The Riftbound rules

The State of all Game Objects in the Play Area is also Public Information. Examples: If a Unit is Buffed If a Gear is Exhausted Etc.

A Game Object can have any of the following statuses (non-exhaustive): Attached, Attacking, Buffed, Banished, Controlled, Defending, Empowered, Equipped, Exhausted, Facedown, Readied, Replaced, Revealed, Stunned, and any applied Layer alternations.

The cost of Exhausting a Permanent is represented by the “exhaust symbol,” which resembles a card turning sideways. Its shorthand is [E]. (Some previous rules information has given its shorthand as [T].)

Effect Text may refer to “this” or to the name of the Attached game object that appended the Effect Text. Doing so refers to the Attached game object and not the Top-Most Card, even if the Top-Most Card shares a name with the Attached game object. Example: Guardian Angel’s effect text reads “If I would die, kill Guardian Angel instead. Heal me, exhaust me, and recall me.” Example: Brutalizer’s effect text reads “If this was attached to me this turn, I have an additional +2 [M].” The “this” in the effect text refers to the attached Brutalizer.

Units enter the Board exhausted.

Exhausting the Unit is the Cost for this action.

The Costs of Exhausting the Units are also paid Simultaneously.

If a Game Object is a Unit, regardless of its other types, it has Might, can have damage marked on it, enters exhausted, and can be played to any valid location. 178.1.a.1.a. It will not be recalled to base in step 5 of a cleanup.

The effect may state that the token enters ready or exhausted, if that state is contrary to the default for the token's type.

Tokens have a type . They follow all rules for their type unless otherwise specified. Example: A token unit is a unit. It enters exhausted, can take the standard move action, deals damage equal to its Might in combat, is destroyed if it takes damage equal to or greater than its might, can be chosen or otherwise affected by spells or abilities that choose or affect units, etc.

Effects that need to determine an ability’s cost for any purpose use its base cost, ignoring any alterations to that base cost unless otherwise specified. Example: A card reads “When you play an activated ability with Energy cost [7] or more, you may exhaust me to ready up to 2 runes.” A gear has an activated ability that reads “[12], Banish this: Choose an opponent. Banish all units they control. This ability costs [1] less for each point the chosen opponent has.” The ability of the first card will trigger when the activated ability is played, even if the chosen opponent has 6 or more points. Example: An equipment has an ability that reads “Equip [4][A]. This ability costs [1] less for each occupied enemy battlefield.” If its controller plays a unit with Weaponmaster, the Weaponmaster trigger will refer to the cost including the alterations. This is because Weaponmaster specifies that it includes modifications to the cost.

Costs that are replaced with other events by replacement effects are still considered paid. Example: A player plays Cruel Patron, which says "As an additional cost to play me, kill a friendly unit." They also control Zhonya’s Hourglass, which says “If a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it.” They choose to kill a friendly unit during step 3, but as they pay the cost in step 4, Zhonya’s Hourglass replaces that unit’s death. The cost is considered paid, and the player can continue playing Cruel Patron.

If it is a Unit , it enters the Board exhausted at the Location that was chosen.

If a target changes Zones to or from a Non-Board Zone and then returns to its original zone, it is no longer a legal target, because it's not treated as the same object. Examples: An enemy unit at a battlefield is no longer a legal target if it is no longer an enemy, no longer a unit, or no longer at a battlefield. A unit with 3 or less Might is no longer a legal target if it is no longer a unit or if its Might is greater than 3. Something that's exhausted is no longer a legal target if it is no longer exhausted. (It can't stop being "something.")

If the spell checks information about a target that is no longer legal or a card or permanent whose location, zone, or status has changed such that that information is no longer available, that check returns "null" and all calculations based on it are ignored. Examples: A unit that is no longer on the board is treated as having null Might, null cost, etc. A unit that is no longer on the board has no location, is neither exhausted nor readied, etc. Baited Hook says "[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." While Baited Hook’s ability is on the chain, an opponent reacts with a spell that returns the friendly unit to its owner's hand. Because the friendly unit is no longer a legal target, it can't be killed and its Might is treated as null. Baited Hook’s controller looks at the top 5 cards of their Main Deck, but can’t choose any unit from among them. Strike Down reads “Choose an equipped friendly unit. It deals damage equal to its Might to an enemy unit. Then detach an Equipment from it.” While Strike Down is on the chain targeting a unit with only one Equipment attached to it, that unit has its Equipment detached via Angle Shot. When Strike Down goes to resolve, the targeted unit is no longer legal, so the unit’s Might will return as “null” and the instructions related to it are ignored. 359.3.e.12.a. If the spell checks information about a target that is legal or a card or permanent whose location, zone, or status has not changed such that information is no longer available, that information is accessible.

A Replacement Effect can usually be identified by the presence of the terms “as,” “would,” or "instead." Example: Zhonya's Hourglass reads "The next time a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it." This is a replacement effect that alters the execution of any Game Effect that would kill a friendly unit. Example: Undertitan is a unit that reads in part “As I’m revealed from your deck, [Add] [2].” This is a replacement effect that alters the execution of any Game Effect that reveals Undertitan from your deck.

Replacement Effects that apply to a unit as it enters the Board can be identified by describing how the unit enters, or by describing a game action that occurs “as” a unit enters. Example: Master Yi, Honed reads “I enter ready.” This applies a replacement effect to the way that units normally enter. The event of him entering exhausted is replaced by one where he enters ready. Example: Baron Nashor reads “As you play me, add the Baron Pit battlefield token to the board if it's not there already. If you do, I enter there.” The last sentence of his ability is a replacement effect that replaces the event of him entering at his original play location with him entering at the Baron Pit if it was created.

Modifying or replacing an event is the same as modifying or replacing that Game Action or change in state that generated that event. Example: Zhonya’s Hourglass reads in part “If a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it.” A unit’s death being replaced by Zhonya’s Hourglass is the same as the kill action that caused that death not occurring. Example: A card reads in part “The next time an enemy unit would become Mighty this turn, banish it instead. Its controller plays a 3 [M] Mech unit token to its location.” A unit becoming Mighty being replaced by this effect means the unit never became Mighty—no effects that trigger on units becoming Mighty will trigger.

If a Game Object has a Replacement Effect that is active in a specific zone, it is evaluated and subsequently applied if it enters that zone before an event occurs that it could replace. Example: A unit that reads “if a unit you control would die, you may banish me from your trash instead. If you do, heal that unit, exhaust it and recall it.” The first unit dies simultaneously with a 1 [M] Recruit token. It does not enter the trash before the Recruit dies, so it will not be able to replace its death.

A Game Object can apply its Replacement Effects to any qualifying events that occur simultaneously with it leaving the zone that its Replacement Effect is active in. Example: Soraka, Wanderer has a Replacement Effect that reads, “If another unit you control here would die, if it has less Might than me, instead heal it, exhaust it, and recall it.” Soraka’s replacement can be applied to any qualifying event that occurs simultaneously with her leaving the board, including to units that die simultaneously with her.

When executing Replacement Effects, the Game Actions that comprise their instructions are performed before any simultaneous unmodified events. Example: Two units die simultaneously. One of those units has their death replaced by being healed, exhausted, and recalled. The healing, exhausting, and recalling of that unit will be performed before the other dies.

When applying Replacement Effects to events that occur simultaneously, each Replacement Effect may only be applied in one sequence, to any number of events that are qualified to be replaced. Example: Soraka, Wanderer reads “If another unit you control here would die, if it has less Might than me, instead heal it, exhaust it, and recall it.” Soraka dies simultaneously with two 1 [M] Recruit tokens at the same battlefield and two 1 [M] Recruit tokens in base. Soraka has a Guardian Angel attached to her when she dies, which appends “If I would die, kill Guardian Angel instead. Heal me, exhaust me, and recall me” to Soraka’s rules text. There are several possible ways to order the Replacement Effects being applied to the various events: If Soraka’s Replacement Effect is applied first, it saves the Recruits at the same battlefield as her but not the Recruits in base. If the Replacement Effect appended by Guardian Angel then saves Soraka, she cannot apply her Replacement Effect to the Recruits in base as her Replacement Effect has already been applied to an event simultaneous with it dying. If the Replacement Effect appended by Guardian Angel is applied first, it saves Soraka and recalls her - then when Soraka’s Replacement Effect is applied, it can only save the Recruits in base.

If an event that a Replacement Effect applies to would be modified by the Game Effect that generated that event, or the results of that event would be modified by a Game Action from a linked ability that references the replaced event, the Replacement Effect will inherit those modifications. Example: Treasure Hunter reads “When I move, play a Gold gear token exhausted.” A Replacement Effect that says “if you would play a token gear, play that token and an additional copy instead” is applied to the event of the Gold gear token being played. The additional copy will also be exhausted, as it inherits the “exhausted” modification. Example: Another Replacement Effect says “if you would play a token, draw 1 instead.” The modification from Treasure Hunter’s ability cannot apply, so we ignore it. Example: A spell reads “play a ready 3 [M] Mech token. Then do this: Give it Temporary.” A Replacement Effect that says “if you would play a unit token, play that token and a 1 [M] Recruit token instead” is applied to the event of the Mech token being made. The Recruit token enters ready and is given Temporary.

Triggered Abilities can usually be recognized by the word "when" followed by a game action or event; the word "at" followed by a point in time during the turn sequence; or the phrase “the [Nth] time” followed by a game action or event. Examples: " When you conquer here, you may spend a buff to draw 1." " At the end of your turn, ready 2 runes." “The first time I move each turn, you may ready something else that's exhausted.”

If an ability triggers when “you” do something, it triggers when a Game Action that you are responsible for occurs. Example: A gear reads “When you move an enemy unit, you may exhaust this to [Stun] it.” It will trigger whenever a move game action that you are responsible for causes an enemy unit to move. If an opponent plays a spell that reads “choose a Battlefield. Each player may move a unit they don’t control to that battlefield,” and a player that controls the gear chooses to move an enemy unit, their gear will trigger.

Exhaust

Exhausting is an action that marks a non-spell Game Object on the board as "spent."

To mark it, rotate the card 90 degrees opposite of Readying , so that the orientation of the card is lengthwise in front of you.

A Game Object that is already Exhausted cannot be Exhausted again.

If a Game Object is instructed to be Exhausted while it is already Exhausted , nothing additional happens.

"Exhausted" is a state for Game Objects on the board that other game effects and rules can reference.

This is a Limited Action.

Most Exhaust actions will be costs for Activated Abilities or Discretionary Actions. Example: A unit's Standard Move exhausts the unit as a cost.

When Exhausting is listed as a Cost , then the Action must be able to be completed for the cost to be paid. Example: A spell says "As an additional cost to play this, you may exhaust a friendly unit." An exhausted friendly unit may not be exhausted again as the additional cost for the spell, and the additional cost has not been paid.

In abilities, the Exhaust symbol represents the cost "Exhaust this" or "Exhaust me." It resembles a card turning sideways.

To mark it, rotate the card 90 degrees opposite of Exhausting , so that it is vertically oriented in front of you.

The Cost is Exhausting one or more Units.

The Game Effect that instructs a player to channel 1 or more runes may specify the conditions or circumstances under which those runes enter the board. Example: A spell reads "Channel 1 rune exhausted." As that spell resolves, its controller puts the top rune of their rune deck onto the board and that rune enters the board exhausted rather than ready.

This action is formatted as "Channel X rune(s)," optionally followed by conditions or stipulations. e.g., "Channel 1 rune." e.g., "When you play me, channel 1 rune exhausted." e.g., "Channel 2 runes exhausted. If you couldn't channel 2 runes this way, draw 1."

Attaching a card to another card does not modify either card’s state except in making those cards Attached and the Top-Most Card, and causing the Attached card to change locations. Example: An exhausted equipment being attached to a unit does not ready the equipment.

The Exhausted and Ready state of the Top-Most card does not affect nor change the status of the Attached cards and vice versa.

XP cannot be targeted, readied, or exhausted.

Accelerate generates a delayed replacement effect that replaces a unit entering the board exhausted with it entering ready. It does not enter exhausted and then become ready.

If the Permanent with the effect is not sent to the Trash , for example because its "killed" event was replaced with a recall, the triggered ability will be removed from the chain. Example: Draven, Audacious is killed in combat. Draven reads in part “When I die in combat, choose an opponent. They gain 1 point.” Draven’s controller has a Zhonya’s Hourglass in base. Draven’s death is replaced by him being healed, recalled, and exhausted. Draven’s triggered ability will be removed from the chain.

Tourner une carte à l'horizontale pour l'utiliser (attaquer, activer une capacité, générer de l'énergie). Une carte épuisée ne peut plus rien faire tant qu'elle n'est pas préparée.