Turn Structure
What Happens in a Showdown, Even at an Empty Battlefield?
Give players their chance to act before settling a contested battlefield, even when no enemy unit is there.
RiftPal explanation · Answer first
The short answer
When your unit arrives at a battlefield you do not control, players get a chance to act before you claim it. This is a ShowdownA Showdown is a structured opportunity for players to act when a Battlefield is contested.View in Glossary , even if the battlefield had no units there.
For a new contest, you get FocusThe opportunity to act in a Showdown when the Chain is empty. Gaining Focus also gives Priority; you need both to act. Passing Priority during a Chain does not itself pass Focus.View in Glossary first. Play a legal ActionA timing keyword that also permits a card or activated ability during a Showdown on any player's turn. You still need Focus and Priority with an empty Chain; Action alone does not allow a response to a waiting Chain.View in Glossary or ReactionA timing keyword that includes Action's permissions and also permits a card or activated ability while a Chain is waiting. You still need the proper opportunity, normally Priority; it does not allow an interruption halfway through resolution.View in Glossary , or pass. After everyone passes in sequence without acting, an empty-field Showdown ends: if only your units remain, you take control and apply the normal ConquerConquer means taking control of a Battlefield you did not already control and Scoring it for the turn.View in Glossary scoring rules.
If opposing units are present, the Showdown is part of Combat instead.
RiftPal explanation
How it works
The battlefield becomes ContestedA temporary battlefield status applied when a unit becomes present there, its controller does not control that battlefield, and it is not already contested. It prepares a Showdown or Combat rather than immediately transferring control.View in Glossary when your unit arrives, unless it was already contested. If a ChainAn off-board zone that holds cards and abilities during the process of playing them. Cards and abilities on it are public information.View in Glossary is still waiting, finish it before opening the ShowdownA Showdown is a structured opportunity for players to act when a Battlefield is contested.View in Glossary . Joining an existing contest does not give you a fresh Showdown or reset who acts first.
Card reference
Rune Prison
With FocusThe opportunity to act in a Showdown when the Chain is empty. Gaining Focus also gives Priority; you need both to act. Passing Priority during a Chain does not itself pass Focus.View in Glossary , PriorityThe right to take a legal action now. Only one player can have Priority at a time, and having it does not remove a card or ability's timing restrictions.View in Glossary and an empty ChainAn off-board zone that holds cards and abilities during the process of playing them. Cards and abilities on it are public information.View in Glossary , you may play a legal ActionA timing keyword that also permits a card or activated ability during a Showdown on any player's turn. You still need Focus and Priority with an empty Chain; Action alone does not allow a response to a waiting Chain.View in Glossary or ReactionA timing keyword that includes Action's permissions and also permits a card or activated ability while a Chain is waiting. You still need the proper opportunity, normally Priority; it does not allow an interruption halfway through resolution.View in Glossary . Finish its Chain, including responses, before the next player gets Focus. Passing Priority during those responses is different from passing Focus.
Spell
Rune Prison
[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Stun a unit. (It doesn't deal combat damage this turn.)
If you pass FocusThe opportunity to act in a Showdown when the Chain is empty. Gaining Focus also gives Priority; you need both to act. Passing Priority during a Chain does not itself pass Focus.View in Glossary , the next player may act or pass. Everyone must pass in sequence without acting to end the Showdown; an earlier pass does not stop you acting if someone else acts afterward.
Two practical exceptions: a Chain begun by a triggered ability or an Add ability does not pass Focus when it ends. If enemy units arrive during an empty-field Showdown, it becomes Combat if both sides still have units there when the Chain is empty. The current Focus holder keeps Focus.
When a non-combat Showdown ends, the player whose units remain establishes control if they do not already have it. With no units left, nobody claims it this way. ConquerConquer means taking control of a Battlefield you did not already control and Scoring it for the turn.View in Glossary scoring still follows its normal restrictions. For a Combat Showdown, continue to the remaining Combat steps.
In practice
Example
In a two-player game, you move a unit from your Base to an empty battlefield you do not control. With no intervening effects:
Your unit arrives → the battlefield becomes Contested → a Showdown opens → you receive Focus.
You pass, then your opponent passes. Your unit is still there, so you take control and apply the normal Conquer scoring rules. You did not take control at the moment it arrived.