Abilities
Commonly asked questions about Abilities in Riftbound
When do triggered abilities trigger?
When their condition is met, triggered abilities go on the chain immediately, regardless of whose turn it is (CR 383.3, CR 383.3.c).
The Reaction keyword is not required for this to work on an opponent's turn. Unlike spells and activated abilities which require Reaction to be played outside your turn, triggered abilities are automatic and will trigger whenever their condition is met, on any player's turn.
Example
Blade Dancer triggers when you choose a friendly unit. This can happen on your opponent's turn, for example when you play a Reaction spell that targets one of your own units.
Can I react to triggered and activated abilities?
Yes, with one important exception: abilities that use the Add keyword.
All triggered and activated abilities are placed on the chain (CR 377.3, CR 383.3). However, abilities that add resources resolve immediately when finalized, which means players do not receive priority to react to them (CR 337.1.c, CR 429.2.a).
How are additional conditions in triggered abilities evaluated?
It depends on where the condition appears in the ability's text.
In Riftbound, the trigger condition is precisely the event that follows "When", "At", or "The [Nth] time" — including any qualifiers on that event, up to the first comma (CR 383.2.a). Everything after that comma is the ability's effect (CR 383.2.b).
Conditions before the comma are part of the trigger condition and must be satisfied for the ability to be placed on the chain at all. For example, Sunken Temple reads "When you conquer here with one or more Mighty units, you may pay 1 to draw 1." The requirement that the conquering units be Mighty is embedded in the trigger condition; if no Mighty unit participated in the conquer, the ability does not trigger.
"If" clauses that immediately follow the trigger condition — as the first thing after the comma — are checked at trigger time. This is the "intervening if rule" (CR 383.3.e): if the condition is not satisfied at the moment the triggering event occurs, the ability is never placed on the chain at all.
However, "if" clauses embedded within the effect text — coming after an effect instruction rather than immediately after the comma — are only checked on resolution. The ability goes on the chain regardless, and the condition is only evaluated when it resolves.
Example
Gutter Palace reads "At the start of your Beginning Phase, if you have exactly 4 cards in hand and exactly 4 units at battlefields, you win the game."
The "if" clause comes immediately after the comma, so it is an intervening if. This ability is only placed on the chain if you already have exactly 4 cards in hand and exactly 4 units at battlefields at the start of your Beginning Phase. If the condition is not satisfied at that moment, the ability does not trigger at all.
Example
Loose Cannon reads "At start of your Beginning Phase, draw 1 if you have one or fewer cards in your hand."
Here the "if" clause does not immediately follow the comma — it comes after the effect instruction "draw 1". This means it is not an intervening if. The ability goes on the chain at the start of every one of your Beginning Phases, regardless of how many cards are in your hand. Only when the ability resolves is the hand size checked; if you have more than one card at that point, the draw does not happen.
When do I pay costs within instructions using "may"?
At finalization — when placing the triggered ability on the chain.
In rules text phrased as "[do X] to [do Y]," the [do X] part is considered a cost within instructions. For triggered abilities, this cost is treated as the base cost of the ability and must be paid in order to finalize it to the chain (CR 383.3.b, CR 383.3.b.1, CR 742.1.b, CR 403.1.b.1). If the controller declines to pay, the ability is not placed on the chain at all.
Example
Vayne, Hunter's "When I conquer, you may pay 1 to return me to my owner's hand." will trigger when you conquer. At finalization, the controller must decide whether to pay the 1 cost. If they decline, the ability is not placed on the chain. If they pay, the ability goes on the chain and opponents have the opportunity to react before it resolves.
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