How to Play Riftbound
Overview
Riftbound is a 2-player trading card game where you choose a champion and send them alongside your army to take control of battlefields and win!
Win Condition: First to 8 points wins!
Earn points by conquering battlefields and holding them at the start of your turn.
Building Your Deck
Legend (1)
Your commander that determines your champion and available colors.
Main Deck (40+ cards)
Units, spells, and gear. Max 3 copies of any card.
Rune Deck (12 cards)
Resources that provide Energy and Power. Must match your legend's domains.
Battlefields (3)
Locations to fight over. You'll pick one each game.
The Six Domains
🔥 Fury
Aggression, damage, quick conquests
🌿 Calm
Defense, counterspells, holding positions
💎 Mind
Card draw, planning, gear synergies
💪 Body
Big units, ramp, combat dominance
🌀 Chaos
Recursion, unpredictability, sacrifice
⭐ Order
Tokens, go-wide, rally effects
Turn Structure
1. Awaken Phase
Ready (untap) all your exhausted cards.
2. Beginning Phase
- Score: Gain 1 point for each battlefield you hold
- Channel: Add 2 runes from your deck (3 if going second, first turn)
- Draw: Draw 1 card
3. Main Phase
Play cards, move units, attack battlefields, activate abilities.
4. End Phase
Turn passes to opponent.
Resources
Energy
Pay by exhausting (tapping) runes. A card costing 4 Energy means you exhaust 4 runes.
Runes ready at the start of your turn.
Power
Pay by recycling runes (put on bottom of rune deck). The rune must match the required domain.
Recycled runes are gone for the game (usually).
Units & Combat
Might
A unit's Might represents both its attack damage AND its health. A unit with 5 Might deals 5 damage and dies after taking 5 damage.
Movement & Combat
- Units enter play at your Base, exhausted
- Next turn, exhaust a unit to move it from Base to a Battlefield
- If enemies are there, a Showdown begins!
- Both sides add up their Might and deal damage
- Units taking damage equal to their Might die
- Survivors heal to full after combat
- If attackers kill all defenders, they Conquer (score 1 point)
Common Keywords
ACCELERATE
Pay extra to have the unit enter ready instead of exhausted
ASSAULT [X]
+X Might while attacking
SHIELD [X]
+X Might while defending
TANK
Must be killed before other allies in combat
GANKING
Can move from one battlefield to another (not just from base)
HIDDEN
Can be placed face-down for surprise plays
REACTION
Can be played during opponent's turn in response to actions
DEATHKNELL
Effect triggers when this card dies
Scoring Points
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Conquer a battlefield (first time) | 1 point |
| Hold a battlefield at turn start | 1 point |
| Max per battlefield per turn | 1 point |
Important: Your 8th (winning) point must come from holding, not conquering — unless you score from every battlefield that turn!