Empower
Unofficial answers about the Empower mechanic in Riftbound, with examples and Core Rules citations.
Can opponents react to an Empower ability?
Yes. Empower is an activated ability keyword, and activated abilities use the chain. After the ability is finalized and no other cards or abilities are waiting to finalize, opponents have an opportunity to play Reactions before it resolves.
When can I activate an Empower ability?
By default, you can activate it only while its source is not Empowered and during your own Main Phase while no showdown, combat, or chain is in progress. Empower follows these restrictions because it is an activated ability.
Card text may override the default activation restriction or change an Empower ability's timing. If it explicitly has Action, you may activate it during showdowns on any player's turn. If it has Reaction, you may also activate it on any player's turn during closed states, while a chain exists.
Does a "When I become Empowered" ability trigger if the unit leaves the board before its Empower ability resolves?
No. If the unit leaves the board before its Empower ability resolves, it does not become Empowered, so its "When I become Empowered" ability does not trigger.
Removing the unit does not counter its already-finalized Empower ability, so that ability remains on the chain.
Example
You activate Mel, Defiant Soul's Empower ability and discard a spell to pay its cost. Your opponent responds with Star-Crossed, returning Mel and one of their own units, each to its owner's hand. Star-Crossed resolves first, so Mel leaves the board while her Empower ability remains on the chain. Mel's Empower ability then resolves, but Mel cannot become Empowered while she is off the board, so her banish ability does not trigger.
When the Empower ability resolves, it tries to empower the unit whose ability was activated. Only a game object on the board can become Empowered. While the original unit is off the board, it cannot become Empowered or evaluate its triggered ability's condition.
If the card returns from a non-board zone before the Empower ability resolves, the returned card is a new object rather than the original unit.
Can a unit or gear without an Empower or Empowered ability become Empowered?
Yes. A unit or gear does not need a printed Empower or Empowered ability to become Empowered.
You can empower an object only when a game effect instructs you to do so. The Empowered state can apply to any game object on the board.
Normally, an object that is already Empowered cannot become Empowered again. An effect can permit an already Empowered object to be empowered again, subject to the limits of that effect.
Example
Sanction can empower an unempowered legal unit and Hextech Formula can empower another gear; neither object needs a printed reference to Empower or Empowered.
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Written by Christian “Near” Ivicevic.
Last updated on .