Riftbound rules
Moving units in Riftbound: the standard move, recalls and battlefields
Exhaust a unit in your Main Phase to move it between your base and a battlefield, or between battlefields with Ganking. A recall sends it to base but isn't a move.
The explanation
Every unit has a standard move. In your Main Phase, when no showdown or combat is going on and nothing is on the chain, you can exhaust a unit to move it from your base to a battlefield or from a battlefield back to your base. Units with Ganking can also move straight from one battlefield to another. Several units can move as one move if they all go to the same place, even from different starting points.
Moving doesn't use the chain, so nobody can respond to the move itself. Moving to a battlefield you don't control contests it: if it's empty, a showdown starts, and if another player has units there, a combat starts. No move can take units to a battlefield that already has units from two other players.
Spells and abilities can move units too. The card says where the units can go, and you choose the destination as you play it. With Action or Reaction, a move can happen during a showdown, which is one way units join or leave a combat. A recall is different: it sends a unit or gear to its base without moving it, so it doesn't trigger move abilities and effects that stop movement can't stop it.
Units are played to your base or a battlefield you control, and gear to your base, with exceptions. Ambush units can also be played to a battlefield where you have units, Deploy gear is played to any battlefield instead of your base, and a Hidden unit or gear must be played to the battlefield where it was hidden. Bases and battlefields are the game's locations; a battlefield's facedown zone and the Legend Zone are not.
What the Core Rules say
- 144
- Units have the Inherent Ability to perform a Standard Move.
- 144.1.a
- This action can be done any time during a player's Main Phase.
- 144.1.c
- This action cannot be performed during a Showdown or Combat.
- 144.2
- Exhausting the Unit is the Cost for this action.
- 144.3
- Players may perform multiple Units' standard move simultaneously. This is treated as one game action performed on multiple Units.
- 144.4.a
- Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield.
- 144.4.b
- Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base.
- 448.3.c
- Moving does not use the Chain, nor is it able to be Reacted to.
- 457
- A Recall is when a Permanent is relocated from anywhere to its Base without it being a Move.
- 355.2.a
- By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls.
- 149.2
- Gear can only be played to a player's Base unless an effect specifies otherwise.
- 198.1
- Locations include the Battlefields and the Bases.
Quoted word for word from the Riftbound Core Rules, updated October 9, 2026
Common questions
How do you move units in Riftbound?
With the standard move: exhaust the unit to move it from your base to a battlefield, or from a battlefield back to your base. You can do it any time in your own Main Phase, except during a showdown or combat or while something is on the chain. Units with Ganking can also move from one battlefield to another.
Core Rules 144.1.a, 144.1.b, 144.1.c, 144.2, 144.4.a, 144.4.b, 144.4.c.1, 421.3, 411.1.a
Can a unit move the turn it's played?
Usually not. Units enter the board exhausted, and exhausting the unit is the cost of the standard move, so it has to be readied first. Accelerate and similar effects let a unit enter ready.
Core Rules 143.4, 143.4.a, 144.2
Can I move several units at once?
Yes. Several units' standard moves can be one move, as long as they all go to the same place. They can start from different places, so a Ganking unit at one battlefield can join units moving from your base. Each unit is exhausted.
Core Rules 144.3, 144.3.a, 144.3.b, 144.3.c
What happens when I move to a battlefield?
If you don't control it, your units contest it. An empty battlefield gets a showdown and one with another player's units gets a combat, starting in the next cleanup with nothing on the chain. The move itself doesn't use the chain, so it can't be responded to; your opponent's chance comes in the showdown.
Core Rules 452, 453, 454, 455, 323.11, 323.12, 448.3.c
Which battlefields can't units move to?
No move of any kind can take units to a battlefield that already has units from two other players. With more than two players, a battlefield with a staged or ongoing combat is off-limits to players who aren't in it, and in 2v2 you can't move to a battlefield your teammate occupies. If an effect would move a unit somewhere it can't go, the unit is recalled instead.
Core Rules 451.2, 449.2.a, 449.2.b, 449.2.c
How do move effects from cards work?
A spell or ability that moves units says where they can go, and you choose the destination when you play it; it must be somewhere other than where the units are. Exhausting is the cost of the standard move, not part of moving, so a card that moves a unit only exhausts it if it says so. With Action or Reaction, it can move units during a showdown.
Core Rules 451, 451.1, 355.4, 355.4.a, 421.1, 421.3.a, 144.2, 308.1.aRiftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes
Is a recall a move?
No. A recall sends a unit or gear to its base without moving it, so it doesn't trigger abilities that care about moving, and effects that stop units from moving can't stop it. Its damage and statuses, like being exhausted, stay as they were unless the recall says otherwise.
Core Rules 457, 458, 458.1, 458.3, 460.1Riftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes
When do units and gear get recalled?
After combat damage, attackers still at the battlefield are recalled if defenders are still there too. Gear that isn't attached and doesn't have Deploy is recalled from a battlefield in the next cleanup. A unit that an effect would move somewhere it can't go is recalled instead, and cards can recall things too: Zhonya's Hourglass recalls a friendly unit that would die.
Core Rules 468.1.a.2, 459.1, 830.1.b.3, 449.2.c
Where can I play units and gear?
Units go to your base or a battlefield you control, and gear to your base. Ambush units can also be played to a battlefield where you have units, Deploy gear goes to any battlefield instead of your base, and a hidden unit or gear must be played to the battlefield where it was hidden. Units and gear are never played to another player's base.
Core Rules 355.2.a, 149.2, 822.1.b, 830.1.b, 830.1.b.1, 811.1.d.1, 811.1.d.1.a, 358.3Vendetta Rules FAQ and Clarifications
Is my base a location?
Yes. Each base and each battlefield is a location, and every unit and gear on the board is at one of them. A battlefield's facedown zone and the Legend Zone are not locations. So a card that hits units at the same location, like Bellows Breath, can hit units in a base.
Core Rules 198.1, 107.1.b, 107.2.b, 146.1, 152.1, 107.3.e, 107.4.b, 355.11.b.1
Example: Recalled from Vilemaw's Lair
Your units attack an enemy unit at Vilemaw's Lair, a battlefield that says units can't move from there to base. After combat damage, both sides still have units there, so your attackers are recalled to your base. The Lair can't stop that, because a recall isn't a move.
From Riftbound Core Rules
Official rulings
Riot's own words, from its rules articles.
CLARIFIED: Recalls are not moves.
CLARIFIED: Recalls do not affect the state of the object.
NEW RULE: Move destinations are a required choice. This means they are required to be made at time of putting a spell or ability on the chain. It also means that you cannot choose destinations that are not valid to satisfy the conditions of a spell or ability.
Units cannot be played to a base of a player other than their own controller under any circumstances.