Riftbound Community FAQ

Abilities

Cards in Riftbound can have many different abilities. All abilities belong to one of four categories:

Passive Abilities

  • Statements of fact
  • Can be conditional, recognized by the words While or If
  • Permanents are affected by passive abilities as soon as they enter the board
    • A 4 might unit played onto Trifarian War Camp counts as Mighty for Relentless Storm

Activated Abilities

  • Can be recognized by the presence of a colon ( ":" )
  • Text before the colon indicates a cost that has to be paid to activate an ability.
  • Text after the colon indicates the effect of the ability.
  • Can only be activated on your turn, outside of a showdown, when the chain is empty
  • When the cost is paid, they are put on the chain
  • Other players can react
    • Abilities that add resources cannot be reacted to
  • Once every player has passed, the ability resolves

Triggered Abilities

  • Happen when a certain condition is met
  • Can be recognized by the words when or at
  • When the condition is met, triggered abilities are put on the chain
  • Other people can react
  • Can trigger on any turn, during any game state
  • Multiple abilities can trigger at the same time
    • The controller of the triggered abilities decides the order of their triggers
    • If abilities from different players trigger, they are put on the chain in turn order, starting with the turn player

Triggered abilities are not optional. They trigger whenever their condition is met.

Replacement Effects

  • Can alter the execution of other game effects
  • Can be recognized by the word instead
  • If multiple replacement effects apply to the same event, the controller of the relevant object can choose the order
    • If a player controls both Zhonyas and Sett, The Boss, they can choose which effect to use when a unit would die

Relevant CRD Rules:

563. Abilities

Going Further

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