Browse Riftbound Rules Questions
Page 61 of 128 · 6,389 verified questions. Each links to the full ruling.
Does a stunned Yasuo still trigger his 'when I attack' ability and deal his might damage?
Ruling: Yes, a stunned Yasuo still triggers his 'when I attack' ability and deals his might damage. Combat damage and ability damage are different, and stun only prevents combat damage.
When a unit with Assault moves to an enemy-occupied battlefield, does it gain the Assault bonus before the move ability resolves, or must the move ability resolve first before combat starts and Assault applies?
Ruling: Move abilities must resolve first before combat can start. The unit does not gain Assault bonuses until after the move ability has resolved and combat begins.
Can Tideturner target a unit at the same location (its own base) to satisfy targeting requirements?
Ruling: No, Tideturner cannot target a unit at the same location. The card specifies "another location" in its text, meaning the target must be at a different location than where Tideturner is played.
What happens if I see 3 Nocturne cards with Stacked Deck?
Ruling: You can play any number of the Nocturne cards revealed by Stacked Deck for any rune each. If you put all three of them into play, you draw nothing (no cards go to hand).
Can you hide Teemo directly from the Champion Zone, or do you need to first move it to hand?
Ruling: You can hide Teemo directly from the Champion Zone without needing to move it to hand first. Nuances: - The ruling was not always this way; previously the rules only allowed hiding from hand, requiring players to pay energy to move Teemo to hand first before hiding - A Chinese FAQ was the first indication of the rule change...
During a showdown, if the player with focus plays an action (creating a closed state), can the next player play an action after the chain resolves, or are they restricted to only reactions in the closed state?
Ruling: When a player plays an action during a showdown, it creates a closed state where only reactions can be played. Once the chain fully resolves, the game returns to an open showdown state and focus passes to the next player, who can then play actions or reactions.
If you have Lux as your champion and use Promising Future to play Divine Judgement, can you order your two draws from Lux's ability so both happen after Divine Judgement resolves?
Ruling: No, you cannot order both draws after Divine Judgement. The draw triggered by Promising Future will happen before Divine Judgement resolves, and the draw triggered by Divine Judgement will happen after it resolves.
Can Charm move any unit, even if they are rested or on another battlefield, and what are the limitations?
Ruling: Charm can move any enemy unit to any legal location on the board, ignoring ganking restrictions and regardless of whether the unit is rested. The only limitation is that units cannot be moved into an opponent's base.
Can you score a Conquer point by holding terrain, move your unit away, then move another unit to that same terrain to score another Conquer point in the same turn?
Ruling: No, you may only score one point from a battlefield per turn. Nuances: - This restriction prevents scoring multiple Conquer points by repeatedly moving units into and out of the same battlefield (for example, at 7 points to draw extra cards)
Does Viktor, Innovator trigger to create a recruit token when Retreat is played targeting him on the opponent's turn?
Ruling: Viktor, Innovator does not trigger when Retreat targets him because a card isn't considered "played" until it resolves, at which point Viktor is already in your hand and not on the battlefield to see the play event.
If Sky Splitter is played for 0 might, and an opponent reacts to reduce the player's might (which would make the cost 3 that they can't pay), does Sky Splitter get negated?
Ruling: No, Sky Splitter does not get negated. Once a card is on the chain, you never go back to paying the cost - the cost is paid once at the beginning during the process of playing the card, before opponents can respond.
When Fight or Flight is played on a ready unit, does that unit exhaust?
Ruling: No, the unit does not exhaust. Only standard moves have an implicit exhaust cost. When a spell tells you to move, you only do what the spell says.
Can Fox-Fire target a Shen that is played as a reaction to Fox-Fire being put on the chain?
Ruling: No, Fox-Fire cannot target Shen. Targets are chosen when Fox-Fire is put on the chain, before you can react with Shen.
If I use Unchecked Power to deal 12 damage and kill all units on the battlefield, can my opponent still play a Hidden unit (like Teemo) after the cleanup?
Ruling: No, the opponent cannot play a Hidden unit after Unchecked Power resolves and kills all units. The only opportunity to play the Hidden unit as a reaction is before Unchecked Power resolves, which would make that unit a victim of the damage.
When an opponent plays Thermo, can I exhaust all my unexhausted Gold to generate power and then play Reaction speed spells with that power before Thermo resolves?
Ruling: Yes, you can exhaust all your unexhausted Gold to generate power and play Reaction speed spells with that power while retaining priority before Thermo resolves.
When Teemo's 'When I Defend' trigger goes on the chain, does the opponent have to react before or after revealing cards, and does targeting happen before or after revealing cards?
Ruling: You target when the 'When I Defend' trigger goes onto the chain. Once it's on the chain, your opponent can react. All of this happens before you start resolving the ability (revealing cards).
Can Dreaming Tree be activated on both my turn and my opponent's turn, or is it limited to once per turn cycle?
Ruling: Dreaming Tree can be activated once per turn per player, meaning it can be activated on your turn and again on your opponent's turn.
Does moving a ready unit with Yasuo's legend ability exhaust the unit?
Ruling: Yasuo's legend ability does not exhaust units. Spells and abilities that move units do not change their exhaust/ready position unless they specify.
Is there a limit to how many different champion units can be included in a single deck, as long as each type is limited to 3 copies?
Ruling: There is no limit to the number of different champion units you can include in a deck. You can have as many different champion types as you want, as long as each champion unit has one of the two runes associated with your Legend and you don't exceed 3 copies of each specific champion.
When activating a rune ability (with [Add]) that triggers Sivir's legend ability, does priority immediately pass to put the trigger on the chain, or does the trigger stay pending until priority is passed?
Ruling: When you activate a rune ability with [Add] that triggers Sivir, the trigger goes pending on the chain and is finalized during cleanup without passing priority. You maintain priority throughout.
Can you Gust Blastcone Fae (played from hidden) before it gives your unit -2?
Ruling: No, gusting Blastcone Fae will not prevent its ability from resolving. The target is still legal because the ability doesn't care about Blastcone Fae's position on resolution.
If you control a battlefield at the start of your turn, move a unit from that battlefield to base (leaving it empty), then move another unit to that same battlefield, does open showdown happen?
Ruling: Yes, a showdown begins when you move a unit to the now-empty battlefield. However, you cannot conquer at that battlefield (for triggers like Qiuana or Candlelit), though you can regain control.
Does Fiora Legend trigger her ability when a 4 Might unit is played on Trifarian War Camp, similar to how Volibear Legend triggers?
Ruling: Fiora Legend does not trigger when a 4 Might unit is played on Trifarian War Camp, even though Volibear Legend does trigger in that scenario. Fiora Legend and Volibear Legend are mutually exclusive in this interaction.
Does spending buffs reduce Kraken Hunter's power cost, and can Seal of Strength pay for part of the power cost?
Ruling: Spending buffs reduces Kraken Hunter's power cost. Seal of Strength can provide power in place of exhausting runes. If you exhaust Seal of Strength, you only need to remove 1 buff (instead of 2) to summon Kraken Hunter exhausted by exhausting 3 runes total.
Can Player B play Find your Center after Player A conquers (when Player A has 4 points and Player B has 1 rune up)?
Ruling: No, Player B cannot play Find your Center after Player A conquers because it costs 3 runes and Player B only has 1 rune up.
When a ready unit at a battlefield uses Ride the Wind to move to another battlefield, fights but doesn't die, does it return to base ready or exhausted?
Ruling: The unit is recalled in its current state. Since Ride the Wind doesn't exhaust the unit, it returns to base ready.
Can you use Baited Hook, then stack Altar of Souls on the trigger so that Altar resolves first before Baited Hook finishes resolving?
Ruling: No, you cannot interrupt Baited Hook's resolution with Altar of Souls. When Baited Hook kills a unit, Altar triggers as pending on the chain but must wait until Baited Hook completely finishes resolving before Altar can resolve.
When a card effect says 'discard X, then draw Y' but you have fewer than X cards in hand, do you discard what you can and draw, or does nothing happen?
Ruling: When a card effect says "discard X, then draw Y", the discard is not mandatory. You discard as many cards as you can (including zero if your hand is empty) and then draw Y cards.
When Garen dies from combat damage (Cannon Barrage), do the Recruit tokens with 2 might survive or die? When does Garen's passive deactivate and when does damage get cleaned?
Ruling: The Recruit tokens survive. Units are healed immediately after units with lethal damage are removed from combat, before any cleanup occurs that would remove Garen's passive effect.
When do Shield and Yi Legend abilities activate - before or after defend and attack triggers resolve?
Ruling: Shield and Yi Legend abilities activate when a unit gains the defender designation, which occurs before attack/defend triggers resolve.
How does Aspirant's Climb work - does it need to be conquered/held for its effect to increase points needed to win, and does it affect all players?
Ruling: Aspirant's Climb has a passive effect that is active simply by being in play. It does not need to be conquered or held. It increases the points needed to win by 1 for all players (9 points in 1v1/FFA, 12 in 2v2).
If a defending unit with Shield leaves the battlefield during combat, does it lose the bonus Might from Shield immediately, and does the attacking unit with Assault keep its bonus Might?
Ruling: When a unit with Shield leaves the battlefield during combat, it immediately loses the bonus Might from Shield. However, the attacking unit with Assault retains its bonus Might until the showdown ends (as long as it remains on the battlefield).
Can Shen be used as a reaction to play into a free battlefield that another player is going to conquer?
Ruling: No, Shen cannot be played to a free battlefield that another player is conquering because you don't control that battlefield at the start of the showdown.
Does Dazzling Aurora get destroyed at the end of the turn or does it only get exhausted?
Ruling: Dazzling Aurora neither gets destroyed nor exhausted. It stays on the battlefield as is and triggers automatically at the end of each turn.
Does 5-cost Darius trigger his effect if he himself is the second spell of the turn?
Ruling: Yes, Darius triggers his effect if he himself is the second spell of the turn. Nuances: - This ruling is confirmed in Riot's official Riftbound Origins FAQ document.
Does moving a unit into an uncontrolled/open battlefield (with no enemy units) trigger a Showdown?
Ruling: Yes, moving a unit into any battlefield that you don't control starts a Showdown, even if the battlefield is uncontrolled/open with no enemy units present.
Does Riftbound have reflexive triggers (like MTG), where some choices are made on cast and others on resolution without a chance to respond?
Ruling: Reflexive triggers are not mentioned in the current Comprehensive Rules for Riftbound. They do not currently exist in the game.
Can Kinkou Monk's effect trigger when you only have 1 other character, or does it require 2 targets to enter the chain?
Ruling: After the errata, Kinkou Monk now says "up to" so it will always enter the chain, even if you only have 1 or 0 other units to buff.
If my opponent attacks my controlled arena with two tokens and plays Imperial Decree, does he kill both my 6 might units there?
Ruling: No, Imperial Decree will not kill both units when attacking with two tokens simultaneously. You cannot assign damage to a second unit until you've assigned lethal damage to the first, and Imperial Decree creates a trigger when a unit takes damage that kills that unit (rather than making any non-zero damage lethal).
How is a match determined after the 5 turns following time being called have completed?
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.
When is damage healed in Riftbound, and is there a difference between combat damage and spell/ability damage?
Ruling: All damage (both combat damage and spell/ability damage) is healed at the end of combat and at the end of turn. There is no difference between combat damage and spell damage.
If my only unit in a battlefield dies to Hidden Blade during showdown, can I play an action speed card (like Find Your Center) that I drew from Hidden Blade before the showdown ends?
Ruling: Yes, you can play action speed cards drawn from Hidden Blade after it resolves. Focus passes back and forth between players during combat, so after Hidden Blade resolves and you draw cards, you will eventually receive focus again and can play an action speed card.
Can Vi (Destructive)'s activated ability be used multiple times in a single turn, and can it be used during a showdown?
Ruling: Vi's activated ability can be used multiple times on your turn, but only at base speed (not during showdowns, and not at reaction or action speed).
If Teemo, Strategist is removed (e.g., by Gust) while defending, which parts of his ability still resolve? Specifically, are cards still revealed for Nocturne purposes?
Ruling: When Teemo, Strategist is removed while his ability is on the chain, you still reveal your cards and recycle them, but the damage cannot be dealt because there is no valid target.
If I use Sett's ability to save a unit, can Immortal Phoenix still be summoned from the trash?
Ruling: No, the unit actually has to die for Immortal Phoenix to trigger. Sett's ability prevents the death, so Immortal Phoenix cannot be summoned.
If I use Switcheroo on my Mundo and my own Traveling Merchant, does Mundo refresh himself and become 2 + cards in trash?
Ruling: No. Switcheroo snapshots the might difference at resolution and applies continuous modifiers. Mundo will get -X Might and Merchant will get +X Might, where X is (Mundo's might at resolution - 2). If more cards go to trash after resolution, Mundo's might will increase but the Switcheroo modifiers remain at their snapshotted values.
Can you use Baited Hook to play Kai'sa ignoring her base cost, then pay her Accelerate cost to have her enter ready?
Ruling: Yes, you can use Baited Hook to play Kai'sa ignoring her base cost, then pay her Accelerate cost (Tap 1 and recycle one) to have her enter ready.
Do "when you play me" abilities still resolve if the unit is killed by a reaction to the ability?
Ruling: Yes, "when you play me" abilities still resolve even if the unit is killed by a reaction to the ability.
When playing Stack the Deck (1 cost purple spell), do you reveal the card you add to your hand to your opponent?
Ruling: You do not reveal the card you add to your hand unless the card text specifically states you must reveal it.
If Watcher reduces a unit's might from 2 to 1 (with a -3 effect), and then Discipline is used on that unit, does it go to 3 might or stay at 1?
Ruling: The unit would go to 3 might when Discipline is used on it. Sequence: - Watcher applies -3 effect to a 2 might unit, reducing it to 1 might - The effect snapshots the amount it actually reduced (in this case -1) - When Discipline is used, it increases the unit's might, and the Watcher effect remains as -1...