Alpha Strike
Unofficial Riftbound rulings for Alpha Strike, with rules explanations, examples, and Core Rules citations.
How are targets chosen when playing Alpha Strike?
Alpha Strike's controller chooses its targets while finalizing the spell, in the following order. Every chosen unit is a target and must be a legal choice.
Choose one friendly unit.
Check that unit's might, then choose any legal number of enemy units at battlefields, up to that amount; Alpha Strike does not require every enemy unit across every battlefield to be chosen.
Pay the mandatory additional cost for each chosen enemy unit with Deflect.
Once Alpha Strike finishes finalizing, its target choices cannot change unless a spell or ability instructs a player to make new choices.
When and how is Alpha Strike's damage distributed?
Alpha Strike's controller chooses how to distribute its damage during resolution, not while choosing targets.
As Alpha Strike begins resolving, determine which chosen units remain legal targets.
If the friendly target is illegal, Alpha Strike deals no damage because that target provides no usable might. If no enemy target remains legal, Alpha Strike deals no damage because its damage instruction does not execute.
Use the friendly target's might at resolution as the amount of damage to distribute.
If there are more remaining enemy targets than damage, choose exactly enough of those units to cease being targets so the number of targets does not exceed the available damage.
Distribute all available damage among the remaining enemy targets, assigning at least 1 damage to each. If only one enemy target remains, assign all available damage to it.
What if the friendly unit's might is reduced?
If the friendly target remains legal but has lower might when Alpha Strike resolves, Alpha Strike uses that reduced might as the amount of damage to split. If there is not enough damage to assign at least 1 to every enemy target, Alpha Strike's controller must remove exactly enough enemy units from Alpha Strike's targets and cannot remove extras to concentrate the damage.
Example
You chose a friendly Pakaa Cub with 3 might, then chose 3 enemy units. Before Alpha Strike resolves, an opponent plays Stupefy targeting Pakaa Cub, reducing its might to 2. You must choose exactly 1 enemy unit to cease being a target. You cannot drop a second target to deal both points of damage to one unit.
A might below 0 counts as 0 when Alpha Strike references it. If Alpha Strike has 0 damage to split, every enemy target ceases being a target because each remaining target would have to receive at least 1 damage.
What if the chosen friendly unit leaves the board or becomes illegal before Alpha Strike resolves?
Alpha Strike deals no damage if the chosen friendly unit is an illegal target when the spell resolves. An illegal friendly target provides no might that Alpha Strike can use for its damage instruction. Alpha Strike does not require the chosen friendly unit to be at a particular location, so moving between board locations does not by itself make it illegal. If it stays on the board but temporarily stops being a unit or stops being friendly, it is legal again if it meets every targeting requirement at resolution. If the target changes to or from a non-board zone, it remains illegal even if it returns before resolution because it is a new object.
What if a chosen enemy unit leaves a battlefield or becomes illegal before Alpha Strike resolves?
An enemy unit takes no damage if it remains an illegal target when Alpha Strike resolves. If the unit stays on the board but moves to base, stops being an enemy, or otherwise stops meeting Alpha Strike's description, it is legal again if it meets every requirement before resolution. If it changes to or from a non-board zone, it remains illegal even if it returns. If every chosen enemy unit is illegal, Alpha Strike deals no damage because its damage instruction does not execute. If one or more enemy targets remain legal, Alpha Strike distributes damage among them only if the friendly target is also legal and positive damage remains after any required target removal.
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Written by Christian “Near” Ivicevic.
Last updated on .