Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: No, Sudden Storm does not deal 4 damage when moving to an open battlefield because moving to an open battlefield does not result in combat or attacking—it only starts contesting that battlefield. The 4 damage effect only applies if there is either a unit already there or a unit moved in during the showdown, making the first unit designated as an attacker. Sequence: (when a unit moves in during showdown) - A unit moves to contest a battlefield - If another unit moves in during the showdown, both players must pass with focus in succession - The showdown closes and combat opens - Unit designations (attacker/defender) are applied - Sudden Storm's 4 damage effect can trigger Nuances: - Simply moving to an open battlefield does not create an attacker designation - If a unit moves in during the showdown, you must wait until combat opens before designations are applied

Ruling: Yes, Sun Disc counts itself the turn you play it. Legion is active for the full turn once any card is played, so if you play Sun Disc then play a unit, that unit will come down ready and Sun Disc will be exhausted. Sequence: - Play Sun Disc (it comes down ready as a gear) - Legion is now active for the rest of the turn - Activate Sun Disc - Play a unit, which enters ready due to Sun Disc's effect Nuances: - Legion effects that specify timing (like "when you play your 2nd/3rd/4th card") require consideration of card order - For cards with Legion-on-play effects, the on-play effect is checked before Legion is active, so they cannot activate if played as the first card

Ruling: Yes, you can play Sun Disc and activate its ability right away. The ability counts as Legion even though it's the first time you played the card. Nuances: - A card is only considered a main deck card rulewise - An ability is not a card, so even though Sun Disc's ability's source is Sun Disc, it's not the "same card" because only the ability matters, not the source

Ruling: Svellsongr doubles these values. The effects stack because Svellsongr copies the text, so a unit with Deflect 2 would have "Deflect 2" from its original text and "Deflect 2" from Svellsongr, combining into Deflect 4. Nuances: - The multiple instances of the same keyword combine into a single total value (e.g., "Deflect 2, Deflect 2" becomes Deflect 4, not two separate Deflect 2 instances) - This stacking applies to Assault and Shield as well

Ruling: Svellsongur does basically nothing for Caitlyn. While it gives her two copies of her activated ability, you can only activate one of them because activating an ability requires exhausting Caitlyn as a cost, and you cannot exhaust her twice. Sequence: - Svellsongur gives Caitlyn two versions of her activated ability - To activate an ability, you put it on the chain, then pay the cost - You choose one of the two abilities to put on the chain - You must pay the cost of exhausting Caitlyn - Since Caitlyn is now exhausted, you cannot activate the second copy of the ability Nuances: - Each copy of the activated ability is its own separate ability - The ability is "activated" not "triggered" (terminology distinction)

Ruling: Svellsongur only copies the printed text on a unit card, not abilities added by other equipment's Effect Text. Nuances: - This was clarified via Red Text by Riot as a day 0 clarification, not a formal errata yet - The intention is to prevent equipment order from mattering - At tournaments without formal errata, resolution depends on head judge discretion per rule about unclear situations

Ruling: Svellsongur only copies the printed text of the unit card, not equipment effects that have been appended to the unit's rules text. Nuances: - The rules do not clearly define "unit's text" or distinguish between "printed text" and modified "rules text" in version 1.2 - This requires a day 0 errata to clarify, as the current rules text could be interpreted to copy all equipment effects - Equipment effect text is appended to a unit's rules text, but Svellsongur should not copy these appended effects

Ruling: Svellsongur only copies printed text from the unit card itself, not stat bonuses or text granted by other equipment attached to that unit. Nuances: - Svellsongur does copy abilities that are printed on the unit card (like Ahri's point generation ability) - Multiple equipment bonuses do not stack through Svellsongur - it only reads the base unit text - Example: Ahri + Svellsongur = 2 points total (both generate 1 point each from Ahri's printed ability) - Example: Ahri + Triforce + Svellsongur = 3 points total (Svellsongur doesn't copy Triforce's bonus)

No, Svellsongur only copies the text that’s actually printed on the unit. This is an ambiguity in the current rules, which refer to “appending” and “removing” rules text without reference to whether that text is original to the unit or not. The key word here is actually copy, a system that will be fleshed out in a future rules update. For now, we’ll just tell you that copies of objects or text take on their original traits, without regard to any subsequent alterations. Svellsongur doesn’t grant the unit additional “copies” of the abilities of other Equipment. So putting 3 Svellsongur on the same unit will give that unit four total instances of its abilities, not eight. (Four should be plenty.)

Ruling: No, Svellsongur only copies text printed on the card itself, not text granted by attached equipment. Nuances: - According to a strict reading of the rules as written, this interaction would work since both effects apply on the same layer and equipment text acts as rules text - However, the designers have officially clarified that Svellsongur is intended to only copy the printed text on the card - This clarification will likely be reflected in a future rules update

Ruling: No, Svellsongur does not gain Deflect. The effect text is active for the unit it's attached to, not the equipment itself. Nuances: - When an opponent targets Svellsongur directly (e.g., with Salvage), they do not need to pay the Deflect cost even though the equipped unit has Deflect - The copied keyword only applies to the unit wearing the equipment, not to the equipment card itself

Ruling: Yes, Switcheroo chooses/targets units, which triggers both Deflect and Dreaming Tree abilities.

Ruling: Yes, you must pay for Deflect when casting Switcheroo on a unit with Deflect, because Switcheroo is a spell and you are choosing (targeting) the unit with Deflect. Nuances: - This only applies if the unit with Deflect is controlled by an opponent

Ruling: Symbol of the Solari only recalls units from the battlefield where the tied combat occurred, not from all battlefields. Nuances: - The card text could be read as affecting all battlefields because it says "recall ALL units", but this has been clarified via errata - A tie occurs when both sides still have units remaining after combat damage is dealt - Ties commonly happen when units are stunned or have low might

Ruling: Tank only applies to combat damage and does not affect spell damage. When a unit with Tank is played as a reaction to a spell targeting another unit, the spell damage is not redirected or prevented. Nuances: - Tank has no effect outside of the combat damage step - Playing a unit with Tank in response to spell damage does not change the spell's target or prevent the damage

Ruling: The Targon's Peak battlefield effect only triggers when you conquer a site, not when you hold it. Nuances: - Hold and Conquer are distinct game actions as described in the rulebook - If Hold triggered Conquer effects, it would also trigger negative Conquer effects like paying costs (e.g., Sigil of the Storm)

Ruling: Taric's Shield boost persists through the damage assignment phase of combat. The boost only disappears after Taric is removed during cleanup, which happens after combat damage is assigned. Sequence: - If Taric is alive when damage assignment begins, the Shield boost applies to all allied units - All combat damage is assigned simultaneously before checking if units die - After damage assignment, units with lethal damage are removed during cleanup - Once Taric is removed to the graveyard, his boost stops applying - The boost remains active during the entire damage assignment phase Nuances: - If Taric is killed before combat starts (e.g., by a spell like Hidden Blade), the boost disappears before damage assignment - During exotic timings between damage assignment and end of combat (such as Conquest or Deathknell triggers), Taric may already be in the graveyard, so the boost would be gone during those windows - Opponents must assign lethal damage to Taric before assigning damage to other units due to Tank, and cannot reduce damage by 1 anticipating the Shield loss

Ruling: Yes, Taric gives Leona an additional instance of Shield, resulting in Shield 2 (as long as they're at the same battlefield). Nuances: - The Shield values from multiple sources are summed together - Both units must be at the same battlefield for Taric's effect to apply

Ruling: No. Teemo's ability cannot enter the chain if there are no valid enemy units to target, so the reveal and recycle effects do not happen. Sequence: - When activating any ability in Riftbound, all targets must be declared as the ability is placed on the chain - If no legal targets are available at that time, the ability cannot be placed on the chain at all - Since Teemo's ability requires choosing enemy units to deal damage to, and none are available, the entire ability (including the reveal and recycle) cannot activate - This is true even though the reveal happens first when resolving - targeting requirements are checked before the ability enters the chain, not during resolution Nuances: - If the ability successfully enters the chain with valid targets, but those targets become invalid before resolution, you still resolve as much as possible (reveal cards, recycle them, but deal no damage) - The distinction is between "entering the chain" (requires valid targets) and "resolving" (do as much as you can) - Teemo will receive official errata/clarification from Riot in the future

Ruling: No. Teemo Strategist has been errata'd in the FAQ to only trigger while defending, and no longer triggers when played from hidden.

Ruling: Teemo Strategist will still trigger when revealed after an opponent moves a unit to his battlefield. Sequence: - Opponent moves a unit to Teemo's battlefield - Teemo is revealed from hidden - Teemo gets defender designation during the first cleanup (which happens essentially right away) - Teemo's defend trigger activates

Ruling: Teemo's "when I defend" trigger only activates when he is flagged as a defender in an active combat. He does not trigger simply by being revealed from hidden state outside of combat. Sequence: - Teemo must be defending in an active combat to trigger - The trigger occurs once per combat where he's defending - After the turn you hide a card, it gains reaction and can be played anytime you have priority Nuances: - Old rulings allowed Teemo to trigger when played from hidden, but this changed with the errata - Under new rules, flipping from hidden outside combat wouldn't work anyway since there isn't a legal target - Whether or not Teemo's trigger goes on the chain after playing him is not relevant to whether you can play him

Ruling: The damage is dealt all at the same time. You count the number of hidden cards revealed, then deal that total amount of damage. Sequence: - Choose the target unit before revealing cards - Reveal the hidden cards - Count the total number of hidden cards revealed - Deal that total amount of damage to the single target Nuances: - The ability can only target one unit - The target must be chosen before the revealing occurs

Ruling: Yes, Teemo enters exhausted when revealed from hiding because you 'play' him from hidden and units enter exhausted when played.

Ruling: Gust invalidates "here" and makes the target illegal, so Teemo does not deal damage. However, you still reveal the cards and then recycle them without dealing damage. Sequence: - Teemo declares a target on cast - If Teemo is moved with Gust, the target becomes illegal because it's not "here" relative to Teemo anymore - Cards are revealed - Cards are recycled without dealing damage

Ruling: Yes, all 'When You Play Me' triggers go on the chain and can be reacted to. Nuances: - The game uses a 'chain' rather than a 'stack' for triggered effects - Players have priority to respond to these triggers with fast spells or other reactions

Ruling: Teemo's ability works only with cards that have the Hidden keyword, not with cards that merely have the word "hidden" in their text.

Ruling: Yes, Teemo still triggers when played from hidden during a showdown because he is assigned as a defender when played to the battlefield, which triggers his "when I defend" ability. Sequence: - Teemo is played from hidden to the battlefield during a showdown - Teemo is assigned as a defender - His "when I defend" ability triggers and enters the chain - The ability targets an opposing unit at the battlefield Nuances: - "When I attack" and "when I defend" triggers are not exclusive to the start of a showdown - These triggers happen whenever a unit is assigned attacker or defender, which can occur in the middle of a showdown if a unit enters the battlefield

Ruling: No, Teemo only triggers once. The card has been errata'd to say "when I defend" so it only triggers when gaining defender status. Sequence: - When Teemo is played from hidden during a combat showdown, he gains defender status - His ability triggers once at that time Nuances: - The errata changed the trigger condition to specifically "when I defend" which clarifies the single trigger timing

Ruling: Yes, Temporary creates a chain that can be reacted to because it is a Triggered Ability keyword, and triggers start a chain.

Ruling: The Dreaming Tree triggers when you target your own unit with a spell, and you draw the card when you choose/target the unit, not upon resolution. This means you still draw even if the spell is countered. The effect is once per turn, not per unit targeted. Sequence: - You cast a spell that targets your own unit - The Dreaming Tree triggers immediately when you choose/target the unit - You draw 1 card - The spell then resolves (or is countered) on the chain Nuances: - Not all cards that say "choose" trigger The Dreaming Tree - only cards that actually target trigger it - Cards involving multiple players choosing (like Divine Judgment) don't target and won't trigger The Dreaming Tree - Cards that say "each player" don't target - Costs don't target (e.g., Meditation's exhaust cost doesn't trigger The Dreaming Tree) - The trigger is once per turn total, not once per unit - you cannot draw multiple cards by targeting different units with multiple spells in the same turn

Ruling: The Dreaming Tree does not trigger from Meditation because exhausting a unit is part of Meditation's cost, not its effect, and additional costs do not target. Nuances: - The phrase "a friendly unit" does not automatically mean targeting; some cards with this wording target (like Back to Back) while others don't - The Dreaming Tree only cares about targeting - Additional costs (as opposed to spell effects) do not target

Ruling: No, The Dreaming Tree does not trigger when you tap a card on it to pay Meditation's additional cost. Nuances: - Additional costs do not target, so they do not trigger abilities that require targeting

Ruling: The Dreaming Tree's ability is a triggered ability that must be resolved using the chain as normal. Nuances: - The only abilities that resolve immediately are ones that "add" resources (energy or power) - Static abilities are constantly "on" and never resolve - All other abilities use the chain

Ruling: The Watcher's 'When you play me' trigger resolves once and does not continue to apply during showdown. Might increases that happen during combat (such as from Shield abilities) are unaffected by the Watcher's earlier trigger. Sequence: - The Watcher's 'When you play me' effect triggers and resolves, reducing units' might to 1 - The effect is complete and does not continue looking to reduce might further - During showdown, any might increases from abilities like Shield apply their full value without being reduced again by the Watcher

Ruling: Thermo Beam only destroys the non-hidden Zhonya's Hourglass. The hidden card on the battlefield is not affected. Nuances: - Hidden cards don't "exist" in the game before they're flipped, so they are not affected by effects that would target or destroy cards with matching names

Ruling: Thousand Tailed Watcher does not choose targets when its trigger activates, so you do not need to pay Deflect costs even if your opponent has a Deflect unit. Nuances: - Since Watcher's trigger chooses nothing, Deflect does not apply to it

Ruling: Thousand Tailed Watcher does not target because it does not choose - it programmatically selects based on characteristics. Nuances: - The effect is a snapshot at the time it resolves, so units added later (such as through hidden) would not be affected by the debuff.

Ruling: Neither Thousand Tailed Watcher nor Unchecked Power trigger Deflect because they do not target. They apply blanket effects to all enemy units rather than selecting specific game objects. Nuances: - Reflexive triggers use the language "Do this" - Targets require you to select a specific game object for an effect - Blanket effects that affect all units of a type do not count as targeting

Ruling: Thousand-Tailed Watcher's -3 might effect is not perpetual. It applies once when the ability resolves, reducing all face-up units to a minimum of 1 might, then the effect is complete. Any subsequent might changes start from the new value. Sequence: - Watcher's ability resolves, giving all face-up units -3 might (minimum 1) - The effect completes and does not linger - Any buffs or debuffs applied afterward modify the unit's current might normally - Units that enter the battlefield or are revealed after Watcher's ability resolves are not affected by it Nuances: - Hidden units are not affected by the -3 when Watcher's ability resolves, since they are not face-up on the battlefield at that time - If a unit is revealed after Watcher's ability has resolved, it does not receive the -3 debuff

Ruling: Thousand-Tailed Watcher gives all enemy units -3 might this turn (down to a minimum of 1 might). If units are later buffed, they gain might from their current value after Watcher's effect. Negative might values below 1 are not stored. Sequence: - Watcher reduces all current enemy units by -3 might (minimum 1) - If a unit would go below 1 might, it stays at 1 - If that unit is later buffed, it gains might starting from 1 (the extra negative values are not stored) Nuances: - Extra negative might values that would take a unit below 1 are not stored or tracked for later calculations

Ruling: If Shen is played as a reaction to Thousand-Tailed Watcher's trigger (or to anything that reacted to it), Shen will be affected by the ability because the chain resolves backwards and Shen hits the field before the trigger resolves. If Shen is played later in the turn after the trigger has already resolved, he will not be affected. Sequence: - Thousand-Tailed Watcher's trigger goes on the chain - Shen is played as a reaction to the trigger (or to another reaction) - Chain resolves backwards: Shen enters the field first - Thousand-Tailed Watcher's trigger resolves, affecting all units currently present including Shen Nuances: - Thousand-Tailed Watcher's trigger affects every unit present at resolution, not just units that were on the field when it triggered - The same principle applies to other spells or abilities that affect all units (they affect the "current" all, such as Grand Stratagem) - If Shen is played after the trigger has already resolved (later in the turn), he will not be affected by the -3 Might

Ruling: No, you do not need to recycle an additional card. Deflect does not apply to Thousand-Tailed Watcher's ability. Nuances: - Watcher's ability doesn't target, so deflect has no effect - Deflect only applies when choices are involved in targeting

Ruling: Thousand-Tailed Watcher has a "When you play me" triggered ability that uses the chain and can be responded to with reactions. Nuances: - The key difference between triggered abilities (that use the chain) and static abilities (that don't) is the usage of "When" vs "While" in the ability text - When playing Watcher, you must announce the trigger or you risk missing it if an opponent points it out later

Ruling: Thousand-Tailed Watcher only affects units currently in play when it enters. Might modifications stack - if a unit is reduced to 1 might by Watcher and later increased by 2, it becomes a 3 might unit. Sequence: - Watcher enters and reduces might of all units currently in play - Later might modifications apply on top of the reduced value - Example: 2 might unit reduced to 1, then increased by 2, results in 3 might Nuances: - The effect is not passive; new units entering after Watcher are not affected - Might modifications are cumulative, not overriding

Ruling: Tianna Crownguard does not prevent the point from burning out. The opponent still gains the point when you burn out. Nuances: - Burning out causes an opponent to "gain" a point, not "score" a point - Scoring specifically refers to hold/conquer mechanics and card effects that explicitly use the word "score" (like Windrider or Tryndamere) - Tianna blocks scoring but not gaining points, so she prevents effects that say "score" but not burnout

Ruling: Tibbers' "When you play me" text is an ability that goes on the chain when played, so Annie will increase the damage from it. All functional text on cards are abilities. Nuances: - Flavor text like "Bear hug!" is not an ability - The ability doesn't need to have a keyword to count as an ability

Ruling: Tide Turner as a hidden card does not count as a spell and will not activate Dreaming Tree.

Ruling: No, Tide Turner's location switch ability does not exhaust a readied card. Only standard move actions or effects that explicitly state "exhaust" will exhaust cards. Nuances: - Any movement that is not a standard move action will not change the exhausted/readied status of cards - If an effect doesn't explicitly state "exhaust" in its text, it doesn't exhaust the card

Ruling: No, Tideturner does not ready the unit it swaps with. Abilities that move units forcibly don't ready or exhaust them unless otherwise specified. Nuances: - Exhausting a unit is part of the cost to move it yourself, but this doesn't apply to forced movement from abilities