Riftbound Frequently Asked Questions

Ruling: The Showdown continues through all its normal steps even if one player no longer has units present. The defending player can still play Actions/Reactions as if they had units there. Sequence: - Attacker gains Focus first (which comes with priority) - Priority passes back and forth between players normally - Showdown proceeds through all steps even with only one player having units present Nuances: - This same principle applies to non-combat showdowns as well - All players get Focus at some point during a Showdown

Ruling: Mask of Foresight triggers when a unit gains the attacker/defender designation for the first time in a combat while being the only friendly unit at its battlefield. If a unit starts combat with an ally and that ally leaves, the remaining unit does not get the buff. However, if a unit starts combat alone and gets the buff, that buff persists even if another friendly unit arrives at the battlefield later. Sequence: - Mask of Foresight checks at the moment a unit first gains attacker/defender designation - The unit must be alone at that specific moment to trigger the buff - Once the buff is granted, it persists for the rest of combat regardless of other units arriving Nuances: - A unit that starts combat with allies present will never trigger Mask of Foresight, even if those allies leave during the combat - The buff is granted based on the battlefield state at the moment of designation, not at any later point in combat

Ruling: Yes, you conquer battlefield B when your unit moves back. What matters is whether you have already scored that battlefield this turn, which you generally would not have during your opponent's turn. Sequence: - Unit starts on battlefield B at the start of opponent's turn - Opponent charms the unit to battlefield A - Before combat resolves, use Ride the Wind (an action) to move the unit back to battlefield B - You conquer battlefield B and score a point Nuances: - If you had already conquered battlefield B earlier during the opponent's turn, you would not conquer it again (no point, no conquer effects trigger) - The presence of enemy units on either battlefield does not prevent the conquer from happening

Ruling: Yes, the unit heals from damage taken in the first combat before the second showdown begins. Sequence: - The combat showdown on battlefield 2 must fully resolve first, even if you no longer control units there - After battlefield 2's combat ends, damage on your unit heals - Then the new combat showdown on battlefield 1 begins with the healed unit

Ruling: A unit dies when damage taken equals current might. Damage is retained throughout combat and doesn't reduce might - it's compared to current might at the end of the showdown. Sequence: - Sett buffed from 4 to 8 might - Challenge deals 6 damage to Sett (8 might, 6 damage taken) - Sett buffed to 9 might (9 might, 6 damage taken) - Siphon Power reduces Sett back to 8 might and buffs opponent's unit to 2 might - After combat showdown, Sett takes 2 more damage for total of 8 damage - Sett dies because 8 damage taken equals 8 current might Nuances: - Damage persists on a unit throughout combat regardless of might changes - Might changes don't affect damage already taken - Death check happens when damage taken equals current might at end of showdown

Ruling: No, units do not lose buffs when they take damage. Damage is simply marked on the unit while buffs remain active.

Ruling: Yes, if a unit has non-zero damage assigned that is equal to or greater than its current Might, it dies. Sequence: - Snapvine is on the field - Void Seeker resolves, dealing damage to Snapvine - Smokescreen resolves, lowering Snapvine's Might - If the previously assigned damage now equals or exceeds the reduced Might, Snapvine dies

Ruling: Damage only heals after combat damage has been done. A unit damaged before combat will still have that damage when combat damage is dealt. Sequence: - Non-combat damage is dealt (e.g., Falling Star) - Combat occurs and combat damage is dealt - All damage heals from all units at the end of that combat Nuances: - Damage also heals at end of turn - If multiple combats occur in a turn, damage heals at the end of each individual combat

Ruling: The spell does not fizzle. It resolves with no effect, and the unit does not take damage because it is no longer a legal target at resolution. Sequence: - Target legality is checked when the ability is finalized - Target legality is checked again when the ability resolves - Abilities always resolve once finalized, even if they resolve to no effect Nuances: - There is no fizzling or equivalent mechanic in Riftbound

Ruling: If the targeted unit is removed from the battlefield before Hidden Blade resolves, the owner does not draw 2 cards. Sequence: - Hidden Blade targets a unit at a battlefield - If the unit moves to base or hand before resolution, it is no longer at a battlefield - Hidden Blade cannot find the target and cannot kill it - The controller does not draw because the effect references "the unit at a battlefield" as the full target Nuances: - An illegal target counts as null - if the unit isn't at a battlefield on resolution, there is no valid target - This applies whether the unit moved to base or to hand

Ruling: No, the controller does not draw 2 cards. When the targeted unit is moved away from the battlefield before Hidden Blade resolves, the target becomes null/illegal, and Hidden Blade cannot determine a controller to draw cards. Sequence: - Hidden Blade is played targeting a unit at a battlefield - In response, the unit is moved to base (via Fight or Flight) or to hand (via Retreat) - When Hidden Blade resolves, it checks for a legal target - The target is no longer at a battlefield, so it returns null - Since there is no valid target, there is no controller to draw cards - No kill occurs and no cards are drawn Nuances: - If the unit is saved by a death replacement effect (Zhonya's, Sett's The Boss ability) while still at the battlefield, the controller DOES draw 2 cards because the target was legal when Hidden Blade resolved - The key distinction is whether the target is still a legal target (at a battlefield) when Hidden Blade begins resolving - Hidden Blade does not have "last known information" - it cannot look back at what other effects did to move the unit - The "look back" rule only applies when a single effect both moves a unit AND checks information about it, not across different effects

Ruling: No, you do not get the secondary effects. If the target unit is removed before the spell resolves, the game cannot establish the controller/owner of the unit, returning null, so effects that reference "its controller" cannot resolve. Nuances: - If the unit is saved by a replacement effect like Zhonya's or Sett during resolution (not before), you still draw because the target was legal when the spell began resolving and the unit information can still be referenced - The key difference is timing: reactions that move the unit before resolution starts make the target illegal (null), while replacement effects during resolution keep the target legal - For Hidden Blade specifically, "its controller draws 2" refers to the controller of the targeted unit, not the killed unit, which is why it works with Zhonya's but not if the unit is moved before resolution

Ruling: The unit does not die and its controller does not draw 2 cards. When the unit leaves the battlefield before Hidden Blade resolves, it becomes an invalid target, and the spell cannot reference "its controller" to determine who draws. Sequence: - Hidden Blade is played targeting a unit at a battlefield - In response, the unit uses Flash to return to base - Hidden Blade resolves but the target is no longer at a battlefield - The target is invalid, so no kill occurs and no cards are drawn Nuances: - This is different from replacement effects like Zhonya's or Sett, which happen after Hidden Blade fully resolves - in those cases the controller still draws 2 because the target was valid during resolution - If the unit goes to a public zone like the trash (dies to a different effect), the controller information can still be referenced - If the unit goes to a private zone like hand, the controller information cannot be referenced - Hidden Blade references "the unit at a battlefield" as its full target, so if it's not at a battlefield on resolution, the effect cannot proceed

Ruling: The unit does not take damage. When Void Seeker resolves, target legality is checked again, and if the unit is not at a battlefield, the damage part won't resolve. You still draw 1 card due to the "do as much as you can" rule. Sequence: - Void Seeker targets a unit at a battlefield - Before resolution, the unit leaves the battlefield (returns to base) - On resolution, target legality is checked again - The unit is no longer at a battlefield, so damage does not apply - You still draw 1 card Nuances: - The "do as much as you can" rule allows partial resolution of the spell effect

Ruling: Immortal Phoenix cannot trigger because the unit never died - Sett Legend and Zhonya's Hourglass are replacement effects. However, Hidden Blade and Disintegrate still allow the controller to draw cards because the draw effect is not conditional on the unit actually dying. Sequence: - The spell targets a unit at the battlefield (valid target) - The kill effect is replaced by the recall effect (Sett/Zhonya) - The spell continues resolving with the replacement applied - The controller draws cards as specified Nuances: - There is no Last Known Information (LKI) in Riftbound, but "its controller" still refers to the targeted unit's controller even after recall - The draw is not conditional on killing - there is no "if you do" clause - The replacement effect changes the resolution to "Recall a unit at a battlefield exhausted, its controller draws 2" instead of killing - The target remains valid throughout resolution because it was valid when the spell began resolving

Ruling: Yes, Fiora - Worthy's effect can trigger when a unit loses mighty status and then gains it back. Sequence: - Control Fiora - Worthy and an exhausted, buffed Fiora - Victorious - Cast Call to Glory on the buffed Fiora - Victorious, spending the buff for cost - Fiora - Victorious loses mighty status (loses the buff) - Call to Glory resolves, giving Fiora - Victorious mighty again - Fiora - Worthy's effect triggers, allowing you to ready Fiora - Victorious

Ruling: Yes, the attacking unit still gets the +3 bonus from Cleave. Once a unit moves into a battlefield and combat begins, it remains designated as the "Attacker" until the Combat Showdown fully resolves, even if units are no longer present at that battlefield. Sequence: - Opponent moves unit into battlefield, starting a Combat Showdown - Unit is designated as "Attacker" - Attacker uses Cleave - Defender uses Retreat in response - When Cleave resolves, the unit is still the attacker and gets +3 - Attacker designation remains until both players pass focus in a row without starting a chain Nuances: - Combat doesn't end just because units leave the battlefield - The Attacker/Defender designations persist throughout the entire Combat Showdown resolution

Ruling: Yes, a player wins a combat if only they control units at the battlefield after combat cleanup and all derived cleanups have occurred, regardless of how the opponent's units were removed (killed, bounced, moved to another location, etc.). Nuances: - It doesn't matter whether units were removed via combat damage, spell damage, bounced to hand, moved to another location, or any other method - This ruling is based on the Chinese judge FAQ and will be formalized in the rules approaching the western release of Spiritforged

Ruling: When Stupefy resolves on a unit with 2 Might (1 base + Shield 1), it reduces to 1 Might. After combat ends and the unit loses Shield (and thus the +1 Might from being a defender), it goes to 0 Might until Stupefy's effect wears off. Sequence: - Unit has 1 Might + Shield 1 = 2 Might during combat - Stupefy resolves, reducing it to 1 Might - Combat ends, unit loses Shield/defender status - Unit drops to 0 Might (stays alive until end of turn when Stupefy wears off) Nuances: - A unit at 0 Might stays on the board; it requires non-zero damage to die - Negative Might is treated as 0 - A unit with 0 Might still has its Might defined (value 0) for purposes of cards that affect units with Might - Equipment and similar effects can still target units with 0 Might

Ruling: Only one Guardian Angel will be destroyed when the unit dies, because only one can replace the dying event. Nuances: - This interaction is similar to how Zhonya works with replacement effects

Ruling: The 2 might unit survives. Both Zhonyas are consumed to save it, but the unit does not die. Sequence: - Icathian Rain assigns damage three times (6 total damage marked on the 2 might unit) - After the spell resolves, cleanup happens - During cleanup, units with lethal damage would be killed - Zhonyas uses its replacement effect at this point to save the unit - Both Zhonyas are consumed in the process Nuances: - Units don't die immediately when assigned lethal damage through spells or abilities - Death only occurs during cleanup after the spell/ability fully resolves - Zhonyas applies its replacement effect during cleanup, after all damage from Icathian Rain has been assigned

Ruling: No, the unit would not die. There is no separate HP in Riftbound - only might. When the unit is damaged, it would be 5 might (2 base + 3 from cleave) at the moment of being damaged, and damage would be removed before their might goes back to 2. Damage does not reduce might. Nuances: - Damage is marked on units but does not reduce their might value - Temporary might increases are considered when checking if damage is lethal

Ruling: The unit has 1 might. Smoke Screen snapshots the unit's might at 4 (3 base + 1 from War Camp), then reduces it by 3, resulting in 1 might (3 + 1 - 3 = 1). Sequence: - War Camp's passive ability applies first, giving the unit +1 might (total 4 might) - Smoke Screen sees the unit at 4 might and snapshots a -3 reduction - Final calculation: 3 base + 1 (War Camp) - 3 (Smoke Screen) = 1 might - The unit keeps +1 from War Camp as long as it remains there and -3 from Smoke Screen until end of turn Nuances: - If the unit moves off War Camp afterward, it will have 0 might (3 base - 3 from Smoke Screen) - Both War Camp and Smoke Screen are in the arithmetic layer, with increases applied before decreases in layering rules - The layering order doesn't change the final result because Smoke Screen snapshots the modified value

Ruling: Yes, the unit will survive. A unit only dies when it has damage marked on it equal to or greater than its Might. Having 0 Might does not cause death if there is no damage marked on it. Sequence: - Unit with 4 Might and a buff (5 Might total) moves to battlefield - Opponent uses Smokescreen, giving -4 Might (unit becomes 1 Might) - Sett's ability spends the buff and recalls the unit to base, healing it - Unit is now 0 Might (4 base Might - 4 from Smokescreen) with no damage marked - Unit survives because it has no damage marked on it Nuances: - Smokescreen's -Might effect lasts until end of turn and is not removed by healing - Healing only removes damage, not -Might effects - Lethal damage requires a non-zero amount of damage marked on a unit - Future sets will have -Might cards without the minimum 1 Might limit, making this interaction more common - If a unit has damage marked equal to its Might, spending a buff that was increasing its Might would cause it to die

Ruling: Yes, the unit dies. Units die when they have damage marked on them greater than or equal to their Might. Sequence: - Unit with 4 Might takes 3 damage from Hextech Ray (3 damage marked, 4 Might - survives) - Stupefy reduces Might by 1 (3 damage marked, 3 Might - now equals) - Unit dies in the cleanup that follows Stupefy resolving Nuances: - The damage marked on the unit remains constant; only the Might value changes - Death occurs when damage marked is greater than OR equal to Might

Ruling: The unit dies. After Flight or Fight resolves, Back-Alley Bar's ability finalizes during cleanup, but the unit loses its attacker designation in that same cleanup, triggering a second cleanup where the unit dies (4 might, 4 marked damage). Sequence: - Flight or Fight resolves, returning the unit to base - First cleanup occurs: Back-Alley Bar ability finalizes AND unit loses attacker designation (losing assault 1) - Removing the attacker designation triggers a second cleanup - During the second cleanup, the unit dies from having 4 might and 4 marked damage Nuances: - Two cleanups are required because removing the attacker designation causes the first cleanup to loop into a second cleanup - The Back-Alley Bar buff and loss of attacker designation happen in the same cleanup, but the death check occurs in the subsequent cleanup

Ruling: Yes, the unit dies. The game tracks might and marked damage separately. When Stupify reduces the unit from 4 might to 3 might while it has 3 marked damage, the unit will die during the next cleanup because marked damage equals might. Sequence: - Unit has 4 might with 3 marked damage - Stupify resolves, reducing might by 1 (now 3 might, 3 marked damage) - Cleanup occurs after the spell resolves from the chain - Game checks if marked damage is equal to or greater than might - Unit dies because 3 marked damage equals 3 might Nuances: - Cleanup occurs every time something is removed from the chain, not just at the end of the entire chain - Damage is marked and remains constant; it's checked against the current might value during each cleanup

Ruling: Yes, the attacking unit can assign only 2 damage to the unit that already has 3 spell damage marked on it, since the total damage (2 combat + 3 marked) equals or exceeds the unit's might and is considered lethal. Sequence: - Marked damage from spells persists on the unit - During combat damage assignment, both marked damage and newly assigned combat damage count toward determining if lethal damage has been assigned - If the total equals or exceeds the unit's might, it is considered lethal and remaining damage can be assigned elsewhere Nuances: - The "equal or exceed" wording exists to handle cases where damage would exceed a unit's might (e.g., dealing 10 damage to a 3 might unit) or dealing 0 damage to a 0 might unit

Ruling: When a unit's Might is reduced by Smokescreen during combat and then modified by other effects, the Might can go to 0 or even negative values. The minimum of 1 restriction on Smokescreen was not changed by the new ruling. Sequence: - Smokescreen snapshots the target's Might value when its effect happens - It applies a continuous reduction equal to that snapshotted value minus 1 for the turn - Other modifiers are then applied to the base Might - The final Might can be 0 or negative Nuances: - For Jinx (5 base Might): After Smokescreen reduces her to 2 Might, if she plays Fists of Fury (+3 Might), her out-of-combat Might would be 0 (5 base - 4 from Smokescreen + 3 from FoF = 4, but she's at 2 in combat, so 2 - 2 = 0) - For Chemtech Enforcer (2 base, becomes 4): Smokescreen would snapshot at 4 and apply -3, resulting in -1 Might (2 base - 3 from Smokescreen = -1) - Smokescreen's reduction is snapshotted when the effect happens and applies continuously for the turn

Ruling: The attacking unit keeps the Assault +X Might bonus for the entire showdown even if all defending units are removed. Once combat starts, it continues until resolution (both players pass on empty chain with focus) regardless of whether one player no longer has units at the battlefield. Sequence: - Unit with Assault enters contested battlefield - Unit gets assigned Assault bonus and defender status is assigned - When I attack/defend stack happens - If opponent removes all their units (e.g., with Fog of War), the Assault bonus remains - The attacking unit maintains its increased Might (5 total for Vayne with Assault 3) until conquest Nuances: - Similarly, if you're the defender with 1 unit and a hidden card, and your unit gets moved/removed on attacker's first focus, you still get focus back and can legally have 0 units but 1 hidden card while maintaining control during combat - This interaction was clarified/added as part of V1.1 and the first patch notes

Ruling: Yes, the Assault bonus remains active throughout the entire Combat Showdown even if the defender retreats. The combat damage step is skipped since there is no opposing unit, but it is still a Combat Showdown and the Assault bonus persists through resolution. Sequence: - Opponent moves unit with Assault into Reavers Row, initiating a Combat Showdown - Defender retreats using Reavers Row's trigger effect - Combat damage step is skipped (no opposing unit) - Combat proceeds to resolution step with Assault bonus still active

Ruling: A unit with Assault that has marked damage less than its current Might (including Assault bonus) but equal to or exceeding its base Might will die when it loses the Assault bonus. The removal of attacker designation (which removes Assault) causes another cleanup, and during that second cleanup the unit dies due to having marked damage greater than or equal to its Might. Sequence: - Unit takes damage while having Assault bonus (e.g., 3 damage on a 2 Might unit with +2 Assault = 4 total Might) - Combat ends or unit moves away from the battlefield - Attacker designation is removed, causing Assault bonus to be lost - The Might change triggers another cleanup - During the second cleanup, the unit now has lethal damage (3 damage on 2 Might) and dies Nuances: - If the unit remains at the same battlefield and survives combat, it does NOT die when Assault drops off because units are healed during step 2c of the special cleanup, which occurs before step 2e when attacker/defender designations are removed

Ruling: When you Ride the Wind a unit with Assault that has marked damage, it loses its Attacker designation and the Assault bonus immediately. Cleanup happens when Ride the Wind resolves (whenever you remove an item from the Chain), and if the marked damage exceeds the unit's base might, it dies. Sequence: - Ride the Wind resolves and moves the unit - Unit loses Attacker designation and Assault bonus - Cleanup occurs (happens whenever you remove an item from the Chain) - Check if marked damage is lethal against base might - Unit dies if damage exceeds might Nuances: - This applies whether moving to another battlefield or to base - Once a showdown starts, attacker and defender player designations are locked in - Units moving into an ongoing showdown will get the appropriate designation based on their controller - Assault bonuses remain active for units still at the contested battlefield until combat cleanup

Ruling: The attacking unit keeps the Assault buff from Cleave and heals before losing the attacker designation. Combat continues to full resolution even if one player's units leave, and the combat doesn't end until both players pass with focus on an empty chain. Sequence: - Combat showdown begins and Cleave resolves, granting Assault - Defender uses Retreat and leaves combat, losing defender designation - Attacker remains in combat and keeps attacker designation - During cleanup, damage markers are cleared (healing occurs) before attacker/defender designations are removed - The unit survives because it heals while still having the increased might from Assault Nuances: - If the attacking unit itself were moved (e.g., pushed back to base), it would lose its attacker designation and could die from marked damage exceeding its base might - The defender loses its designation when it leaves, but this doesn't end the combat for the attacker

Ruling: The unit dies. When it leaves the battlefield, it loses its attacker designation during cleanup, which removes the Assault bonus from Cleave. The unit then dies in a subsequent cleanup due to having damage equal to or exceeding its base might. Sequence: - Ride the Wind resolves, moving the unit away from the battlefield - Cleanup occurs, removing the attacker designation since the unit is no longer at the battlefield where combat is taking place - The Assault bonus from Cleave becomes inactive - A second cleanup occurs, which kills the unit due to lethal damage Nuances: - If the unit is moved to another battlefield where it would contest, it does not immediately gain attacker designation. The ongoing combat must fully resolve first before new designations can be added at other battlefields. - A unit moved to a contested battlefield will only gain attacker designation when that staged combat opens, which requires the turn to be in a neutral open state.

Ruling: No, Deathknell does not trigger. Since Zhonyas prevents the unit from dying by replacing the death with a recall, the unit does not die and therefore Deathknell does not activate. Nuances: - Zhonyas is phrased as "next time a friendly unit would die, kill this instead" which means the protected unit never actually dies - The game effect of dying is replaced with a recall

Ruling: The second Yasuo trigger becomes invalid and does not kill the unit, because the unit is no longer at the same location as Yasuo after being recalled by Zhonya's. Nuances: - Zhonya's doesn't trigger (it activates through a different mechanism)

Ruling: Yes, Tideturner would get the Mask of Foresight buff. Attack/defend triggers can happen mid-combat and will trigger for units that get tagged as attacker/defender during combat. Sequence: - Unit moves into battlefield and gets Mask buff for attacking alone - Tideturner is revealed and switches with the attacking unit - Tideturner becomes the solo attacker and triggers Mask of Foresight Nuances: - Attack/defend triggers happen the first time a unit gets tagged as attacker/defender that combat - If a unit moves out and back in (like with Reaver's Row and RTW), it does not trigger again - only the first time that unit gets tagged that combat - This is a change from 1.0 rules

Ruling: The Charm will still resolve and pull Cithria from base to the battlefield. Since Cithria never hit a non-board zone (she went from battlefield to base via Sett's ability), she is still considered the same target and remains a legal target for Charm. Nuances: - If a unit goes to a non-board zone (like the graveyard) and then returns, it becomes a different object and would no longer be a legal target for effects that targeted the original unit - Base is not a non-board zone, so moving to/from base does not change the unit's identity as a target - This interaction is specific to Sett Legend's ability; units that die and revive through other means (like Phoenix) would be treated as new units

Ruling: Yes, the unit still dies. Temporary is a status that remains on the unit even after being saved by Zhonyas, and will trigger again at the start of the next turn. Sequence: - Temporary triggers at the start of the beginning phase - If the unit is saved by Zhonyas during that turn, it survives that specific trigger - The Temporary status remains on the unit - At the start of the next turn's beginning phase, Temporary triggers again and kills the unit Nuances: - Temporary is a trigger effect, not a static effect, so it only attempts to kill the unit when it triggers at the start of each beginning phase - Saving the unit from one Temporary trigger does not remove the Temporary status from the unit

Ruling: No, the 'When I Attack' trigger does not activate again. Attack triggers only occur the first time a unit gains the Attacker designation during a combat, even if the unit loses and regains that designation within the same combat. Sequence: - Unit moves to battlefield and gains Attacker designation, triggering 'When I Attack' ability - Unit is moved away from battlefield and loses Attacker designation during cleanup - Unit is moved back to battlefield during the same combat and regains Attacker designation - 'When I Attack' ability does not trigger again because it already triggered once during this combat Nuances: - To start a new combat and allow the trigger to activate again, the showdown must fully close (both players pass focus and combat cleanup occurs, including all units healing) before moving the unit back - When a unit is moved away from the battlefield, it loses Attacker/Defender designation immediately during the cleanup that occurs after the move completes - Passive abilities like Assault still apply if a unit returns to the battlefield during the same combat, since they are not 'When I Attack' triggered abilities

Ruling: Units that enter the battlefield during combat still get their 'when I attack/defend' effects as long as it is the first time they are gaining the attacker or defender designation during this combat. Sequence: (for trigger ordering) - Attacker triggers are added to the chain first - Then other players in turn order if they have any - Then defender triggers

Ruling: You draw 2 cards total, not 4. Only the first Hidden Blade (yours, which resolves first) allows you to draw 2 cards. The second Hidden Blade fails to resolve because the unit is no longer at a battlefield. Sequence: - Your Hidden Blade resolves first - Sett's Legend ability replaces the kill with recall/heal/exhaust as a replacement effect (not using the chain) - Because the unit was a legal target when the spell started resolving and is still alive on the board, you can reference its controller and draw 2 cards - The second Hidden Blade then tries to resolve, but the unit is no longer at a battlefield - The second spell fails to find the unit's information, so you don't draw 2 cards from it Nuances: - Sett's Legend ability is a replacement effect that ignores the chain entirely and intercedes into resolution as soon as its condition is fulfilled - The unit being sent to base (rather than killed) still allows the first Hidden Blade to reference the unit's information because it was a legal target when resolution started and the unit is still alive to have its information referenced

Ruling: Might can technically be negative but is treated as 0 for all purposes. A unit with 0 or negative might does not die unless it has damage. Sequence: - Start with base might and apply all modifications (buffs, debuffs) - Might value is always computed arithmetically and can go negative - The negative value is treated as 0 for all game purposes - If the unit later gains +1 might, it adds to the actual negative value (e.g., -2 becomes -1, not 0 becomes 1) Nuances: - A 0 might unit only dies if it has damage - With effects like BF Monastery where you remove a buff to draw, if the unit has damage equal to or exceeding its health from the buff, it dies because the conquer happens before the clean

Ruling: The unit lives. The conquer trigger resolves after healing occurs in the combat resolution sequence, so marked damage is cleared before you spend the buff during the ability's resolution. Sequence: - Combat ends - Marked damage is cleared (healing step) - Conquer step occurs and point is scored - Conquer triggers (like Monastery of Hirana) go on the chain - When Hirana's ability resolves, you spend the buff and draw a card - The unit remains alive throughout Nuances: - This was clarified in a recent FAQ related to the Kog'Maw change - Spending the buff for Hirana is not a cost to enter the chain; it happens during resolution of the ability - You can conquer at 7 points without gaining a point but still trigger conquer abilities

Ruling: The buffed unit survives the initial cleanup. During cleanup, units with lethal damage are killed first, then passive effects are recalculated. The buffed unit only dies in a subsequent cleanup after its might decreases. Sequence: - Damage is dealt to all units simultaneously - Spell/effect resolves and cleanup begins - First part of cleanup: units with lethal damage are killed (buff-providing units die, but the buffed unit still has its increased might) - Second part of cleanup: passive effects are recalculated (buffed unit's might decreases) - The buffed unit now has lethal damage but won't die until the next cleanup or resolution step Nuances: - A unit can exist with lethal damage marked on it between cleanups - You can play and resolve actions (like challenges) on a unit with lethal damage before the next cleanup - If both players pass and reach end of turn, the damage clears during the expiration step and the unit survives - The unit will die when the next cleanup occurs (e.g., when moving to a battlefield, when an opponent plays a reaction, or during a resolution step in combat) - Playing a permanent won't save the unit because playing a card performs a cleanup before triggers activate - You could save the unit by using a spell to increase its might before the next cleanup

Ruling: You must reveal Zhonya's before moving the unit back to base. If you move the unit first, you immediately lose control of the battlefield and the hidden card goes to the trash without an opportunity to activate it. Sequence: - First, reveal the Zhonya's - Then it will be recalled - Then you can move the unit back to base Nuances: - During your own turn, you can play hidden cards (like reactions) at any time, not just in response to something - During your opponent's turn, you can only play reactions if there's a chain or showdown - However, during your opponent's turn, your unit can't move without a chain anyway, so you always have an opportunity to play the Zhonya's before the effect resolves

Ruling: The ability will still resolve even if either the source or target is bounced to hand. The effect remains on the chain and attempts to resolve, though it will not deal damage to the missing target. Nuances: - This applies whether the unit with the ability or its target is returned to hand - The ability technically resolves rather than fizzles, but has no effect on the missing target - This interaction allows cards like Clockwork Keeper to still draw even if bounced in response to its ability

Ruling: No, the triggered ability does not resolve. Units that die simultaneously do not see each other dying.

Ruling: Attack triggers still occur even if the unit is no longer an attacker. Whether the unit loses attacker status before the trigger resolves is immaterial. Sequence: - Unit with attack trigger attacks and trigger goes on stack - Fight or Flight sends the attacking unit back to base - Attack trigger resolves, but location-dependent effects (like "here") are checked on resolution Nuances: - If the trigger references "here" or similar location-dependent terms, it checks the unit's current location on resolution (e.g., Aniva's trigger would deal damage to units in base instead of showdown) - If the trigger has no referential information (like "draw a card"), it resolves normally regardless of the unit's location