Riftbound keyword
Action
Action is a Riftbound keyword: besides the normal time on your own turn, a card or ability with Action can be played during showdowns, on any player's turn.
104 cardsFirst seen in OriginsCore Rules 806
Official text
On the cards
Action (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Core Rules
- 806.1
- Action is a Permissive keyword.
- 806.1.a
- It is present on Cards, Rune Abilities, Legend Abilities or Permanent Abilities.
- 806.1.b
- Action grants the corresponding card or effect permission to be played or activated during Showdowns, even when it is not the Controlling player's turn.
- 806.1.c.1
- On Cards: "This can be played during showdowns on any player's turn."
- 806.1.c.2
- On Activated Abilities: "This can be activated during showdowns on any player's turn."
- 806.2
- The card or effect with this keyword is not restricted to showdowns. This permission is inclusive of all other timings and options available to the ability as written or by default.
- 806.3
- Action does not alter the function of any instruction of the corresponding card or effect it is on. It is only permission.
- 308.1.a
- Only cards and abilities with the Action or Reaction keywords can be played or activated in a Showdown State.
- 309.1.a
- Only cards and abilities with the Reaction keyword can be played or activated in a Closed State.
Riftbound Core Rules, updated October 9, 2026
How Action works
When can I play a card with Action?
At the normal time on your own turn (your Main Phase, with no showdown going on and nothing on the chain), and also during any showdown, on your turn or your opponent's. Every combat includes a showdown, so Action spells work in combat too.
Core Rules 806.1.b, 806.1.c.1, 806.2, 316.7.f
Can I play an Action in response to my opponent's spell?
No. While a spell or ability is on the chain, only cards and abilities with Reaction can be played. Your Action has to wait until the chain is empty and you can act again.
Core Rules 309.1.a, 358.4
What's the difference between Action and Reaction?
Reaction includes everything Action allows and adds one more window: while a spell or ability is on the chain, on any player's turn. That's what lets a Reaction answer something before it resolves. Action only adds showdowns.
Core Rules 806.1.b, 813.1.b, 813.1.c.1
Can I play an Action on my opponent's turn outside a showdown?
No. Outside showdowns, only the player whose turn it is can play spells and activate abilities, and Action doesn't change that. On an opponent's turn, Action cards wait for a showdown.
Core Rules 316.5.b, 806.1.b
Can I use a unit's, gear's or legend's ability in combat?
Only if the ability has Action or Reaction. Other activated abilities can only be used in your own Main Phase outside showdowns, and every combat includes a showdown.
Core Rules 806.1.c.2, 381.1, 343.1.b, 308.1.a
Does Action change where I can play a unit?
No. Action only changes when you can play something. A unit with Action still enters at your base or a battlefield you control.
Core Rules 806.3
What if a card only has Action under a condition?
It has Action only while the condition is true. You can start playing it if playing it could make the condition true, but if the condition still isn't met when its legality is checked, the play is undone and the card goes back where it came from.
Core Rules 806.4, 806.4.a, 806.4.bRiftbound Core Rules: Unleashed Patch Notes
Example: Block on your opponent's turn
Your opponent moves units onto a battlefield you control, and the combat opens with a showdown. When you have focus, you play Block, an Action spell, giving one of your defenders Shield 3 and Tank this turn. It's not your turn, but Action lets you play in any showdown. What you can't do is play Block in response to a spell your opponent has just played: while that spell is on the chain, only Reactions can be played.
From Riftbound Core Rules
Official rulings
Riot's own words, from its rules articles.
Conditional permissive abilities might only be fulfilled while the card or ability with them is on the chain. In such a case, it can still be played or activated at the appropriate timing as long as doing so could fulfill the conditions.
Every Action card (104)
kw:actionCards with Action · 100
