# Runes in Riftbound: energy, power and the rune deck > A Riftbound rune deck is 12 runes in your legend's domains. You channel 2 a turn, then exhaust a rune for 1 energy or recycle it for one power of its domain. Riftbound rules explained by Runeweave: https://runeweave.com/rules/runes Symbols in Riot's text: [M] Might, [A] one power of any domain, [C] one power of the card's own domain, [E] exhaust, [2] two energy. ## Explanation Runes are how you pay for cards in Riftbound. Each player brings a rune deck of exactly 12 runes, shuffled and kept apart from the Main Deck. Every rune has to match your Champion Legend's domains, so a Fury and Chaos legend like [Loose Cannon](https://runeweave.com/card/loose-cannon) plays Fury and Chaos runes. Runes come into play by channeling. In your Channel Phase you put the top 2 runes of your rune deck onto the board, ready to use. In a 1v1 game, the player going second channels one extra rune on their first turn; in free-for-all and 2v2 games, the player going last does. Each basic rune has two abilities. Exhaust it to add 1 energy, or recycle it to add one power of its domain. Recycling puts the rune on the bottom of your rune deck, so it leaves the board until you channel it again. Both abilities have [Reaction](https://runeweave.com/keywords/reaction), so you can use them whenever you need to pay, even partway through playing a card. Energy and power pay different parts of a cost. The number in a card's top-left corner is its energy cost, and the domain symbols in that corner are its power cost. Energy has no domain, so energy from any rune works. Power has a domain, so a Fury symbol needs Fury power, while a rainbow symbol takes power of any domain. A few sources, like the [Gold](https://runeweave.com/card/gold) token, add power that can pay for any domain. What you [add](https://runeweave.com/keywords/add) goes into your rune pool, and it doesn't last. Your pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and at the end of every turn, and anything unspent is lost. Exhausted runes ready again at the start of your turn. ## What the Core Rules say - **161.2.a** Exactly 12 Rune cards chosen during Deck Construction. - **103.4.a.1** Cards in the Rune Deck must be of the Domain Identity of your Champion Legend. - **431.4.a** A player Channels two Runes during the Channel Phase on their turn. - **164.2.a** [Reaction][>] [E]: Add [1]. - **164.2.b** [Reaction][>] Recycle this: Add [C]. - **164.2.b.1** The Power added this way corresponds to the Domain of the Rune that is being Recycled. - **161.2.b** When a Rune is Recycled it is returned to the Rune Deck, not the Main Deck. - **163.1** Energy is used to pay numeric Energy costs. - **163.2** Power is used to pay Domain-associated Power Costs. - **135.2.e.5.a** When required as a cost, [A] can be paid by Power of any Domain. - **166.2** Players must add Energy and Power to their Rune Pool in order to be able to spend it to play cards or pay for Abilities with costs. - **167** Every player's Rune Pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and the end of each player's turn. ## Common questions ### How many runes are in a Riftbound rune deck? Exactly 12, and every one must match your Champion Legend's domains. The rules don't set a split, so a two-domain deck can run any mix of its two rune types. The rune deck is shuffled and kept separate from your Main Deck. Source: Core Rules 161.2.a, 103.4.a, 103.4.a.1, 103.4.b ### How many runes do you channel each turn? Two, in your Channel Phase, from the top of your shuffled rune deck, so you don't choose which ones you get. They come in ready. In a 1v1 game, the player going second channels one extra rune on their first turn, and in free-for-all and 2v2 games the player going last does. Source: Core Rules 431.4.a, 315.3.b, 431.1, 103.4.b, 431.2.a, 487.7, 488.7, 489.7, 490.7, 491.7 ### What's the difference between energy and power in Riftbound? Energy pays the number in a card's cost and has no domain, so energy from any rune works. Power pays the domain symbols in the cost, and it has a domain, which usually matches the rune that made it. Source: Core Rules 163.1, 163.1.a, 163.2, 163.2.a, 163.2.a.1, 131.2.a, 131.3.a ### How do runes make energy and power? Exhaust a rune to add 1 energy, or recycle it to add one power of its domain. Recycling sends it to the bottom of your rune deck. Recycling doesn't need the rune to be ready, so you can exhaust a rune for energy and then recycle it for power. Source: Core Rules 164.2.a, 164.2.b, 164.2.b.1, 417.1, 417.1.b ### Can I use my runes on my opponent's turn? Yes. Both rune abilities have Reaction and add resources, and those abilities can be used whenever you have to pay a cost, such as for a [Reaction](https://runeweave.com/keywords/reaction) spell. Anything you don't spend is lost when that turn ends. Source: Core Rules 164.2.a, 164.2.b, 430.3, 813.1.c.2, 167; [Riftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/rules-and-releases/riftbound-core-rules-patch-notes/), October 24, 2025 ### What does power of any domain mean? A rainbow symbol in a cost can be paid with power of any domain, and power added as any domain, like from a [Gold](https://runeweave.com/card/gold) token, can pay any power cost. Other power has to match the domain in the cost. A card with more than one domain, like the Calm and Chaos spell [Defiant Dance](https://runeweave.com/card/defiant-dance), takes power of any of its domains. Source: Core Rules 135.2.e.5, 135.2.e.5.a, 135.2.e.5.b, 187.5, 163.2, 163.2.b, 135.2.e.6.c; [Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/core-rules-vendetta-patch-notes/), July 17, 2026 ### What are the six rune types and their colors? There's one basic rune for each domain. Fury is red with a three-pointed symbol, Calm green with a leaf, Mind blue with a sun and moon, Body orange with a blocky diamond, Chaos purple with a swirling hexagon, and Order yellow with an angular wing. Each rune's power is of its own domain. Source: Core Rules 164.1, 134.2.a, 134.2.b, 134.2.c, 134.2.d, 134.2.e, 134.2.f, 164.2.b.1 ### When does your rune pool empty? At the start of each player's Main Phase and at the end of every turn. Any energy or power you haven't spent by then is lost. Source: Core Rules 167, 167.1, 316.3, 317.2.d ### Are runes permanents? No. Runes stay on the board after you channel them, but they aren't permanents, because they aren't Main Deck cards. A rune stays on the board until it's recycled or removed some other way. Source: Core Rules 161.1, 161.1.a, 133.5.a.1, 133.4.a.1 ### What happens when your rune deck runs out? You channel as many runes as are left. Running out of runes doesn't burn you out, because burning out only happens with your Main Deck. Runes you recycle go to the bottom of the rune deck, so it fills back up as you recycle. Source: Core Rules 431.3, 315.3.b.1, 432.1, 417.1.b ## Example: Paying for Jinx, Rebel You have six ready runes: three Fury and three Chaos. To play [Jinx, Rebel](https://runeweave.com/card/jinx-rebel), which costs 5 energy and one Chaos power, you exhaust all three Fury runes and two Chaos runes for 5 energy, then recycle one of those exhausted Chaos runes for the Chaos power. Jinx is paid for, and your third Chaos rune is still ready for later. The recycled rune goes to the bottom of your rune deck, so you now have five runes on the board, and you'll channel two more next turn. ## Official rulings > CLARIFIED: Basic rune abilities have Reaction. — [Riftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/rules-and-releases/riftbound-core-rules-patch-notes/), October 24, 2025 > This means you’ll have to pay for a signature card’s power cost with a power of that card’s domains. If there is an [A] symbol in the card’s text, that can still be paid with power of any domain. — [Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/core-rules-vendetta-patch-notes/), July 17, 2026 ## Sources - [Riftbound Core Rules](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/rules-hub/), October 9, 2026 - [Riftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/rules-and-releases/riftbound-core-rules-patch-notes/), October 24, 2025 - [Core Rules: Vendetta Patch Notes](https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/core-rules-vendetta-patch-notes/), July 17, 2026 Checked against these sources on October 15, 2026.