actual damage to kill something. Nuances: - Reducing a unit's Might to 0 does not kill it by itself - Death requires both damage marked AND that damage meeting or exceeding the unit's Might

Ruling: Frigid Touch does not kill units regardless of their current Might. Units with negative Might are treated as 0 Might for all purposes, but the actual negative value is tracked for arithmetic operations. Sequence: - When a unit's Might would go below 0, it is treated as 0 for all game purposes - However, the actual negative value is still tracked internally - When adding Might (like with Discipline), you add to the actual negative value, not the displayed 0 - Example: A 1 Might unit hit twice by Frigid Touch (-2 each time) becomes -3 Might (displayed as 0), requiring two Disciplines (+2 each) to return to 1 Might Nuances: - Units never die from having 0 or negative Might alone - Negative Might values are not snapshotted and continue to affect calculations - When evaluating layers, you always start from base values and apply increases before decreases

Ruling: Yes, tokens are units when on board, so they receive Vision from Gemcraft Seer. Nuances: - Tokens count as units once they are on the board

Ruling: No, Glasc Deathknell's ability does not work with Drag Under because Drag Under is not a unit and costs more than 3 energy. Nuances: - When determining if a card meets cost requirements for abilities, always use the printed cost on the card, not any reduced or altered cost - This means even if you play a card with a cost reduction, effects that check cost thresholds use the original printed cost

Ruling: Yes, all three requirements must be met to activate the ability. Everything to the left of the semicolon represents the cost that must be paid. Sequence: - Recycle 3 cards from your trash - Pay 1 energy - Exhaust the Grabber - Draw 1 card Nuances: - If you don't have 3 cards in your trash or 1 energy to spend, you cannot use the ability - The ability can be used when you first summon Grabber

Ruling: You must have 7+ units at the battlefield when you score the hold point at the start of your turn. However, you can react to the On-Hold trigger and play units before it resolves. Sequence: - Temporary units die first - If you still have at least one unit, the hold trigger is created - You can react to the hold trigger by playing hidden units or other reaction speed effects - When the trigger resolves, if you have 7+ units, you get the point Nuances: - If only a temporary unit is present, the hold ability won't trigger at all (unless you react by playing another unit before the temporary unit dies) - You cannot react to the scoring step itself, only to triggered abilities that occur during scoring (like the On-Hold trigger) - Hidden units, Shen, and reaction speed moves can all be used to add units in response to the hold trigger

Ruling: Yes, Grand Stratagem boosts all friendly units including token units. Tokens are units and receive the +5 boost. Nuances: - In most cases, Grand Stratagem is used specifically to boost token units

Ruling: Grand Stratagem does not apply to units spawned after the spell resolves. When Grand Stratagem resolves, it gives its effect to units that exist at that moment, and units that enter the battlefield afterward are not given the buff. Sequence: - Grand Stratagem resolves - The spell gives +1 Might to all friendly units currently on the board - The effect is given to those specific units for the turn - Any units spawned afterward do not receive the buff because they were not given anything when the spell resolved Nuances: - The key distinction is the word "give" in the card text - effects that "give" something to units apply only to units present when the spell resolves - This differs from true aura effects like Imperial Decree or Unyielding Spirit, which use passive wording ("have" or "would be") and apply continuously to units that enter later - Cards that say "give" use active wording (simple present imperative) and apply their effect once, not continuously - Siphon Power works the same way as Grand Stratagem - it gives its effect to units at resolution, not as an ongoing aura

Ruling: Grand Stratagem gives its buff only to units present on the board when it resolves. Units that enter the board after resolution do not receive the buff. Sequence: - Grand Stratagem resolves - It buffs all units currently on the board at that moment - Any units entering the board afterward are not affected

Ruling: Grand Strategem only affects units that are in play when the spell resolves. Units that enter play afterwards do not gain the +5 might bonus. Sequence: - Grand Strategem is cast and resolves - All friendly units currently in play gain +5 might until end of turn - The spell is discarded after resolving - Any units that enter play after this point do not receive the bonus Nuances: - Spells cannot create passive effects that persist after they resolve and are discarded - "Friendly units" refers specifically to units in play at the time of resolution - The "this turn" wording indicates when the buff expires, not that it applies to all units played during the turn

Ruling: Green Yasuo's ability does not trigger in this scenario. The attacker/defender designation is determined by who initiated the contested status on the battlefield, not by which units move onto it. Since the opponent is attacking the battlefield, Yasuo is a defender and does not gain the attacker designation. Nuances: - The player who initiates contested status on a battlefield is the attacker, regardless of which units move onto the battlefield - 'When I attack' abilities trigger the first time a unit gains the attacker designation in each combat - A unit can gain the attacker designation multiple times in a single combat, but the 'when I attack' ability only triggers the first time per combat - A unit can trigger 'when I attack' abilities multiple times per turn if it participates in multiple combats

Ruling: When a unit is saved by Guardian Angel, it does not reset its Might. The unit retains all buffs, damage, exhausted status, and equipment when recalled to the base. Sequence: - Guardian Angel triggers as a Replacement Effect, so the unit never actually dies or goes to trash - The unit is healed and recalled to the base - All buffs (including +1 Might Buff tokens) remain on the unit - Equipment and its bonuses remain attached - Temporary "until end of turn" effects will still expire naturally at end of turn Nuances: - Recall moves a unit between Board Zones (battlefield to base), not to/from a Non-Board Zone - Buffs only get removed when a unit changes to or from a Non-Board Zone (hand, trash, deck) - The unit keeps its exact state (damage, buffs, exhausted status) when recalled unless the recall effect specifically states otherwise

Ruling: No, Guardian Angel triggering does not count as a move for Apprentice Smith's ability. Nuances: - Recall and Move are separate game actions and are not treated as the same thing

Ruling: No, Gust does not take effect before Assault. Assault is a passive ability that turns on immediately when a unit is designated as an attacker, which happens during cleanup after a move ends, before there are any opportunities to cast spells like Gust. Sequence: - Unit moves to an enemy-occupied battlefield - Battlefield becomes contested when the unit arrives - Cleanup begins at the end of the move - Attacker and Defender designations are assigned during cleanup - Assault and Shield turn on immediately upon designation - Cleanup completes (including marking Combat as pending) - Combat begins with Showdown - Showdown has an Initial Chain where "When I Attack" and "When I Defend" triggers occur Nuances: - Assault and Shield are passive abilities (always on/off based on designation), not triggers - Triggers are identifiable by the word "When" (like "When I Attack" or "When I Defend") - Spells like Gust only have opportunities to be cast after cleanup completes

Ruling: Gust targets based on the unit's current might, not the printed might on the card. Damage does not lower might, but effects that reduce might do affect targeting eligibility. Sequence: - Check the unit's current might (printed might modified by any effects) - If current might is 3 or less, the unit is a valid target for Gust - Damage on a unit does not change its might value Nuances: - If a 3 might unit has Discipline played on it (increasing might), it cannot be targeted by Gust - If a 5 might unit has Smokescreen played on it (reducing might to 3 or less), it can be targeted by Gust - Spells need to fulfill valid targets to be added to the chain; if no valid target exists, the spell cannot be played

Ruling: Heimerdinger copies Renata's exhaust ability but not her passive battlefield restriction, so he can use her ability from base. He must still pay the full cost (recycle 4 blue, tap 4, and tap himself). Nuances: - Renata has only one exhaust ability that Heimerdinger can copy - The battlefield restriction is a separate passive effect, not part of the exhaust ability itself - Heimerdinger inherits the activation cost but not location-based restrictions

Ruling: Heimerdinger can only copy abilities that have the exhaust icon (symbol) at the start of the ability. If a card doesn't have the exhaust icon, Heimerdinger cannot copy it, even if the card exhausts as part of its effect. Nuances: - The exhaust symbol specifically represents exhausting as a cost (paid on activation), not exhausting as part of resolution - Activated abilities use "cost : effect" structure where everything before the colon is cost - Triggered abilities have effects (not costs in the same sense), and exhausting within a triggered ability happens on resolution, not activation - Altar of Memories is a triggered ability that exhausts on resolution as part of its effect, not as an activation cost - Heimerdinger is looking for abilities with the exhaust symbol, not just any effect that exhausts something at any point

Ruling: Heimerdinger gains every ability that has exhaust in its cost from other game objects. He can use whichever abilities he wants by paying their individual costs (including exhaust). Sequence: - Heimerdinger gains each ability separately (e.g., if there are cards with ":exhaust: : do A", ":exhaust: : do B", and ":exhaust: : do C", he gains all three as distinct abilities) - To use any ability, he must pay its full cost including exhaust - He chooses which ability to activate each time Nuances: - He does not activate all effects simultaneously with one exhaustion - Each ability includes both its cost and effect - Examples of cards this applies to include Vik legend, seal, and Malz

Ruling: Heimerdinger has the ability and must pay the full cost when he uses an ability, including exhausting. Nuances: - If Heimerdinger uses an ability with a reaction tag (like Kai'Sa's ability), he can use it at reaction speed even though Heimerdinger himself doesn't have a reaction tag, because the reaction tag is on the ability itself.

Ruling: Heimerdinger does not trigger all exhaust abilities at once. He gains all exhaust abilities from your cards, and you must choose which one to activate when you exhaust him. Nuances: - Heimerdinger copies the abilities themselves, not their effects - You still need to pay any additional costs (like energy or power) required by the chosen ability - Only one ability can be activated per exhaustion

Ruling: No, Heimerdinger does not copy Renata's legend ability. An Exhaust ability must be an activated ability that has the Exhaust symbol as its cost. Nuances: - Having an Exhaust cost in text is not sufficient; the ability must have the actual Exhaust symbol to qualify as an Exhaust ability that Heimerdinger would copy.

Ruling: Heimerdinger can copy exhaust abilities from cards you or your ally controls that are currently in play (units and gear) or in the Legend Zone (legends). It cannot copy abilities from cards in the trash or other zones. Nuances: - Cards only apply their effects while in play unless stated otherwise - Legends are an exception because Heimerdinger specifically references "Friendly Legend" and legends can only exist in the Legend Zone - If Heimerdinger is alone in play with no other units, gear, or legends with exhaust abilities, it has nothing to copy