Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Yes, Eclipse Herald can ready multiple times per turn, each time you stun an enemy.

Ruling: Facebreaker cannot be played in this situation because it requires two valid targets at the same location (including an enemy unit), and only one unit is present. Nuances: - The card cannot be activated during target finalization if valid targets are not available - Even though playing it in response might seem strategic to trigger Dreaming Tree's draw, the targeting requirements must be met first

Ruling: Facebreaker requires both a friendly unit and an enemy unit to be at the same battlefield as valid targets when played. You can target an already stunned friendly unit (it just won't be stunned again), but you cannot play Facebreaker if no friendly unit is present at all. Sequence: - Check that both a friendly unit and enemy unit are at the same battlefield - If both targets are valid, the card can be played - Resolve as much as possible (e.g., if friendly is already stunned, only the enemy gets stunned) Nuances: - You cannot use Facebreaker to stun only your own unit without an enemy present - You cannot use Facebreaker to stun only an enemy unit without a friendly unit present - A friendly unit that is already stunned is still a valid target; the card will resolve and stun the enemy unit

Ruling: No, Facebreaker cannot be used if there is no enemy target available. Facebreaker requires two targets to be played. Nuances: - Even if you want to target your own unit to trigger an effect like Dreaming Tree's draw, you still need a valid enemy target for Facebreaker to be playable.

Ruling: You need a friendly unit to cast Facebreaker. Spells need all their targets in order to be announced and go on the chain. Nuances: - You cannot cast Facebreaker when asked to help in a showdown if you are not participating in it, because you would not have a friendly unit as a valid target.

Ruling: No, Fight or Flight cannot target units on the opposite battlefield when played from hidden. Hiddens can only choose targets at the battlefield they are at. Nuances: - This targeting restriction only applies to abilities that target. Abilities that don't target (like those that automatically affect units without player choice) are not limited by which battlefield the hidden is at. - If you lose control of a battlefield by having no more units at it, any hiddens at that battlefield get trashed immediately. - Hiddens cannot be in base, they can only be at battlefields. - Gear like Zhonya's will automatically move to base once played from hidden (since gear cannot be at a battlefield), but if kept hidden at a battlefield and all units are removed, it gets trashed like any other hidden.

Ruling: No, Fight or Flight cannot return a unit from Vilemaw to base.

Ruling: Yes, Fiora's effect can be used during your opponent's turn when one of your units becomes mighty. It is a trigger, not an activated ability, so it will trigger regardless of whose turn it is. Nuances: - The effect does not need to state "reaction" to trigger during an opponent's turn - Triggers work differently from activated abilities in terms of timing

Ruling: Yes, you can pay {O} to ready Leona when she becomes mighty during the showdown sequence. Sequence: - Leona moves to a battlefield occupied by an opponent - Leona's stun goes to the pile and resolves - Leona's Legend ability triggers and buffs Leona Champion - Leona Champion becomes mighty - Fiora's ability can be used at this moment to pay {O} and ready Leona Champion

Ruling: No, First Mate cannot ready an exhausted Volibear Legend because a legend is not a unit.

Ruling: Flash can be legally activated even if the only unit is at Vilemaw's Lair. The card resolves but has no effect because units at Vilemaw's Lair cannot be moved to base in any way. Sequence: - Flash is activated and resources are paid - The player selects the unit at Vilemaw's Lair as a target - Flash resolves but the unit cannot move due to Vilemaw's Lair's restriction - The player loses Flash and the resources spent Nuances: - Flash can be cast with 0 targets since it says "up to" 2 units - Any card that says "up to X" allows zero as a valid option - Vilemaw's Lair prevents moving in any way, not just standard move actions

Ruling: No, Forge of the Future cannot recycle itself. Sequence: - You must choose targets before paying the cost - Since Forge of the Future is targeting, it must still be in play when targets are chosen - Therefore it cannot target itself to be recycled as part of its own cost

Ruling: Yes, Fox Fire can be played with 0 targets. "Any number" includes 0 as a valid choice. Nuances: - Cards that allow 0 targets are typically worded with "up to" but "any number" is functionally the same - Playing it with 0 targets can be useful for triggering effects like Ravenbloom Student - When adding up 0 targets' Mights, you get 0, which satisfies the "4 or less" condition

Ruling: When played from hand, Fox Fire can target units at any one singular battlefield. When played from Hidden, it can only target units at the battlefield where it was Hidden. Sequence: - If played from Hidden: Can only target units at the battlefield where Fox Fire was Hidden - If played from hand: Can target units at any one battlefield (but all targets must be at the same battlefield) Nuances: - The card says "at a battlefield" (singular), not "at battlefields" (plural), which means all targets must be at the same battlefield even when played from hand - Hidden has a general rule that cards played from Hidden must target things at the place where they were Hidden

Ruling: No, Fox-Fire cannot target Shen. Targets are chosen when Fox-Fire is put on the chain, before you can react with Shen. Sequence: - Fox-Fire is played and targets are locked in - Opponent can then react with Shen - Shen resolves first (as a reaction) - Fox-Fire resolves with its already-chosen targets Nuances: - You may have to modify which target receives damage when Fox-Fire resolves, but you cannot expand the pool to include new targets that weren't available when Fox-Fire was initially played

Ruling: Fox-Fire targets units and those units must all be at a single battlefield. Nuances: - If Fox-Fire is played from hidden, you must pick units at the same battlefield where Fox-Fire was hidden.

Ruling: Yes, Foxfire can be played with zero targets. Any effect that contains "any number" or "up to" can select zero targets, and if zero targets are chosen, the spell or ability can be played without any targets. Nuances: - When targeting, units must initially meet the targeting criteria (4 might or less for Foxfire) - If you choose zero targets with "any number" wording, you don't need any valid targets to play the card - All units you target must die when the effect resolves (no "may" clause to choose which ones) - If might values change between targeting and resolution, and targets now total more than 4 might combined, you cross off some targets to get back down to the 4 might threshold

Ruling: Units only die when they have non-zero damage marked on them that is greater than or equal to their Might. A unit with 0 or even negative Might will not die until it takes at least 1 damage. Nuances: - Units can go to negative Might under current rules - Even if a unit's Might is reduced below zero (e.g., to -1 or -2), it remains alive as long as it has no damage marked on it

Ruling: GEAR enters the battlefield ready and can be used the turn you played it. Nuances: - This applies to seals and other GEAR cards

Ruling: Yes, Gemcraft Seer's vision can stack and a unit can have multiple instances of vision.

Ruling: No, Green Yasuo cannot be moved from Vilemaw's Lair to base using Yasuo's Unforgiven ability or Flash. Vilemaw's Lair prevents all moves to base, not just standard moves. Sequence: - The ability attempts to move the unit - Vilemaw's Lair blocks the move to base - The unit stays in Vilemaw's Lair - No "when I move" triggers occur because the move was blocked Nuances: - Recall and "return to hand" effects work differently - they can legally move units out of the Lair because recall specifically does not count as a move - When a move is blocked by Vilemaw's Lair, "when I move" triggers do not activate since the unit did not actually move

Ruling: The Drummer is already considered to be in Warcamp and at 4 power when the trigger occurs, so Gust cannot be used to target it as a 3-power unit. Nuances: - The unit's stats update based on its new location before triggers from moving resolve

Ruling: You cannot Gust Wielder of Water when it moves to an occupied battlefield because its might becomes 4 as soon as it enters combat (Gust requires might 3 or less). However, you can Gust it when moving to an uncontrolled/open battlefield since it's not attacking in that scenario. Sequence: - When Wielder of Water moves to an occupied battlefield, combat begins - Combat starts with a showdown where players can play actions and reactions - Wielder of Water's ability is passive ("while attacking") and immediately active, making it 4 might - Gust cannot target it due to the might requirement Nuances: - Wielder of Water's ability uses "while attacking" (passive) not "when attacking" (stack-based), so it doesn't use the stack - The +2 might only applies while attacking or defending in combat - Outside of combat showdowns, Wielder of Water is 2 might and can be Gusted - Moving to an open/uncontrolled battlefield is not considered attacking, so Wielder remains 2 might and can be Gusted

Ruling: You cannot Gust an Immortal Phoenix that is attacking, because it gains its +2 might from Assault passively and immediately, making it 5 might before any window to respond. Gust can only target units with 3 or less might. Nuances: - If the Phoenix moves to an empty battlefield (not attacking), it remains 3 might and can be Gusted - If the Phoenix moves alongside a unit with a move trigger (like Traveling Merchant), you can respond to that move trigger and Gust the Phoenix before the showdown begins, since it hasn't been designated as attacker yet and doesn't have the Assault buff - Move triggers resolve while units are on the battlefield but before showdown starts, creating a window where the Phoenix is still 3 might - If you Gust away all units during a move trigger response, no showdown occurs

Ruling: Vilemaw's Lair only prevents moving from Vilemaw to base. It does not prevent returning units to hand (like with Gust), and it does not prevent moving from Vilemaw to another battlefield. Nuances: - Gust is not a move, so Vilemaw's restriction does not apply to it - "Can't beats can" applies, but Vilemaw's restriction only affects moves to base specifically

Ruling: Gust cannot target a 4 Might unit that has been damaged. Damage does not reduce a unit's Might stat; it only marks damage on the unit. To target a 4 Might unit with Gust, you must use an effect that reduces its Might stat (like Stupefy) to 3 or less. Nuances: - A unit with 4 Might and 3 damage marked is still a 4 Might unit - Damage and Might reduction are separate mechanics - You can buff a unit's Might in response to Gust to make it an invalid target

Ruling: Gust can only target units with 3 Might or less. Marked damage and Might are separate values with no relation to each other except that a unit dies when marked damage equals or exceeds its Might. Nuances: - A unit like Yasuo with 6 Might that has taken 5 damage still has 6 Might and cannot be targeted by Gust - "Health remaining" is not a game concept in Riftbound; only Might and marked damage exist

Ruling: Yes, you can return a copy of your chosen champion from trash to the Champion Zone even if another copy is in your base or at a battlefield. Your chosen champion is defined by the card name that started in the Champion Zone, not the specific physical card. Nuances: - The chosen champion identity is tied to the card name, not to a specific physical copy of the card

Ruling: Yes, Hard Bargain can target two spells on the chain if you play its repeat cost. Nuances: - This applies when multiple spells are on the chain during resolution - You must pay the repeat cost to target both spells

Ruling: Heimerdinger cannot see units in the champion zone. Nuances: - Units and gears in card text specifically refer to cards on the Board - The Chosen Champion Zone is a Non-Board Zone

Ruling: No, each ability Heimerdinger gains has the cost of exhausting him. Since you can only exhaust him once per turn, you can only pay the cost for one of his abilities. Nuances: - If you can ready him with another ability, you can use him again that same turn

Ruling: Yes, you can activate Herald of the Arcane's ability on turn one during your action phase by exhausting one rune of any type. The recruit token enters play exhausted, just like playing a unit from your hand. Sequence: - Exhaust Herald of the Arcane - Exhaust one rune of any type - Create a recruit token - The recruit enters play exhausted Nuances: - The cost is exhausting one rune of any type, not specifically a rainbow rune or energy

Ruling: Hidden Blade cannot be activated after combat damage is assigned. Nuances: - Hidden Blade cannot be activated in response to damage allocation during a showdown

Ruling: Hidden Blade can only be used on the battlefield where it is hidden. It cannot target units at other battlefields. Nuances: - Even if the unit with the hidden card is moved to another location (like being moved to base with Charm), the Hidden Blade still only works on the battlefield where it was originally hidden.

Ruling: Hidden Blade cannot target units at a different battlefield. Hidden cards can only affect units that are at the battlefield they are hidden at. Nuances: - The targeting restriction applies to the battlefield the hidden was revealed from - Any units played by the hidden effect must be played to that battlefield - Non-targeting effects from hidden cards are not restricted to the same battlefield - If both the target and the hidden card move to a different battlefield before the effect resolves, the target would still be illegal (unlike effects with the word "here")

Ruling: No, you cannot use Hidden Blade on an opponent's Ruin Runner because Hidden Blade requires choosing/targeting a unit, and Ruin Runner cannot be chosen by opponent's spells and skills. Sequence: - Hidden Blade requires a valid target to be activated - You choose the target before putting the spell on the chain - Ruin Runner cannot be chosen by opponent's spells, so it is not a valid target Nuances: - You can target your own Ruin Runner with Hidden Blade - Hidden Blade draws cards as long as the target is still valid on resolution (even if saved by replacement effects like Sett/Zhonya's), not only when it kills the unit - All spells recheck targeting validity on resolution

Ruling: No, Hidden Blade cannot kill a unit at a different battlefield than where it was hidden. Nuances: - The targeting is restricted to the battlefield where Hidden Blade was hidden - This restriction applies even when the ability is activated

Ruling: Hidden Blade can target a unit on another battlefield if played from hand, but if played from hidden, it must target a unit on that battlefield. Sequence: - If played from hand: can target any battlefield - If played from hidden: must target the battlefield it was hidden on Nuances: - The restriction to target the same battlefield only applies when playing from hidden, not when playing from hand

Ruling: Yes, you can activate Lux's ability to add 2 energy in response to Vengeance, then use that energy to play Retreat. However, the more standard play is to react with Retreat directly and use Lux's ability to pay the cost while finalizing Retreat on the chain, since you don't need to add resources before playing a spell. Sequence: - Opponent plays Vengeance targeting Lux - You receive priority to react - Option 1: Activate Lux to add 2 energy, then play Retreat using that energy - Option 2 (more standard): Play Retreat as a reaction, then activate Lux's ability to pay the cost as part of the Play action Nuances: - Abilities that add resources (with the "Add" tag) resolve immediately without a chain and can be activated during the process of paying for a spell's cost - You can activate abilities with the "Add" tag as part of finalizing a spell or ability on the chain

Ruling: No, you cannot activate Super Mega Death Rocket's ability if you have no cards to discard. The "discard to" wording indicates that discarding is a cost that must be paid when the ability resolves. Nuances: - The key distinction is "discard TO" versus "discard THEN" - the "to" wording makes it a cost that must be paid - You can still add the ability to the chain at 0 cards (e.g., stacking it with other effects), but when it resolves, if you cannot discard a card, you cannot recover the Death Rocket to hand - If it said "discard then" instead, you would not be required to discard if you had no cards

Ruling: You can flip any Hidden card whenever you could legally react, regardless of which battlefield it's on. Moving itself doesn't give you an opportunity to react, but moving to start a Showdown does. If your opponent plays an Action anywhere, you can react to that and flip any Hidden cards. Sequence: - Moving alone does not trigger a reaction opportunity - Moving to start a Showdown (because the battlefield is controlled by an opponent or no-one) gives you something to react to - Playing an Action anywhere gives you an opportunity to react Nuances: - Hidden spells and effects that target must target things at the battlefield they are played to (where it makes sense) - Consult the Past doesn't target anything, so this restriction doesn't apply to it

Ruling: You can choose any unit to assign damage to first, but once you choose a unit, you must assign lethal damage to it before you can assign damage to another unit. You cannot overkill units (assign excess damage beyond lethal) during combat resolution. Sequence: - Choose which unit to assign damage to - Assign lethal damage to that unit - Only then can you assign damage to the next unit - Repeat until all damage is assigned Nuances: - You cannot assign excess damage beyond lethal to a unit unless it is the last unit receiving damage (e.g., cards like Tryndamere allow overkill only on the final unit)

Ruling: You can attack and cast an action spell, but after that chain resolves, your opponent can still play an action spell. Both players must pass priority (say they're not playing anything anymore) before moving on. Sequence: - You attack and cast an action spell - Opponent cannot play an action spell in response to your action - The chain resolves - Opponent can play an action spell after the chain resolves - Both players must pass priority before proceeding to the next phase Nuances: - Unlike MTG, the opponent gets another opportunity to play action spells after your initial chain resolves, before the phase ends - The phase only ends when both players pass priority

Ruling: You can only score a battlefield once per turn. Since both holding and conquering a battlefield count as scoring, you cannot score it again even if you leave and return to it in the same turn. Sequence: - If you conquer a battlefield, you score it - If you move your base away and then move back to the same battlefield, you gain control of it again - However, you cannot score it a second time because you already scored it once this turn (either through hold or conquer) Nuances: - You can gain control of a battlefield multiple times in a turn, but the second time won't count as a conquer for scoring purposes

Ruling: You cannot cast Defy targeting a spell that costs more than 4 energy, nor can you have Defy target itself. Defy requires a valid target with energy cost ≤4 and power cost ≤1 to be cast, and spells cannot target themselves. Sequence: - Defy must have a valid target to be cast (energy cost ≤4 and power cost ≤1) - If no valid target exists, you cannot cast Defy at all - Even if a valid target exists, Defy cannot target itself Nuances: - This differs from Magic: The Gathering where you can cast spells like Counterspell on uncounterable spells just to get cast triggers - In Riftbound, Defy works like Red Elemental Blast (can only target valid spells), not Pyroblast (can target any spell but only counters if valid)

Ruling: No, if a spell needs a target, you can't cast it without a valid target. Nuances: - If there is a valid target when you cast the spell, but the target becomes invalid before resolution, you'll still draw the card - You cannot cast a spell with mandatory Deflect cost and decline to pay it (you can only decline Deflect for triggered abilities)

Ruling: No, you cannot cast an action speed spell in response. You can only play actions while the chain is empty, and on other players' turns, you don't have the option of playing actions outside of showdown. Nuances: - You can never play an action "in response" - actions can only be played while the chain is empty - On your own turn, you could play actions while the chain is empty, but not on opponent's turns unless during showdown

Ruling: Yes, you can check your own hidden cards on the battlefield. Hidden cards are private information and can be viewed by their owner. Nuances: - This applies when you have multiple hidden cards on the same battlefield and need to identify which is which (e.g., Fox Fire vs Consult the Past both hidden by Bandletree)

Ruling: You can only score a battlefield once per turn. If you conquer a battlefield, lose control, then gain control again in the same turn, you don't conquer it again. Nuances: - A battlefield is only considered conquered if you can score from it - You can move to the same battlefield multiple times in a turn - The once-per-turn scoring limit applies to each battlefield separately

Ruling: Any spell on the chain is a legal target for counter spells. Nuances: - In open game state, any opponent can counter your spell regardless of whether they are the target - In combat showdowns, only players involved in combat can initially act, but they may invite other players to act