700

Additional Rules

Edge cases and special situations beyond the core loop.

Core Rules version 2026-03-30

In this chapter
701

Buffs

  1. 702. Buffs are objects placed on Units.
  2. 702.1. Buffs can be tracked with a buff reminder card from a Riftbound booster pack or with any spare object in your surroundings.
  3. 702.2. Buffs can be added or spent.
  4. 702.2.a. To Buff a Unit, a player chooses a Unit and then places a buff on it. That Unit is Buffed for as long as the buff remains on it.
  5. 702.2.b. Spending a Buff removes a single Buff counter from a Unit.
  6. 702.2.b.1. A buff cannot be spent from a Unit that does not have a buff.
  7. 702.2.b.2. A player can only spend buffs on units they control.
  8. 702.3. There can only be one Buff on a Unit at a time.
  9. 702.3.a. If a Buff is added, or instructed to be added, on a Unit that already has a Buff, it is not placed instead.
  10. 703. Each Buff individually contributes +1 Might to a Unit.
  11. 704. Buffs are Game Objects and may be referenced, counted, or targeted by other effects as specified.
  12. 705. If a Unit leaves play, remove all Buffs from it.
  13. 705.1. Champions do not retain Buffs in the Champion Zone, even if they return there somehow.
706

Mighty

  1. 707. Mighty is a description that applies to some units. Other game effects can check whether a unit is Mighty.
  2. 708. A Unit "is Mighty" as long as its Might is 5 or greater.
  3. 709. A Unit "becomes Mighty" at the moment its Might changes from being less than 5 to being 5 or greater. Example: A Unit with Might 4 that gets +1 [M] becomes Mighty. Example: A Unit with Might 5 that gets +1 [M] does not become Mighty, because it was already Mighty.
  4. 710. Units on the board are evaluated according to their current Might. Example: A unit with a base Might of 3 is targeted by a spell that reads "A unit gets +3 [M] this turn." As that spell resolves, its Might changes from 3 to 6, and it becomes Mighty. When that effect expires at the end of the turn, it will no longer be Mighty.
  5. 711. Units in Non-Board Zones are evaluated according to their inherent Might. Example: A unit in the trash is Mighty if its printed Might is 5 or greater. It doesn't matter if there were effects raising or lowering its might while it was on the board.
712

Bonus Damage

  1. 713. Bonus Damage is an intrinsic property that can be granted to Deal actions that influence the amount of Damage that the action is distributing.
  2. 714. If more than one instance of Bonus Damage is applied or granted to a Deal action, all instances are summed and applied once.
  3. 714.1. Bonus Damage can only be a positive value, and can only increase the amount of Damage being distributed.
  4. 714.2. If, for any reason, Bonus Damage would be a negative number, then no Bonus Damage is applied to the action.
  5. 715. Bonus Damage applies to the total damage Dealt by one instance of the action.
  6. 715.1. If the Deal action has a single target, the amount of Damage to that target will be increased by the Bonus Damage granted to it.
  7. 715.2. If the Deal action has multiple targets, the amount of Damage dealt to each target is increased by Bonus Damage individually and separately. Example: Singularity is a spell that says “Deal 6 to each of up to two units.” A player plays Singularity while they also control Annie, Fiery, a unit that says “Your spells and abilities deal 1 Bonus Damage.” Singularity deals 1 Bonus Damage to both of its targets, dealing 7 to each.
  8. 715.3. If the Deal action Splits damage, then the Bonus Damage applies to the amount of Damage that will be Split. This can alter the number of targets eligible to be chosen. Example: Volibear, Furious is a unit that says in part “When I attack, deal 5 damage split among any number of enemy units here.” A player attacks with Volibear, Furious while they also control Annie, Fiery, a unit that says “Your spells and abilities deal 1 Bonus Damage.” Volibear, Furious now deals 6 damage split among any number of enemy units at its location, and can choose to split that damage among up to 6 units rather than the usual 5.
  9. 715.4. If no damage was Dealt, because it was replaced or reduced by any means, then Bonus Damage will not apply.
716

Attachment

  1. 717. Attaching is a limited action that causes cards to become linked to each other to combine their effects in some way. This causes one card to become Attached and the other to become A Top-Most Card. See rule 434. Attach for more information.
  2. 718. Attached is the state of a card being linked to another card in this way.
  3. 718.1. A card remains in this state until Detached.
  4. 718.2. While in this state, the card’s printed Rules Text is Inactive. See rule 720. Inactive for more information.
  5. 718.3. While in this state, Abilities in the card’s Effect Text are appended to the Rules Text of the Top-Most Card.
  6. 718.4. While in this state, the card’s Might Bonus modulates the Top-Most Card’s Might by the value listed.
  7. 718.5. Attached cards still have all properties of being a card on the board while in this state.
  8. 718.5.a. Attached cards still have all Types and Tags while Attached.
  9. 718.5.b. Attached cards still can be chosen or targeted by game effects while Attached.
  10. 718.5.c. Attached cards cannot be moved separately from the Top-Most Card they are Attached to.
  11. 718.5.d. A card may be Attached only to a single Top-Most card at a time.
  12. 718.5.e. Attached cards may have different Controllers from their Top-Most card.
  13. 718.5.f. Changes in Control of the Top-Most card do not impact Control of Attached cards and vice versa.
  14. 718.5.g. An Attached card still appends the abilities in its Effect Text to the Rules Text of the Top-Most card and modulates the Top-Most Card’s Might by its Might Bonus.
  15. 719. A Top-Most Card is a card that has one or more cards linked to it through the process of Attaching.
  16. 719.1. The Effect Text of all cards Attached to this card are appended to the Rules Text of this card for as long as they remain Attached.
  17. 719.2. This card ceases being a Top-Most Card when there are no longer any cards Attached to it.
  18. 719.3. A Top-Most Card and all cards Attached to it are at the same location.
  19. 719.3.a. When the Top-Most Card moves, all Attached cards move with it.
  20. 719.4. The Exhausted and Ready state of the Top-Most card does not affect nor change the status of the Attached cards and vice versa.
  21. 719.5. When a Top-Most Card changes zones from a board zone to a non-board zone, all Attached cards Detach from it, remaining in their current zones.
  22. 719.5.a. The player that controls the Top-Most Card that changed zones decides the order these cards Detach in, and thus the order of any relevant effects that occur due to the Detach occurring.
720

Inactive

  1. 721. Card text can occasionally be assigned to be ignored, disregarded, or otherwise rendered as not applicable during the course of play. This state is referred to as Inactive.
  2. 721.1. Text marked this way is not applied at all while in this state.
  3. 721.2. Inactive Abilities do not trigger, do not apply, and cannot be activated. Inactive instructions are not processed.
  4. 722. Inactive text is still present on cards.
  5. 722.1. Cards with Inactive text still have keywords for the sake of Game Effects that want to reference or see if a card has a keyword.
  6. 722.2. Game Effects that parse or interpret text to determine target eligibility may still parse Inactive text for the sake of eligibility. Example: Spinning Axe is a gear with [Temporary]. While it’s attached and its rules text is inactive, its [Temporary] ability doesn’t trigger. However, a spell that reads “Destroy a gear with [Temporary]” could still choose and destroy Spinning Axe.
  7. 723. Rules Text is never Inactive by default.
  8. 724. Effect Text is Inactive unless the card with the Effect Text is Attached.
  9. 725. Inactive text can partially cease to be Inactive under specific circumstances and exceptions.
  10. 725.1. If an Attached card has a Passive or Replacement ability that applies during the process of Attaching or a Triggered ability that triggers off of Attaching, that text exists and can be processed as it Attaches.
  11. 725.2. If an Attached card has a Passive or Replacement ability that applies during the process of Detaching or a Triggered ability that triggers off of Detaching, that text exists and can be processed as it Detaches.
  12. 725.3. If an Attached card has an Equip ability, the Weaponmaster keyword can reference that Equip ability and any abilities that passively modify that Equip ability.
726

Dependent Keywords

727

Keywords can be Dependent Keywords

  1. 727.1. A Dependent Keyword is comprised of both a Condition that it is short for, and an ability of some format immediately after the Keyword itself. EXAMPLE: Noxus Hopeful has “[Legion][>] I cost [2] less.” [Legion] is short for the condition “if you have played another card this turn, this card gains [Text],” while “I cost [2] less” is the dependent ability.
  2. 727.1.a. A Dependent Keyword will always be functionally short for a Condition.
  3. 727.1.a.1. This Condition may also have a determined Duration, Time, or Limitation as part of its definition. EXAMPLE: Legion specifies the duration of its condition: “if you have played another card this turn.” This turn is the duration.​ ​ EXAMPLE: A dependent keyword that is short for “Until you have spent [3] this turn” would include a limitation on its condition. EXAMPLE: A dependent keyword that is short for “After you’ve become an attacker this turn” would include a time after which the condition is active.
  4. 727.1.b. The Dependent Ability associated with the Dependent Keyword is Inactive on the card with the Dependent Keyword until the Condition is met, when it becomes Active
  5. 727.1.b.1. The Dependent Ability is present on the card for the sake of reference or evaluation until the Condition is met See rule 720. Inactive for more information
  6. 727.1.b.2. The Dependent Ability is Active exactly as written while the Condition is true Example: Gustwalker has “[Level3][>] I have +1 [M] and Ganking.” As long as its controller has 3 XP, Gustwalker’s Ganking is active.
  7. 727.1.c. The Dependent Abilities of Dependent Keywords can be of any type
  8. 727.1.c.1. Triggered Abilities of Dependent Keywords must be Active for their trigger to be evaluated.
  9. 727.1.c.1.a. If a Triggered Ability becomes active at the same time as its trigger condition would be fulfilled, it triggers.
  10. 727.1.c.2. Passive Abilities begin applying at the same time the Dependent Keyword becomes true.
  11. 727.1.c.3. Activated Abilities that become Active from Dependent Keywords can be activated at their associated timing after that ability has been granted
  12. 727.1.c.3.a. If the condition for the Dependent Keyword causes the Activated Ability to become Inactive after it has been added to the chain as a Pending Item, that chain item will not be affected and will proceed with being played as normal.
728

XP

  1. 729. XP is a resource that is accrued, spent, or otherwise modified by Players through the course of play.
  2. 729.1. The amount of XP that a player has should be marked clearly.
  3. 729.1.a. XP is a value that can be tracked by counters, dice, cards, or any method that clearly displays the specific value of XP that is currently on a Player.
  4. 729.2. The amount of XP a Player has is Public Information.
  5. 730. XP can be Gained and Spent.
  6. 730.1. To Gain XP, increase the value of XP marked on the Player gaining it.
  7. 730.2. To Spend XP, reduce the value of XP marked on the Player spending it.
  8. 731. XP is not a Game Object.
  9. 731.1. XP cannot be targeted, readied, or exhausted.
  10. 732. XP is not shared between Allies in Game Modes with Teammates.
  11. 733. There is no limit to an amount of XP a player can accrue.
734

Additional Turns

  1. 735. Certain Game Effects will instruct a player to “take a turn after this.” These effects create a temporary Additional Turn owned by that player that is inserted into the turn queue after the current turn.
  2. 736. Turn order is established when the game begins as a repeating set of players. This populates a looping queue of turns that each player will take, starting with the first turn taken by the First Player, and repeating indefinitely.
  3. 737. When an Additional Turn is inserted into this queue, it does not change the Turn Order of the game. The owner of the Additional Turn just has the next queued turn. After that turn is completed, it will be removed and the queue will proceed with its previously queued turns.
  4. 738. If multiple Additional Turns are queued, they are added to the queue in the order the Game Effects that generated them occurred. Example: The First Player plays, through some means, two Time Warps during their turn. The Time Warps create two Additional Turns for their controller and insert them into the turn queue after the current turn. If the turn queue is represented as [> A > B > C > D >], then these Additional Turns will appear as [> A > A* > A* > B > C > D >]. After the last Additional Turn is played, the queue returns to its previously queued turns. The “*” denotes that a turn is an Additional Turn. Example: The First Player plays Promising Future during their turn, during the resolution of which the Second and Fourth Player choose, banish, and play one Time Warp each. The Fourth Player’s Time Warp resolves first, inserting an Additional Turn for them in the queue as such: [> A > D* > B > C > D >]. The Second Player’s Time Warp resolves afterwards, inserting that turn: [> A > B* > D* > B > C > D >]. When the First Player passes the turn, the Second Player will take their turn, followed by the Fourth Player, after which the queue returns to its previously queued turns.
739

Special Terms

  1. 740. Some card text refers to Game Objects in particular ways:
  2. 740.1. Two Game Objects are friendly if they share a controller, or if one’s controller is teammates with the other’s.
  3. 740.2. Two Game Objects are enemies if one’s controller is an opponent of the other’s.
  4. 741. Some card text refers to Units in particular ways:
  5. 741.1. A unit is alone when there are no other friendly units at the same location.
  6. 741.2. A unit is one on one when it and the enemy unit at the same location are both alone.
  7. 741.3. A unit is in combat if it is occupying a battlefield where combat is ongoing and has a combat designation.
  8. 742. Some terms in this document are used in particular ways:
  9. 742.1. Costs within instructions are instructions that take a particular form (“[do X] to [do Y]”). [Do X] is the cost associated with the instruction, and [do Y] is the effect.
  10. 742.1.a. For spells, costs within instructions are paid on resolution of the spell. In order to get the effect, the cost must be paid.
  11. 742.1.b. For triggered abilities, costs within instructions are paid on finalization of the triggered ability. In order to place the triggered ability on the chain, the cost must be paid.