Tournament Rules Changes (March 30, 2026)

At high OPL, judges may not answer direct questions about the results of game actions a player has not yet taken. In these situations, players must ask hypothetical questions about the rules. Examples:

At Casual and Competitive OPL, spectators can ask players to pause play while they alert a judge of a potential issue.

At Professional OPL, spectators can’t ask players to pause play, but they can still alert a judge of a potential issue.

Each player separates their Champion Legend and places it in the Legend Zone.

Each player randomly selects one of their three Battlefields, and places it into the Battlefield Zone.

Players use the Play First Rule listed below to determine the designated player. See 407 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information on the Play First Rule.

The designated player chooses if they would like to go first or last.

Players then have the opportunity to sideboard as if they were in between games of a “best of 3” match. See 403 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information on sideboards.

After sideboarding is complete, each player separates their Chosen Champion and places it in the Champion Zone.

Players perform shuffling steps 406.1.b.-406.1.d.3. listed above, then proceed to CR 116. Setup Process.

If a player has the most points in the current game, they win that game. Then, if a player has more game wins in the match, they win the match. If the game score is tied, proceed to 408.4.d in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab).

If the point score of the current game is tied, but a player has the most game wins in the match, that player wins the match.

If the point score of the current game is tied and the game score of the match is tied, players continue to play until the next point is scored. The player who scores that point wins the match. This does not remove normal scoring restrictions if the next point is the Final Point. See CR 448.1.a. for Final Point details.

The trigger would change a point total. (Example card: Ahri, Alluring)

The trigger would change a rune total. (Example card: Startipped Peak)

The trigger would add a Buff token to a unit. (Example card: Sett, Brawler)

The trigger would impact combat or other game procedures. A card that reads “When you play a spell, give me +1 Might this turn.” does NOT have an immediate observable impact. It has an observable impact once it’s Might would be relevant. (Example card: Ravenbloom Student)

A trigger would cause a player to draw or discard. (Example card: Traveling Merchant)

A trigger would cause a game object to be exhausted or readied. (Example card: Miss Fortune, Captain)

A trigger would cause a unit to move. (Example card: Stealthy Pursuer)

A player asks for public information that would be impacted by a trigger. See 502 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information on public information.

A player would be required to make a choice of whether or not to place an optional trigger on the chain. (Example: Overzealous Fan)

A player plays Discipline indicating a unit. They immediately change their mind and choose a different unit, or choose not to play the Discipline at all.

A player plays Traveling Merchant to Reaver’s Row. They immediately change their mind and choose to play it to their base instead, or choose not to play it at all.

A player moves Pouty Poro to Void Gate. They immediately change their mind and choose to move an additional unit there as well, or they decide not to move at all.

A player exhausts two Calm runes. Before taking a new game action, the player decides they do not want to exhaust them, and readies them.

A player may change their Chosen Champion to one from their sideboard or main deck that matches their Legend whenever sideboarding would be allowed.

Spiritforged (SFD)

Unleashed (UNL)

Players may utilize any number of the 6 basic Runes from any source, even if they are not in the player’s provided card pool.

“Blank” battlefields function as battlefields that do not have any rules text. Otherwise, they adhere to all other normal battlefield rules as defined in the Core Rules.

At low OPL, “Blank” battlefields can be represented by anything agreed upon by all players in the game.

Players must use their registered starting configuration in the first game of each match.

Legend, Chosen Champion, and Rune deck composition must be registered as part of a player’s starting configuration.

For “best of 1” competitions, players must register three battlefields to randomly select from during the start of game procedure, including any “blank” battlefields they wish to use.

For “best of 3” competitions, players may select any battlefield from their card pool or a “blank” battlefield during the start of game procedure.

Main Decks for sealed decks must be at least 25 cards, but can be more.

Players may only include Runes from any source in their Rune Deck that match the domain identity of their sealed deck.

Draft is a limited format where players are each provided with 3 unopened Riftbound booster packs to open and draft amongst other players.

Draft groups consist of as close to eight players as possible, seated randomly around a table. Draft process is as follows:

Main Decks for draft decks must be at least 20 cards, but can be more.

The domain identity of a draft deck is any three domains, or any domain plus the domains of the deck’s Champion Legend.

Players may only include Runes from any source in their Rune Deck that match the domain identity of their draft deck.

A draft deck is still legal if it has no Champion Legend or Chosen Champion.

The normal restrictions on quantities of named or signature cards do not apply. For example, a player may use 10 Pouty Poro in their Main Deck if they selected them during the draft.

A draft deck’s sideboard is every card drafted by the player as part of the competition that isn’t used in their starting deck configuration, unless otherwise specified. See 403 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information on sideboards.

Any judge may perform a simple rewind of the most recent action of a game.

When performing a simple rewind of a player's game action, rewind to before the action began, such as before a played card would be put on the chain. The player may then opt not to take the action, or take the action making different decisions.

Except for 702.17 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab), if a player commits the same exact category of game play error [Warning] 3 or more times in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

At competitive OPL, if a player commits a total of 6 or more of any category of game play error [Warning] in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

At professional OPL, if a player commits a total of 5 or more of any category of game play error [Warning] in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

Even if a player has not yet met the threshold to upgrade their penalties, a head judge may initiate a cheating investigation if they feel it is appropriate. See 704.8 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information about cheating.

If the error is caught when a player draws their opening hand during the start of game procedure and the player has not performed their mulligan yet, shuffle the extra cards into the main deck appropriately to remove the information advantage.

If the error is caught by the erroring player immediately and before any additional game actions have been taken, return the card to the zone it came from and resume play.

If the error is caught after additional game actions have been taken but before any cards have been added to the zone where the illegal card came from (such as a new card being drawn), return the illegal card to that zone and replace it with a random card from that zone that is legal for the facedown zone and resume play.

If it is still the turn the erroring player forgot to awaken, ready all game objects that should have been readied. If a game object being readied this way would put a trigger on the chain, it is not put on the chain instead.

If it is no longer the turn the erroring player forgot to awaken, leave game objects in their current state and proceed with play.

If a player commits the same category of tournament error [Warning] 3 or more times in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

At competitive OPL, if a player commits a total of 6 or more of any category of tournament error [Warning] in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

At professional OPL, if a player commits a total of 5 or more of any category of tournament error [Warning] in the same event, the penalty is upgraded to [Game Loss].

Even if a player has not yet met the threshold to upgrade their penalties, a head judge may initiate a cheating investigation if they feel it is appropriate. See 704.8 in Tournament Rules 2026-03-30 (opens source rules in a new tab) for more information about cheating.

A player’s decks contain cards that do not match their registered decklist.

If the player’s presented decks do not match their registered decklist but their presented decks are legal, the player must change their registered decklist to match their presented deck.

If judges suspect a player is violating the rules knowingly or maliciously, the head judge may initiate an investigation to determine if cheating occurred.