005 · Learn to play
Turns, terms & keywords
The core rules vocabulary every Riftbound match runs on — plus every new keyword, token, and mechanic each set has added since Origins.
Key game terms
Core keywords
Symbols on the card
A quick key to the icons printed on Riftbound cards and in their text boxes.
Card cost symbols
Wild PowerRecycle any one domain rune as Power.
Energy costPay this much Energy by exhausting any runes.
Flow (Trash)Appears on cards with the Flow keyword. It shows the card has an ability while in your trash.
It stays visible when cards are fanned face-down, so players can see active trash effects at a glance.
In-text symbols
MightA unit's combat strength, or a modifier to it (like +2).
It appears on unit cards and shows how powerful the unit is in combat. A higher Might number means the unit deals more damage and is harder to remove from a battlefield. It's one of the most important numbers on any unit card.
Exhaust sometimes called “Tap”Cards, runes and legends exhaust, or turn sideways, to move or use abilities. They can’t exhaust again until readied.
Recycle paying PowerRecycle doesn’t have an icon of its own. A Power cost is shown with a colored domain symbol — here Fury, Calm, Body, Order, Mind and Chaos — and you pay it by recycling a rune of that domain, putting it on the bottom of the appropriate deck. The rainbow Wild Power symbol lets you recycle a rune of any domain.
That’s different from Energy, which is the number in a circle and is paid by exhausting runes. Some effects also tell you to recycle cards from your trash or other zones, which moves them to the bottom of their deck.
Power ActivationAlso called an activated ability. Exhaust one rune of that specific domain to activate the ability.
Reading a power cost
3 Energy + 1 Fury runeRequires 3 Energy plus 1 Fury rune to play.
1 Energy + 2 Body runesRequires 1 Energy plus 2 Body runes to play.
Either / or costRequires 1 Energy plus 1 Fury rune or 1 Energy plus 1 Body rune to play.
Legend cardsThe two domain icons in the top left of a Legend card show which domains it belongs to, which defines the card types you can include in your deck.
Reading the effect box
Adding EnergyAdd 2 Energy to your pool this turn.
Energy plus a runePay 1 Energy and recycle 1 Fury rune, then return a unit from your trash to your Main Deck. Exhaust this card. If you do, play a 3 Might Mech unit token to your base.
DeflectDeflect 2 means Deflect with a value of 2, and the two wild powers shown are the cost opponents must pay to target the unit.
Gold token abilityDestroy this Gold token as the cost (the token must be ready). As a Reaction, you immediately add 1 Power to your resource pool. Because this ability adds resources directly, your opponent can’t react to it — the Power is added instantly.
AcceleratePay 1 Energy AND recycle 1 Fury rune as the additional Accelerate cost.
EquipRecycle 1 Calm rune to attach this equipment to a unit you control.
RepeatRepeat (1) means you may pay the additional cost to repeat the spell’s effect once. Some spells can be repeated any number of times — for example, each repeat costing 4 Energy and 1 Mind rune.
AssaultAssault 2 means the unit gets +2 Might while attacking.
Scoring abilityPay 4 Energy AND recycle 4 Mind runes, then exhaust this card to score 1 point.
Might bonus boxShows how much Might a gear card adds to the unit it’s attached to.
Going deeper: keywords with symbols
Hunt & Level introduced in Unleashed (Set 3, May 2026)Hunt 2 means this unit gains 2 XP when it conquers or holds a battlefield. XP builds up for your Legend across the whole game and raises your level as it grows. Level 3 means the unit gains the stated effect permanently while your Legend has 3 or more XP — no spending required, it’s always active once you meet the threshold. On Mosstomper that is +1 Might and Deflect, so opponents must pay a Wild Power cost to target it with a spell or ability. Hunt builds your XP; Level abilities unlock automatically once you have enough.
Ambush introduced in Unleashed (Set 3, May 2026)Ambush means this unit can be played as a Reaction to a battlefield where you already have units. You can’t drop into an empty battlefield — you need presence there first. Individual cards can extend this: Rengar, Trophy Hunter can Ambush into any battlefield, even without your units there, because his card text overrides the base keyword.
Empower VendettaEmpower appears on some Vendetta cards as an activated ability. Pay the cost shown on that card, and it becomes Empowered for as long as it stays in play, gaining access to its Empowered abilities. Punching Poro’s Empower cost is discarding 1 card from your hand, and it gains +1 Might while Empowered. Each card can only be Empowered once per game, and it stays Empowered until it leaves play or is Disempowered by another effect.
FlowFlow appears on spell cards as an alternative way to play them. Instead of playing the card from hand at its normal cost, you can pay the Flow cost to play it directly from your trash. After it resolves, the card is banished permanently. For example, Flow 2 means you pay 2 Energy to play the card from your trash; if its effect is Draw 1, you draw a card for 2 Energy straight from the trash. The Flow symbol printed above and left of the text box stays visible when your trash is fanned face-down, so you and your opponent can see a card there has an active ability.
Equipment
Equipment is a kind of gear that makes your units stronger. Every Equipment card has a new frame with two text boxes — while unattached, only the upper box is active (usually including EQUIP); once attached, the lower box takes over and is granted to the unit it's on, covering (and disabling) the upper box.
EQUIP Pay the listed cost to attach this to a unit you control.
Timing of spells & abilities
Tokens
Tokens represent units and gear created during play by some Riftbound cards. They can be represented by anything you have handy, as long as it's clear where they are and whether they're ready or exhausted. Once played, a token is treated just like any other card — except it stops existing the moment it leaves the board.
New keywords & tokens by set
None of these existed at launch — every keyword, token, and mechanic below was introduced in a set released after Origins.
Spiritforged
Unleashed
Vendetta
Deck building
Every deck is built from the same five pieces, and all of them (except your Legend itself) must share its Domain Identity.
Your deck may also include up to 3 Signature cards total that share your Champion Legend's tag, regardless of name — Signature cards aren't Champion Units and can't go in the Champion Zone.
The board & zones
This is the standard Riftbound playmat — the layout nearly every mat shares, whatever art is printed behind it. Tap or hover a zone to see what it does, and watch the Runes row: upright runes are ready; runes turned sideways are exhausted (in use).
Winning the game
Points are scored on the battlefields. Pick a scenario below and step through it — watch the score track on the left.
Combat, worked example
The rules above describe what happens in combat — here's what it actually looks like with real numbers, start to finish.
Tournament rules
How competitive play works on top of the Core Rules above — deck legality, match structure, and conduct at the table.
Deck registration & legality
Match structure
Being tested: start-of-game rules
Playtest only — not a rules change. Riot says going first currently wins more often than it should, and the extra rune the second player channels isn’t enough to even it out. It is testing new start-of-game steps to bring the split closer to 50/50. Nothing changes at your Nexus Night, Regionals, or other events unless an official update is announced.
Test procedure (best of 3)
1. Turn orderDecide who goes first and second — now before battlefields.
2. BattlefieldsEach player picks a battlefield knowing the turn order and places it face down.
3. SideboardGames 2 and 3 only.
4. Reveal battlefields
5. Mulligan
6. First playerChannels 2 runes and draws 1.
7. Second playerChannels 3 runes, then gets the compensation being tested.
Best of 1: same idea, but battlefields stay random. You see your own battlefield before sideboarding; your opponent’s is revealed after.
Option A
The second player starts the game with 1 point.
Option B
The second player draws an extra card.
Option C
The second player may Predict before their first draw — a softer version of Option B.
Where & when
Radiance-season City Tournaments in China, and the Friday and Sunday Standard Challenges at the European Regional Championship in Stuttgart. Staff announce which option is used before each event. Premier events, Skirmishes, and Showdowns don’t use it unless organizers are told to; casual players are welcome to try it. Riot will decide before Legacy launches and explain the result in the Legacy patch notes.
Source: Riot’s Testing Start of Game Rules announcement (October 15, 2026).
Conduct at the table
Competition formats
