Riftbound keyword
Empower
Empower is a Riftbound keyword: pay its cost to make the card Empowered, which switches on its Empowered abilities. You can't use it while the card is already Empowered.
40 cardsFirst seen in VendettaCore Rules 827
Official text
On the cards
Empower 
2 Energy (2 Energy: Empower me. Use only if not Empowered.)
Empower — Discard a spell (Pay the cost: Empower me. Use only if not Empowered.)
Core Rules
- 827.1
- Empower is an Activated Ability keyword.
- 827.1.a
- Empower is normally present on permanents and legends.
- 827.1.b
- Empower has a cost to activate and Empowers the source of the ability when the cost is paid.
- 827.1.b.1
- The source game object is not a target of the Empower ability.
- 827.1.c.1
- Empower is functionally short for “[Cost]: Empower this. Play only if not Empowered.”
- 827.1.c.2
- Empower costs may include both resource costs and non-resource costs.
- 827.1.c.4
- Empower abilities may include text that alters the timing of the Empower ability.
- 827.1.c.5
- Game Objects with Empower abilities may have or gain permissions to be Empowered multiple times. Such Game Objects ignore the normal “Play only if not Empowered.” restriction on Empower abilities.
- 827.2
- When the Empower action completes from this keyword, the source permanent or legend becomes Empowered.
- 442.1.a
- Empowered is a binary state. A Game Object is Empowered or it isn’t.
Riftbound Core Rules, updated October 9, 2026
How Empower works
How does Empower work?
Empower is an activated ability with a cost. Pay it, and the card becomes Empowered, which switches on its Empowered abilities. It appears on units, gear and legends.
Core Rules 827.1.a, 827.1.b, 827.2Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes
When can I use Empower?
Like most activated abilities: on your own turn, with no showdown and nothing on the chain, unless the card says otherwise. You can't use it while the card is already Empowered.
Core Rules 310.1.a, 827.1.c.1, 827.1.c.4
How long does a card stay Empowered?
Until it leaves the board or something disempowers it. Empowered doesn't wear off at the end of the turn. If the card leaves the board and comes back, it's no longer Empowered.
Core Rules 124.1, 443.1Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes
What can I pay an Empower cost with?
Usually energy and power, but costs can be other things too: Mel, Defiant Soul empowers by discarding a spell, and Legion Marauder lets you pay either 1 energy or one Body power.
Core Rules 827.1.c.2, 204.1.b
Can a card be Empowered more than once?
Normally not. A card is either Empowered or it isn't. Kayle, Justified is the exception: she can be Empowered up to three times, and you can use her Empower ability even at three. It just does nothing.
Core Rules 442.1.a, 442.1.c.1, 827.1.c.5Core Rules: Radiance Patch Notes (Effective October 16, 2026)
Can a card become Empowered without its Empower ability?
Yes. Some effects empower cards directly. Sanction can empower a unit until the end of the turn, and Mournful Witness empowers itself when a combat it was in ends.
Core Rules 442.1, 442.3.a
What does disempower mean?
It removes the Empowered status, which switches the card's Empowered abilities off again. Disempowering a card that isn't Empowered does nothing.
Core Rules 443.1, 443.1.a.1Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes
Example: Brutal Hunter powers up
You control Brutal Hunter, a 4 Might unit whose Empower costs 3 energy. On your turn, with nothing else going on, you pay 3 energy to use it. Brutal Hunter becomes Empowered, so its Empowered ability gives it +2 Might and Ganking. It stays a 6 Might unit with Ganking until it leaves the board or is disempowered.
From Riftbound Core Rules
Official rulings
Riot's own words, from its rules articles.
Many cards in the set have the Empower keyword. This is an activated ability with an associated cost. You pay the cost, and your unit will become empowered! You can only activate this ability if the unit isn’t already empowered.
If a card has an Empower ability, it likely also has an Empowered ability: this is a dependent keyword whose condition is the card having the empowered state. While the card is empowered, you get the extra effect!
Some effects may also instruct a player to disempower a card as an instruction or a cost. Disempowering a card is the same thing as removing the empowered status from it. You can’t disempower something that isn’t empowered.
But can I activate Kayle’s empower ability even if she’s already empowered?
Yes. Kayle’s empower ability can be activated any number of times. If she has less than 3 empowered statuses, she will become empowered. If she has 3 empowered statuses, the ability can still be activated but nothing will happen when the ability resolves.
Every Empower card (40)
kw:empower
