Riftbound, Riot’s new paper card game, has received its first patch. With gameplay that took inspiration from Magic: the Gathering and Legends of Runeterra while adding its own flair, the game was released in October and received high praise. Spiritforged, the game’s second set, just came out in China, and with it, changes to Riftbound’s core rules.
The Spiritforged patch took effect on December 12, 2025.
Riftbound is a physical trading card game, so the cards themselves cannot be retroactively changed. Errata may happen, but Riot is using them for clarity purposes rather than to re-tune a card. This way, whether one has the old or new version of a card doesn’t affect gameplay. Riot has no plans to use errata or rules updates to balance the power level of cards.
Instead, the rules changes have four goals:
| Addition from Spiritforged | Rules updates | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Attachment, Attached, and Detached | NEW SYSTEM: Attachment, Attached, and Top-Most Card State added NEW SYSTEM: Effect Text added to Parts of a Card NEW SYSTEM: Might Bonus added to Parts of a Card NEW RULE: New rules added to layers to account for attachments and might bonuses NEW RULE: Attach action added NEW RULE: Detach action added | Cards can now “attach” to other cards. The term “attach” is a verb, and is the act of one card being linked to another. Cards that attach will have a unique new frame that makes this really obvious. “Attached” is the state of being linked in such a way. “Detach” is the opposite verb, but there is no opposite state.
The special frame for cards that attach also includes a Might Bonus. That number modulates the Might of the card on top. While a card is attached, its rules text becomes inactive. |
| Inactive text | NEW SYSTEM: Inactive Rules System Added NEW RULE: Exceptions to Inactive rules added | To support the state of cards being attached, the concept of text being inactive has been defined. Inactive text is text that is ignored. By default, certain sections of the new attachment frame—the effect text and might bonus—is inactive while the card is not attached. When a card with these text sections becomes attached, then that section stops being inactive, and its rules text becomes inactive instead. While inactive text has no effect on the game, it does still exist. This means other effects can still check on it. For the full list of nuances and exceptions, check the Core Rules Document. |
| Equip | NEW RULE: Equip keyword added NEW RULE: Equipment tag referenced in various rules | Pay the Equip cost listed next to the ability, choose a unit you control, and attach the Equipment to that unit. Notably, because of the way rules text becomes inactive when you attach these cards to a unit, you can’t use an Equip ability if it’s already attached to something. On the bright side, if the unit carrying it is killed or otherwise leaves the board, you keep the gear! |
| Quick-Draw | NEW RULE: Quick-Draw keyword added NEW RULE: Quick-Draw contains Reaction | Some Equipment have a new keyword on them in addition to Equip. The new Quick-Draw keyword lets you play (and consequently attach) Equipment straight from your hand at Reaction speed. That is because Quick-Draw cards inherently have Reaction as a nested part of Quick-Draw. In addition to granting Reaction, this keyword is also a Play Effect that attaches the played Equipment directly to a unit you control—no need to pay the Equip cost. This time. Quick-Draw doesn’t, however, change when you can use an Equipment’s Equip ability, only when you can play it from your hand. |
| Weaponmaster | NEW RULE: Weaponmaster keyword added NEW RULE: Exceptions and clarifications added to Inactive | Some units have a new keyword called Weaponmaster. This is a Play Effect that will choose an Equipment you control, and then let you pay that Equipment’s E quip cost, reduced by [A], to attach it to the Unit with Weaponmaster. The coolest part? It can even choose Equipment that’s already attached to a different unit! Remember, inactive text like Equip costs can still be referenced by other effects. Weaponmaster can check on that cost and reference it to determine the cost you need to pay. |
| Repeat | NEW RULE: Repeat as a keyword added | A spell mechanic that lets you get the effect of your spell a second time! Repeat is an optional additional cost that, when paid, will let you execute the effect of the spell one additional time. You can only pay this cost once, and this still only counts as playing the spell once. |
Image credit: Riot Games
| Change from Spiritforged | Rules updates | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Control of Abilities | NEW RULE: Control of abilities on the chain is independent of the objects from which they originate | Added a rule to clarify the unlikely situation where control of an object changes while an ability originating from that object is on the chain. Control of the ability will not change along with its originating object. |
| Priority and Focus | CLARIFIED: Priority is the singular exclusive right to take discretionary actions during a closed state NEW RULE: Granting priority to a player either creates priority or removes it from a player that has it NEW RULE: Having focus without priority does not grant the right to take discretionary actions | 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. There is no situation where more than one player can contest having authority to do something at the same time. |
| Deathknell | NEW RULE: New rules added to Cleanups to support Deathknell NEW RULE: New rules added to Kill action to support Deathknell NEW RULE: New rules added to Deathknell to support remembering state and information about the game object with Deathknell after it dies | Deathknell was clarified in some spaces, and additional steps in others were added explicitly to capture the intent of Deathknell. Specifically there are new steps in Cleanups, Kill Instructions, and in the Deathknell keyword itself to support this. |
| Cleanups | CLARIFIED: Removal of Contested status is not a part of the Special Cleanup at the end of combat NEW RULE: Added rule for ceasing showdowns being staged NEW RULE: Added rule for ceasing combat being staged CLARIFIED: Various improvements and adjustments across cleanups and special cleanups | Fixed a formatting and numbering error that made removing Contested status appear to be a part of the end-of-combat special cleanup. It’s not! We have also added rules to clarify when showdowns and combat are staged as well as when they cease to be staged. |
| Playing Units to Valid Locations | NEW RULE: By default, a player can play a unit to their base or to a battlefield they control NEW RULE: Specific cards may restrict or expand the list of valid locations | As of the previous update, the rules specified that units could be played to any “valid location,” but neglected to spell out which locations are valid. We’ve now fixed that, with both a default and an allowance for exceptions. |
| Double and Swap | NEW RULE: Double added to the list of game actions NEW RULE: Swap added to the list of game actions | Double and Swap are added to the list of game actions. |
| Miscellaneous | CLARIFIED: Various housekeeping and updates to language across the document, including adjusting or removing examples that are no longer accurate |
The Spiritforged set will come out on the 13th of February 2026 in the West! In the meantime, find what the Riftbound Origins meta is all about.
Featured Image Source: Riot Games
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