Spells — Riftbound Rules

150.

Spell is a card type.

151.

A spell can be played during an Open State Outside of Showdowns on its controller's turn.

152.

A spell is controlled by the player who played it.

153.

A spell creates a game effect according to its instructions and is then placed in the Trash of the player who owns it.

154.

When a spell is successfully played, a player executes the rules text of the spell. This is called Resolving the spell.

154.1.

Spells have their rules text executed from top to bottom when they are Resolved.

154.2.

If a later part of a spell applies a Replacement Effect that alters earlier parts of the spell, apply those replacement effects as appropriate. Example: A spell says "Choose a unit. Kill it the next time it takes damage this turn." and "[Legion] — Kill it now instead. (Get the effect if you've played another card this turn.)" If the Legion condition is satisfied, the unit is killed immediately and the instruction to kill it the next time it takes damage is ignored, even if the unit remains on the board somehow.

154.3.

While a spell or ability on the chain is Resolving, no other spells or abilities can be finalized on the chain or resolved, including triggered abilities or game effects that would occur as a result of the execution of the spell.

154.3.a.

Finish resolving all effects of a spell before addressing anything the spell may have triggered or caused through execution.

155.

Certain Keywords on spells are not executable rules text, but instead intrinsic properties of the spell.

155.1.

These determine inherent properties and behaviors of the spell before being played or while on the chain.

155.2.

These keywords are:

155.2.a.

Action

155.2.a.1.

This indicates that, in addition to being able to be played during an Open State, this spell may also be played during Open States during Showdowns.

155.2.b.

Reaction

155.2.b.1.

Grants all cases and rules of Action.

155.2.b.2.

In addition to all prior cases, may also be played during all forms of Closed State.

155.2.b.3.

This will result in this spell resolving before spells and abilities that are already on the chain.

Related FAQ (2)

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

No. This is another card that's missing “this turn."

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.