Gameplay Basics
What Changes Between a Duel and a Match?
A Duel is one game with randomly selected battlefields. A Match normally takes two game wins, with chosen battlefields changing between games.
RiftPal explanation · Answer first
The short answer
A DuelA two-player, single-game mode with two battlefields and a Victory Score of 8. Each player randomly selects one of their three battlefields.View in Glossary is one game; a MatchThe multi-game two-player mode, normally best of three. Players choose battlefields, and fields used in a game with a winner are set aside for later games, subject to the best-of-five reuse exception.View in Glossary is normally best of three, so the first player to win two games wins the Match. Both use two players, two BattlefieldA Battlefield is a shared location that players compete to control during the game.View in Glossary and a Victory ScoreThe point threshold for winning in a mode. A player or team must also be ahead of every opponent when Cleanup checks for a winner. Standard Duel, Match and free-for-all games use 8; Magma Chamber uses 11.View in Glossary of 8. The main setup difference is how you select and reuse battlefields.
RiftPal explanation
How it works
Duel: each player randomly selects one of their three battlefields. Reveal and place both selected battlefields together; the others are not used in that game.
Match: each player chooses one of their three battlefields. Reveal them together. After a game with a winner, set both used battlefields aside and choose different ones for the next game. If a game has no winner, its battlefields may be reused. Reset the game state between games.
In either format, the player going second ChannelPut the stated number of runes from the top of your Rune Deck onto the board. They enter ready unless instructed otherwise. If too few remain, channel as many as possible.View in Glossary one extra Rune during their first Channel Phase of each game. Both players draw normally on their first turns. These are first-turn adjustments, not extra setup cards. To win by points, reach at least 8 and be ahead of your opponent when CleanupAn automatic rules check that handles winning, lethal damage and board conditions before play continues. It is not an action you choose or normally announce, and an ordinary check does not heal units.View in Glossary checks for a winner.
If you use the optional best-of-five Match, the first player to win three games wins. Games four and five allow battlefield reuse only after you have presented all three of yours; no battlefield may be presented more than twice under that reuse rule.
In practice
Example
You win game one of a Match. Both players put the battlefields used in that game aside and select from their remaining two for game two. One more game win would win you the Match.