Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: Brutalizer's wording is correct and functions as intended. When the text refers to "this," it means "this gear" (Brutalizer itself), not the attached creature. There is no functional difference between Brutalizer's wording and Guardian Angel's more explicit wording. Nuances: - Guardian Angel spells out its name for clarity, but this is an exception rather than the standard templating - The shorter "this" wording was chosen to save characters in the small effect text box - The wording prevents multiple Brutalizers from stacking their effects simultaneously

Ruling: Commander Ledros only reduces cost for units that actually die. If a unit survives through an effect like Soraka, it does not count toward the cost reduction. Nuances: - The card's specific wording "for each killed this way" requires the unit to actually die, not just be targeted by a kill effect - This functions similarly to other cards like Baited Hook that only trigger their effects when units actually die

Ruling: Cull of the Weak does not trigger Dreaming Tree or other "when you choose" effects because it does not target. Each player chooses a unit as the spell resolves, but this is not the same as choosing targets when casting the spell. Nuances: - Spells like Cull of the Weak, Divine Judgment, and Falling Star do not trigger "when you choose" effects because they don't declare targets when finalizing/casting - Falling Star's reflexive triggers will target, but Dreaming Tree only triggers off spells, not abilities - Effects that trigger on targeting (like Deflect costs) will trigger, but Dreaming Tree specifically will not

Ruling: No, Darius does not get the +2 bonus if Challenge is the 2nd card played. Sequence: - Challenge is played as the 2nd card - Challenge causes units to deal damage to each other before it resolves - Challenge resolves - Darius's trigger goes on the chain during the cleanup that follows - If Darius has 5+ damage marked on him, he dies in step 2 of that cleanup - The trigger still resolves but whiffs because Darius is no longer a valid game object to receive +2 Might and ready Nuances: - Darius's trigger occurs after the second card is resolved in a turn, not during its resolution - Even if Darius dies, his trigger will still linger on the chain and resolve, but it will have no effect since there's no valid target

Ruling: No, Darius does not trigger if the second spell is countered. A countered spell was never 'played', so it does not meet Darius's trigger condition. Nuances: - Darius triggers off the second 'card' played, not just spells, so units or gear will also trigger Darius

Ruling: Deathgrip does not require the unit to actually die or go to trash to give the might bonus. You must execute the kill instruction, but if it gets replaced by a replacement effect (like Soraka or Sett Legend), you still get the might bonus as long as the target remains on the board. Nuances: - If the kill target is removed from the board by another effect before resolution, Deathgrip won't be able to find the unit to reference its might, so you only draw 1 without the might bonus - This differs from Baited Hook, which specifically references the "killed unit" (a status that only applies when a unit moves from board to trash) - Soraka cannot save a unit that is larger than her current might when Deathgrip is cast, because the kill instruction happens before she would receive the might bonus from that same spell

Ruling: Deathgrip does target, and it targets both units. Nuances: - The targeting applies to both the friendly unit and the enemy unit involved in the ability.

Ruling: Deflect does not trigger from Stormbringer damage because Stormbringer does not target enemy units. Nuances: - Stormbringer only targets a friendly unit and a battlefield, not enemy units directly - Deflect requires the unit to be targeted to trigger its effect

Ruling: Yes, Draven's leader ability still applies if you win a showdown as a result of the enemy retreating. As long as the combat showdown started and your units are the only ones remaining after that combat, you are considered the winner. Nuances: - Damage does not need to be applied for this to count as winning combat - The key requirement is that combat showdown must have started before the retreat occurs

Ruling: Dunebreaker does count himself. His passive ability checks when he's resolving on the chain, at which point he has already left your hand and is on the chain. Sequence: - Dunebreaker is played and leaves your hand - Dunebreaker enters the chain as part of the play process - His passive ability checks while resolving on the chain - He counts himself and any other cards played this turn Nuances: - Items leave the zone they were played from and enter the chain as part of the process of playing them, so Dunebreaker is on the chain when his ability checks

Ruling: Experimental Hexplate only counts as a mech when it is attached to a unit, not when it is unequipped in your base. Nuances: - The "I am a mech" text only applies while the equipment is actively attached to a unit

Ruling: No, Ezreal - Prodigy does not reduce Irelia - Legend's power payment. Additional costs only refer to effects that specifically use the term "additional cost" in their text. Nuances: - The primary examples of additional costs are Repeat and Accelerate keywords - Some individual cards may also have additional costs explicitly stated - Optional payments (like Irelia's "may" ability) are not the same as additional costs

Ruling: Ezreal's ability works with Repeat. Nuances: - The ability does not require two different spells; casting the same spell twice via Repeat will trigger the effect.

Ruling: No, Ezreal Prodigy does not reduce Fae Porter's ability cost. Ezreal only reduces optional additional costs (paid during spell finalization), while Fae Porter uses a cost within an instruction (paid during effect resolution). Sequence: - Optional additional costs are chosen in step 2 of finalizing a spell - Optional additional costs are paid in step 4 of finalizing a spell - Costs within instructions are paid when resolving the effect (not during finalization) Nuances: - Costs within instructions use the formatting "____ to ____" - Optional additional costs use formatting like "as an additional cost, you may ___ to play [this/me]" - Examples of cards with optional additional costs include: Accelerate, Repeat, Clockwork Keeper, Brazen Buccaneer, Blast Corps Cadet, Frostcoat Cub, Bard - Mercurial - Spirit Wheel also does not work with Ezreal Prodigy for the same reason

Ruling: Prodigy's ability applies to repeat costs because both repeat and accelerate are optional costs. Nuances: - The ability affects all optional costs, not just accelerate specifically

Ruling: No, Ezreal Prodigy's discount does not apply to Draven Vanquisher's activated ability. Optional additional costs only apply to costs paid when playing a card, such as Accelerate, Repeat, or abilities that specify "when you play me, you may pay an additional cost." Nuances: - The ability must explicitly state "as an additional cost" or be inherent in rules text like Accelerate and Repeat - Activated abilities that trigger after a card is already in play are not optional additional costs

Ruling: No, Ezreal does not reduce the cost of Flame Chompers. Flame Chompers has an optional cost but not an optional additional cost, which is what Ezreal requires. Nuances: - Optional additional costs must use both the phrase "as an additional cost" AND the word "may" to qualify for Ezreal's discount - Flame Chompers uses "you may pay" but lacks the "as an additional cost" phrase - Flame Chompers is a trigger ability on discard, not a passive ability like true optional additional costs - The cost itself is optional (you choose whether to play it), but it's not formatted as an "optional additional cost" in the rules sense

Ruling: Each individual target chosen by a spell counts separately toward Ezreal's requirement, regardless of whether they come from Repeat spells, multi-target spells, or even if multiple instances target the same unit. Sequence: - Cast a spell that chooses enemy units/gear (like Frigid Touch with Repeat or Bellows Breath hitting 3 units) - Each separate target chosen counts as one instance - Once you've chosen enemy units twice total this turn, you can tap Ezreal to draw Nuances: - Repeat spells like Frigid Touch count as 2 separate choices even though it's one spell - Multi-target spells like Bellows Breath (3 targets) or Singularity (2 targets) each count their targets separately - Choosing the same enemy unit multiple times still counts as multiple separate choices

Ruling: Ezreal's ability reduces optional additional costs by either 1 energy or 1 power. Equip costs are not optional additional costs, so the ability does not reduce gear equip costs. Sequence: - Identify if the cost is an "optional additional cost" (must say both "as an additional cost" AND "may") - If yes, you can reduce that cost by 1 energy OR 1 power - If no (like equip costs), Ezreal's ability does not apply Nuances: - The most common use cases are cards with Repeat and Accelerate keywords - Example: A card stating "As an additional cost, you may pay 1 energy 1 power to [effect]" could have its cost reduced by either 1 energy OR 1 power

Ruling: Ezreal's ability triggers similar to The Dreaming Tree - if the spell is canceled after choices are made, the ability still triggers and lets you draw. Repeat does not inherently trigger Ezreal's ability. Nuances: - Repeat only triggers Ezreal's ability if the repeated spell itself targets - Paying the Repeat cost for Called Shot does not trigger Ezreal (Called Shot doesn't target) - Paying the Repeat cost for Rocket Barrage does trigger Ezreal twice (Rocket Barrage targets, so it targets twice with Repeat)

Ruling: Yes, Fae Porter triggers cards that care about targeting. It always targets a unit when the ability goes on the stack, regardless of whether you pay the cost. Sequence: - Fae Porter's ability triggers and targets a unit - The ability resolves - You decide whether to pay the cost to move the targeted unit Nuances: - The "may" in the ability text refers to paying the cost, not to targeting - Reaver's Row works the same way (always triggers and targets, then you decide if you want to pay)

Ruling: Yes, Fiora's ability triggers when the -might effect expires at the end of the opponent's turn, and she will be ready again at the start of your next turn. Sequence: - Opponent's end of turn occurs - Expiration phase happens (Watcher effect expires) - Fiora's ability triggers when you have a mighty unit again - Fiora exhausts (if you choose to pay the cost) - Start of your turn occurs - Fiora awakens (becomes ready) Nuances: - The ability triggers even if Fiora is already exhausted, but you cannot pay the cost (exhausting her) if she's already exhausted - Exhausting Fiora is the cost to channel the rune, not an automatic effect - Triggers go on the chain unless targeting is required and no valid target exists

Ruling: Yes, Forecaster activates vision when played alone because it's a passive effect that includes itself. Multiple Forecasters do stack, so playing a mech with multiple Forecasters in play will trigger vision multiple times. Sequence: - Each instance of vision triggers separately - When each trigger resolves, you look at the top card of your deck - For each trigger, you choose whether or not to recycle that card Nuances: - If you don't recycle the top card and nothing else happens between triggers resolving, each instance of vision will see the same card - This means you could look at the same card X times in a row if you don't recycle it - You can recycle through your entire library this way if desired

Ruling: Yes, Forge of the Fluft allows you to equip an equipment that is currently attached to another unit to a new unit.

Ruling: Yes, Forge of the Fuflt allows you to attach equipment that is already equipped to another unit. Nuances: - The equipment is moved from its current unit to the new target unit

Ruling: No, Frigid Touch alone cannot kill a unit. Units die only when they have nonzero damage marked on them that is at least equal to their Might, so it always takes at least 1 point of actual damage to kill something. Nuances: - Reducing a unit's Might to 0 does not kill it by itself - Death requires both damage marked AND that damage meeting or exceeding the unit's Might

Ruling: Frigid Touch does not kill units regardless of their current Might. Units with negative Might are treated as 0 Might for all purposes, but the actual negative value is tracked for arithmetic operations. Sequence: - When a unit's Might would go below 0, it is treated as 0 for all game purposes - However, the actual negative value is still tracked internally - When adding Might (like with Discipline), you add to the actual negative value, not the displayed 0 - Example: A 1 Might unit hit twice by Frigid Touch (-2 each time) becomes -3 Might (displayed as 0), requiring two Disciplines (+2 each) to return to 1 Might Nuances: - Units never die from having 0 or negative Might alone - Negative Might values are not snapshotted and continue to affect calculations - When evaluating layers, you always start from base values and apply increases before decreases

Ruling: Heimerdinger copies Renata's exhaust ability but not her passive battlefield restriction, so he can use her ability from base. He must still pay the full cost (recycle 4 blue, tap 4, and tap himself). Nuances: - Renata has only one exhaust ability that Heimerdinger can copy - The battlefield restriction is a separate passive effect, not part of the exhaust ability itself - Heimerdinger inherits the activation cost but not location-based restrictions

Ruling: Yes, Hidden Blade triggers Deflect.

Ruling: No, the draw 2 does not happen if the unit is moved away from the battlefield before Hidden Blade resolves, because the spell cannot identify the controller of a unit that is no longer at the battlefield. Nuances: - If the unit was saved by an effect like Zhonya's (which presumably keeps it at the battlefield or maintains it as a legal target), the controller would still draw since the target was legal at the beginning of resolution - Spells don't fizzle for their target moving in Riftbound, but Hidden Blade specifically needs to reference the unit at the battlefield to execute the draw effect - If the unit is moved back to the battlefield before Hidden Blade resolves, the effect would go through

Ruling: Hostile Takeover does choose a target, so it does not bypass Deflect. You must pay Deflect costs to play Hostile Takeover on an enemy unit with Deflect.

Ruling: Yes, Immortal Phoenix triggers when a reflexive triggered ability from a spell kills a unit. When an ability created by a spell is responsible for a kill action, both the ability AND the spell that created it are considered responsible for the kill. Sequence: - A spell with reflexive triggers (like Falling Star) is played - The reflexive triggered abilities are placed on the chain - When one of these abilities deals lethal damage to a unit, both the ability and the originating spell are credited with the kill - Immortal Phoenix sees this as "killing a unit with a spell" and triggers Nuances: - This "kill credit" rule is specific to damage/kill effects - it does NOT apply to targeting/choosing effects - Dreaming Tree (which cares about targeting with spells) would NOT trigger from spell-created abilities choosing something - The distinction exists because there's a specific rule that tracks kill responsibility through abilities back to their source spell

Ruling: Irelea's ability triggers each time she readies or is chosen by a spell/equipment, with no once-per-turn limit, so she can gain multiple +1 might in a single turn. Sequence: - If Irelea was exhausted at start of turn, she gains +1 might when she readies during Awaken phase - If a spell/equipment chooses her as a target, she gains +1 might from that trigger - Multiple triggers in the same turn stack (e.g., ready + Discipline + En Garde = +3 might total) Nuances: - She must be exhausted at start of turn to gain the +1 from readying during Awaken phase - Some spells affect units without choosing them (like Meditation) and would not trigger her ability - She cannot ready if she's already ready

Ruling: Irelia - Fervent gains +1 power from awakening at start of turn if she was exhausted beforehand. Casting Ride the Wind on an exhausted Irelia - Fervent grants +2 power total. Sequence: - When choosing Irelia - Fervent with Ride the Wind, she gains +1 power (trigger happens when choosing) - Ride the Wind resolves and readies her - After resolution, she gains another +1 power for being readied (if she was exhausted before) Nuances: - For the awaken trigger, Irelia must have been exhausted before the awaken stage to gain the +1 power - For Ride the Wind, Irelia must be exhausted when chosen to receive both +1 power bonuses

Ruling: No, Irelia Fervent's ability does not trigger from enemy spells or effects. "You" refers to the controller of the card, so only effects controlled by Irelia's owner will trigger her ability. Nuances: - An enemy Stupify targeting Irelia would result in -1 ATK (no trigger from her ability) - Enemy effects that choose or ready Irelia do not trigger her ability

Ruling: Yes, Irelia's ability triggers when you use an Equip action because the Equip action requires choosing a friendly unit as a target. Nuances: - Any effect that requires you to choose/target a friendly unit will trigger Irelia's ability - The Equip action specifically requires a friendly target, which satisfies Irelia's trigger condition

Ruling: Irelia's ability is not an optional additional cost and does not interact with Ezreal, Prodigy's cost reduction. Only costs that explicitly include both "may" and "as an additional cost" qualify as optional additional costs. Nuances: - The ability is optional (contains "may") and is a cost ("Do X To Y" structure), but it is not an "additional" cost - Ezreal specifically reduces "optional additional costs," not all optional costs - The distinction requires both the optional nature ("may") AND the "as an additional cost" wording to qualify

Ruling: Irelia, Fervent only gets +1 might at the start of turn if she is exhausted during the Awaken phase. If she is already ready, she does not trigger because a ready unit cannot be readied again. Sequence: - During Awaken phase, the turn player readies all exhausted game objects they control - If Irelia is exhausted, readying her triggers her "when you ready me" ability - She gains +1 might from the trigger - This creates a react window before the Beginning step Nuances: - A unit that is already ready cannot be readied again, so no trigger occurs if Irelia starts the turn ready - The Awaken phase counts as "you ready me" because the rule states the turn player readies their game objects - If an opponent readies Irelia (e.g., opposing MF moving), this would not trigger her ability since it requires "you" to ready her

Ruling: No, healing does not remove negative Might effects. Healing only removes marked damage from units. Nuances: - Negative Might effects (like Stupefy, Smoke Screen) are not considered damage - Healing specifically targets marked damage, not stat modifications or debuffs

Ruling: Yes, Jayce's effect applies to gold tokens as long as they are friendly, since gold tokens are still considered gear.

Ruling: Yes, Jea Medarda draws twice when targeted by Feral Strength. Sequence: - Feral Strength targets Jea Medarda the first time, triggering a draw - Feral Strength repeats and targets Jea Medarda the second time, triggering another draw Nuances: - The repeat effect is still considered targeting with a spell, even though it's a single spell being cast

Ruling: Yes, Kadregrin sees itself as a mighty unit when played for its effect to draw.

Ruling: Karma does not see the cards recycled by Reinforce. Karma remains pending while Reinforce resolves, and only finalizes after the recycle occurs. Sequence: - Reinforce begins resolving - Karma enters as pending - Remaining cards are recycled while Karma is still pending - Reinforce finishes resolving - Karma finalizes and resolves (does not see the recycled cards)

Ruling: Yes, Karthus sees itself when it dies with Sacred Shear equipped, so it draws 2 cards total (the Sacred Shear deathknell triggers twice due to Karthus's passive). Sequence: - Karthus dies while equipped with Sacred Shear - Karthus's deathknell goes on the chain while Karthus is still on the board - Karthus's passive is in effect at this time, so it triggers twice - You draw 2 cards total Nuances: - This is similar to how Karthus doubles deathknell effects of units that died together with him - This ruling differs from blue Viktor's interaction, which works differently despite seeming similar - Karthus is considered a "weird niche card" that doesn't work like the game engine would suggest

Ruling: Yes, multiple copies of Karthus stack. Each Karthus adds one additional trigger to death-knell effects. Sequence: - Base death-knell effect triggers once - Each active Karthus adds +1 additional trigger - With 2 Karthus copies: death-knell triggers 3 times total (1 base + 1 per Karthus)

Ruling: Leona Zealot's ability is a passive effect that continuously reapplies, not a snapshot. The Ravenbloom Student stays at 1 might because Leona's -8 (minimum 1) reapplies after Discipline resolves. Sequence: - Ravenbloom Student is stunned (2 might reduced to 1 might by Leona's -8, minimum 1) - Discipline is played, granting +5 might - Leona's passive immediately reapplies -8 (minimum 1) to the stunned unit - Ravenbloom remains at 1 might (the unused portion of the -8 reduction increases from -7 to -4) Nuances: - Passive abilities (worded as statements of fact without "when") continuously check and apply, unlike triggered abilities (with "when") which snapshot their values when they resolve - The unit would need to gain enough might to overcome the full -8 reduction before exceeding 1 might (e.g., gaining +8 or more total) - The +1 from Triferian War Camp works similarly as a passive - it continuously applies even after reductions, which is why a unit leaving the War Camp after being reduced loses that +1

Ruling: Lonely Poro only triggers if there were no other friendly units at the battlefield when it died. The past tense wording "died alone" checks whether the condition was true at the moment of death. Nuances: - The reminder text uses present tense for the definition of "alone" but the effect checks if that definition applied in the past - If you attack with Lonely Poro and another unit, but only Poro dies, you do NOT draw because it did not die alone (there were other friendly units present at the battlefield)

Ruling: Yes, Loose Cannon's ability goes to Chain even if you have 2+ hands. You can play Reaction cards to reduce your hand size before the ability resolves and draws the additional card. Sequence: - The ability triggers at start of beginning phase regardless of current hand size - The ability goes to Chain - You can play Reactions to reduce your hand size - When the ability resolves, it checks the condition (1 or fewer cards in hand) - If the condition is met at resolution, you draw the additional card Nuances: - This works differently than abilities where the condition is part of the trigger condition (before the comma), such as Sunken Temple which requires a mighty unit as part of the trigger itself - The timing differs from cards like Rocket which don't trigger when in hand

Ruling: Yes, Lux draws a card. The spell was played and resolved (to no effect due to lack of legal targets), which triggers Lux's ability. Sequence: - Spell is cast - Spell attempts to resolve - Spell resolves to no effect (no legal targets) - Lux's ability triggers and draws a card Nuances: - A spell that resolves to no effect is still considered "played" - If a spell is countered, it would NOT be considered played and would not trigger the draw - "Played" means the spell resolved, not just that it was cast

Ruling: No, Mageseeker does not prevent Leona Zealot from entering play ready. Nuances: - Mageseeker only prevents exhausted units from being readied - Mageseeker does not prevent units that were never exhausted from entering play in a ready state