Riftbound keyword
Deathknell
Deathknell is a Riftbound keyword: when the unit or gear with it dies (it's killed and goes to the trash), you get its Deathknell effect, like drawing a card.
31 cardsFirst seen in OriginsCore Rules 808
Official text
On the cards
Deathknell Draw 1. (When I die, get the effect.)
Deathknell — Draw 1. (When I die, get the effect.)
Core Rules
- 808.1
- Deathknell is a Triggered Ability keyword.
- 808.1.a
- It is present on Permanents.
- 808.1.b
- It is formatted as "[Deathknell][>] [Effect]".
- 808.1.c
- It is functionally short for "When I die, [Effect]."
- 808.1.c.2
- [Effect] may be written in the past tense. In doing so, it refers to the moment the Deathknell trigger was added to the chain, not any previous moment.
- 808.1.d
- The Trigger for this and similar effects that trigger on their source’s death is the Permanent being Killed and sent to the Trash.
- 808.1.d.1
- If the Permanent with the effect is not sent to the Trash, for example because its "killed" event was replaced with a recall, the triggered ability will be removed from the chain.
- 808.1.d.3
- Before the card is moved to the Trash, note its location, its attributes, and any other details related to the effect of its triggered ability to process the trigger after it has been Finalized.
- 808.2
- Each instance of Deathknell a Permanent may have will trigger separately.
Riftbound Core Rules, updated October 9, 2026
How Deathknell works
When does Deathknell trigger?
When the permanent dies, meaning it's killed and put in the trash: by lethal damage, or by an effect that kills it. Units and gear can both have Deathknell.
Core Rules 808.1.a, 808.1.c, 808.1.d, 323.4
What if my unit is saved instead of dying?
Then its Deathknell doesn't happen. If an effect replaces the death, like Zhonya's Hourglass recalling the unit instead, the unit never goes to the trash.
Core Rules 808.1.d.1, 383.2.c.3.a
Does Deathknell remember where the card died?
Yes. Just before the card goes to the trash, the game notes its location and stats for the Deathknell to use. Kog'Maw, Caustic deals 4 to all units at the battlefield where he died, and a past-tense check like Unsung Hero's “If I was Mighty” looks at the moment the ability triggered.
Core Rules 808.1.d.3, 808.1.c.2
When a unit dies in combat, does its Deathknell happen before or after damage is healed?
After. Units killed in combat die in the combat cleanup, and that same cleanup heals every unit. Abilities can't resolve during a cleanup, so the Deathknell resolves after the healing, and any damage it deals stays on the units it hits.
Core Rules 808.1.d.2, 323.4, 468.1.a.1, 320
What if a card has more than one Deathknell?
Each one triggers on its own, and you choose the order they go on the chain. Karthus, Eternal goes further: your Deathknell effects trigger an additional time.
Core Rules 808.2, 808.2.a
Can a Deathknell play a unit to the battlefield where my unit died?
Yes, if you controlled that battlefield. A battlefield where you have no units is only lost in an open state, and a Deathknell waiting on the chain keeps the state closed. So when Glasc Mixologist dies alone at your battlefield, its Deathknell can play a unit right back there.
Core Rules 190.4.c, 309.1Unleashed Rules FAQ and Clarifications
Why do some cards show an arrow after Deathknell and others a dash?
They mean the same thing. Since Unleashed, cards print an arrow from keywords like Deathknell to the ability they go with. Older cards use a dash instead.
Core Rules 808.1.bRiftbound Core Rules: Unleashed Patch Notes
Do tokens with Deathknell work?
Yes. A “when I die” ability triggers just before its source leaves the board, so it still happens even though tokens stop existing once they reach the trash. Bomb gear tokens rely on this: when one dies, it deals 2 to an enemy unit at its battlefield.
Core Rules 383.2.c.3, 186.1, 187.12
Example: Kog'Maw's last bite
Kog'Maw, Caustic dies in combat. He's killed in the combat cleanup, which also heals every unit, and then his Deathknell resolves: it deals 4 to all units at that battlefield. Any unit that survives keeps those 4 damage for the rest of the turn, so a spell or another combat can finish it off.
From Riftbound Core Rules
Official rulings
Riot's own words, from its rules articles.
…if my Glasc Mixologist died alone in Combat at a battlefield I control, the active Combat at the battlefield prevented me from losing control of the battlefield. Thus I could play the unit from Mixologist’s Deathknell to the same Battlefield it died at. Previously this was only possible in Combat, but as of this rules update the same process will occur whenever Glasc Mixologist dies alone at a battlefield with the same controller, regardless of if there is a Combat there or not.
Usually, we don’t print effects like Rift Herald’s Deathknell that don’t say “may.” However, even without the “may,” an important principle that we want to hold for Riftbound is that game effects cannot force a player to perform a game action on an object with specific characteristics whose information status is private.
The deathknell rules received a change in the Spiritforged rules update to allow them to use information from when its source was on the board. That was a much needed change, but it left other abilities that similarly triggered “When I die” to lag behind. In this rules update, we’ve expanded the rules so that any “When I die” triggered ability will be able to use information from before its source died.
Every Deathknell card (31)
kw:deathknell
