Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Yes, moving to an empty battlefield does start a showdown. These are called non-combat Showdowns and occur when an empty battlefield is contested. Nuances: - Non-combat Showdowns are distinct from regular showdowns - During these showdowns, you can play kill spells and activate abilities

Ruling: Moving to an unoccupied battlefield begins a non-combat showdown, which allows both players the opportunity to play actions. Sequence: - The player who contested the battlefield gets the first opportunity to play an action to open a chain - The other player also gets the chance to play an action - The showdown ends when both players pass in order Nuances: - Moving to a battlefield you already control (where only you have units) does not start a showdown - This is a non-combat showdown, not a combat showdown

Ruling: Yordle Explorer looks at the printed cost only. Whenever a card refers to a cost, it's always the printed cost, not the total cost including additional costs. Nuances: - Even though additional costs are added to determine Total Cost during payment, card effects that reference "cost" use the printed cost on the card.

Ruling: Placing a card as hidden does not count as playing it. Flipping over hidden cards does count as them being played. Nuances: - Only if you activate the effect of the hidden card does it count as played - Hiding a card is the act of placing a card face down, which is distinct from playing

Ruling: No, multiple Spirit's Refuge do not stack to give Deflect 2. The card text specifies that friendly buffed units have deflect "if they didn't already," which prevents stacking. Nuances: - The card's text explicitly prevents granting additional deflect to units that already have it from another Spirit's Refuge

Ruling: No, playing Kayn from hand to your base does not count as a move. Nuances: - Moving requires both an origin (a location on the board where the unit starts) and a destination (a location on the board where the unit ends up) - When playing a unit from hand, there is no origin location on the board, so no move takes place

Ruling: No, playing Sett does not trigger Volibear's effect. Sett enters as a 4 Might unit, and by the time Sett's triggered ability resolves to make him 5 Might, Volibear's window of activation has already passed. Sequence: - Sett enters the battlefield as a 4 Might unit - Volibear checks the unit's Might value at this moment and sees only 4 Might - Volibear does not trigger because the condition is not met - Sett's triggered ability then resolves to buff him to 5 Might Nuances: - Cards like Draven Showboat would trigger Volibear if you had 2 or more points, because they enter with the higher Might value already applied

Ruling: Yes, if you play Sneaky Deckhand to an open battlefield and conquer it (opponent doesn't respond with removal like Gust), you score a point. Nuances: - Playing a unit to a battlefield is not the same as moving, but the unit still contests the battlefield for scoring purposes

Ruling: Playing a unit from hand does not count as a move. Nuances: - Moving specifically refers to relocating a unit between two locations on the board

Ruling: No, playing a 4 Might unit to Trifarian War Camp does not trigger Fiora's ability. The unit is Mighty from the start when it enters the battlefield, so it never becomes Mighty while on the battlefield. Sequence: - When a unit is played to Trifarian War Camp, it gains +1 Might as it enters the battlefield - A 4 Might unit becomes 5 Might immediately upon entering - Since the unit is already Mighty when it appears on the battlefield, there is no moment where it becomes Mighty - Therefore, Fiora's trigger condition (a unit becoming Mighty) is not met Nuances: - Moving a unit from base to War Camp would trigger Fiora, because the unit is already on the battlefield when it gains the Might buff - Playing a unit whose Might increases due to a conditional passive ability (like Shen when defending) would trigger Fiora but not Volibear - Playing a 4 Might unit to War Camp triggers Volibear (which cares about Mighty units being played) but not Fiora (which cares about units becoming Mighty)

Ruling: Yes, playing a card from the Hidden Zone counts as playing another card and triggers Legion effects. Nuances: - Hiding a card itself does not trigger Legion - Playing from the Hidden Zone does trigger Legion

Ruling: Playing a spell does not start a showdown or trigger "when you defend here" effects. Showdowns are only started by a unit of a player that does not currently control a battlefield moving into that battlefield. Nuances: - "Defending" only applies during combat when two players have units at the same battlefield - Damage spells targeting units at a battlefield do not count as defending

Ruling: Playing a hidden card triggers Legion only when you flip it face-up, not when you initially place it face-down. Nuances: - The act of hiding a card (placing it face-down) does not count as playing it for Legion purposes - Playing a card from hidden (flipping it face-up) does count as playing a card and will trigger Legion

Ruling: No, playing a card and discarding are separate game actions. You only discard when a card ability or effect specifically tells you to discard. Nuances: - Playing and discarding are distinct mechanics that are not interchangeable

Ruling: No, playing a token does not count towards Legion ability. "Card" only counts Main Deck cards, and Runes and Tokens are not cards.

Ruling: No, playing a token with Altar of Unity does not count for Legion because tokens are not cards and Legion requires playing cards from your main deck.

Ruling: Playing a token does not progress Legion. Only playing a main deck card progresses Legion.

Ruling: Yes, playing a unit from your Chosen Champion slot counts towards Legion requirements. Sequence: - Play the unit from your Chosen Champion slot (e.g., Kai'sa) - This counts as one unit played - Play additional units from hand (e.g., Noxus Hopeful) to meet the total Legion requirement

Ruling: No, playing a unit does not allow reactions. Permanents go on the chain but bypass the Execute portion of FEPR when finalized and go directly to resolving. Sequence: - Permanent is played and goes on the chain - When finalized, it bypasses the Execute portion of FEPR - It goes directly to resolving Nuances: - This applies to all permanents, not just units

Ruling: Yes, priority passes during chain resolution. When each item resolves on the chain, the owner of the next link gets priority and all players must pass for that link to resolve, similar to Magic: The Gathering. Sequence: - An item on the chain resolves - The owner of the next link gets priority - All players must pass priority - The next link resolves - Process repeats until chain is empty Nuances: - Unlike Magic, when the chain empties there is NOT a priority window - the game just progresses to the next state (either open neutral or the next step of showdown) - Moving itself does not trigger a priority window, but triggers created by the move will give priority

Ruling: Might changes do not count as damage. Damage and might modifications are treated separately for Imperial Decree. Nuances: - Imperial Decree requires non-zero "damage" to be dealt; a might modification is simply the stat itself going up or down - When assigning damage with Imperial Decree, you must assign the full might value to be lethal on one enemy; you cannot split damage thinking 1 damage is lethal - A unit can die from being reduced to 0 health after might modifications are applied (e.g., dealing 3 damage with Hextech Ray then using Stupify to -1 might), but this is different from Imperial Decree's damage requirement

Ruling: Recall does not exhaust a unit by default. A unit only recalls exhausted if the effect specifically states to recall exhausted. Nuances: - Cards in Riftbound don't elaborate more than necessary - if some effects say "recall exhausted" then recall by default does not exhaust - After recalling active from a tie, the unit can perform a standard move on the same turn

Ruling: Recalls do not inherently exhaust units. A unit only exhausts if the specific effect text says to exhaust it. Nuances: - A recall only happens when an effect specifically uses the word "recall" - moving units back to your base is not automatically a recall - Many recall effects do say to recall the unit exhausted, but that's part of the effect text, not an inherent property of recalls - Some cards have errata that affect recall effects, so check for updated card text rather than relying on printed text

Ruling: No, Ava Achiever does not count towards Teemo Strategist's damage because Ava does not have the Hidden keyword itself. Cards must have the Hidden keyword, not just reference it, to trigger Teemo Strategist's effect.

Ruling: No, recycling does not trigger Deathknell. Deathknell only triggers when a unit dies, which specifically means being sent from Board to Trash. Recycling moves cards to a different zone and does not count as dying. Nuances: - Dying is only triggered when a permanent is killed and sent from any zone on the board to the trash - Killing is not a subset of Move, it is a distinct game action

Ruling: Reducing a unit's Might reduces both the damage needed to kill the unit and the damage that unit deals. Nuances: - Combat damage does not reduce a unit's Might - Units heal after combat, so there is no window to cast spells after combat but before healing occurs

Ruling: Reducing a unit's Might with Stupefy does not count as killing with a spell. When Stupefy reduces Might below the damage already marked on the unit, the game rules kill the unit due to damage equaling or exceeding Might, not the spell itself. Sequence: - A unit takes damage (e.g., 4 damage on a 5 Might unit) - Stupefy reduces the unit's Might (e.g., from 5 to 4) - The game rules see damage equals or exceeds Might and the unit dies - This death is caused by game rules, not by the spell Nuances: - "To a minimum of 1" on Might-reducing effects only prevents the unit from being reduced to 0 Might through the effect itself - Damage does not reduce a unit's Might; damage exists as a separate counter on the unit - The spell that dealt the original damage would count as killing with a spell if it later becomes lethal through Might reduction

Ruling: Lux's Legend ability only looks at the printed cost in the top left corner of the card. Cost reductions from cards like Eager Apprentice do not affect whether the ability triggers. Nuances: - Discounts are only applied when a card is being paid for; outside of payment, the game only recognizes the cost shown in the top left corner of the card.

Ruling: Yes, when you play a spell, you retain priority and can play reactions back-to-back as many as you have resources for. Once you're done, you pass to the next player who will have a chance to play reactions. Sequence: - Player plays a spell (Action or Reaction) and retains priority - Player can play additional Reactions to the chain without passing - When ready, player passes priority to opponent - Opponent can now play Reactions - Once all players pass in succession, resolve the topmost item on the chain Nuances: - You cannot respond to an Action card with another Action card - Actions must start the chain - A chain can only be started by one item - Focus and Priority are different: Focus allows you to start a chain during showdowns (play Actions or Reactions when chain is empty), while Priority allows you to play Reactions when there's an open chain - Focus passes automatically when a chain finishes resolving during showdowns - When you pass priority during a chain, you retain Focus

Ruling: No, it does not count as a Conquer. A Conquer only occurs when a player gains control of a battlefield they have not yet scored that turn. Nuances: - If an effect like Tianna prevents you from scoring for holding a battlefield, and you later remove that effect and gain control, you can still get a Conquer point since you haven't scored that battlefield yet this turn - Holding scores only happen during the Beginning phase, so gaining control later in the turn won't trigger holding score

Ruling: Yes, revealing a card with Apprentice Smith triggers Nocturne. After Nocturne's errata, both "look" and "reveal" effects work to trigger it. Nuances: - There is a difference between "look" and "reveal" as game mechanics - "Reveal" shows the card to all players, while "look" does not - Both mechanics trigger Nocturne's ability after the errata

Ruling: Yes, revealing cards counts as looking at cards for Nocturne's ability, as confirmed by the card's errata. Nuances: - Looking at cards does not count as revealing them (e.g., for other card interactions)

Ruling: Rule 552 does not apply to the initial chain. While the rule as currently written would apply to the initial chain, this was an oversight and there will be an exception added for the initial chain. Nuances: - The initial chain refers to situations covered by rule 551, such as when you attack or defend

Ruling: Yes, spell damage works with Imperial Decree. Imperial Decree triggers on any damage dealt to a unit, regardless of source. When a unit takes damage while Imperial Decree is active, it creates a pending trigger that will kill the unit. Sequence: - Damage is dealt to a unit (from spell, combat, or any source) - Imperial Decree's "kill it" trigger becomes pending - If damage is lethal, cleanup step attempts to kill the unit from damage - If Zhonya's Hourglass is used, it prevents death from lethal damage and recalls the unit exhausted, then Zhonya's is destroyed - Imperial Decree's pending trigger resolves and kills the unit Nuances: - If damage is LETHAL: Zhonya's saves the unit from the damage death, but Imperial Decree's trigger still resolves afterward and kills the unit anyway (the unit effectively "dies twice") - If damage is NON-LETHAL: Zhonya's can successfully save the unit from Imperial Decree's kill trigger, and the unit survives at the Base - Effects that modify Might (like -1 Might counters) or Stupefy do not count as damage and will not trigger Imperial Decree - Imperial Decree only triggers once per damage instance

Ruling: Spending buffs reduces Kraken Hunter's power cost. Seal of Strength can provide power in place of exhausting runes. If you exhaust Seal of Strength, you only need to remove 1 buff (instead of 2) to summon Kraken Hunter exhausted by exhausting 3 runes total. Nuances: - Buffs can also be spent to reduce Kraken Hunter's accelerate cost, as additional costs are just added to the base cost

Ruling: Taking an open battlefield starts a showdown. Moving units to a battlefield you already control does not start a showdown unless the move triggers an ability. Sequence: - When units move, a cleanup occurs - During cleanup, any triggered abilities are processed - At the very end of cleanup, a showdown starts if one should start - Control of a battlefield being contested (even from no one) triggers a showdown Nuances: - Moving to an empty battlefield counts as contesting control, so it starts a showdown - Moving to your own battlefield only opens a response window if the move causes an ability to trigger and create a chain - A cleanup after conquering only occurs if an ability was triggered due to conquering, once the chain it created is emptied

Ruling: Taking damage reduces a unit's HP but does not reduce their might. Units deal damage equal to their original might in combat, not their current HP. Only effects that specifically reduce might will affect damage calculation. Sequence: - Cast damage spells before combat (not after) - Units deal damage based on their might stat during combat - Units heal after combat Nuances: - Timing matters: damage spells must be cast before combat starts, as units heal after combat

Ruling: Tapping Kai'Sa gives you 1 "power" (represented by symbols), which is the same resource you get from recycling a rune, not "energy" (represented by numbers) which comes from tapping runes. Nuances: - Numbers on cards represent "energy" which you get from tapping runes or certain effects - Symbols represent "power" which you get from recycling runes or effects like Kai'Sa's - If you have 2 ready runes and tap Kai'Sa for 1 power, you cannot activate a spell that costs 3 energy unless you have other ways to generate energy

Ruling: No, reflexive triggers do not allow you to draw from Dreaming Tree. Dreaming Tree requires targeting with a spell itself, not with triggered abilities that resolve after the spell. Sequence: - You play a spell that does not target - The spell resolves - Triggered abilities from that spell go on the chain and may target - These triggered ability targets do not count as "targeting with a spell" for Dreaming Tree Nuances: - The distinction is between targeting with the spell itself versus targeting with a triggered ability that was created by a spell

Ruling: Yes, temporary resolution goes on the chain as a triggered ability and can be reacted to by both players. Sequence: - The trigger condition occurs at the controller's Beginning Phase - The temporary trigger goes onto the chain - Both players can react to it Nuances: - Units with temporary can be saved via effects like Zhonay's (this is not optional)

Ruling: Attack triggers activate once per unit per combat. If a unit attacks multiple times in the same combat (e.g., via multiple Ride the Wind effects in one showdown), the trigger only activates once. If a unit is recalled and attacks again in a different combat, the trigger will activate again. Sequence: - First attack in a combat triggers the attack ability - Additional attacks in the same combat do not trigger the ability again - If the unit attacks in a new/different combat, the trigger activates again Nuances: - The restriction is per combat, not per turn or per game - Multiple instances of effects causing attacks in the same showdown count as the same combat

Ruling: Yes, the Darius unit reads itself when played as the 2nd card in a turn. Sequence: - The card is played and fully resolves - The unit enters the board - The "play" ability triggers - Since the unit is now on the board, it counts itself Nuances: - "Play" abilities trigger after a card has been played (fully resolved), so the unit is already on the board when its ability triggers

Ruling: No, Assault does not trigger when moving to an open battlefield. Assault requires a combat with an attacker and defender, but moving to an open battlefield is a showdown without an opposing unit, so there is no attacker/defender roles. Nuances: - This means units with Assault buffs can be targeted by removal effects like Hextech Ray when moving to open battlefields, since they don't gain their combat-triggered benefits.

Ruling: Yes, Aurora triggers before units heal at end of turn. This means you can use a spell to damage a unit at a field, then potentially find a Deadbloom via Aurora to finish it off before it heals. Sequence: - Aurora trigger resolves - Units heal after Aurora resolves Nuances: - This interaction allows for strategic plays where partial damage can be converted into kills through Aurora discoveries before healing occurs

Ruling: The diagram correctly represents Combat Showdown flow after corrections were made to address focus passing and Add ability handling. Sequence: - Finalize pending items up the chain (oldest first) - Players pass priority in succession - When all players pass with no pending items, resolve the chain down - After resolution, focus passes to the opponent - Check if initial chain or subsequent chain to determine if showdown ends Nuances: - When players pass priority but not all have passed in succession, focus must be explicitly checked and passed before returning to execute phase - Add abilities do not cause priority or focus to pass when finalized, and resolve before other outstanding items on the chain - For units/gear being added, the "newest finalized item" is technically more correct than "oldest pending item" - The initial chain must fully resolve before the showdown can end; passing on the final item of the initial chain does not end combat

Ruling: No, the Convergent Mutation effect does not go away when Aurora is about to resolve. Aurora happens before 'until end of turn' effects cease.

Ruling: Discipline is not a buff. Only permanent +1 might counters are considered "buffs" for game mechanics purposes. Discipline provides temporary +2 might that is removed at end of turn. Sequence: - Discipline grants +2 might for the current turn only - At end of turn, the +2 from Discipline is removed automatically - If you spend a buff (permanent +1 counter) to draw from Monastery of Hirana, the unit returns to its original card stated might when the turn ends - The permanent buff and temporary Discipline bonus are separate mechanics Nuances: - Stand United causes all buffs to give +2 instead of +1 for the turn, but this only applies to actual buffs (permanent +1 counters), not to Discipline or other temporary might increases - Stalwart Poro's shield counter is a buff and would benefit from Stand United's effect

Ruling: Yes, Hidden cards gain the ability to be played at Reaction speed once you get past the turn you've hidden them on. Sequence: - Hide the card on one turn - On subsequent turns, the hidden card can be played at Reaction speed regardless of its printed speed

Ruling: The current rule 723.1.d does not encompass choices made for triggers, but it is supposed to. The design intent is that abilities like Blastcone Fae's are restricted to the battlefield associated with the Hidden zone, but there will be a carveout that lets cards like Tideturner work as intended. Nuances: - The rule as currently written only applies to choices made when playing the card itself, not to trigger abilities that resolve afterward - The Hidden mechanic will be reworked to clarify how choices should be made for Hidden cards' abilities - Tideturner will have a specific exception to allow it to function as designed

Ruling: No, Minefield does not trigger "When you discard" abilities. Nuances: - You must perform the Discard game action to trigger "When you discard" effects - Discarding specifically refers to moving cards from hand to trash