Browse Riftbound Rules Questions
Page 35 of 133 · 6,628 verified questions. Each links to the full ruling.
If an opponent's token has 3 might on battlefield, and I use Hextech Ray (which deals 3 damage) and they respond with Discipline (which gives +2 might), does the token end up with 2 might or 5 might?
Ruling: The token has 5 might with 3 damage marked on it. Damage does not reduce might/strength in Riftbound. Sequence: - Token starts with 3 might - Discipline adds +2 might (now 5 might total) - Hextech Ray deals 3 damage (marked on the token) - Token has 5 might with 3 damage marked
When you move an enemy unit into your occupied battlefield (e.g., with Charm), does that enemy become the attacker or defender?
Ruling: The enemy unit becomes the attacker. Even though your spell moved the unit, it is their unit that applies the contested status to the battlefield.
When two Akshans are played to steal gear from each other and then both die, who controls the gear?
Ruling: Controller is decided in the first layer using dependencies and timestamps. When control-change effects stop applying due to their sources leaving play, the gear returns to its original controller if no other control effects remain active.
When Zhonya's or Sett's abilities recall a unit to base exhausted instead of it dying, what happens to damage that was dealt to the unit from a spell?
Ruling: Both Zhonya's and Sett's abilities have received errata to now also heal the units they save when recalling them to base exhausted.
Can you exhaust a rune for energy and then recycle that same rune for power in the same turn, using both resources to pay for different costs?
Ruling: Yes, a single rune can provide both 1 energy (by exhausting) and 1 power (by recycling) in the same turn. These resources go into your resource pool and can be used to pay for different costs.
If you play Feral Strength with Repeat on Irelia and use her Legend ability to ready her, does she get +7 Might total?
Ruling: Yes, Irelia gets +7 Might total. Feral Strength with Repeat gives +2 twice (targeting Irelia both times), her Vanguard effect triggers twice when chosen (+1 each time), her Legend ability readies her (+1), and her Vanguard effect triggers again when readied (+1), for a total of +2+2+1+1+1 = +7.
Is Vi's Champion Unit effect an activated ability that can be used multiple times per turn at base speed, and does it grant Might each time it's activated?
Ruling: Vi's effect is an activated ability that can only be used at base speed (during your turn, outside of showdowns). It does not specify "once per turn," so it can be activated multiple times as long as you can recycle cards from your trash.
What is the correct procedure to start a game in Riftbound?
Ruling: The correct game start procedure is: place hidden champion and legend, reveal both, choose one BF from 3 and place it hidden, reveal BF, determine turn order randomly, then draw and mulligan (with player 1 mulliganing first, then player 2).
If Teemo (Strategist) reveals Nocturne on his defend ability, can Nocturne be summoned to the Teemo battlefield?
Ruling: Yes, Nocturne can be summoned to the Teemo battlefield when revealed by Teemo's defend ability. Nuances: - This assumes the Teemo player controls that battlefield, which is almost always true when the defend trigger happens - A corner case exists where Strategist wouldn't control the battlefield: active defense where you use an effect like Ride the Wind to move...
Does blue Viktor get two Recruits after using Portal Rescue to target a friendly non-recruit unit?
Ruling: Yes, Viktor gets two Recruits when Portal Rescue targets a friendly non-recruit unit - one for playing Portal Rescue and one for playing the unit that was banished and played back to base.
Do reactions take priority over actions and unit abilities in resolution order?
Ruling: Base speed, action, and reaction only determine when you can play something, not the order anything resolves. The order things resolve is Last In First Out (LIFO) off the chain - the last thing to go onto the chain will be the first thing to resolve.
Can you pay one cost to hide Teemo directly from the champion zone, and what is the cost if Teemo is on the board?
Ruling: You can hide Teemo for 1 cost from hand or from champion zone. If Teemo is on the board, it costs 2 total (you must use Teemo Legend to return the unit to hand for 1 cost, then hide it for 1 cost).
What happens when an opponent uses Challenge and then you Rebuke the targeted card? Do actions resolve simultaneously, and would the unit still take damage?
Ruling: You cannot use Rebuke in response to Challenge because Rebuke is an action and cannot be used when something else is on the chain.
Can you hide a card from your hand to a battlefield you control when you are not conquering?
Ruling: Yes, you can hide a card to a battlefield you control even when not conquering. Hiding is a Discretionary Action that requires you control the battlefield, the card is in your hand, it's your turn, and there's no active chain or showdown.
Can you buff a unit that already has a buff, and does it replace the existing buff?
Ruling: A unit cannot have multiple buffs unless specifically stated (like "any number of buffs"). You cannot replace an existing buff by buffing the unit again.
Does Karma Channeler's ability trigger when you pay recycling costs for runes?
Ruling: No, Karma Channeler does not trigger when you pay recycling costs for runes. Runes are not cards and Karma received errata clarifying she only cares about Main Deck cards, which runes are not part of.
Can Sett's ability save a unit that has the Temporary keyword from Fading Memories?
Ruling: Yes, Sett's ability can save a unit with Temporary from being sacrificed. Nuances: - The unit will still have the Temporary keyword after being saved, so it will need to be saved again at the start of your next beginning phase.
Can an opponent use reactions (like Gust) during your turn if you only played units with no triggers and are passing turn?
Ruling: No, the opponent cannot use reactions during your turn if you only played units and passed turn without any triggers occurring. Reactions can only be played when a player has priority, which requires either a chain/stack of abilities or a showdown.
Do all units everywhere heal after a combat concludes?
Ruling: Yes, all units heal after a combat concludes and at the end of turn. Nuances: - Units heal even if they were not involved in the combat - You can heal damaged units by invoking a combat with other units
Do abilities stack per activated gear in Riftbound?
Ruling: Yes, abilities stack per activated gear. The trigger will occur each time its conditions are met.
When a unit with Deathknell dies while possessed, who controls the trigger?
Ruling: The owner of the unit controls the Deathknell trigger, not the player who possessed it. The trigger is created from the trash.
If Warwick Hunter Champion (with 'kill all damaged enemy units here' ability) is killed by Hidden Blade in response to his attack declaration, does his ability still kill a damaged Caitlyn on the battlefield?
Ruling: Warwick dies and Caitlyn lives. When Hidden Blade (a reaction spell) resolves first and kills Warwick, his ability still triggers but fails to resolve because it cannot find the "here" information it needs after Warwick has left the battlefield.
Can you play Nocturne (found via Stacked Deck during a showdown) to a contested battlefield?
Ruling: You cannot play a unit to a battlefield you do not control. As an attacker, you never control the contested battlefield, so you cannot play Nocturne to it mid-showdown. As a defender, the battlefield is contested but still under your control, so you can play units to it during the showdown.
What are tokens in Riftbound, what represents them, and what do they do?
Ruling: Token units are units created by effects that do not count as cards. They can be represented by anything players agree on (official token cards, dice, etc.), exist outside the game when not in use, and are kept off to the side (not in your deck).
Can Ava play a hidden card to a battlefield you don't control?
Ruling: Yes, Ava can play a hidden card to a battlefield you don't control. You play the hidden card on the battlefield where Ava attacks, not where she hides.
Can an opponent react to Forge of the Future by casting a reaction that kills a unit to bring back Immortal Phoenix from trash before the recycle resolves, and would they then get to target a new card in trash?
Ruling: Yes, opponents can react to Forge of the Future's activation before it resolves. If they kill a unit with a reaction spell, Phoenix's trigger is added to the chain immediately and will resolve before Forge can, allowing Phoenix to be played from trash. However, the cards targeted for recycling are chosen on activation and cannot be changed - if...
When Trifarian Warcamp is played in an Ahri Legend deck and enemy units move to the occupied battlefield, do they get +1 Might from the battlefield before Ahri's -1 Might trigger resolves, resulting in them staying at their base Might?
Ruling: Yes, the passive +1 Might from Trifarian Warcamp applies immediately when units finish moving to the battlefield, before Ahri's triggered ability resolves. The effects cancel out, leaving units at their base Might (e.g., 1 Might Recruits remain 1 Might).
When Kai'Sa conquers and tries to play a spell from the trash pile that has a conditional cost reduction (e.g., 'costs 2 less if first card played'), does Kai'Sa check the printed cost or the reduced cost to determine if the spell can be played?
Ruling: Kai'Sa checks the printed energy cost on the card, not any conditional reduced cost, to determine if a spell can be played from the trash pile.
In a 1v1 duel, if both players randomly select the same battlefield, do they play with the same battlefield or must they redraw until different battlefields are selected?
Ruling: You keep the same battlefields. There is no rule preventing both players from having the same battlefield in a 1v1 duel.
In BO1 and BO3, how is first turn and battlefield selection determined?
Ruling: In BO1, battlefields are randomly selected. In BO3, battlefields are chosen by both players (each battlefield can only be used once per match). For the first game in both formats, first turn is chosen by the winner of any agreed upon random method (like rolling dice). In BO3, after the first game, the loser of the previous game decides...
Can you play an Action card after another Action card has resolved during a showdown?
Ruling: Yes, after one chain resolves during a showdown, a player can start another chain with an Action or Reaction spell. Each player will have an opportunity to play Action cards during a showdown.
If you are at 12 runes and cannot channel for your turn, do you draw one more card?
Ruling: No, you do not draw a card if you cannot channel. You simply do not channel at all. Nuances: - Some learn-to-play videos incorrectly showed this rule, but it was a mistake - Ramp spells that draw cards when you can't channel may create confusion, as they seem like reminder text for channeling, but this is not how the...
If I have 2 Zhonya's Hourglasses and 1 of my units dies, do I have to activate both?
Ruling: No, only one Zhonya's Hourglass applies when a single unit dies. Nuances: - If 2 of your units die at the same time, each Zhonya's will save one of them - With cards like GA and Soraka, you can order replacement effects to choose not to utilize your Zhonya's (if you can)
When do you choose targets for Falling Star's damage, and how does this interact with En Garde?
Ruling: You choose targets for Falling Star when you play it, but damage is allocated when it resolves. This means the opponent can see which units are targeted before deciding whether to use En Garde.
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.
Does Karma's ability trigger when recycling a rune to pay for Sett legend's ability, and if so, can the buff be given to the unit being recalled?
Ruling: Karma's ability does not trigger when recycling runes to pay for Sett legend's ability because runes are not cards.
When defending a battlefield, if a player uses Ride the Wind to move Yasuo to that battlefield during combat, does Yasou's 'When I attack' ability trigger?
Ruling: Yasou's 'When I attack' ability does not trigger when moved to a battlefield where his controller is the defender. All units controlled by the defending player are considered defenders, regardless of when they arrive at the battlefield.
Can you have more than 1 hidden unit/spell/gear on the battlefield?
Ruling: No, you cannot have more than 1 hidden unit/spell/gear on the same battlefield object in general. Nuances: - There is a card (the Bandle Tree) that modifies this limit and allows exceptions
How does Convergent Mutation interact with Teemo, Scout's "When you play me" trigger when played in response to the trigger being on the chain?
Ruling: When you flip Teemo and respond to his "When you play me" trigger by playing Convergent Mutation before the trigger resolves, Convergent Mutation resolves first (setting Teemo's Might equal to the targeted unit's current Might), then Teemo's trigger resolves (adding +3 to Teemo's Might). If you let Teemo's trigger resolve first, he gets +3 Might before Convergent Mutation sets...
If a card reduces a 2 might unit's might (without stating a minimum), does the unit die at 0 might?
Ruling: A unit with 0 might does not automatically die. It only dies if it has non-zero damage marked on it equalling or exceeding its might.
If you start your turn holding 1 battlefield (reaching 7 points), then lose control of it but take the other battlefield during the same turn, do you still win?
Ruling: Yes, this is a win. You do not need to actively hold both battlefields simultaneously to score the final point via conquest.
How does Void Gate interact with Volibear Furious's damage splitting ability?
Ruling: Void Gate increases the total pool of damage that Volibear splits among units. Instead of splitting 5 damage, Volibear splits 6 damage among the targets.
When you conquer a battlefield, do you immediately control it before resolving conquer effects (e.g., can a unit revealed by Rek'sai's conquer effect be played at the newly conquered battlefield)?
Ruling: Yes, you immediately control a battlefield when you conquer it, before conquer effects resolve. Units revealed by conquer effects can be played at the newly conquered battlefield.
When Volibear and Kayn fight and Kayn triggers his ability to not take damage, what happens to the showdown if neither unit dies?
Ruling: At the end of combat, if units from both sides remain, the attacker's units are recalled to base. Sequence: - Combat occurs between Volibear and Kayn - Kayn triggers his ability and does not take damage - Neither unit kills the other - At end of combat, attacker's units are recalled to base
Does retaining priority when you control the next item on the chain mean you can play multiple reactions back-to-back in a showdown before passing priority?
Ruling: Yes, when you play a spell, you retain priority and can play reactions back-to-back as many as you have resources for. Once you're done, you pass to the next player who will have a chance to play reactions.
Can a player exhaust all their runes in response to a reaction speed spell that will kill their Ekko unit, even if they don't have costs to pay at that moment?
Ruling: Yes, you can exhaust your runes in response to the spell. Both the exhaust and recycle abilities of runes are at Reaction speed and can be used any time a reaction can be made.
Can Pack of Wonders target cards in the trash to return them to hand?
Ruling: Pack of Wonders can only target cards on the board (gear, units, or hidden cards), not cards in the trash.
When activating Unlicensed Armory (which requires discarding as a cost) with Jinx, Rebel in play, what is the correct stack order?
Ruling: Unlicensed Armory goes on the chain first, then Jinx, Rebel's trigger goes on top of it. Sequence: - Activate Unlicensed Armory (it goes on chain) - Pay costs including discarding a card - Jinx, Rebel's trigger goes on the chain on top of Armory
How does Divine Judgement interact with hidden cards? Does it ignore them or do they get recycled as part of 'the rest'?
Ruling: Divine Judgement ignores hidden cards entirely. They are not selected and they are not recycled. Nuances: - Hidden cards are not considered spells, units, or gear - Hidden cards are not units, gear, runes, or cards in hand, so they don't fall under the categories that get recycled by "recycle the rest"
Can Zhonya's be used to react at any time during damage assignment and control which unit survives?
Ruling: No, you cannot use Zhonya's to react during damage assignment or when damage is dealt. You must flip Zhonya's before combat damage (during the showdown while you still have priority). If multiple units die simultaneously to combat damage, the controller chooses which one to save.