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Build understanding, one concept at a time. Open any guide and learn at your own pace.

40 guides

A suggested starting order
  1. Essential Learn

    Understanding a Riftbound Card

    Read every part of a card, from costs and abilities to set codes, rarity and collector markings.

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  2. Essential Learn

    Understanding the Six Domains

    Learn what Domain Identity limits in deck construction and how each domain can shape a game plan.

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  3. Getting Started

    Your First Turns in Riftbound

    Build resources, get units into play, and prepare to contest Battlefields during your first turns.

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  4. Getting Started

    ABCD: Starting Your Turn

    Remember the four start-of-turn phases: Awaken, Beginning, Channel, and Draw.

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  5. Resources

    Accelerate and Deflect Costs

    Choose optional Accelerate payments, use the correct Power Domain, and count Deflect per original target choice.

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  6. Combat

    Advanced Combat Damage Assignment

    Combine current Might, multiple Tank and Backline units, conflicting requirements and damage replacements in one assignment process.

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  7. Advanced Systems

    Ambush Permissions and Payment

    Check where and when Ambush lets you play a unit, including costs that remove your supporting unit before the play is confirmed.

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  8. Cards And Zones

    Banishment and Linked Destinations

    Keep linked banished cards separate, apply destination replacements, and track a battlefield through Replace and swap-back.

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  9. Advanced Systems

    Battlefield Abilities and Control

    Identify who handles a battlefield ability before, during and after a contest, including explicit player instructions.

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  10. Advanced Systems

    Calculating Might Changes

    Distinguish a bonus that keeps recalculating from a fixed change, then track negative Might, swaps and changes that end at different times.

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  11. Advanced Systems

    Cleanup and Death Triggers

    Trace automatic checks, recording abilities that trigger on death and the point where players can act again.

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  12. Multiplayer

    Continuing After Concession

    Apply a player’s removal in order, preserving other players’ cards correctly and resuming turn, Focus and Priority.

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  13. Advanced Systems

    Countering and Play Checks

    Separate a countered card’s failed play trigger from its completed finalization, destination and protection effects.

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  14. Advanced Systems

    Damage and Kill Attribution

    Separate the responsible player from the card, token or ability credited with the action when damage and kills pass through units or abilities.

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  15. Combat

    Damage Through Cleanup

    Follow damage, prevention, current Might and healing through ordinary, Combat and end-of-turn checks.

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  16. Advanced Systems

    Dependent Keywords During Resolution

    Recheck Level and other dependent text as XP, control and events change, even during one resolving effect.

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  17. Advanced Systems

    Empower and Dependent Text

    Follow activation, payment, the Empowered status and dependent text, with Kayle’s explicit multiple-status exception.

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  18. Cards And Zones

    Equipment, Control and Copied Text

    Follow an attached card’s text, controller and location through copying, detachment and cleanup.

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  19. Resources

    Flow Costs and Destinations

    Build a Flow spell’s total cost, choose between alternate Flow costs, and follow its departure from the Chain.

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  20. Cards And Zones

    Following Cards and Abilities

    Track cards, their attached cards and their abilities separately when control changes or a card leaves the board.

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  21. Cards And Zones

    Hidden Targets and New Choices

    Apply Hidden’s battlefield limit to each target, recognize explicit other-location exceptions, and retain the limit when choices change.

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  22. Advanced Systems

    Inside the Chain

    Follow cards and abilities from their unfinished play steps to resolution, including cards played inside another effect.

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  23. Advanced Systems

    Layers, Dependencies and Timestamps

    Work out a card’s current traits without applying the same effect twice, and see why gaining Might can unlock an earlier layer.

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  24. Advanced Systems

    Linked and Delayed Abilities

    Follow saved references, current information and later instructions without assuming every link survives every change.

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  25. Combat

    Modifying and Splitting Damage

    Compare damage to each target with a shared split total, then apply prevention and identify what dealt the damage.

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  26. Multiplayer

    Multiplayer Movement and Response Order

    Follow all players’ response opportunities while keeping staged and ongoing combat limited to two opposing players.

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  27. Cards And Zones

    Quick-Draw Step by Step

    Walk through Reaction gear entry, its separate attachment trigger and the response window before the unit gains its bonus.

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  28. Cards And Zones

    Radiance Keywords at the Table

    Recognize when Deploy, Disarm and Show Off apply, and which choices use the Chain.

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  29. Advanced Systems

    Repeat and New Choices

    Pay each separate Repeat cost once, announce the order of your choices, and distinguish repeated instructions from changing choices later.

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  30. Advanced Systems

    Replacement Effects Step by Step

    Apply competing replacements to simultaneous events without treating them as reactions or a reusable loop.

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  31. Resources

    Resources During Other Actions

    Learn when resource abilities can pay a cost immediately, and where unused resources are cleared.

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  32. Scoring

    Scoring Across Turns

    Follow Conquer and Hold through several turns, including the Final Point in free-for-all and team games.

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  33. Combat

    Showdowns Step by Step

    Follow a contested battlefield from a waiting contest through open and closed states to Combat or control.

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  34. Advanced Systems

    Targets and Damage Allocation

    Recognize actual targets, choose a split-damage group, and adapt how you divide that damage when the situation changes.

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  35. Turn Structure

    Temporary and Vision Timelines

    Track a Temporary unit or gear through the turn, and resolve multiple Vision abilities without assuming each sees a different card.

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  36. Cards And Zones

    Tokens in Play

    Follow a token from creation to play, control changes, departure and the special Replace procedure.

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  37. Cards And Zones

    Tracking Counters

    Follow a counter through movement, spending, copying, control changes and leaving the board.

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  38. Advanced Systems

    Trigger Conditions and Source Changes

    Read when a condition is checked, how simultaneous numbered events count, and where the card carrying the ability must be.

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  39. Combat

    Triggers Between Combat Stages

    Walk through damage, Combat Cleanup, result and control, resolving the effects between each stage.

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  40. Multiplayer

    Two Versus Two at the Table

    Use a four-player table to understand invitations, personal control, shared points and the team Final Point restriction.

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