Riftbound rules
Timing in Riftbound: the chain, priority and focus
By default, you can only play cards on your turn with no showdown and nothing on the chain. Showdowns allow Action and Reaction cards, and the chain only Reactions.
The explanation
Riftbound's timing comes down to two questions: is a showdown or combat going on, and is anything on the chain? The answers give the state of the turn: Neutral or Showdown, and Open or Closed. Your Main Phase with nothing going on is Neutral Open, the only state where cards and abilities can be played by default, and then only by the player whose turn it is.
Keywords widen that. Action cards and abilities can also be played during showdowns, on any player's turn. Reaction includes everything Action allows and adds closed states, so a Reaction can be played while a spell or ability is waiting on the chain. That's how you answer something before it resolves.
Playing a card or ability puts it on the chain as a pending item. Once its choices, costs and legality check are done, it's finalized and its controller gets priority. Players then take turns adding Reactions or passing, and when every player passes in a row, the newest finalized item resolves. Units, gear and abilities that add energy or power skip that step and resolve as soon as they're finalized.
Only one player has priority at a time, and only that player can act. Focus exists only during showdowns: the player with focus gets priority whenever the chain is empty, and focus moves to the next player when they pass or when a chain they started finishes. A showdown ends when every player passes in a row.
What the Core Rules say
- 310.1
- Neutral Open: There is no Showdown or Combat in progress and no Chain exists.
- 310.2
- Neutral Closed: There is no Showdown or Combat in progress and a Chain exists.
- 310.3
- Showdown Open: A Showdown or Combat is in progress and no Chain exists.
- 310.4
- Showdown Closed: A Showdown or Combat is in progress and a Chain exists.
- 310.1.a
- By default, cards can be played and abilities activated only when a player has priority on their turn in a Neutral Open state.
- 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.
- 339.1
- If all players have passed Priority in sequence without adding any items to the Chain, proceed to Step 4: Resolve.
- 340.1
- The newest Finalized Chain Item resolves. Execute its game effects in their entirety.
- 337.2
- If, after finalizing the Chain Item, that item is a Unit, Gear, or an ability that Adds resources, it resolves immediately—Move to Step 4: Resolve.
- 312.1
- Priority is the singular exclusive right to take Discretionary Actions.
- 313.1
- Focus is the permission to take appropriately timed Discretionary Actions when the turn is in a Showdown Open State.
Quoted word for word from the Riftbound Core Rules, updated October 9, 2026
Common questions
When can I play cards in Riftbound?
By default, only on your own turn, in your Main Phase, with no showdown going on and nothing on the chain. Action cards can also be played during showdowns, and Reaction cards whenever you have priority, including while something is on the chain on either player's turn.
Core Rules 310.1.a, 316.5.b, 312.2.a, 312.1, 806.1.c.1, 813.1.b, 813.1.c.1
What do Neutral, Showdown, Open and Closed mean?
They describe the state of the turn. Neutral means no showdown or combat is going on, and Showdown means one is. Open means nothing is on the chain, and Closed means something is. Put together, the turn is always Neutral Open, Neutral Closed, Showdown Open or Showdown Closed.
Core Rules 308.1, 308.2, 309.1, 309.2, 310
What's the difference between Action and Reaction?
Action lets a card or ability be played during showdowns on any player's turn, as well as at the normal time. Reaction includes all of that and also works in closed states, while something is on the chain, which is what lets you respond to a spell before it resolves.
Core Rules 806.1.b, 806.2, 813.1.b, 813.1.c.1, 159.2.b.3
How does the chain work?
Playing a card or ability puts it on the chain. Its controller gets priority first, then players take turns adding Reactions or passing. When every player passes in a row, the newest item resolves, and players can respond again before the next one does. Once the chain is empty, the state is open again.
Core Rules 328, 337.4, 338.1.b.1, 339.1, 340.1, 340.4, 340.2
What's the difference between pending and finalized?
A chain item is pending while it's being played: its choices, costs and legality check. After the check it's finalized, and only finalized items resolve. Pending items are finalized oldest first, and nobody gets priority until nothing on the chain is pending.
Core Rules 329.2, 329.3, 340.1, 337.1.b, 337.4, 312.2.c
Can I respond to a unit or gear being played?
Not to the unit or gear itself. Units, gear and abilities that add energy or power resolve as soon as they're finalized, without anyone getting priority in between. The abilities they trigger, like a unit's "when you play me" ability, go on the chain afterward and can be responded to.
Core Rules 337.2, 430.2, 430.2.a, 383.4.a, 383.3
What's the difference between priority and focus?
Priority is the right to act right now, and only one player has it at a time. Focus only exists during showdowns and tracks whose turn it is to start something: the player with focus gets priority whenever the chain is empty. Passing priority while something is on the chain doesn't give up focus.
Core Rules 312.1, 313.1, 313.2, 313.3, 313.5, 335.1Riftbound Core Rules: Spiritforged Patch Notes
How do turns work in a showdown?
The player who contested the battlefield gets focus first. The player with focus can play an Action or Reaction card or ability, or pass. If they play something, focus moves to the next player in turn order once that chain has resolved; if they pass, it moves on right away. The showdown ends when every player passes in a row.
Core Rules 345, 347.1, 347.1.b, 347.2, 347.2.a, 347.2.b
Does focus pass after a triggered ability resolves?
No. If a chain was started by a triggered ability or an ability that adds resources, focus stays where it was when that chain finishes. That's why the abilities that trigger as a combat starts don't cost the attacker their first chance to act.
Core Rules 346.1, 340.2.a, 466.2.c.1.aRiftbound Core Rules: Patch Notes
What order do triggered abilities go on the chain?
If several of your abilities trigger at the same time, you choose their order. If several players' abilities trigger at once, each player orders their own, starting with the player whose turn it is. When a combat starts, the attacker puts their triggers on the chain first and the defender last, so the defender's resolve first.
Core Rules 383.3.d, 383.3.d.1, 466.2.d.1, 340.1Core Rules: Radiance Patch Notes (Effective October 16, 2026)
Example: Cleave meets Flash
You attack a battlefield, and with focus in the combat's showdown, you play Cleave to give your attacker Assault 3, then pass priority. Your opponent responds with Flash, a Reaction, to move their only defender to base. You both pass, so Flash resolves first; you both pass again, and Cleave resolves. The chain is empty, so focus passes to your opponent. They pass, you pass, and the showdown ends. No defenders are left, so there's no combat damage, and you conquer the battlefield.
From Riftbound Core Rules
Official rulings
Riot's own words, from its rules articles.
Priority is the singular and exclusive right to take discretionary actions. Priority restricts actions for all players to one bottleneck—only the player with priority may act. Focus, however, is like a “home base.” It is an additional permission, and a tracking tool. Focus passes around to make sure everyone gets a turn to play Actions in showdowns, even as priority bounces around from player to player.
CLARIFIED: Focus does not pass at the end of the initial chain. … This is so that who gets to play first in a showdown is not reliant on whether or not there was an initial chain.
Can a cleanup happen while I’m finalizing a card or ability?
No. A cleanup cannot occur during the process of finalizing a card or ability. … Cleanups will occur after adding an item to the chain, after finalizing that item, and after that item resolves. At each point that a cleanup occurs, it will pause the FEPR process until it is complete. However, cleanups will only happen between these steps and never during a step itself.
Items cannot be placed on the chain simultaneously for any reason. If chain items would be played simultaneously, their controller chooses the order they go on the chain. If multiple players would add items to the chain simultaneously, they place their items on the chain in turn order instead, starting with the current turn player.
Core Rules: Radiance Patch Notes (Effective October 16, 2026)