Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: When a card effect banishes cards (like Baited Hook's errata), those cards are temporarily placed in a banished zone. If the banished card can be played, it gets played normally. If it cannot be played (e.g., Cruel Patron without other friendly units to sacrifice), it stays banished for the rest of the game and cannot be recycled or returned to deck. Sequence: - Card effect banishes the card(s) from deck - Attempt to play the banished card - If playable: card enters play normally - If unplayable: card remains banished permanently Nuances: - Ignoring costs (like Baited Hook does) only ignores base costs, not additional costs like sacrificing units - The banish errata exists to prevent confusion about where unplayable cards should return to after other cards have already been recycled - Once cards are recycled to bottom of deck, the choice is locked in and cannot be rewound, even at low OPL - A card staying banished due to being unplayable should be treated as a learning experience, not rewound

Ruling: Teemo's trigger activates whenever and however he becomes a defender, not just when played from hidden. The 'or I'm played from Hidden' text has been removed from the card. Sequence: - Teemo can become a defender at the start of combat or when joining combat later - Whenever he becomes a defender through any means, his 'when I defend' ability triggers Nuances: - 'When I defend' abilities trigger both when a unit becomes a defender at the start of combat and when joining combat later

Ruling: When you use repeat, you can choose different targets for each repetition. For example, Piercing Light can KO multiple different units with 2 or less might across the battlefield and back row. Sequence: - Declare repeat - Pay the additional costs - Make all targeting choices - Then the opponent gets an opportunity to react Nuances: - By the time an opponent can play a spell in reaction, they will know exactly what all the targets are - If a player passes priority without repeating, they cannot choose to repeat later

Ruling: When Promising Future resolves, it creates pending permanents that finalize after resolution. The Lady of Luminosity trigger from Promising Future goes on the chain as pending before anything finalizes, placing it on top of the chain. Singularity can target the opponent's unit because the unit resolves immediately when finalized, before Singularity finalizes. Sequence: - Promising Future resolves, banishing cards - Lady of Luminosity trigger from Promising Future becomes pending on the chain (top) - Opponent's unit and Singularity are pending permanents below the trigger - Opponent finalizes their unit, which resolves immediately - Singularity finalizes (can now target the opponent's unit since it already resolved) - Chain resolves from top: LoL trigger → Singularity → (Singularity triggers LoL again when it resolves) Nuances: - The exact timing of when the LoL trigger becomes pending (before vs after finalization) is technically relevant only if something happens during finalization of the permanents (like play effects or additional costs) - Permanents resolve immediately upon finalization, not when they become pending

Ruling: After an effect resolves, the player who controls the topmost effect gets priority and can play another reaction. Once they pass, the opponent can also play a reaction. This continues until both players pass consecutively. Sequence: - An effect resolves from the chain - The player controlling the topmost remaining effect gets priority - That player can play a reaction or pass - If they pass, the opponent gets priority - If both players pass consecutively, the next effect resolves - Repeat until the chain is empty Nuances: - Moving the base (like withdrawing during combat) needs to be added to the chain and resolved, it cannot be done instantly - Any ability with "When" or "At" followed by an event description is a triggered ability that uses the chain with full priority passing

Ruling: Smokescreen "snapshots" the amount it reduces when it resolves, and that reduction applies for the rest of the turn. The final Might depends on the order of resolution. Sequence: - If Smokescreen resolves first on a 4 Might unit: It reduces to 1 Might (due to Smokescreen's restriction preventing reduction below 1), then adding two Disciplines (+4 total) results in 5 Might. - If buffs resolve first: A 4 Might unit becomes 8 Might with +4 from Disciplines, then Smokescreen applies -4, resulting in 4 Might. Nuances: - Smokescreen has a restriction that prevents it from reducing Might below 1 - The amount Smokescreen reduces is "snapshotted" when it resolves and remains fixed for the turn - Chain resolution order matters: the last card in the chain resolves first

Ruling: Effects resolve in the order they were played on the chain. When Smokescreen resolves first, it reduces the 3 Might unit to 1 Might (applying -4 with minimum 1). Then Cleave resolves, adding Assault +3, resulting in a final 4 Might. Sequence: - Unit starts with 3 Might - Smokescreen resolves: 3 - 4 = -1, but minimum is 1, so unit is at 1 Might - Cleave resolves: 1 + 3 = 4 Might final Nuances: - The order matters significantly. If Cleave were played first then Smokescreen, the result would be different: (3 + 3 = 6, then 6 - 4 = 2 Might final) - Actions cannot be played in response to reactions; they can only be played when the chain is empty - Only one chain can exist at a time, but multiple chains can happen within one showdown after each resolves and players pass priority

Ruling: At the end of the 5 turns after time is called, check who is ahead on points to determine the winner of the current game. Then check who has more games won to determine the match winner. If neither player has more games won, the match is a draw. Sequence: - Step 1: At the end of turns, check who is ahead on points - that player wins the current game - Step 2: Check who has more games won - that player wins the match - Step 3: If neither player has more games won, the match is a draw Nuances: - If both players have the same number of points at the end of turns, the game is a draw - The end of match procedure is 5 turns (not 5 minutes) and is untimed

Ruling: The attacking player (Kayn's controller) decides how to assign their unit's damage to enemy units. All damage is dealt simultaneously. Since Kayn is immune to damage, combat results in a draw and Kayn retreats to base. Sequence: - The attacking player assigns their unit's might as damage to enemy units - All damage is dealt at the same time - If combat results in a draw (neither side dies), the attacker retreats to base Nuances: - With 6 damage to assign, Kayn's player could kill all 4 tokens and assign 2 damage to Viktor, or kill 3 tokens and deal 3 to Viktor, or kill Viktor and 2 tokens - Kayn cannot kill all units because he only has 6 damage total to assign

Ruling: A player is randomly designated after battlefields are revealed, and that designated player decides who goes first. Sequence: - Randomly select a player (using any mutually agreed method like dice roll or coin flip) - That designated player chooses whether they or their opponent goes first Nuances: - The method of randomization (dice, coin flip, etc.) must be agreed upon by both players - The picture rules shown are just examples, not official rules - Tournament rules specify that the designated player decides, not that they are forced to go first

Ruling: Might increases and decreases last for the duration specified on the card. When a card says "this turn," it lasts until the end of the current turn (the turn during which the effect was created), not until the end of your next turn. Sequence: - If you use an action/reaction that grants +2 might "this turn" during your opponent's turn (such as during a showdown), the might increase lasts until the end of your opponent's turn - The might increase is cleared at the end of that current turn, before your next turn begins - A showdown is not itself a turn; it occurs within a turn Nuances: - "Buffs" are a specific game mechanic that are permanent game objects lasting until removed or spent by effect - Might increases/decreases are different from buffs and last only as long as specified on the card - Some effects like assault only last as long as the condition is true - Effects that say "this turn" always refer to the current turn in which they were played

Ruling: Stun lasts until the beginning of the next Ending Step that occurs in the game, which is the active player's (the player who applied the stun) Ending Step. This means a stunned unit becomes unstunned during the same turn it was stunned. Nuances: - ChatGPT's interpretation that stun lasts until the stunned unit's controller's Ending Step is incorrect - While stun may feel weak with this timing, it still provides value by allowing safe attacks into stunned units (taking no damage back) or causing attacking stunned units to be recalled without dealing damage

Ruling: Damage is cleared at the end of combat and end of turn, regardless of the source. Nuances: - The timing of when damage is dealt doesn't change when it's cleared (commit effect damage and exhaust effect damage both follow the same clearing rules) - When damage is cleared at end of combat, it clears from all units everywhere, not just units that participated in that combat

Ruling: You can play multiple actions during a showdown by alternating focus - after a chain resolves, if your opponent passes focus and does nothing, you can play another action. You can play multiple reactions in succession by holding priority, but you cannot respond to an action with another action. Sequence: - Player plays an action (starts a chain) - Opponent gets priority to react - If opponent passes, chain resolves - Focus returns to original player - Player can start a new chain with another action - Showdown only ends when both players pass on an empty chain For reactions: - You can hold priority after playing a reaction to play additional reactions - Priority to play reactions only passes manually - You can react to your own cards to retain priority Nuances: - You can never react to a chain with an action - the whole chain must resolve first - You can only play actions when you have focus or on your turn - Focus automatically passes to the opponent when a chain ends

Ruling: For a 3-player game, 3 battlefields are recommended. Nuances: - This follows the pattern where 2 players use 2 battlefields and 4 players use 3 battlefields

Ruling: You can have as many chains as you want during a showdown. The showdown only moves to damage calculation when the chain is empty and both players pass priority back to back consecutively. Sequence: - Player initiates showdown (e.g., moves unit to contest battlefield) - Players can play actions and reactions, building a chain - When chain resolves and is empty, players can start new chains - Only when the chain is empty AND both players pass consecutively does damage calculation occur Nuances: - After an opponent plays a reaction on the current chain, you can only add reactions to that chain - However, once that chain resolves, you can start a new chain with actions before damage calculation

Ruling: There is no limit on the number of gear cards you can control at your base. Nuances: - Some gear can be hidden facedown at battlegrounds you control, which may have specific limits on how many can be hidden at each battlefield - Your base has no such limiter for gear cards - Similarly, you can have as many units as you want in your base

Ruling: Convergent Mutation has two targets - the unit you want to change the might of and the unit you take the might from. Nuances: - The card text may be unclear because it uses "choose" for the first friendly unit but not for the second - According to the latest CRD update targeting rules (section 352.5), this card targets 2 friendly units - Some cards say "choose" but don't target because they make choices on resolution, while others don't say "choose" yet still target

Ruling: You can pay the repeat cost once per instance of the repeat keyword on a card. A card with one instance of repeat can be repeated once; a card with multiple instances of repeat (either printed or granted by other effects) can be repeated multiple times. Sequence: - When finalizing a spell to the chain, you choose whether to pay the repeat cost(s) - You must declare all repeats at activation; you cannot pass priority and then decide to repeat later - You pay the cost for each instance of repeat separately Nuances: - The number next to repeat is the cost to pay, not the number of times you can repeat - Multiple instances of repeat are formatted as separate lines (e.g., "repeat :1Energy:" on one line, "repeat :1Energy:" on another line) - Cards can gain additional instances of repeat from other card effects

Ruling: Leona's leader skill triggers once per effect that stuns one or more units. Multiple stuns caused by a single resolving effect only trigger Leona once, but separate effects that each stun (even on the same chain) trigger Leona separately. Sequence: - If one effect stuns multiple units simultaneously, that counts as "1 or more" and adds one trigger - If separate effects each stun units (even on the same chain), each effect triggers Leona separately - Effects with "do this twice" create separate triggers on the chain that resolve individually, so each iteration triggers Leona - Triggers are added to the chain after the effect that causes them completes Nuances: - An "effect" is something that is added to the chain to resolve - Targets for "do this" effects aren't declared until each trigger hits the chain, so targets can change if original targets become invalid - If valid enemy targets are gone when a stun effect resolves, you must stun your own units if required - A hypothetical "stun a unit, then stun another unit" on a single effect would likely only trigger Leona once, though the rules are somewhat unclear on this edge case

Ruling: When Deflect has no number specified, you pay 1 universal power to target it. If it's Deflect X, you pay X universal power. Nuances: - Shield and Assault work the same way - if there's no number after the keyword, it defaults to 1 - Universal power can be generated by recycling a rune of any color or through legend, gear, or unit abilities that generate universal power

Ruling: Not So Fast counters an enemy spell or ability that chooses a friendly unit or gear. Both "spell" and "ability" must be enemy, and both must choose a friendly unit or gear to be valid targets. Sequence: - The card reads as: "Counter an [enemy spell or enemy ability] that chooses [a friendly unit or friendly gear]" - The "or" collapses within each bracketed group - it does not split the clause into separate effects - Both the spell/ability must be enemy AND must target your friendly unit/gear Nuances: - If the card were meant to counter any enemy spell OR counter abilities that target friendly units/gear separately, it would use the "choose one:" template - The absence of a second "an" before "ability" indicates the modifiers apply to both nouns - This reading is confirmed by the existence of Wind Wall (which costs more and counters any enemy spell) - Can counter spells like Singularity that target your own units - Cannot counter Time Warp (doesn't target anything) - Can only counter one trigger from multi-trigger abilities like Falling Star

Ruling: Find the Riftbound workshop on the TTS community page, search for it, and subscribe to it to install everything needed. Nuances: - This is not a rules question but a technical setup question

No. This is a change to our design philosophy beginning with Spiritforged, but Origins cards will maintain their functionality.

Ruling: Yes, the player draws 2 cards. Both Kaisa Survivors create separate triggers upon conquering. Sequence: - Both Kaisa Survivors conquer the same battlefield - Each creates its own separate trigger - Player draws 2 cards total (one from each trigger)

Ruling: When a unit with two Zhonyas would die, you choose the order of the replacement effects. The first Zhonyas saves the unit and is destroyed, while the second Zhonyas does not trigger and remains on the unit. Sequence: - First Zhonyas replacement effect resolves, saving the unit and destroying that Zhonyas - The unit is no longer dying, so the second Zhonyas does not trigger - The second Zhonyas remains on the unit Nuances: - If 2 units die at the same time, both Zhonyas would be used to save both units

Ruling: No, only one Zonya triggers. The owner decides which Zonya replaces the death. Sequence: - A unit would die - Owner chooses which Zonya to apply - That Zonya kills itself instead of the unit dying - Since there is no unit death anymore, the second Zonya has nothing to replace Nuances: - Zonya doesn't trigger, it replaces the death - Once the first Zonya replaces the death by killing itself instead, there is no death event for the second Zonya to replace

Ruling: Yes, the trigger still resolves, but it does nothing because it tries to find Ahri "here" and is unable to find her since she has been killed. Nuances: - The trigger goes on the stack and will resolve even if the source unit dies - The effect fails to do anything because it cannot locate the unit that is no longer in play

Ruling: Yes, the Ahri player must recycle a rune. Ahri Inquisitive targets, so the recycle cost from deflect is forced. Nuances: - There is no errata making Ahri Inquisitive's ability a "may" ability or "up to 1" to avoid this forced recycle - Any effect that chooses a target must pay the deflect cost

Ruling: Yes, Ahri legend triggers again when Rengar enters play attacking. Ahri's legend triggers the first time each unit is assigned as an attacker that combat. Sequence: - Enemy unit attacks, triggering Ahri legend (gives -1/-0) - Rengar is played and enters attacking - Ahri legend triggers again for Rengar (gives -1/-0) Nuances: - Ahri triggers per unit that attacks, not once per combat - The trigger occurs the first time each unit is assigned as an attacker in that combat - Units that enter play already attacking count as being assigned as attackers

Ruling: No, the -1 does not apply retroactively. Ahri's triggered ability takes effect once when combat begins, reducing units' might by 1 (minimum 1). Any later increases to might are not influenced by Ahri's effect. Sequence: - Ahri's ability triggers when combat begins - Units get -1 might (minimum 1) - If a unit later gains might during the turn, the -1 does not reapply Nuances: - This is a triggered ability, not a passive effect, so it only applies once at the trigger moment - Ahri's ability triggers during combat/showdown, not when contesting an uncontrolled battlefield (since that involves showdown but no combat) - The same logic applies to both versions of Ahri

Ruling: The trigger still resolves. Since Ahri satisfied the holding condition when the trigger was put on the chain, her death before resolution does not cause the trigger to whiff. Nuances: - The resolution text asks for no information from the current game state, so it can resolve even if Ahri is no longer in play - This works similarly to "When you play me" triggers that still resolve even if the unit is removed before resolution - If the card text specifically said "if I hold here" then it would whiff upon her death

Ruling: The triggered ability remains on the chain and will resolve even after Eye of the Herald is removed. The token will be placed at the location of the unit that had Eye of the Herald attached (the battlefield in this case), because the equipment grants the ability text to the unit itself, not the equipment. Sequence: - Eye of the Herald trigger goes on the chain - Angle Shot removes Eye of the Herald in response - The trigger still resolves, checking the unit's location (not the equipment's) - The might token is placed at the unit's current location Nuances: - If the unit itself is bounced/killed in response to the trigger, the ability will resolve without effect because the game cannot reference where "here" is (returns Null) - If the unit is moved to a different location (like base) before the trigger resolves, the token will be created at that new location - Removing the equipment is one of the only effects that cannot cause the trigger to whiff

Ruling: Anivia's ability will still trigger, but "here" now refers to her new location (the owner's base), so no damage is dealt to enemy units at the original battlefield. Sequence: - Anivia moves to a battlefield and her "When I attack, deal 3 damage to all enemy units here" ability goes on the chain - Opponent plays a reaction speed card to move Anivia back to base - Anivia's ability resolves, but "here" refers to the base where she currently is - No damage is dealt to units at the original battlefield

Ruling: Annie wins the game. Her non-combat showdown at the second battlefield resolves first, she scores to 8 points and wins during cleanup. Sequence: - Annie's non-combat showdown at the second battlefield resolves first - Annie scores the second battlefield, reaching 8 points - Annie wins during cleanup - Opponent's Ride of the Wind showdown would start after, but the game is already over Nuances: - Even if timing were different, capturing Annie's first battlefield wouldn't prevent her win because the Conquer victory condition only requires *scoring* both battlefields, not maintaining control of them

Ruling: Yes, Annie will gain +3 might again at the second battlefield. Cleave grants Assault 3 until end of turn, and Assault gives +3 might while the unit is an attacker. Sequence: - Annie attacks first battlefield with Assault 3, gaining +3 might (3→6) - After combat ends, she loses the +3 might because she's no longer an attacker (6→3) - Ride the Wind moves her to another occupied battlefield - She becomes an attacker again and gains +3 might because she still has Assault 3 for the turn (3→6) Nuances: - The Assault keyword is retained until end of turn, but the might bonus only applies while the unit is actively an attacker - The might bonus can apply multiple times in one turn if the unit becomes an attacker multiple times

Ruling: Arcane Shift cannot be recycled from the banished zone by Fizz. When Arcane Shift is banished, Fizz loses track of "this spell" and cannot execute the recycle portion of its ability. Nuances: - Cards that interact with the banished zone must specifically state they do so; Fizz does not have such text - Once a card changes zones to banished, effects referring to "this spell" or "this card" lose track of it

Ruling: No, Aurora will not trigger again. Aurora is not an exhaust ability, it is an end of turn trigger that only triggers once at the end of your turn. Nuances: - Some players physically exhaust Aurora cards to track that they've been used (especially when multiple Auroras are in play), but this is just a tracking method - Aurora does not actually have an exhaust ability.

Ruling: You fully resolve Aurora before any triggers happen, so you recycle the deck first, then Kadregrin's draw trigger occurs. Sequence: (for double Aurora pulling Kadregrin) - Both Auroras go on the chain - Resolve first Aurora, find Kadregrin - Kadregrin's trigger goes on the chain - Resolve Kadregrin's draw trigger - Resolve second Aurora

Ruling: If Azir is removed in response to his trigger, the trigger whiffs because "this battlefield" cannot be identified. If he is moved to another battlefield, the tokens move to his new battlefield. If he is moved to base, the trigger whiffs because he is not at a battlefield. Sequence: - When Azir attacks, his trigger goes on the chain - As the trigger is put on the chain, choose which token units will be moved ("any number" requires targets) - On resolution, decide whether to move them ("may" is decided at resolution) - If Azir has been removed, the trigger whiffs - If Azir has moved to a different battlefield, tokens move to that new battlefield - If Azir has moved to base, the trigger whiffs Nuances: - "This battlefield" is defined relative to Azir's current location, not where he was when the trigger was created - The "any number" targeting happens when the trigger goes on the chain, but the "may" choice happens on resolution

Ruling: Yes, you can use Azir's action ability even when he is exhausted because the ability does not require exhausting him as part of the cost. Sequence: - Declare using Azir's ability - Pay 1 green power - Target another unit you control - The ability goes on the chain Nuances: - The ability can be used immediately after playing Azir, as it doesn't require him to be ready

Ruling: No, Azir cannot move again the same turn. The unit is still the same unit because it never actually dies in the first place - the death is replaced by a revival effect. Nuances: - When both Soraka and Zhonya's are on the field, you get to choose which replacement effect replaces the death

Ruling: Yes, Azir, Sovereign becomes an attacker when swapped into the attacking battlefield and triggers its 'When I attack' ability, allowing it to move sand soldier tokens. Sequence: - Azir, Ascendant attacks and is designated as an attacker - On attack and on defend timings occur - Azir, Ascendant uses its ability to swap with Azir, Sovereign - Azir, Sovereign arrives and becomes an attacker on cleanup - Azir, Sovereign's 'When I attack' triggers, allowing it to move all sand soldier tokens - Combat proceeds to showdown Nuances: - 'When I attack' triggers the first time a unit is designated as an attacker in that combat, which doesn't have to be when combat starts - If you are defending, swapping a unit into the battlefield does NOT make it an attacker - you remain the defender until that combat ends - All of this occurs during the showdown phase since the swap ability is used when the controller has Focus

Ruling: Yes, the ability whiffs. When Azir, Sovereign is moved back to base by Fate of the Fallen before his ability resolves, the ability fails to resolve because "this battlefield" no longer refers to a valid location. Nuances: - Fate of the Fallen must be played from arsenal (hidden) to be used as a reaction in response to Azir's ability - FoF from hand is not a reaction and cannot be used in this timing window

Ruling: Baited Hook does not work if the unit is saved by Soraka, Zhonya's, or Sett. You will look at 5 cards and recycle them all because no unit was actually killed. Sequence: - Baited Hook targets a friendly unit to kill - Soraka/Zhonya's/Sett replaces the kill action with a save effect - Since no kill game action took place, there is no "killed unit" to reference - Baited Hook looks at 5 cards (base amount) and recycles them all Nuances: - Hidden Blade works with save effects because it references "the targeted unit" or "its might," not "the killed unit" - as long as the target is still valid on resolution, you can reference its information - Baited Hook specifically says "the killed unit" which refers to a unit that received the kill game action, not just the targeted unit - A unit is only considered "killed" if it goes from board to trash (rule 415.2) - Save effects replace the kill action entirely, so no kill game action occurs and Deathknell also won't trigger - Tokens that are killed can still be referenced for their might value using last known information (rule 356.3.e.13) because they did receive the kill game action, even though they cease to exist in the trash

Ruling: When the original group of targets no longer collectively fulfills the targeting restriction (same location), the controller chooses a subset of the original targets that does fulfill the requirement. You can deal 1 damage each to either the 2 units now at base OR 1 damage to the remaining unit at the battlefield. Sequence: - Bellows Breath is cast targeting 3 units at the same location - Flash moves 2 units to base before Bellows Breath resolves - The original group no longer fulfills the "same location" requirement - Controller chooses a valid subset: either the 2 units at base, or the 1 unit at battlefield - Damage is dealt to the chosen subset Nuances: - Unlike Foxfire, Bellows Breath has no restriction preventing it from targeting units at base - The spell requires all affected targets to be at the same location, but that location can change between casting and resolution - Only one subset can be chosen - you cannot split damage between different locations

Ruling: No, Zhonya/Guardian Angel will not proc between the two instances of damage. The unit will be saved from death during cleanup after the spell finishes resolving completely. Sequence: - Bellows Breath deals 1 damage to the unit (first target) - Bellows Breath deals 1 damage to the unit again (second target from Repeat) - The spell finishes resolving - Cleanup occurs, checking for lethal damage - Zhonya/Guardian Angel procs during cleanup, saving the unit from death Nuances: - Damage is not checked for lethal until cleanup - Cleanup cannot occur in the middle of a spell resolving

Ruling: No, when Blastcone Fae is flipped from hidden, its ability can only target units at the same battlefield where it was flipped. Nuances: - The ability is appended with an implicit "here" requirement when flipped from hidden - The ability text effectively becomes "give a unit here -2 M this turn, to a minimum of 1 M"

Ruling: No, the opponent cannot play Void Seeker in response. The Blastcone Fae's triggered ability goes onto the chain and will resolve even if Blastcone Fae is killed, because the ability does not reference Blastcone Fae itself. Additionally, actions can only be played when the chain is empty, so Void Seeker cannot be played while the triggered ability is on the chain. Sequence: - Blastcone Fae is played from hidden - Its triggered ability goes onto the chain - The chain (and the ability) resolves completely, applying -2 to the target - Only after the chain is empty can an action like Void Seeker be played Nuances: - If targeting Deadbloom Predator with the -2 ability, you must pay 1 power for deflect

Ruling: Yes, the -2 Might effect still applies. Because Blastcone Fae's ability does not specify a location restriction (such as "here"), the ability will still resolve even after Fae returns to hand. Sequence: - Blastcone Fae is revealed (enters the chain) - Opponent reacts with Gust targeting Blastcone Fae - Gust resolves first, returning Fae to hand - Blastcone Fae's -2 Might effect still resolves despite Fae being in hand Nuances: - Moving a unit to the battlefield by itself is not something you can react to unless there's a trigger from that move - During showdown, the player contesting the battlefield gets Focus (priority to play Actions first) - If they pass Focus, the other player gains it and can play an Action or Reaction