Abilities — Riftbound Rules

358.

An Ability is the structured rules and capabilities of Game Objects or Spells.

358.1.

An Ability has multiple structures. Passive Abilities Replacement Effects Activated Abilities Triggered Abilities Delayed Abilities

359.

A card can have more than one Ability and more than one type of Ability.

360.

Passive Abilities

361.

Conditions, rules, constraints, or statements that affect the course of regular play.

361.1.

These abilities have a wide variety of formats to recognize. Example: "I get +1[M] while you have 2 or more cards in your hand." Example: "Friendly Yordles at my battlefield have [Shield]."

361.2.

They can be recognized by being statements of fact.

361.3.

Passive Abilities can be conditional.

361.3.a.

Conditional Passive Abilities can be recognized by the occurrence of "if" or "while" as part of the statement of the ability. Example: "While I'm attacking or defending alone, I have +2 [M]." Example: "If an opponent controls a battlefield, I enter ready."

362.

Presence on Permanents

362.1.

Passive Abilities of Permanents are typically only active while on the Board.

363.

Presence on Card outside of the Board

363.1.

Passive Abilities of cards in zones that are outside of the Board will self-describe their context. Example: The passive ability "Play me only during an opponent's turn." applies in any zone from which that card can be played.

363.2.

Passive Abilities can alter the costs of cards as they are played.

363.2.a.

These apply at all times in any zone from which the card with the ability can be played.

364.

Replacement Effects

365.

An ability that alters the application of another game effect or game rule.

365.1.

Passive Abilities can be Replacement Effects.

366.

Replacement Effects intercede during the execution of a Game Effect and alter its execution.

366.1.

A Replacement Effect can be identified by the presence of the term "instead." Example: Zhonya's Hourglass reads "The next time a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Recall that unit exhausted." This is a replacement effect that alters the execution of any Game Effect that would kill a friendly unit.

367.

A Replacement Effect can alter the typical flow of play, including other cards' executions.

368.

If more than one Replacement Effect applies to the same event being executed, then the owner of the object being acted on determines the order the Replacement Effects will apply.

368.1.

If it is a player being acted on, that player decides the order the Replacement Effects will apply.

368.2.

If the affected object is an Uncontrolled Battlefield then the Current Turn Player decides the order the Replacement Effects will apply.

369.

Activated Abilities

370.

Activated Abilities are repeatable effects with a cost. They follow a process of going onto the chain and resolving, similar to Playing a Card. See rule 346. Playing Cards for more information.

370.1.

Activated Abilities are recognized by the presence of a ":" in the text of the card, preceded by a cost and succeeded by an effect. Example: "[2]: Draw 1" is an activated ability. The cost is 2 energy. The effect is to draw 1 card.

370.2.

Activated Abilities use the chain.

370.2.a.

Declare activation of the Ability.

370.2.a.1.

The ability goes on the chain but has no card to represent it, so players need to take note that it is now a Closed State.

370.2.b.

Proceed with executing the Chain.

370.2.b.1.

Follow the steps of “Playing or Activating Abilities” in rule 386. This ability will become a Pending Chain Item.

370.2.b.2.

Opponents have an opportunity to respond, as appropriate, as if a card was played onto the chain.

370.2.b.3.

If no further action is taken, execute the Activated Ability.

371.

The controlling player chooses when and whether to activate an Activated Ability.

372.

Activated abilities are present on Game Objects and some Spells.

373.

Can primarily be activated while on the Board.

374.

All Activated Abilities can only be activated on the Controlling Player's Turn and during an Open State.

375.

Triggered Abilities

376.

Triggered Abilities are repeatable effects that happen when a Condition is met.

376.1.

Triggered Abilities can usually be recognized by the word "when" followed by a game action or event; the word "at" followed by a point in time during the turn sequence; or the phrase “the [Nth] time” followed by a game action or event. Examples: "When you conquer here, you may spend a buff to draw 1." "At the end of your turn, ready 2 runes." “The first time I move each turn, you may ready something else that's exhausted.”

376.1.a.

The phrases that identify triggered abilities do not always appear at the beginning of sentences or abilities.

376.1.b.

If an ability triggers “the [Nth] time” something happens and that trigger condition is met multiple times simultaneously, the ability’s controller picks one of those instances to serve as the trigger condition. The ability triggers only once, due to the chosen condition. Example: Wraith of Echoes reads “The first time another friendly unit dies each turn, draw 1.” That ability hasn’t triggered yet this turn. Two other friendly units die simultaneously (say, due to combat damage). The Wraith’s controller chooses one of those deaths to trigger Wraith’s ability.

376.2.

Triggered Abilities have a Condition and an Effect.

376.2.a.

The Condition follows the When.

376.2.b.

The Effect is the Instruction that follows the comma after the Condition.

376.2.c.

The Condition of a Trigger is evaluated after a potentially inciting event has been processed.

376.2.c.1.

If a Game Object with a Triggered Ability that is active in a specific zone, it is evaluated and subsequently triggered if it enters that zone at the same time that its Trigger’s condition is met. Example: Immortal Phoenix says “When you kill a unit with a spell, you may pay [1][C] to play me from your trash.” This ability triggers if Immortal Phoenix is in your trash immediately after you kill a unit with a spell, even if the unit you killed with a spell was that Immortal Phoenix.

376.2.c.2.

A Game Object will not be able to successfully be able to evaluate its Trigger Condition, however, if it leaves the zone that its Trigger is active from at the same time that its Trigger is satisfied. Example: Viktor, Leader says “When another non-Recruit unit you control dies, play a 1 [M] Recruit unit token into your base.” This ability triggers if Viktor is on the board immediately after another non-Recruit unit you control dies. It does not trigger if Viktor and another non-Recruit unit you control die during the same game action (for instance, if they are both killed in the same Cleanup due to the damage dealt by Unchecked Power).

376.3.

When a Condition is met, a Triggered Ability behaves like an Activated Ability and is placed on the Chain.

... and 89 more rules

Related FAQ (2)

Some spells and abilities require choosing units, gear, or other things for them to affect. The rules say some of these choices are made when I put the spell or ability on the chain, but it seems like some of them can't be or shouldn't be. How do I know the difference?

Riftbound uses a set of contextual rules rather than specific words on cards to determine which choices are made as a card is played. When a spell or ability chooses something else to affect, the rules refer to those choices as “targets." Targets must be chosen as the spell or ability is placed on the chain, and they must still meet all targeting requirements as the spell or ability resolves. The next version of the rules will have more rigorous guidelines on which choices are targets, which we'll summarize here. For the most part, these rules don't change what choices are targets, they just spell it out more. An object or player mentioned in a spell or ability is a target if all of the following are true: 1. something publicly visible to all players; 2. that you and you alone choose; 3. that isn't part of a targeting restriction, cost, trigger condition, replacement effect, or an action that “must" be taken. This explanation sounds complicated, but in general, most things that are affected by a spell or ability are targets. For a more precise breakdown of what each of those entails, see the Appendix. There are two other choices that are not considered targets, but are made while putting something on the chain. Those are: 1. The location to which a unit will be played (normally either your base or a battlefield you control). 2. The destination or destinations for any spell or ability whose effect is moving one or more units, whether or not it mentions a destination by name.

What about triggered abilities with multiple targets, like Sona, Harmonious?

The same is true of triggered abilities with multiple targets. For triggered abilities, however, this causes some cards—Sona in particular—to work in unintended ways. Going forward, we'll put the words “up to" on most triggered abilities. In the meantime, several cards are receiving errata so that their triggered abilities behave intuitively. At the end of your turn, if I'm at a battlefield, ready up to 4 friendly runes.