Browse Riftbound Rules Questions
Page 127 of 158 · 7,873 verified questions. Each links to the full ruling.
Can I defy Lilting Lullaby?
No. **Defy** cannot target **Lilting Lullaby**. Defy checks the printed (base) cost of the target spell, and can only counter a spell with **4 or less energy** and **1 or less power**. Lilting Lullaby costs 2 power, which exceeds Defy's power restriction. Defy's own power cost is 1, so its targeting condition ("no more than rune of any domain") caps...
Does attaching Gear create a chain that can be reacted to?
Yes, equipping/attaching a gear via its **Equip** ability creates a chain and can be reacted to. This is a confirmed ruling (FAQ #731).
If I cast Sacrifice on my 5 might Vi and then opponent reacts with Smokescreen on the Vi, does the Vi still die to Sacrifice and I get the Draw 2 and Channel 1?
**Yes, Vi dies and you get the Draw 2 and Channel 1.** Here's why: When you play Sacrifice, the additional cost (killing a friendly Mighty unit) is paid during Step 4 of the playing process — **before** the spell goes on the chain. By the time the opponent has priority to play Smokescreen as a Reaction, Vi is already in...
What can counter Sacrifice?
**Yes, Sacrifice can be countered** — but the unit you killed to pay its cost stays dead. Once Sacrifice is on the chain, any spell that counters spells works. The most efficient options:
If Aspirants Climb becomes a Brush, do you still need to score 9 points?
**No — once Aspirant's Climb is replaced by a Brush token, you no longer need 9 points.** Aspirant's Climb has a passive effect that only applies while it's in play (FAQ #7987). When it's replaced by a Brush token, Aspirant's Climb leaves the battlefield, and its "Increase the points needed to win by 1" effect stops. The victory score immediately...
Does equipping a Gear start a chain?
Yes, equipping a gear starts a chain. Equip is an activated ability (Rule 818.1), and like all activated abilities, activating it places the equip ability on the chain (Rule 333). This opens a window for your opponent to respond with Reaction cards before the equip resolves.
Does Teemo Strategist trigger first before attacker can play an action card such as Punch First?
**Yes, Teemo's defend trigger resolves first — the attacker cannot play Punch First before Teemo's ability goes off.** Here's the timing breakdown:
Do you choose a target with Teemo Strategist before revealing cards to determine the damage?
**Yes, you choose the target before revealing cards.** When Teemo, Strategist's "When I defend" trigger goes on the Chain, you choose the target enemy unit at that battlefield as part of putting the trigger on the Chain. Only after that does your opponent get a chance to react. When the ability resolves, you reveal the top 5 cards, count how...
Can you activate Star-Crossed if only one player controls units?
**No.** You cannot play **Star-Crossed** if only one player controls units on the board. The spell reads "Return a friendly unit and an enemy unit to their owners' hands." Both are mandatory targets — there is no "up to" language. You need a friendly unit **and** an enemy unit on the board at the time you announce the spell and...
If my Stupefy gets countered, will my Ravenbloom Student gain a Might from the countered Stupefy?
No, Ravenbloom Student will **not** gain +1 Might. For Ravenbloom Student's ability to trigger, a spell must be **played** — and a spell is only considered "played" once it successfully resolves. If Stupefy is countered (by Defy, Windwall, Hard Bargain, etc.), it never resolves and was never "played" for the purposes of triggered abilities (Rule 425.1.b). The countered spell simply...
If my opponent plays Cull the Weak and my Ruin Runner is the only available unit, will I have to kill my runner or no since it's actually me choosing?
**Yes, you have to kill your Ruin Runner.** Here's why: **Cull the Weak** does not target or choose any units when it's played. The instruction "Each player kills one of their units" is performed during resolution, and **you** are the one choosing which of your own units to kill (Rule 355.10.e). Ruin Runner says it "can't be chosen by enemy...
If I use Cull of the Weak and my opponent plays Thrill of the Hunt on the unit he chose, does my opponent get to not kill any units?
**No, your opponent does not get to skip killing a unit.** Here's the sequence: Cull the Weak doesn't target, so no unit is chosen when it's played. Your opponent can respond with Thrill of the Hunt — that banishes their unit and plays it back to a battlefield. But when Cull the Weak resolves, they must still "kill one of...
If you have 4 Might unit and Rengar Legend, if you play Kinkou Initiate does the trigger go on the stack if you don't already meet condition when you play trying to buff your 4 Might unit to 5 with Rengar?
**Yes, the trigger goes on the chain.** The "if your other units have total Might 5 or more" on Kinkou Initiate is part of the **effect**, not a condition that blocks the trigger from being placed on the chain.
Can I play Stacked Deck without having at least 3 cards in my deck?
**Yes, you can.** Stacked Deck instructs you to look at the top 3 cards — if you have fewer than 3 cards remaining, you simply look at as many as are there and resolve the effect normally (put 1 into your hand, recycle the rest). You do not need at least 3 cards to play it.
If my Lucian has 2 Trinity Forces and 1 Skyfall of Areion, do the Trinity Forces stack or just 1 go off?
Both stack. Each **Trinity Force** is a separate gear with its own triggered ability ("When I hold, score 1 point"), and when you attach a gear to a unit its text is appended to that unit's rules text. So Lucian with two Trinity Forces has two independent instances of that trigger.
Can you Hidden Blade your unit twice? Can you Deathgrip your unit twice?
**It depends on what you mean by "twice."** **If you mean playing two separate Hidden Blade spells targeting the same unit:** Yes, you can play both (each from its own hidden spot), but only the first to resolve will succeed. Once that Hidden Blade kills the unit, the second Hidden Blade loses its target — the unit no longer exists...
In a 2v2, if my teammate Ride the Winds my unit to a battlefield during our opponents' turn for our final point, will we win?
No, you will not win. You'll draw a card instead of gaining the winning point. Here's why: **Ride the Wind** is an [Action] spell, so on the opponent's turn it can only be played during a showdown (per its timing restriction). But more importantly, when you're at 10 points in 2v2 (1 away from 11), the **final point via Conquer**...
Playing as Lux legend, if I play Falling Comet to a battlefield and the opponent plays Retreat to return the unit to their hand before Falling Comet resolves, do I still get to draw 1 for the legend? Or since the spell doesn't resolve, I don't draw?
**Yes, you still draw a card.** When your opponent plays Retreat in response, the targeted unit returns to hand and is no longer a legal target. Falling Comet still resolves — it just has no effect on that illegal target (Rule 359.3.e.1, 359.3.e.6). A spell that resolves to no effect is still considered *played* (Rule 359.3.e.10), which is what Lux's...
If I conquer with Kennan and can give a spell flow, can I give drag under flow with cost 3 energy and 1 power or is it printed cost of 5 energy 1 power?
**No — it checks the printed cost of 5 Energy.** Kai'Sa, Evolutionary's trigger says "with Energy cost less than your points" — and per Rule 131.4, effects that determine a card's cost for any purpose always use its **printed cost**, even if that cost would be reduced when played. Drag Under's printed Energy cost is 5, not 3. The self-discount...
Can I play green Janna as a reaction for attacking with my unit on base and sent to battlefield?
**Yes, you can play Janna, Savior as a Reaction during your attack** — but she must be placed at a **location you already control**, not the battlefield you're attacking.
Does the battlefield conquer effect have priority over other "When I conquer" effects?
No — a battlefield's conquer effect does **not** have priority over other "When I conquer" effects. All "When you conquer" triggers (from units, battlefields, or other sources) trigger simultaneously when you conquer. Since they trigger at the same time, the player who controls them chooses the order they're placed on the Chain (Rule 383.3.d). They then resolve last-in-first-out as usual.
If there's Abandoned Hall and they use Flash on their unit, does the unit still get +1 might?
No. The unit will not get the +1 Might from Abandoned Hall. Here's why: Flash resolves first, moving the unit from Abandoned Hall to your base. Only *after* Flash finishes resolving does Abandoned Hall's "when a player plays a spell" trigger go on the chain. When that trigger resolves, it asks you to give +1 Might to "a unit you...
When you have a unit with 2 extra might cast on it and then you play Thrill of the Hunt, does that unit still have the 2 extra might when you play it to a battlefield?
No, the unit does **not** keep the +2 extra Might. When *Thrill of the Hunt* banishes the unit and then plays it to a battlefield, the unit leaves the board entirely. Per **Rule 705**, all buffs and modifiers are removed when a unit leaves play. The unit then enters as a **new game object** — it's treated as a fresh...
When Flame Chompers die, can I pay a Fury Rune to play it?
**No.** Flame Chompers' ability triggers *only* on **discard** (hand → trash), not on being **Killed** (board → trash). Those are different game actions with different trigger conditions.
If a player's "on attack" trigger kills an enemy unit at a battlefield with deathknell, does the deathknell effect happen before you move into the main part of a showdown?
**Yes — the Deathknell resolves during the Combat Showdown Step, before combat damage is dealt.** Here's why: An "on attack" trigger fires during **Step 1 of Combat** (the Combat Showdown Step, Rule 459). When that trigger resolves and kills a unit with Deathknell, the Deathknell trigger becomes a Pending Item on the chain (Rule 428.1.a.1.b). Since the chain is still...
Can I Smoke Screen my opponent's unit that is the target of Baited Hook before it is killed?
**Yes, you can.** Smoke Screen has **[Reaction]**, so you can play it in response to Baited Hook's activation while the ability is on the Chain (Closed State). It resolves first (LIFO) and reduces the targeted unit's Might before Baited Hook kills it.
A hypothetical unit has "When you play your first card each turn, if I'm at a battlefield, your next card costs [2][Rune][Rune] less." If I play this card to a battlefield, does my next card get the discount? Assuming no other cards have been played this turn.
**Yes.** Your next card does get the discount. Here's why. The trigger condition ("When you play your first card each turn") is evaluated **after** the inciting event — playing the card — has been fully processed (Rule 383.2.c). By that point, the unit has been finalized and has entered the board. So when the conditional "if I'm at a battlefield"...
How does a ready gold token work? Do you get both energy and fulfill a power requirement when it is rested and killed?
**No, a Gold gear token only adds Power — not Energy — when you exhaust and kill it.** A Gold gear token is defined in Rule 184.5 as having the ability: `[Reaction][>] Kill this, [E]: [Add] [A]`. That breaks down as: exhaust it + kill it → add **1 Universal Power** to your Rune Pool. It does not generate Energy,...
If you ride the wind from one abandoned hall to another abandoned hall does your unit get any plus might?
**Yes — your unit gets +1 [S] from the destination Abandoned Hall, but not from the origin one.** Here's the timeline:
If a card has an attack trigger, can I move the unit into the showdown, then use a reaction spell to move it out while still keeping the attack trigger?
**Yes, the trigger still resolves — but parts of it may do nothing depending on what it says.** Once a "when I attack" trigger is on the chain, it's an independent game object. Moving the unit away doesn't remove the trigger. However, whether the effect actually works depends on **what the trigger says**.
If I ride the wind into abandoned hall do I get plus might from Ride the Wind resolving?
Yes. When you play **Ride the Wind** to move a unit to **Abandoned Hall**, the unit does get +1 Might from Abandoned Hall's triggered ability.
In a 4-player free for all game, would Elder Dragon hit every player's base and all 3 battlefields?
**Yes.** Elder Dragon's play effect targets "up to one enemy unit at each location," and in a 4-player FFA (FFA4/War, Rule 483), there are 7 locations on the board: 4 player Bases (each a Location per Rule 107.1.b) and 3 Battlefields (each a Location per Rule 107.2.b).
Can I play Thrill of the Hunt in opponent turn and conquer a battlefield that I am standing on?
**Yes, you can.** On your opponent's turn, play Thrill of the Hunt (a [Reaction]) to banish a friendly unit and play it to any battlefield you don't control. When it arrives, the battlefield becomes Contested, triggering a Non-Combat Showdown. If you win that showdown — meaning your unit is the only one left — you establish control and Conquer, scoring...
If I have a Gear Svellsongur attached to the Ornn, I will have Deflect 4, but if someone targets with a spell my Gear, do they have to pay Deflect 2?
No, they do not have to pay any Deflect when targeting **Svellsongur** directly. When a spell targets the gear (Svellsongur) rather than the unit (Ornn), **Deflect doesn't apply**. Here's why:
Does Vi Hotheaded equipped with Svellsungur have 6 or 12 might after paying 2 energy and 1 power?
**Ruling: 6 Might.** Svellsongur gives Vi two separate instances of her activated ability (`[2] [C] : Double my Might this turn.`), but each instance requires its own cost payment. Paying `[2] [C]` once only activates one of those two instances, so Vi's Might doubles once: from 3 to 6 (Rule 432.1).
If I have two tanks at the same battlefield and my opponent attacks, who decides which tank unit takes damage first?
The attacker (the opponent) decides which of your two tanks takes damage first. Since both have **Tank**, they share the same damage-assignment priority, so the attacker can choose the order they assign lethal damage to them (Rules 815.1.c.2, 460.2.c.6).
If a Brutalizer is equipped and then detached, does the +2 persist on the unit?
**No, the unit does not keep the +2 bonus when Brutalizer detaches.** As confirmed by FAQ #8582, when Brutalizer leaves the unit, all bonuses it provided (both the base +1 Might and the conditional +2) are lost immediately. Per Rule 136.3.a, a Might Bonus applies only while the card is Attached and stops applying as soon as it's no longer...
If Ruined Rex dies in a combat showdown and deals 4 damage to a unit on another battlefield as that showdown resolves, does that damage heal?
**No, the 4 damage from Ruined Rex's Deathknell does not immediately heal.** Here's why: the Combat Cleanup's "Heal all Units" step (Rule 461.1.a.1) happens *before* the pending Deathknell trigger resolves — not after. As established in RiftJudge FAQs #10018, #10182, and #10410, the sequence is:
If I use Discipline, does it stay in effect at the end of my turn when Glowstone deals 5 damage to my units?
I couldn't find "Glowstone" in the card database — it doesn't appear in my current index. But I can answer the general timing question about **Discipline** and end-of-turn damage.
Does Convergent Mutation buff units for more than one turn?
**No.** Convergent Mutation's buff only lasts until the end of the turn it was played — not multiple turns. The card was errata'd to add "This turn" to its text (October 2025 patch). The original printing was missing that duration, but the errata overrides it for competitive play. The effect expires when the turn ends, and the unit returns to...
If I have Spellsinger and Guardian Angel attached to my Sand Soldier, and the Soldier dies, what equipment will be destroyed?
**Only Guardian Angel is destroyed. Svellsongur stays attached and returns to base with the soldier.** Here's the breakdown:
If I have Yone in base and play Blade of the Ruined King, must I still kill a unit to attach? If there is no unit, I cannot attach it?
**Yes, you must still kill a friendly unit to attach it, and if you have no other friendly unit besides Yone, you cannot attach it.**
If your first card played is Darius Trifarian then you play a spell, does Darius immediately trigger before any player gets priority?
**No.** Darius does not trigger until the spell (your second card) has fully resolved — not when the spell is placed on the chain.
If an opponent captures a BF with Irelia and then charms my unit but I win the combat, will I conquer since I was the attacker?
**Yes, you conquer.** When your opponent charms your unit to a battlefield they control, your unit applies Contested status — making you the attacker. If you win the combat, you establish control and score a conquering point (Rule 464.1, Rule 459.2.b.1).
Can I move units from different battlefields with Emperors Divide?
**No.** Emperor's Divide can only move units from a single battlefield. The card text says "at **a** battlefield" (singular), so you must choose one battlefield and move units only from that location.
Gearhead Svellsongur, does it give extra might per gear or not?
**No, Svellsongur does not give extra Might per gear on Gearhead.** Here's why: Svellsongur copies Gearhead's printed ability ("Each Equipment attached to me gives double its base Might bonus") onto itself. This creates two instances of the same doubling effect on Gearhead — but they don't stack multiplicatively. Both look at the same base values and apply the same doubling,...
If the only defending unit is killed during a move trigger from the attacker, is the pending showdown still a combat showdown?
**No.** If the defending unit is killed during the move trigger before Cleanup, the outcome is a non-combat showdown, not a combat showdown.
Blue Sentinel with Svellsongur, does it give an additional trigger of hold effects?
**Yes — with Svellsongur attached, Blue Sentinel gives two additional triggers of each hold effect (total 3), and you'll have two separate "When I hold" abilities, each triggering 3 times.**
I attack with Vex, Apathetic and Showdown stats. They react to my Showdown with Rengar AMBUSH. Is Rengar Stun or not?
Yes, Rengar gets stunned. When your opponent plays Rengar via Ambush to Vex's battlefield, Vex's ability triggers immediately — "When an opponent plays a unit while I'm at a battlefield, [Stun] it." Ambush doesn't bypass this; playing a unit is still playing a unit (FAQ #9735, #10932). Vex's stun goes on the chain and resolves, stunning Rengar before combat happens.
A player uses Bellows Breath, if I use Smoke and Mirrors in reaction to move a unit away from the location that was targeted with Bellows, how does this resolve?
**Yes, you can use Smoke and Mirrors as a Reaction from Hidden** to respond to Bellows Breath on the chain. Here's how it resolves: