During a showdown, after playing an action card to boost might, opponent plays a reaction to reduce might, can I play another action card to boost might again, and what state am I in?
Ruling: Yes, you can play another action card after the opponent's reaction resolves. You remain in showdown open state.
Sequence:
- Player with focus and priority starts a chain with an action or reaction card
- Players can play reactions on top of this
- When the chain fully resolves, focus and priority passes to the other player
- That player can then start a new chain with an action or reaction card
- When that chain resolves, focus and priority returns to you
- You can then start another chain with an action or reaction card
- This cycle continues until neither player starts a chain when they have focus, then the showdown ends
Nuances:
- Stat modification effects (like +2 or -2 might) typically last until end of turn, but always refer to what the card says
- Minus might effects usually say "to a minimum of 1" and are "snapshotted", meaning only the amount needed to reach the minimum is applied and remembered for the rest of the turn
- Example: A -4 might on a 2 might unit only applies -1 (to reach minimum of 1). If you then play +2 might, the unit goes to 3 might, not stays at 1
During a showdown, after the initial chain resolves and a player plays an action spell that resolves, who gets priority next - does it depend on who played the spell?
Ruling: During a showdown after the initial chain has resolved, when the chain becomes empty again, the player who did NOT own the most recent effect on the chain gets focus and priority.
Sequence:
- Initial chain (attacker/defender triggers) resolves
- Attacker has focus and priority first
- If attacker plays an action spell and it resolves (chain empty), defender gets focus and priority next
- If defender plays an action spell and it resolves (chain empty), attacker gets focus and priority next
Nuances:
- The "initial chain" refers only to the attacker/defender triggers, not subsequent spells played during the showdown
- This rule only applies after the initial chain - during the initial chain resolution with empty chain, attacker always gets focus and priority
During a showdown, can a player start two different chains of actions (e.g., casting two Hextech Rays) before proceeding to combat?
Ruling: Yes, you can play multiple actions during a showdown, but not consecutively without your opponent having a chance to respond. The showdown ends when both players pass focus without creating a chain.
Sequence:
- Player gets focus and plays first action (e.g., Hextech Ray)
- Chain resolves (both players could add reactions)
- Opponent gets their turn to play an action
- If opponent passes, original player can play another action (e.g., second Hextech Ray)
- This continues until both players pass consecutively
Nuances:
- You cannot play two actions at the same time or truly "consecutively" - your opponent must have the opportunity to act or pass between your actions
During a showdown, if I pass priority and my opponent plays a reaction spell (Discipline), can I play an action spell (Rune Prison) after their reaction resolves?
Ruling: Yes, you can play an action spell after the reaction resolves. When the chain empties (after Discipline resolves), you regain focus and priority, allowing you to play an action spell on the empty chain.
Sequence:
- Opponent plays Discipline as a reaction
- Discipline resolves and the chain empties
- Focus and priority return to you
- You can now play Rune Prison as an action on the empty chain
Nuances:
- Action spells can only be played on an empty chain
- You cannot chain an action spell to a reaction spell that's already on the chain
- Focus passes when the chain empties completely
- Showdowns are not limited to 3 chains
During a showdown, if I pass without playing an action, my opponent plays an action that resolves, can I then play an action afterwards to start a new chain before damage calculation?
Ruling: Yes, after your opponent's action chain resolves, you regain focus and can play a new action. Both players must pass consecutively before moving to damage calculation.
Sequence:
- Attacker may play an action or pass
- If attacker passes, defender may play an action
- When an action is played, it opens a chain where only reactions can be added (attacker reaction, then defender reaction)
- Once the chain resolves, the player who didn't start that chain gets focus
- Players alternate having the opportunity to start new action chains
- Only when both players pass consecutively does showdown proceed to damage calculation
Nuances:
- Actions can only open a chain; reactions are used to respond within a chain
- A player can play multiple reactions in a row, including in response to their own reactions
- The sequence is: Action -> attacker reaction -> defender reaction, then resolve
During a showdown, if I return my only defending unit to base, does my hidden card at that battlefield go to trash? Also, can I play 'Ride the Wind' to move a unit from my base to that battlefield as a defender?
Ruling: The hidden card does not go to trash because you still control the battlefield while the showdown is contested. You can play 'Ride the Wind' to move a unit from your base to the contested battlefield as a defender.
Sequence:
- Showdown begins when opponent attacks the battlefield
- Control cannot change while battlefield is contested
- Battlefield remains contested until showdown resolves
- Both players must pass priority with empty chain before damage
- After damage, showdown resolves
- Only then does control potentially change
Nuances:
- Even if all your units leave the battlefield during showdown, you maintain control until the showdown fully resolves
- Units can be added as defenders during the showdown using appropriate cards
During a showdown, if player A has focus and plays an Action, does priority stay with A or pass to B? After the chain resolves, who gets focus? Also, when does Ravenbloom Student trigger and is it added to the chain, and does it still trigger if the spell is countered?
Ruling: When player A plays an Action during a showdown, they retain priority and can continue playing cards at reaction speed until they pass priority to player B. After the final effect on a chain resolves, focus passes to the next player (the player who did not own the last effect to resolve). Ravenbloom Student triggers after a spell fully resolves and interjects itself onto the chain. If a spell is countered, it never resolved and was never "played," so Ravenbloom Student does not trigger.
Sequence:
- Player A has focus and plays an Action (added to chain)
- Player A retains priority and can play additional reaction speed cards
- Player A passes priority to Player B
- Players alternate priority until both pass consecutively
- Chain resolves from top to bottom
- After final effect resolves, focus passes to the next player (not the owner of the last effect)
- If both players pass with focus on an empty chain during a showdown, move to combat damage
Nuances:
- Cards with "when you play" triggers (like Ravenbloom Student and Ember Monk) only trigger after the card fully resolves, not when initially played from hand
- When a trigger like Ravenbloom Student activates, it interjects itself onto the chain and priority goes to its owner first
- Countered spells (via cards like Defy or Not So Fast) never resolve, so they are never considered "played" and don't trigger "when you play" effects
- Focus only changes when the final effect on a chain resolves
During a showdown, if the defender plays an action-speed card (like Hextech Ray), the chain resolves and focus passes to the attacker. If the attacker then passes focus, does the showdown end, or does the defender get focus back to play more actions?
Ruling: The showdown does not end. When the attacker passes focus after the defender's chain resolves, the defender gets focus back and can play more actions. The showdown only ends when two players pass focus consecutively.
Sequence:
- Defender plays action-speed card (Hextech Ray)
- Chain resolves and focus passes to attacker
- Attacker passes focus
- Defender gains focus again and can play actions
- Showdown ends only if defender also passes focus
Nuances:
- Focus passing due to a chain resolving is different from a player passing focus
- "Passing" specifically refers to the choice to not play a card when you have priority/focus, not focus automatically moving after chain resolution
- Two consecutive passes of focus (not just focus moving between players) are required to end the showdown
During a showdown, if the player with focus plays an action (creating a closed state), can the next player play an action after the chain resolves, or are they restricted to only reactions in the closed state?
Ruling: When a player plays an action during a showdown, it creates a closed state where only reactions can be played. Once the chain fully resolves, the game returns to an open showdown state and focus passes to the next player, who can then play actions or reactions.
Sequence:
- Turn player triggers showdown (open state) and has focus
- Turn player plays an action/reaction, creating a closed state
- Both players get a round of reaction play timing in the closed state
- If both players pass, the chain resolves in order
- Game returns to open showdown state
- Focus passes to the non-turn player who can play an action/reaction
- This continues back and forth until both players pass in succession without playing cards
Nuances:
- Players cannot play actions once the game is in a closed state (when a chain exists)
- When a player passes priority during a closed state, focus does NOT get passed
- Focus only passes when returning to an open state after chain resolution
During a showdown, what types of cards can be played, in what order does priority work, and is there a window to play cards after damage is dealt?
Ruling: During a showdown, players can play actions and reactions, but not normal spells. After both players pass priority back-to-back, damage happens and the showdown ends with no further window to play cards.
Sequence:
- Active player has priority and can play actions or reactions to start a chain
- Opponent can only respond with reactions to that chain
- After the chain resolves, the opponent has priority to play the same types of cards the active player just did
- Priority passes back and forth until both players pass consecutively
- Damage is dealt and the showdown ends
Nuances:
- You cannot "respond" with actions (they don't go on the chain as responses), but both players will have chances to play actions during the priority passing
- It's unclear whether a chain can be started with a reaction (not definitively answered in thread)
During a showdown, when attack and defend triggers go on the chain, do they resolve separately or together, and which resolves first?
Ruling: When combat starts, all "when I attack" and "when I defend" triggers enter the chain together, with the attacking player's triggers added first. Chains resolve backwards (last in, first out), so the defending player's triggers resolve first.
Sequence:
- Combat starts
- Attacking player's "when I attack" triggers are added to the chain first
- Defending player's "when I defend" triggers are added to the chain second
- Chain resolves backwards: defending player's triggers resolve first, then attacking player's triggers
Nuances:
- The key distinction is that triggers from the defending player resolve first, not just "when I defend" triggers specifically. For example, triggers like "when enemy attacks" also resolve first because they belong to the defending player.
- Passive abilities like Shield are always active when defending and don't use the chain.
During a showdown, who has priority to play the first action, and how does priority work after an action resolves?
Ruling: During a showdown when the initial chain is resolving and the chain is empty, the attacker gets focus and priority. After an action resolves, priority goes to the owner of the next effect on the chain if the chain is not empty; if the chain is empty during a non-initial chain, the next player (not the owner of the most recent effect) gets focus and priority.
Sequence:
- During showdown, initial chain resolving, chain empty: attacker gets focus and priority
- During showdown, initial chain resolving, chain not empty: owner of next effect on chain gets priority
- During showdown, not initial chain, chain empty: next player (after owner of most recent effect) gets focus and priority
- During showdown, not initial chain, chain not empty: owner of next effect on chain gets priority
- Outside showdown, chain empty: current turn player gets priority
- Outside showdown, chain not empty: owner of next effect on chain gets priority
Nuances:
- Action speed cards can only be played on your turn when the chain is empty OR by either player during a showdown when they have focus and the chain is empty
- If you have two Last Breath cards and priority with an empty chain during showdown, you can play one, but after it resolves the other player gets priority (assuming it's not the initial chain)
During an attack, if I play an action spell with focus, defender gets focus and plays nothing, do I get focus back?
Ruling: Yes, you get the focus back. Focus continues passing between players until all players pass focus in succession, at which point Showdown ends.
Sequence:
- Attacker gets focus and plays an action spell
- Defender gets focus (if no reactions played)
- If defender plays nothing, focus passes back to attacker
- This continues until all players pass focus in succession
- Then Showdown ends
For 'Forge of the Future' with text 'Kill This', can the card be trashed at any point or does it require another card's effect to destroy it?
Ruling: 'Kill This' is an activated ability where killing the card is the cost to activate the ability, as indicated by the colon (':') in the card text.
Sequence:
- Pay the cost by killing/trashing the card
- The ability activates
Nuances:
- This is an activated ability, not a passive effect that can be used at any time without structure
For 'Get Excited!', is the discard a cost, and what happens when you target something and it gets removed before the spell resolves?
Ruling: The discard is not a cost—it happens during resolution. You declare the target when casting, give opponents a chance to react, then discard and deal damage during resolution. You must always discard a card when Get Excited resolves, even if the target is no longer valid.
Sequence:
- Declare what is being targeted
- Give the opponent a chance to react
- Resolve the spell by discarding a card and dealing damage
Nuances:
- You do not have to announce what you are discarding until the spell is resolving
- If the target becomes invalid (removed by a reaction), you still must discard a card
- You can choose to discard something different than originally planned when resolving
- Nothing fizzles in Riftbound; effects resolve doing as much as they can (target becomes NULL but other effects still happen)
For Accelerate effects that allow units to enter ready, do you only tap an additional rune or do you also recycle a rune?
Ruling: For Accelerate abilities, you must both exhaust (tap) 1 energy rune of any color AND recycle 1 rune of the specified color shown in the Accelerate cost.
Sequence:
- Pay the normal unit cost (e.g., 5 runes for Miss Fortune)
- Exhaust 1 additional rune of any color for the energy cost
- Recycle 1 rune of the color specified in the Accelerate cost (e.g., orange for Miss Fortune)
- The unit enters play ready instead of exhausted
Nuances:
- The energy cost (exhaust) can be paid with any color rune
- The recycle cost must match the specific color shown in the Accelerate ability
For Adaptatron's "When I conquer..." ability, does Adaptatron need to conquer a battlefield alone, or can it conquer together with other units?
Ruling: Adaptatron can conquer together with other units you control. The "When I conquer" trigger activates as long as Adaptatron is part of the conquering force when you take control of a battlefield you didn't previously control.
Nuances:
- Moving or playing Adaptatron into a battlefield you already control does not count as conquering
- The "I" in the ability text refers to Adaptatron being part of the conquer, not requiring it to conquer alone
For Baited Hook, does it use the current might or printed might of the killed unit?
Ruling: Baited Hook uses the current might of the unit as it was killed.
Nuances:
- This is the might value at the time the unit is killed by Baited Hook, not the printed/base might value on the card.
For Baited Hook, if I kill a unit with 4 might, can I pick a 2 might unit, or does it have to be 4 might or higher?
Ruling: You can pick any unit with might equal to or below 1 plus the might of the killed unit. So killing a 4 might unit allows you to pick units with 5 might or less, including a 2 might unit.
For Baited Hook, if you sacrifice a 4 might unit, can you grab any unit with 5 might or less, or only units with exactly 4 or 5 might?
Ruling: You can play a unit with might anywhere from 0 to 5 (0 to X+1, where X is the killed unit's might).
Nuances:
- The card text "up to 1 more than the killed unit" means the entire phrase "1 more than the killed unit" is the ceiling, not that "up to 1" creates a range from X to X+1
- If you substitute the actual number (e.g., killed unit has 3 might), it reads "has Might up to 4" which includes 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4
- The alternative interpretation (only X or X+1) would require different wording like "exactly the same might or one more might than the killed unit"
For Baited Hook, when do you pick the target, and what happens if the target is missing when the ability resolves?
Ruling: You pick the target when activating the ability. If the target is missing at resolution, the "kill a friendly unit" part fizzles, but you still look at the top 5 cards of your main deck and recycle them.
Sequence:
- Kill a friendly unit: fizzles if the target is not present anymore
- Look at the top 5 cards of your main deck: do as much as you can, so you do it even if target is missing
- Banish a unit with might up to 1 more: can't find any because there is no might to compare
- Recycle the rest: do as much as you can, recycle the 5 cards
Nuances:
- The game does not use last known information for checking unit stats like Might
- If the unit is not killed or is missing, you cannot check the unit might and won't resolve the "search a unit" part, but other parts of the ability resolve as much as possible
For Blazing Scorcher, can you pay the 1 energy and 1 Fury cost by exhausting 1 rune and recycling 1 red (which can be exhausted)?
Ruling: The 1 energy and 1 Fury power is an additional cost you may choose to spend while casting Blazing Scorcher, not a cost reduction. You determine the base cost of 5 energy first, then optionally pay the additional cost of 1 energy and 1 Fury power to have the unit enter ready instead of exhausted.
Sequence:
- Determine the base cost of the card (5 energy)
- Optionally pay the additional cost of 1 energy and 1 Fury power
- If additional cost is paid, unit enters ready; if not paid, unit enters exhausted
Nuances:
- When paying for the Fury power, you are able to recycle an exhausted rune to pay its cost
For Bullet Time, do you have to decide how much to recycle before it resolves, or can you wait until resolution (especially relevant if it gets countered)?
Ruling: You pay the recycle cost when the effect resolves, not when you play it. If Bullet Time gets countered, you don't pay the recycle cost.
Sequence:
- Play Bullet Time and choose the target battlefield when announcing
- Bullet Time enters the stack
- When Bullet Time resolves, you decide how much to recycle and pay that cost
- If countered before resolution, no recycle cost is paid
Nuances:
- The target battlefield is chosen when announcing/playing the card, not on resolution
- The recycle cost is not an "additional cost" so it's paid on resolution rather than as part of playing the card
For Bullet Time, do you recycle runes as a cost when playing the card (before opponent responds), or do you play it first, let opponent respond, then pay the power cost afterwards?
Ruling: You play Bullet Time first, your opponent responds without knowing how many runes you'll spend, then after their response resolves you choose how much power to pay by recycling runes.
Sequence:
- Play Bullet Time
- Opponent makes any responses they want (without knowing how much power you'll spend)
- Opponent's responses resolve
- You choose how much power to pay by recycling runes and Bullet Time resolves
Nuances:
- You pay power by recycling runes, not "pay runes" directly
For Bullet Time, when must the player declare how much power they are paying for the spell's effect - when the spell is played and placed on the chain (as a cost), or when the spell resolves?
Ruling: The power payment for Bullet Time is not a cost of the spell. The choice of how much power to pay and the actual payment happens on resolution, not when the spell is played and placed on the chain. The total cost to play Bullet Time is just 1 energy.
Sequence:
- Step 1: Pay the 1 energy cost to play Bullet Time
- Step 2: The spell is finalized and placed on the chain (no power amount declared yet)
- Step 3: When Bullet Time resolves, the controller declares and pays the power amount
Nuances:
- "Do X to do Y" wording is specifically omitted from targeting requirements in Step 2
- The power payment is handled as a choice made on resolution, not as an additional cost during the playing of the spell
- If the card were worded "as you play me, you may pay any power as additional cost," then the amount would need to be declared before finalizing onto the chain, but that is not the current wording
For Candlelit Sanctum, can you choose to recycle zero cards after looking at the top two cards of your deck, or must you recycle at least one?
Ruling: You can choose to recycle zero cards. The "may" in "you may recycle one or both of them" means recycling is optional, so you can look at the cards and choose not to recycle any.
Sequence:
- Look at the top two cards of your deck
- Choose whether to recycle zero, one, or both cards
- Put any non-recycled cards back on top in any order
Nuances:
- The phrasing "one or both" does not exclude the option of recycling neither card; the "may" makes the entire recycling action optional
For Catalyst of Aeons, if I channel just 1 rune (not 2), do I also draw 1 card?
Ruling: If you channel 1 rune, you also draw 1 card.
Nuances:
- This ruling may differ from answers given in older rule question threads
For Convergent Mutation, if you copy stats from a creature with temporary buffs to another creature, does the copied creature keep those buffed stats after the original buff expires?
Ruling: No, the copied creature does not keep the buffed stats permanently. The card has a printing error and should read "until end of turn" according to the errata.
Nuances:
- For competitive play, the errata always takes precedent over what is printed on the card
For Dazzling Aurora, what is the correct order for recycled cards, and can the opponent see the revealed cards before they are recycled?
Ruling: When Dazzling Aurora activates, you reveal cards until you find a unit, banish and play that unit, then recycle the other revealed cards to the bottom of your deck in random order. Your opponent can see all revealed cards for a reasonable amount of time as they are public information.
Sequence:
- Reveal cards from your deck until you reveal a unit
- Banish the unit and play it
- Shuffle the other revealed cards
- Place the shuffled cards at the bottom of your deck
Nuances:
- Only the unit gets banished; the other revealed cards stay in the deck and are recycled
- This prevents deck-out when you have no units remaining
- When recycling multiple cards, the order is always random (except for runes, which can be ordered by choice)
For Divine Judgement's 'choose' effects, what is the player order for choosing, and can you choose your opponent's permanents if you don't control any of that type?
Ruling: When not specified otherwise, the turn player chooses first, then other players choose in turn order. You must choose any valid permanents even if they belong to your opponent when you don't control any of that type.
Sequence:
- Turn player makes their choices first
- Other players choose in turn order
- In a two-player game where you have no units but your opponent has four, you choose two of your opponent's units, then your opponent chooses two (potentially the same ones you chose, saving all four)
Nuances:
- Divine Judgement does not target, so it can be played even if a player doesn't have the required number of cards in hand
- The card can be played in situations where it may benefit your opponent more than you, as they see your choices first and make decisions with more information
For Falling Star, can you target once, wait for responses, then target again, or must you declare both targets simultaneously?
Ruling: You must declare both targets simultaneously when Falling Star is put on the chain.
Sequence:
- Both items are put on the chain at the same time
- Targets must be declared when items are put on the chain
- You cannot wait for responses between targeting
For Fight or Flight, do you choose the unit when the card is played or when it resolves?
Ruling: You must choose the unit when playing Fight or Flight, not when it resolves.
For Forgotten Monument, can you score it as soon as it's your 3rd turn, or do you have to wait until the 4th turn?
Ruling: You can score Forgotten Monument on your third turn as soon as the condition is met.
Sequence:
- Turn 1: Play a 2-cost unit
- Turn 2: Score the other field and play another unit
- Turn 3: Send the unit to Forgotten Monument and score it immediately
Nuances:
- The card does not say "at the end of your 3rd turn," so you score it as soon as the condition is satisfied during that turn
For Fortified Position battlefield ('when you defend here, choose a unit. It gets shield 2 this combat'), does the shield trigger resolve before 'When I attack' abilities, potentially saving defending units from attack-triggered damage?
Ruling: 'When I attack' triggers are placed on the stack first but resolve last. The battlefield's 'when you defend' trigger resolves first, giving shield 2 to a chosen unit before 'When I attack' abilities resolve.
Sequence:
- Combat is initiated
- 'When I attack' triggers go on stack
- 'When you defend' triggers go on stack (on top)
- 'When you defend' resolves first, granting shield 2
- 'When I attack' resolves last
Nuances:
- You can choose any unit (including enemy units) for the shield effect
- Abilities with 'while' (like static modifiers) are intrinsic and always active, not triggered abilities that use the stack
For Foxfire, can you choose which units die, and how does the 4 might threshold work?
Ruling: You choose units with might that total up to 4 to destroy. You can select any combination of units whose might adds up to 4 or less (e.g., two 2-might units, four 1-might units, one 3-might and one 1-might unit, etc.).
Nuances:
- You have full control over which units are destroyed, including choosing only opponent units if desired
- It functions similar to having 4 damage to distribute, but specifically targets units based on their might values
For Foxfire, do you choose targets when the card goes on the chain or on resolution?
Ruling: You declare targets when the spell goes on the chain. The targets must meet the condition (total might 4 or less) at that time, and those targets are locked in.
Sequence:
- When you play Foxfire, choose units whose total might is 4 or less
- These targets are set and must meet the condition at this time
- When the spell resolves, check the targets again and do as much as possible
- At resolution, you confirm from within the original group which targets you are dealing damage to and how you divide that damage
Nuances:
- You specify the maximum possible targets when finalizing, creating "the group"
- At resolution, you can only shrink the group to conform to the game state, never expand it
- If targets were pumped after being chosen, you still only affect the originally targeted units (doing as much as possible)
- You cannot target units that don't meet the condition initially, even if you plan to reduce their might on the chain
For Garbage Grabber, is 'Recycle 3 from your trash' part of the cost to draw 1, or does the 'Do as much as you can' rule apply so you only need to pay 1 Energy and exhaust to draw 1?
Ruling: Recycling 3 cards from your trash is part of the cost to activate the ability. You must be able to recycle 3, pay 1 energy, and exhaust Garbage Grabber in order to draw 1 card.
Nuances:
- "Do as much as you can" (DAMAYC) applies to resolution of effects on the chain when targets are killed/moved or other changes happen between when the spell/ability finalizes and resolves, not to paying costs.
For Garen's Legend ability, do you need to conquer with 4 units at the same time, or can you conquer with one unit and then play 3 more during the conquer point to trigger it?
Ruling: You must have 4 units on the battlefield when you conquer. After showdown, you need 4 surviving units on the battlefield to trigger Garen's ability.
Sequence:
- Showdown occurs
- Check if you have 4 units surviving on the battlefield
- If yes, Garen's ability triggers when you conquer
For Get Excited, when do you declare the target and when do opponents know how much damage will be dealt?
Ruling: You must declare the target when Get Excited is put on the chain, but you don't discard until it resolves, so opponents won't know how much damage will be dealt until resolution.
Sequence:
- Get Excited is put on the chain and you declare the target
- Opponents can respond, but don't know the damage amount yet
- Get Excited resolves, you discard a card, and damage is dealt instantly
Nuances:
- All effects that target must declare targets when put on the chain
- The discard cost is paid on resolution, not when targeting
For Get Excited, when do you discard and target - when the spell is played or when it resolves?
Ruling: You target when you put the spell on the chain. The discard happens when the spell resolves, and you deal damage based on that discard.
Sequence:
- Target a unit when playing Get Excited and putting it on the chain
- Opponent can react at this point
- When Get Excited resolves, discard cards
- Deal damage equal to the discarded cards' power
- No reactions are possible once it begins resolving
Nuances:
- The discard is not a cost (it would need to say "as an additional cost to play me discard 1" to be a cost)
- You cannot react to Get Excited knowing its final damage amount, since the discard happens at resolution
- This works differently than other TCGs where similar effects typically discard as a cost
For Hidden Blade, does the player still draw a card if the target unit doesn't die or leaves the battlefield?
Ruling: The player draws a card even if the target unit doesn't die, because the draw is not conditional on the death. However, if the unit is removed from play (by effects like Gust or Retreat) before Hidden Blade resolves, there is no draw because the game cannot determine "its owner".
Nuances:
- The draw happens regardless of whether the unit dies from the damage
- If the unit is no longer a legal target at the battlefield when Hidden Blade resolves (removed by Gust, Retreat, or similar effects), no draw occurs
For Jinx (red), is the 'discard two' effect a cost that must be paid, or a normal 'when you play' triggered effect?
Ruling: The discard two is a triggered ability, not a cost. It triggers after Jinx has been played, and you do as much of it as you can based on your hand size.
Sequence:
- Play Jinx
- The 'when you play' trigger occurs
- Discard up to 2 cards (discard 1 if you only have 1 card in hand, discard 0 if you have no cards)
Nuances:
- If it were a cost, the card would say "as an additional cost to play me, discard a card"
- The "when you play me" wording indicates it's a trigger that happens after the unit has been played
For Jinx Demolitionist with Accelerate (Pay 1 and Exhaust a specific colored rune), does it cost 4 tapped runes and exhaust 2 red runes, or 3 tapped runes and exhaust 2 red runes and 1 of any rune?
Ruling: To play Jinx Demolitionist accelerated, you must exhaust 4 runes total and recycle 2 red runes.
Nuances:
- "Exhaust" means tapping the runes
- "Recycle" is the term for putting runes under your runes-deck
For Kadregrin's ability 'Draw one for each of your mighty units,' does it include Mighty units in your hand?
Ruling: No, Kadregrin's ability does not count Mighty units in your hand. It only counts Mighty units you control (in play).
For Kaisai's signature spell, do you choose targets when casting the spell or when it resolves?
Ruling: You choose the target when you play the spell and it goes on the chain, not when it resolves.
Nuances:
- This means you must commit to targets before your opponent can respond, potentially requiring you to overkill a unit if you anticipate a buff in response
- You cannot wait to see if your opponent responds before allocating damage to multiple units
For Last Rites, if I don't have two cards in my trash to recycle, can I still equip the gear?
Ruling: No, you cannot equip Last Rites if you don't have two cards in your trash to recycle. Recycling two cards from your trash is part of the cost of equipping it, and costs must be paid in full to take an action.
For Lucian's Relentless Pursuit, what does 'You may attach an Equipment with the same controller to it' mean, and can you attach an equipment that's already on the board to a unit without equipment?
Ruling: The "same controller" restriction prevents you from attaching an opponent's equipment to the moved unit. You can attach an equipment that's already on the board to the unit you move, as long as both the equipment and unit have the same controller.
Nuances:
- In 1v1 matches, all friendly units and equipment share the same controller, so this restriction doesn't typically matter
- In 2v2 matches, this prevents you from moving your teammate's unit and then equipping your equipment to it
- Without the "same controller" restriction, you could attach an opponent's equipment
For Promising Future, when each player looks at the top 3 cards and banishes one, does the active player choose first (meaning the opponent sees what they banished before choosing their own)? And how do the cards resolve on the chain?
Ruling: The active player looks at their top 3 cards and banishes one first, then the next player does the same. Since banished cards are public information, the opponent sees what the active player banished before making their own choice. When playing the banished cards, the next player (opponent) plays their card first, then the active player plays theirs, so the active player's card resolves first.
Sequence:
- Active player looks at top 3 cards and banishes one
- Next player looks at top 3 cards and banishes one (knowing what active player banished)
- Next player plays their banished card
- Active player plays their banished card
- Active player's card resolves first (if both are spells creating a chain)
Nuances:
- If either or both players pick units, those units resolve immediately upon being played rather than going on the chain
- The play instruction allows non-reaction cards to be played after other cards, which normally wouldn't be chainable
- The public nature of banished cards may be an unintended consequence of the card's design
For Promising Future, who reveals their card first when both players are choosing cards?
Ruling: The player whose turn it is reveals first. The lines before the relevant text establish that actions are done one at a time, with the active player going first, and their banished card stays revealed.
Sequence:
- Active player (whose turn it is) chooses and reveals their card first
- The revealed card stays revealed
- Then the other player chooses and reveals their card
For Reaver's Row, does the target have to be chosen when the effect is put on the chain, and can you then decline to move the unit when it resolves?
Ruling: Reaver's Row chooses a target when the trigger is put on the chain. When the trigger resolves, the player has the option to move the unit or not.
Sequence:
- Reaver's Row trigger is put on the chain and a target is chosen
- When the trigger resolves, the player decides whether to move the chosen unit or not
Nuances:
- This allows the card to be used to buff units that care about being chosen (like Green Irelia) without necessarily moving them