Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Units do not heal after chain resolution. Units only heal at the end of combat and at the end of turn. Nuances: - Cleanup does occur after an item on the chain resolves - Cleanup includes units dying from damage and showdowns starting, but not healing

Ruling: Units do not heal after using Challenge. They remain damaged until they heal after combat or at the end of turn. Nuances: - Challenge is not combat, so it does not trigger healing that occurs after combat - Units heal only after combat and at the end of turn

Ruling: Units do not heal during cleanup. Units heal after each combat and at the end of turn. Nuances: - Cleanup is not a reset of everything; it's a cleanup of game state where dead units are removed and the state of attack/defend effects and other passives is adjusted - All units heal after each combat (not just units that participated in that combat) - Units also heal at the end of turn

Ruling: No, the unit does not heal. Damage from spells persists on the unit until specific timing points. Sequence: - Spell damage is applied to the unit - Damage remains on the unit after spells resolve - Damage is only removed at the end of Combat Showdown or at the end of turn

Ruling: Units do not heal when moving to an empty battlefield. Going to an empty battlefield is a showdown but not combat, and units only heal after combat or at the end of the turn. Nuances: - Moving to an empty battlefield counts as a showdown - A showdown is not the same as combat - Units heal after combat - Units also heal at the end of the turn

Ruling: Units only heal after a Combat Showdown and at the end of the turn. Attacking an empty battlefield is a regular showdown, not a combat showdown, so no units will heal. Sequence: (for Yasuo attacking on Reaver's Row) - Combat showdown starts and units are designated as attackers/defenders - Turn player's triggers go on chain first (Yasuo targets something - CL1) - Next player's triggers go on chain second (Reaver's Row targets something - CL2) - Player who controls the next chain item gets priority to react first - Chain resolves in reverse order: Reaver's Row resolves first, then Yasuo - After each item resolves, there's a new opportunity to react and add more to the chain Nuances: - If Reaver's Row targets the same unit that Yasuo targeted and moves it back to base, Yasuo's ability does nothing since the unit is no longer "here"

Ruling: When a unit leaves play, it loses everything on it, including buffs. Nuances: - This applies regardless of how the unit leaves play (e.g., being returned to hand by effects like Guff)

Ruling: Yes, units on the enemy base will heal combat damage at the end of a combat showdown, even if that combat showdown occurs at a different location (the battlefield).

Ruling: No, units are not healed after Gentleman's Duel resolves. Units are only healed after combat finishes and at the end of turn. Nuances: - Combat specifically refers to when two players are at the same battlefield and do a showdown, not just units damaging each other

Ruling: No, a unit entering ready does not count as readying the unit, so it does not trigger Pirate's Haven's +1 Might bonus. Nuances: - This is consistent with how other effects work - for example, Accelerate still functions even when Mageseeker Warden is present, because entering ready is different from being readied

Ruling: Yes, damage does not reduce might. A unit will attack with its full might value regardless of how much damage it has taken, unless an effect specifically reduces its might. Nuances: - A unit only needs to be assigned damage equal to its remaining health to die, not its full might value - Damage and might reduction are two different mechanics - Only effects that specifically state they "reduce might" will lower a unit's might value

Ruling: A unit can have 0 Might and survive on the board. It needs damage marked on it equal to or exceeding its Might to be killed. Nuances: - A unit's Might cannot go below 0; if it would, it is treated as 0 for all purposes - In Set 2, many Might reduction effects no longer have the minimum limit of 1 - The limit of 1 Might in earlier versions was mainly to avoid corner cases at the start

No, units can stick around on the board with 0 (or less!) Might. They will die if they take any damage, but “0” is not a valid amount of damage, so it takes 1 damage to kill a unit with 0 or less Might. We realize that this is a little weird, but it’s important to us that cards like Frigid Touch can’t be used to actually kill units, only weaken them.

Ruling: A unit with Assault does not gain its bonus during a non-combat showdown because it is not an attacker and there is no defender. Sequence: (if an opponent later joins the showdown) - The initial non-combat showdown at the uncontrolled battlefield finishes first without conquering - A new combat showdown then starts - At that point, the unit becomes an attacker and Assault activates Nuances: - Assault only activates when a unit has the Attacker designation, which requires a combat showdown with a defender - If an opponent moves a unit into an open showdown (e.g., with a spell), this triggers a new combat showdown rather than converting the existing non-combat showdown

Ruling: Yes, the unit receives the +1 Might bonus from Doran's Shield. The Might bonus from equipment is separate from the effect text and is always granted to the equipped unit. Nuances: - The opponent may have been confusing this with how the Shield keyword works - Might bonuses from attached cards are handled separately from other effect text on the card

Ruling: A unit that is recalled keeps all of its buffs and modifications. The unit stays exactly as it is, just moved to its controller's base. Nuances: - Recall does not trigger abilities that normally trigger on movement - Buffs like extra might from cards such as Discipline are also retained

No. Negative Might is treated as 0 Might for the purposes of dealing damage, but as its true value for raising it back above 0. So a unit with -3 Might would contribute 0 damage in combat, would die if it was dealt 1 or more damage, and would require +4 Might to get it back up to 1 Might.

Ruling: The effect does not work because the unit does not actually die when returned to hand by Zhonia. Deathknell effects only trigger when their trigger condition (the unit dying) is met. Nuances: - The unit being returned to hand is not the same as dying, so death-triggered effects do not activate

Ruling: No, the unit would die. Defend triggers and passives only apply during a combat showdown, not when spells are cast outside of showdown. Nuances: - A combat doesn't end immediately when one player runs out of units at a battlefield; it only ends when the showdown ends (all players pass focus in a row) - Until the showdown ends, units are still in combat and attack/defend passives continue to apply, even if only one player has units remaining at the battlefield

Ruling: Although Tank requires assigning lethal damage to that unit first, all damage is dealt simultaneously, so all units die at the same time. Zhonya's controller can choose which unit to save. Nuances: - Zhonya's is a replacement effect, not a trigger - You must flip Zhonya's before the unit dies - Location is irrelevant - if a unit dies at any location, you can use Zhonya's to save a unit anywhere because the gear comes out from hidden and is played to the base - If Zhonya's is hidden and a unit dies, it does not automatically trigger the hidden Zhonya's

Ruling: Legion only triggers when a card is played, not when an ability is activated. Tapping an already-played Seal does not trigger Legion. Nuances: - Playing the Seal card itself does trigger Legion - Only the act of activating the Seal's tap ability after it's already in play does not trigger Legion

Ruling: No, an attached equipment with Temporary does NOT get killed while attached. Temporary is part of the equipment's Rules Text, which becomes Inactive while attached, preventing it from triggering. Sequence: - Fading Memories gives the attached Long Sword Temporary - While attached, the Long Sword's Rules Text (including Temporary) is Inactive - Temporary cannot trigger while Inactive - If the equipment later becomes detached, its Rules Text becomes Active again - Temporary will then trigger at the start of the next Beginning Phase Nuances: - Rules Text vs Effect Text is critical: Rules Text becomes Inactive when attached, Effect Text becomes Active when attached - This applies to all Rules Text abilities on equipment (Equip, Temporary, etc.), not just Temporary - The equipment must become detached before Temporary can trigger

Ruling: No, effects that affect everything do not trigger Deflect. Deflect only activates when a player makes a choice to target something. Nuances: - If no choice is possible in the effect, then there is no target - The effect must involve a targeting choice made by the player for Deflect to activate

Ruling: If there are no "When I attack" or "When I defend" abilities, there is no initial chain and combat goes straight into a showdown, giving the attacker focus to start a chain. Sequence: - Check for "When I attack" or "When I defend" abilities - If none exist, skip initial chain - Proceed directly to showdown - Attacker receives focus to start a chain

Ruling: An open showdown only happens when a battlefield is being contested. If your first unit successfully conquered the battlefield, a second unit moving there afterwards does not contest it and therefore does not trigger another showdown. Sequence: - First unit moves to uncontrolled battlefield → Open showdown happens - If first unit successfully conquers the battlefield, it is now controlled - Second unit moving to that same (now controlled) battlefield → No showdown occurs Nuances: - There are three scenarios: (1) Moving to a battlefield you already control = no showdown, (2) Moving to an uncontrolled battlefield = open showdown where all players can play actions and reactions, (3) Moving to an opponent-controlled battlefield = combat showdown with defender/attacker roles, then all players can play actions and reactions - Being a defender/attacker/neither does not restrict what cards you can play in a showdown, though some cards may be "wasted" if their effects require defender/attacker status - In an open showdown, there is no defender or attacker role

Ruling: Yes, attaching a gear triggers Irelia. Equipping is targeting, and any time you target Irelia, you trigger her ability. Nuances: - Irelia uses "choosing" language rather than "targeted" language, but equipping still counts as choosing/targeting for her ability

Ruling: Yes, equipping does choose a unit. Nuances: - The previous Comprehensive Rules explicitly stated that attaching cards to others does not count as selecting - This was expected to change in the updated Spirit Forged CR (version 1.2) - The rule reference is 744.1.c.2 in the new CR

Ruling: Yes, equipping is a normal activated ability that starts a chain and allows opponents to play reactions. Sequence: - Player activates the equip ability - Chain starts, priority passes - Opponent can respond with reactions (such as kill spells) - If opponent kills the unit being equipped, the equipment will not resolve on that unit Nuances: - The opponent's reaction can kill the target unit before it gets equipped, causing the equip ability to fail to resolve properly

Ruling: No, banishing a unit does not count as it dying.

Ruling: No, banishing a unit with Portal Rescue does not trigger its deathknell. Dying is specifically going from the board to the trash by a kill effect or damage, not by being banished. Sequence: - When Portal Rescue resolves, it banishes the targeted unit - The banished unit is then played immediately - When the unit is played, its "when you play me" effect triggers and goes on the chain - The "when you play me" trigger goes on the same chain as the unit itself (not a separate chain) Nuances: - You get any play effects when the unit is played via Portal Rescue (e.g., Rex deals 6 damage, Vanguard Captain creates tokens if legion is met, Thousand Tailed Watcher gives -3 might and accelerate) - Damage from multiple Rex triggers does not heal between them, so you can stack 12 damage on a single unit by playing Rex normally and then using Portal Rescue on it - Portal Rescue can only be played when the chain is empty - The unit's play effect trigger goes on the same chain as the unit, not a separate chain, which prevents focus skipping in showdowns

Ruling: Yes, Ahri's Inquisitive ability targets and will trigger Deflect. A target is any specific choice required by an effect. Nuances: - AOE effects like "deal damage to all units at a battlefield" only target the battlefield (the specific choice), not the individual units - Effects that instruct players to decide targets upon resolution do not target - When a triggered ability like Ahri incurs a Deflect cost, you can choose not to pay it, which prevents the ability from finalizing on the chain - If you cannot pay the Deflect cost (e.g., no runes available), it's treated the same as choosing not to pay - Deflect is not an "optional cost" in the rules sense - optional costs use the word "may" with "as an additional cost"

Ruling: Teemo only triggers once when revealed on defense, not twice. Nuances: - If the opponent has a unit with a move trigger (like Travelling Merchant or Drummer), you can reveal Teemo while that trigger is pending but before the showdown begins, allowing Teemo to shoot the moving unit. Then Teemo triggers again when the showdown actually starts, resulting in two triggers total in this specific scenario. - This double trigger only happens because Teemo is revealed before being considered a defender (during the move trigger window), then triggers again as a defender when showdown begins.

Ruling: Yes, Viktor gets two Recruits when Portal Rescue targets a friendly non-recruit unit - one for playing Portal Rescue and one for playing the unit that was banished and played back to base. Nuances: - If you target Viktor himself with Portal Rescue on an opponent's turn, you only get 1 Recruit (not 0) because Viktor can see himself being played as a card on an enemy's turn, but Portal Rescue itself does not give a Recruit since Viktor is pending at Portal's resolution. - Viktor's effect only triggers when a card fully resolves, not while cards are pending.

Ruling: Burnout counts as a way to score the final point and win the game. You win with any point other than conquer. Nuances: - The rule states that if you score through Conquer and have NOT scored every Battlefield this turn, you draw a card instead of winning - Burnout is not Conquer, so it follows the same path as Hold (scoring the final point immediately)

Ruling: No, Primal Strength does not trigger Ganking on Bilgewater Bully because Primal Strength does not use the "buff" mechanic. Nuances: - Buff is a specific game mechanic with its own keyword - Only effects that explicitly state they "buff" count as buffs for triggering abilities like Ganking

Ruling: Yes, charming an enemy Yasuo into a Battlefield triggers his attack ability because the Yasuo is attacking. Nuances: - Yasuo's ability requires him to be "here" (at the location) when it resolves. If Yasuo is pushed back to base after the attack trigger goes on chain but before it resolves, his ability will not deal damage because he is no longer at that location.

Ruling: Combat cleanup heals all units regardless of which battlefield they are on, whose units they are, or how they were damaged. Nuances: - Applies to both combat and non-combat damage - Applies to units that did not participate in the showdown - Applies across all battlefields, not just where the showdown occurred

Ruling: Reducing a unit's Might below zero does not kill it. Units can have less than 1 Might (treated as zero), but units at 0 Might don't die. Might reduction can only kill a unit if it already had damage on it. Sequence: - Apply Might reduction effects (both specify minimum 1 Might) - If unit has damage equal to or greater than its current Might, it dies immediately - If unit has no damage, it survives regardless of how low its Might is reduced Nuances: - Units with lethal damage die immediately (followed by a cleanup check) - Example: A 7 Might unit with 3 damage that gets reduced to 3 Might will die immediately

Ruling: No. You can only score at each battlefield one time per turn. If you've already scored there, you can't conquer it again that turn, which means conquer effects like Targon's Peak don't trigger. Sequence: - If you hold a battlefield at the start of your turn, you score it once - Moving units away and back creates a showdown but no additional scoring occurs - No scoring means no conquer, so no conquer effects trigger Nuances: - You CAN conquer a battlefield on your opponent's turn if you started that turn with control of it, since you haven't scored there yet that turn - This would give you a point and trigger conquer effects, though Targon's Peak's effect wouldn't be particularly useful on an opponent's turn

Ruling: Battlefield effects work the same as unit effects - triggered effects (like "When you conquer") start a chain, while passive effects do not. Sequence: - You must go through showdown steps to conquer a battlefield (simply moving to it is not enough) - At the end of the showdown, if only your units remain at the battlefield, you conquer it - The battlefield's triggered effect then starts a chain - If you control multiple effects that trigger simultaneously (like a unit effect and battlefield effect), you choose the order to put them on the chain Nuances: - Moving to a battlefield does not automatically conquer it - you must complete the showdown with only your units remaining - The showdown itself also causes a chain before the conquest trigger resolves

Ruling: Yes, moving a unit to an open (neutral) battlefield starts a non-combat showdown where both players can play actions/reactions, with the moving player having priority first. Nuances: - Units are not designated as attackers/defenders during a non-combat showdown - It is not considered combat - Effects that trigger "when I attack" or reference combat do not trigger - The player moving to the battlefield gets priority and focus because they applied contested status

Ruling: Moving to an empty battlefield creates an open showdown where all players can play actions. Nuances: - This allows action spells to be activated on an opponent's turn when they attempt to conquer an empty battlefield, since action spells can be activated during showdowns on any turn.

Ruling: Irelia's ability triggers when she is chosen during spell finalization, which occurs before the opponent can counter the spell. Therefore, even if the spell is countered, Irelia's trigger has already been placed on the chain and will resolve. Sequence: - Spell is finalized and Irelia is chosen as the target - Irelia's ability triggers and goes on the chain - Opponent can now counter the original spell - Even if countered, Irelia's trigger remains on the chain and resolves Nuances: - This same principle applies to other "when chosen" effects like Dreaming Tree - Attaching gear also counts as choosing the unit with that gear, triggering Irelia's ability before the gear actually attaches

Ruling: Damage does not clear during cleanup after items resolve on the Chain. Damage only clears at the end of combat and at the end of turn. Sequence: - Play a damage spell (e.g., Super Mega Rocket) dealing damage to an opponent's unit at a battlefield - The damage remains on that unit - Send in a unit to attack that same damaged unit - The opponent's unit still has the damage from the spell during combat Nuances: - This means you can stack damage from spells before combat, making pre-combat damage spells more valuable than if damage cleared between Chain resolutions

Ruling: Damage does not clear after Snapvine or Challenge resolves. Damage only clears after a full combat or at end of turn. Units dealing damage to each other through Challenge or Snapvine is not considered combat. Nuances: - In the example scenario, a unit that takes 2 damage from Challenge will still have that damage when it fights in the subsequent showdown, potentially causing it to die - Voidgate battlefield does not interact with Challenge or Snapvine damage

Ruling: Damage does not reduce Might. If a unit is alive, it contributes its full Might to the showdown regardless of damage taken. Nuances: - Damage and Might reduction are tracked separately as different types of effects - Some effects specifically reduce Might (like certain abilities) while others deal damage - these have different mechanical impacts

Ruling: Yes, damage dealt to units by spells outside of combat remains on those units when you enter combat with them. Units only heal at the end of combats or at the end of turn. Sequence: - Deal damage to enemy unit with spell outside of combat - Enter combat with that damaged unit - Only need to deal remaining damage to destroy it - Excess damage can be assigned to other units in that combat Nuances: - Healing after combat affects all units everywhere, not just units that participated in that combat - Healing damage is not part of cleanup (cleanup is equivalent to checking state-based effects and happens continuously)

Ruling: Damage dealt to a unit outside of combat persists until the end of that combat or the end of the turn. Damage does not reduce a unit's might value; once accumulated damage equals or exceeds the unit's might, the unit dies. Sequence: - Damage is dealt to a unit outside of combat (e.g., 5 damage to a 10 might Volibear) - The damaged unit enters combat still carrying that damage - During combat, the attacking unit's might is added to any pre-existing damage on the defender - If total damage equals or exceeds the defender's might (plus any modifiers like Shield), the defender dies - Damage is cleared from all units at the end of combat and at the end of each player's turn Nuances: - Defensive keywords like Shield increase the effective might of the defender during combat, so pre-combat damage plus attacking might must exceed the modified total (e.g., 5 damage + 6 might attack = 11 total, which does not kill a 10 might Volibear with Shield giving +3 for 13 total)

Ruling: Damage does not reduce might. A unit deals combat damage equal to its printed might value regardless of how much damage it has accumulated. Sequence: - Yasuo (6 might) attacks Volibear (9 might, deflect 2) - Yasuo pays 2 power to target due to deflect 2, then deals 6 damage to Volibear - Volibear now has 6 damage on it but still has 9 might - During combat damage, Yasuo deals 6 damage and Volibear deals 9 damage - Both units die (Yasuo takes 9 damage with 6 health, Volibear has 6+6=12 total damage with 9 health)

Ruling: Damage does not change a unit's might value. Damage only causes units to die when they accumulate enough of it. Nuances: - A unit's might remains constant regardless of how much damage it has taken - Damage and might are tracked separately