Riftbound Core Rules FAQ

Q: How do I score? How are conquer and hold different?

When you take control of a battlefield you didn't already control and which you haven't scored yet this turn, you score 1 point. This is called conquering. If you control a battlefield at the start of your turn, you score 1 point. This is called holding.

Q: Do I have to exhaust a unit when I move it with a spell or ability?

Moving a unit with a spell or ability won't change its ready or exhausted state unless the effect specifies that it does. The cost of using a unit's standard move is to exhaust that unit, but that isn't a cost or effect of other moves.

Q: Can I move more units in before a combat starts using a spell or ability?

If you don't move units together as a group using the standard move, then you can only move additional units afterward if you use a spell or ability with the Action or Reaction keywords, after the combat starts as part of the showdown.

Question 1

How do I score? How are conquer and hold different?

Accepted Answer

When you take control of a battlefield you didn&#x27;t already control and which you haven&#x27;t scored yet this turn, you score 1 point. This is called conquering. If you control a battlefield at the start of your turn, you score 1 point. This is called holding.

Question 2

How does the last point work?

Accepted Answer

In order to win the game, you need to score the last point (the 8th point in most games, 11th in 2v2). If you try to score the last point by conquering, you will only get the last point if you have already scored all of the other battlefields this turn. Otherwise, you&#x27;ll draw a card instead. So, in an 8 point 1v1 game with two battlefields: ● If you are at 6 points and conquer both battlefields, you&#x27;ll go to 7 and then to 8 and win. ● If you are at 7 points and conquer both battlefields, you&#x27;ll draw a card for the first one, and then go to 8 and win. ● If you are at 6 points, hold one battlefield to 7, and conquer the other to go to 8 and win. ● If you are at 7 points, you can hold one to go to 8 and win. In an 8 point 4 player Free-for-All game with three battlefields: ● If you are at 5 points and conquer all 3 battlefields, you&#x27;ll go to 6 then 7 then 8 and win. ● If you are at 6 points and conquer all 3 battlefields, you&#x27;ll go to 7 then draw 1, then 8 and win. ● If you are at 5 points, hold 1 battlefield to 6, then conquer the other two, you&#x27;ll go to 7 and then 8 and win.

Question 3

What&#x27;s the standard move?

Accepted Answer

Every unit has the natural ability to move itself from base to battlefield, or back from battlefield to base, during your Main Phase (on your own turn, outside of a showdown). To do this, you pay the cost (exhausting the unit) and then move the unit. If a unit is exhausted, you can&#x27;t move it using the standard move.

Question 4

Do I have to exhaust a unit when I move it with a spell or ability?

Accepted Answer

Moving a unit with a spell or ability won&#x27;t change its ready or exhausted state unless the effect specifies that it does. The cost of using a unit&#x27;s standard move is to exhaust that unit, but that isn&#x27;t a cost or effect of other moves.

Question 5

Can I move multiple units together to a battlefield?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can use the standard move of your units all at once to move them as a group together to the same legal destination. To do this, exhaust them all (the cost of the standard move) and then move them to the destination, then resolve any move effects, then start a showdown if needed.

Question 6

Does Ganking allow a unit to move an extra time? When can I use the Ganking ability?

Accepted Answer

No, Ganking is an extra way to use the standard move. Normally, when a unit uses the standard move, it can only move between base and battlefield. If a unit has Ganking, it can also move between two battlefields. You can move units with Ganking alongside other units that are moving with the standard move, as long as the destination is legal for all units moving as a group.

Question 7

Can I move more units in before a combat starts using a spell or ability?

Accepted Answer

If you don&#x27;t move units together as a group using the standard move, then you can only move additional units afterward if you use a spell or ability with the Action or Reaction keywords, after the combat starts as part of the showdown.

Question 8

What happens when both sides in combat have the same total Might?

Accepted Answer

In this case, both sides will assign damage to the other side equal to the total Might of all units there, which will end up killing all units on both sides. No units will remain to control the battlefield, leaving it open and nobody will score a point.

Question 9

What happens if units from both sides in combat survive, either because of Kayn or a stun?

Accepted Answer

In this case, both sides will still assign damage to the other side as normal (stunned units will not deal damage). Units will still die if they are assigned damage equal to or greater than their Might (unless they don&#x27;t die, for example because of Kayn&#x27;s ability). Then if units from both sides remain alive at the battlefield, any remaining attacking units will be recalled to base and the defending player will maintain control (no score, though).

Question 10

Do units heal from combat damage? When?

Accepted Answer

Yes, units everywhere will heal from damage at the end of every combat and at the end of every turn. That means if a unit survives through damage assignment, it&#x27;ll be back to zero damage at the end of the combat.

Question 11

How do runes work? What are energy and power? Can I recycle an exhausted rune?

Accepted Answer

Yes, each rune has two abilities, and you can use both of them in the same turn: ● You can exhaust a rune to produce 1 energy. Energy is used to pay numerical costs, and doesn&#x27;t have a domain/color associated with it, even though the runes used to generate it do. ● You can recycle a rune (even an exhausted one) to produce 1 power of that rune&#x27;s domain/color. Power is used to pay color symbol costs. Rune abilities have the Reaction keyword, which means they can be used anytime.

Question 12

Is there a limit to how many runes I can have?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all Riftbound decks are built with exactly 12 runes, so once you have channeled all of them, you can&#x27;t get more runes on the board.

Question 13

Do Seals add energy? Do Seals enter exhausted like units do?

Accepted Answer

No, Seals can&#x27;t generate energy. They can be exhausted to produce 1 power of Seal&#x27;s domain/color. Since you don&#x27;t recycle them to make the power resource, you will be able to ready them and use them again on future turns.

Question 14

How much do I pay for an Accelerate cost?

Accepted Answer

Accelerate costs 1 energy and also 1 power of the unit&#x27;s domain/color. Usually you&#x27;ll do this by taking an additional ready rune of the appropriate domain/color, exhaust it, and then recycle that same rune. For example, if a fury/red unit normally costs (3) (or 3 energy) and you want to accelerate it, its total cost would be (4)(R) (or 4 energy and 1 power of the fury/red domain).

Question 15

What does Mighty mean?

Accepted Answer

A unit is Mighty if it has 5 or more Might. Units don&#x27;t have the keyword “Mighty"—as long as a unit has 5 or more Might, the unit is Mighty. When you play a unit with 5 or more Might, you can exhaust your Relentless Storm Legend to channel a rune exhausted.

Question 16

Do I get my Legion effect when I play a token or use an ability?

Accepted Answer

No, Legion will only be active if you&#x27;ve played a card this turn. Tokens are not cards, and abilities aren&#x27;t either.

Question 17

How do I hide a card with Hidden?

Accepted Answer

You can hide a card with the Hidden keyword from your hand instead of paying its normal cost. To do this, you must already control a battlefield (have units there) to hide the card at. Hiding a card costs (A) (one power of any domain/color) and you place the card face down at that battlefield.

Question 18

When I hide a card, does that count for Legion?

Accepted Answer

Hiding isn&#x27;t playing, and doesn&#x27;t count as playing a card for abilities like Legion.

Question 19

If I hide a card, and then my opponent uses a spell to move a unit to that battlefield that same turn, can I play the card I hid?

Accepted Answer

No. You can&#x27;t play cards the same turn you hide them.

Question 20

If I hid a card last turn, can I play that card even if I&#x27;m not reacting to another spell or ability?

Accepted Answer

You can play them any time you can normally play a reaction, which includes when you&#x27;re not actually reacting to anything. You&#x27;re not restricted to playing them during showdowns at their own battlefield.

Question 21

Do I have to play a unit I hid to that battlefield? Or can I play it to my base?

Accepted Answer

A hidden unit must be played to that battlefield if able.

Question 22

If I play a spell with targets that I hid, do I have to choose those targets from the battlefield I hid it at?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent chooses any targets, those targets must be chosen from among options at that battlefield, unless the ability explicitly restricts targeting in a way that makes this impossible. (We&#x27;ll talk more about this later for specific cards.)

Question 23

If I play a card I hid, and that card&#x27;s effects include playing additional units (for example, tokens), can I play them anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent causes you to play a unit, you must choose to have that unit enter the board at that battlefield.

Question 24

Can I use the exhaust ability of a unit in combat?

Accepted Answer

The cost of using an ability with the exhaust symbol is to exhaust that unit. If you just moved a unit into combat using the standard move, then you already exhausted the unit as the cost to do that, so you won&#x27;t be able to use its ability with the exhaust symbol that same turn. If the unit is defending, it might be ready and then you can use abilities that require exhausting it in combat (as long as those abilities have the Action or Reaction keyword).

Question 25

When can I use Vi&#x27;s ability to recycle cards from my trash to increase her Might?

Accepted Answer

Abilities can only be used in your Main Phase, outside of a showdown, unless they have the Action or Reaction keyword. Vi&#x27;s ability does not, so it can&#x27;t be used in combat/showdown.

Question 26

Can I use my Legend ability on my opponent&#x27;s turn?

Accepted Answer

Abilities can only be used in your Main Phase, outside of a showdown, unless they have the Action or Reaction keyword. Some Legends don&#x27;t have these keywords, so those can&#x27;t be used on an opponent&#x27;s turn.

Question 27

I have a Reaction spell. Can I play it at the end of my opponent&#x27;s turn?

Accepted Answer

No. The only time you can do this is if another ability triggers at the end of your opponent&#x27;s turn, such as the Dark Child - Starter legend.

Question 28

In a free-for-all, can I play Actions and Reactions in a showdown that I don&#x27;t have units at?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Starting with the player who contested control/the attack, players each get a chance to play an Action or Reaction. Other players can then react with Reactions, but once everyone passes, the next player in turn order can play their own Action or Reaction. Continue like this until all players have passed on an empty chain, and then move to the end of the showdown.

Question 29

Is there a maximum hand size?

Accepted Answer

No, you can have any number of cards in your hand.

Question 30

Is there a maximum number of units I can have in my base? On a battlefield?

Accepted Answer

No. You can have any number of units in a location.

Question 31

What happens when I run out of cards in my Main Deck?

Accepted Answer

If you run out of cards in your Main Deck, and then you need to draw 1, you will Burn Out. This means you take your Trash, recycle it into your deck, shuffle, and then choose an opponent to score 1 point. If you have no Trash to recycle when you Burn Out, then you&#x27;ll grant an infinite number of points and pick an opponent to win the game.

Question 32

What happens when I run out of cards in my Rune Deck?

Accepted Answer

Nothing. You can&#x27;t channel any more runes, but there&#x27;s no penalty beyond that.

Question 33

Do I put my Chosen Champion back in the Champion Zone when it leaves the board?

Accepted Answer

No. Once you play a Champion from your Champion Zone, it acts like any other card from your Main Deck. When it dies, it goes to the Trash.

Question 34

What happens when a card like The Harrowing instructs me to play another card during its resolution? Do I play it while the other spell or ability is still resolving? What if I can&#x27;t play it?

Accepted Answer

To clarify the timing of these and other effects, we&#x27;re introducing the idea of pending items on the chain. When you play a spell, or use an ability, they will be pending until you finish the steps of playing them before priority passes. When a spell or ability instructs you to play a card or play a token—or when a triggered ability has its trigger condition met—during the playing or resolution of another card or ability, you&#x27;ll perform the very first step of playing that card or using that ability by putting it on the chain, then stop. This chain item is still pending for now. You&#x27;ll then process the rest of whatever is currently happening, including putting any other pending items on the chain above it. Then, in the order the items were put on the chain, each pending item&#x27;s controller goes through the other steps of putting it on the chain: Make choices, pay costs, and evaluate legality. Only then is the pending item considered to have entered the chain. If it&#x27;s legal to play and it&#x27;s a unit or gear, it resolves immediately as usual. Once all pending items are done being fully added to the chain, play continues, and any items that remain on the chain can be reacted to. The most recent items to be placed on the chain will resolve first as usual. If at any point during that process that player is unable to proceed with playing the pending chain item for any reason, the item is removed from the chain and, if it&#x27;s a card, is put back where it came from. This won&#x27;t happen very often—if you start the process of playing a card, you&#x27;ll almost always be able to legally finish it—but it&#x27;s a necessary failsafe to handle corner cases.

Question 35

What about cards like Blind Fury and Promising Future, which let players look at or reveal cards from the top of a deck, play one, and recycle the rest? If I can&#x27;t play that card, where does it go? It sounds like it&#x27;s too late for it to be recycled as part of “the rest."

Accepted Answer

Hey, you&#x27;re pretty sharp! For most cards that let you play something, it&#x27;s easy to put the card back where it came from if you can&#x27;t play it. The Harrowing would put it back in your trash, Ava Achiever would put it back in your hand, and so on. But when the card came out of a deck, which is both secret and randomized, it&#x27;s not so simple. To provide a clear and easy answer to this question, four cards in set 1 that let you play other cards from decks are receiving errata. They&#x27;ll each banish the card before instructing a player to play it. If the card can&#x27;t be played for any reason, it just stays banished. This is a small functional change, but it&#x27;s one we feel is well worth it to avoid the fuss of getting these cards back into a deck somehow. (1)(C), (E) Kill a friendly unit. Look at the top 5 cards of your Main Deck. You may banish a unit from among them that has Might up to 1 more than the killed unit and play it, ignoring its cost. Then recycle the rest.

Question 36

So what exactly happens when someone plays Promising Future?

Accepted Answer

Start with the player whose turn it is—probably Promising Future&#x27;s controller. That player looks at their top 5 cards, banishes one of them, and recycles the other 4. Then each other player in turn order repeats this process. Each player can see which cards the players before them have chosen. Then, starting with the next player in turn order this time, those players put the cards they chose onto the chain as pending items, with the player whose turn it is putting their item on the chain last. Then Promising Future finishes resolving, and the players finish adding their pending items to the chain in the same order they were put there, ignoring Energy costs but still paying Power costs. They must pay mandatory additional costs (like the cost of Cruel Patron), and may choose to pay optional additional costs (like Accelerate). Each card that&#x27;s a unit or gear resolves immediately, which may cause other things (such as play effects) to be added to the top of the chain as pending items. Any cards that can&#x27;t be played for any reason remain banished. Once this process is done, any units or gear that were successfully played this way will be on the board, while spells chosen this way will all be on the chain in the same order they were put onto it. (This may result in spells that don&#x27;t have Action or Reaction being on the chain above other items, which is usually not possible. That&#x27;s fine.) Then, resolve the chain as normal.

Question 37

What about Nocturne? Doesn&#x27;t he also let you play a card from the top of a deck?

Accepted Answer

Great question! Nocturne is his own thing. Speaking of which…

Question 38

OK, so what about Nocturne? How does his ability work? Is it a triggered ability? Can I use it if I “reveal" him, or only if I “look at" him?

Accepted Answer

Nocturne has a few problems we&#x27;d like to address. ● His ability is worded like a triggered ability (“when"), but it can&#x27;t really work like one. By the time a triggered ability could go on the chain, be reacted to, and resolve, you wouldn&#x27;t be looking at Nocturne anymore. ● He has the same problem that the above cards do: you&#x27;re trying to play a card from a deck (in this case, Nocturne himself), and it&#x27;s hard to put him back there if you try to play him but can&#x27;t for some reason. ● He is intended to be usable any time you&#x27;re looking at the front faces of cards from the top of your deck, whether the effect in question says to “look at" them or “reveal" them. The rules will be changed to clarify that last one—they will now explain that to “reveal" means the same thing as “allow all players to look at." Nocturne is receiving errata to solve these problems and bring him in line with his intended function. This errata makes it clear that this ability is not a triggered ability, and it uses banishment as a holding zone. It also specifies that revealing and looking both count; although we are handling that part at the rules level, we also want card text to reflect it unambiguously.

Question 39

So how exactly does this ability work?

Accepted Answer

The process starts as you look at or reveal cards from the top of your Main Deck due to an effect. Let&#x27;s use Stacked Deck as an example. You play Stacked Deck and look at the top 3 cards of your deck. Nocturne is among them. You now get to choose whether to banish him or not. If you choose to banish him, you immediately begin the process of playing him from banishment, placing him on the chain as a pending item. Then you continue resolving Stacked Deck. There are only 2 cards left of the original 3; you&#x27;ll choose one to put into your hand and recycle the other one. Then, since Stacked Deck has finished resolving, you&#x27;ll finish the steps of putting Nocturne onto the chain from banishment, paying (A) (that&#x27;s one power of any type) instead of his base cost. As usual for units, he&#x27;ll resolve immediately and enter the board exhausted. If you weren&#x27;t able to play him for any reason, he&#x27;ll just stay banished.

Question 40

If I reveal multiple Nocturnes, can I play more than one? What if all 3 of the cards I look at for Stacked Deck are Nocturnes and I play all of them?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can play more than one Nocturne at a time this way. If there aren&#x27;t any eligible cards left for the original effect you were resolving, any further instructions will be ignored. So if you reveal Stacked Deck, see 3 Nocturnes, and opt to banish and play all of them, you won&#x27;t put any cards into your hand, nor will you recycle any cards. You will, however, have 3 Nocturnes.

Question 41

So if Promising Future resolves and one or more players choose to banish Nocturne from the cards they looked at, what happens?

Accepted Answer

As you go around in turn order and each player looks at their top 5, they can choose to banish one or more Nocturnes before they banish a card with Promising Future. Any such Nocturnes will go on the chain as pending items before whatever that player chooses with Promising Future. They&#x27;ll remain pending through the whole process of resolving Promising Future, then at the appropriate point they&#x27;ll be fully placed on the chain and (because they&#x27;re units) will resolve immediately.

Question 42

What about Dazzling Aurora? If I reveal Nocturne, do I get to play him and keep going?

Accepted Answer

No, Dazzling Aurora stops when it finds Nocturne. Nocturne is revealed, then you may choose to banish him or not. If you banish him, you can play him for (A) using his own ability. If you don&#x27;t, you can play him for free using Dazzling Aurora&#x27;s ability (probably better, but you do you). Either way, you revealed a unit, so you don&#x27;t keep going.

Question 43

What happens if I use an effect like Unlicensed Armory to prevent the death of the friendly unit I chose to kill with Baited Hook?

Accepted Answer

Baited Hook kills a unit, then uses information about “the killed unit." If you prevent that unit&#x27;s death, there&#x27;s no killed unit, so Baited Hook can&#x27;t evaluate its Might. As a result, the check for the Might of the “killed unit" returns a null value, and you&#x27;re not able to play any unit. If the unit is killed before the ability of Baited Hook resolves, the outcome is the same.

Question 44

The English version of this card is missing “this turn," but the Chinese version includes it. Which is correct?

Accepted Answer

The English version is a printing error. Convergent Mutation will receive errata to correct this oversight. Meanwhile, the Chinese version uses “becomes" language where the English version uses “increase." We have opted to keep the “increase" wording from English, as these wordings work slightly differently.

Question 45

What about Dune Drake? It&#x27;s missing “this turn" in both English and Chinese.

Accepted Answer

This is also a printing error, one that wasn&#x27;t caught in time to fix the Chinese version. It will also receive errata.

Question 46

Is Ravenborn Tome supposed to be able to grant bonus damage to spells I play on later turns?

Accepted Answer

No. This is another card that&#x27;s missing “this turn."

Question 47

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&#x27;t be or shouldn&#x27;t be. How do I know the difference?

Accepted Answer

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&#x27;ll summarize here. For the most part, these rules don&#x27;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&#x27;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.

Question 48

So as I play Charm, I have to say not only what unit I&#x27;m moving it, but where I&#x27;m moving it to?

Accepted Answer

Yes. This is a change from prior rulings. This means that move effects that don&#x27;t mention a destination (like Charm) work the same way as those that do (like Showstopper).

Question 49

What about when I use a unit&#x27;s standard move? Does that target?

Accepted Answer

No. The standard move is a special action that doesn&#x27;t use the chain and can&#x27;t be reacted to, so the concept of targeting doesn&#x27;t apply. You announce which units are moving and what destination they&#x27;re moving to, then move those units there immediately.

Question 50

If a spell has multiple targets, like Back to Back, do I need to choose targets for all of them to put the spell on the chain?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You must choose two different friendly units to play Back to Back, although it still resolves even if one or both of its targets are no longer valid when it resolves. This is also true for activated abilities that have multiple targets.

Question 51

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

Accepted Answer

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&#x27;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&#x27;m at a battlefield, ready up to 4 friendly runes.

Question 52

Does Sigil of the Storm target? If it does, can I react to the trigger by recycling the chosen rune for Power? That seems weird.

Accepted Answer

Sigil of the Storm is receiving errata using a new wording to make sure that it doesn&#x27;t target. This uses a new wording, “must," that indicates an action that must be taken. None of the choices made for such an ability are targets, and they are chosen as the ability resolves.

Question 53

Are the units I choose for Fox-Fire targets? What happens if some of them gain Might as a reaction?

Accepted Answer

Fox-Fire is unusual (currently unique) in that its targets&#x27; legality is evaluated as a group rather than individually. The updated rules will explain how to handle this. As you play Fox-Fire, you&#x27;ll choose any number of units at a single battlefield whose current total Might is 4 or less. Then, after any appropriate Reactions, Fox-Fire resolves and checks target legality again. If the units no longer meet the group targeting restriction because some of them have gained Might, you choose any number of the original targets whose Might adds up to no more than 4. Here are a few examples to illustrate. In all of them, Fox-Fire initially chooses 4 Recruits with 1 Might each, and some of those Recruits have gained Might before Fox-Fire resolves. ● One Recruit gets 1 Might. You can choose either to exclude that Recruit and kill the other three (total Might 3), or exclude one other Recruit and kill the 2 Might Recruit and two 1 Might Recruits (total Might 4). ● One Recruit gets 3 Might. You can choose either to exclude that Recruit and kill the other three (total Might 3), or exclude the other three and kill just that one (total Might 4). ● One Recruit gets 6 Might. You must choose to exclude that Recruit, because its Might alone takes you above your total. You must kill the other three (total Might 3). ● Two Recruits get 1 Might. You can either kill the two 2 Might Recruits, or one 2 Might Recruit and the two 1 Might Recruits. ● All four Recruits get 1 Might. You must choose two of the Recruits to kill, and the other two will survive. ● All four Recruits get 3 Might. You choose one Recruit to kill (total Might 4) and exclude the rest. ● All four Recruits get 6 Might. You no longer have a valid subset of targets, because even a single Recruit takes you over the Might limit. Fox-Fire does nothing.

Question 54

Does that mean if the units I originally chose die, move, or lose Might as a Reaction, I can pick additional units at that battlefield to kill?

Accepted Answer

No. You can only kill units from among the ones you initially chose.

Question 55

Dragon&#x27;s Rage also seems a little confusing under these targeting rules. What do I have to choose as I play it?

Accepted Answer

Dragon&#x27;s Rage works a little better now that move destinations are chosen at the same time as targets, but it&#x27;s still kind of strange. Accordingly, it will receive errata with a new template for “reflexive triggers"—triggered abilities within another spell or ability that create a new ability that goes on the chain separately from the original spell or ability. To show you what that looks like, here&#x27;s the updated text: That “do this" wording (or similar) tells you that what follows is a separate instruction from the original. As you start to play Dragon&#x27;s Rage, you only need to choose an enemy unit and a battlefield to move it to. Then, assuming Dragon&#x27;s Rage resolves, you&#x27;ll put a separate triggered ability on the chain, choosing another enemy unit at its destination (if one is available). That triggered ability can then be responded to separately. If there&#x27;s no enemy there, or if you didn&#x27;t actually move the unit you chose for any reason (and therefore there&#x27;s no “its destination" to reference), the trigger isn&#x27;t put on the chain at all. This isn&#x27;t a tool we expect to use often, but it lets us make sure that cards like Dragon&#x27;s Rage offer chances for interaction and decision at points that feel appropriate.

Question 56

How does Disintegrate work? Doesn&#x27;t the damage kill the unit after the spell has resolved?

Accepted Answer

Disintegrate is a funny one—it looks like it works, but the more you understand the rules, the more it looks like it might not work after all. Units dealt lethal damage by a spell aren&#x27;t killed immediately, they&#x27;re killed right after that spell resolves. To solve this little rules conundrum, we&#x27;re using the new reflexive trigger wording here as well. Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield. If this kills it, do this: draw 1.

Question 57

That “do this" wording is a lot like the one on Falling Star and Icathian Rain. Are those reflexive triggers too?

Accepted Answer

Yes! This means that these two spells no longer actually have any targets of their own—you play them with no choices. If they resolve, you then put each instance of their reflexive trigger on the chain separately, choosing the same or different units as you like. You&#x27;ll pay Deflect costs for each one as you put each trigger on the chain, and then the triggered abilities will resolve one at a time in the opposite order they were put on the chain. This is a big change to how those two cards work, but we think it actually matches how many people expected them to work when they first saw them.

Question 58

Twisted Fate too?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Twisted Fate&#x27;s “do one of the following" is also a reflexive trigger.

Question 59

In 2v2, can my ally and I bring the same legend? What about the same battlefields?

Accepted Answer

No and no. The updated rules will clarify that you and your ally must bring different legends and different battlefields.

Question 60

When a card refers to a friendly unit, what does that mean?

Accepted Answer

In most games of Riftbound, “friendly [something]" means the same thing as “[something] you control." In our 2v2 team format, however, “friendly" includes both things you control and things your ally controls.

Question 61

What about “your units?" Is that shared between teammates too?

Accepted Answer

No. “Your" refers exclusively to things you control (on the board or on the chain) or things you own (everywhere else). Your units are the units you control, your spells are the spells you play, your trash is the one where you put the cards you own, and so on.

Question 62

Can my ally and I share control of battlefields?

Accepted Answer

No, you and your ally can never have units at the same battlefield. A maximum of two players can have units at a battlefield. Those players must be opponents, and a combat will result.

Question 63

Can I move my ally&#x27;s unit to my own base with Unforgiven, the Yasuo legend? Does that mean it&#x27;s mine now?

Accepted Answer

No, you can&#x27;t do this. Any time you try to move something you don&#x27;t control into your base, it moves to its controller&#x27;s base instead. This is hard-coded in the rules, similar to how cards you own can ever be in your own hand, trash, or deck, even if something tries to put them in a different when. Similarly, you and your ally can never both have units at the same battlefield; the rules prevent any move that tries to make that happen. A few cards, including Unforgiven, were printed with English text that suggests misleading outcomes in these situations (but were printed correctly in Chinese). Those cards are receiving errata to clarify what they can and can&#x27;t do. Banish a friendly unit, then its owner plays it to their base, ignoring its cost. For The Syren and Unforgiven, this is not functional errata, just a clarification. For Portal Rescue, this is a slight functional change to its interaction with cards like Possession. Previously, you could use Portal Rescue to re-play a card you took with Possession and retain control of it, but under the new wording this would give it back to its owner. Another card, Tideturner, is receiving similar errata and another clarification (see below).

Question 64

When you play a card from hidden, it gains several additional restrictions. The rules were somewhat unclear on this.

Accepted Answer

That&#x27;s not a question. But alright, let&#x27;s spell out the restrictions more clearly: ● A hidden unit must be played to that battlefield if able. ● If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent chooses any targets, those targets must be chosen from among options at that battlefield, unless the ability explicitly restricts targeting in a way that makes this impossible. If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent causes you to play a unit, you must choose to have that unit enter the board at that battlefield.

Riftbound Rules FAQ