Combo · ENGINE

820.2.a lets the repeated execution pick a DIFFERENT unit - which is the whole difference between +4 on one body and +2 on two

6 cards · calm · verified

Pieces

• Feral Strength ×3 SFD-034 · payoff · calm

  [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) [Repeat] 2 Energy (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.) Give a unit +2 Might this turn.

• Combat Experience ×3 UNL-031 · engine · calm

  [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Give a unit +1 Might this turn. [Level 6][>] Give it +3 Might this turn instead. (While you have 6+ XP, get the effect.)

Payoff

Deck

• Both cards are mono-Calm, so 103.1.b.3 admits any legend with Calm in its pair.
• Neither card is banned or restricted in either format, and neither is a Signature card.
• For Combat Experience's rung, 6 XP banked and never spent (824.1.d with 730.2). Feral Strength has no threshold at all. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md): no source of XP is named. 823.1.c.1: 'Hunt is functionally short for: “When I Conquer or Hold, my controller gains X XP.”', so in a [Hunt] deck every XP is a body that conquered or held, and the bodies the opponent's attacks kill are the ones that would have paid it. Walked going first under UNL-191 Wuju Master with XP only from [Hunt], both pump lists had 4 XP or less after their T4; the control, which lost no body on their T2, reached 8, past six, on its T4 Hold, and the main line, which lost one, reaches 6 only on its T5 Hold.

Run play

• Feral Strength's +2 saves the T2 pair, the Repeat never changes a count, and Combat Experience stays a +1

Prerequisites

• 820.2.a IS THE PARAGRAPH THAT SEPARATES THEM. 'Choices made for the additional execution do not have to be the same as the choices made for the initial execution' - Riot's worked example is Rocket Barrage, and it spells out that a repeated execution may pick a different mode and a different target. So a repeated Feral Strength is +2 on one body and +2 on ANOTHER, which no single-target pump in the domain can do. 820.1.d.1 is the mechanism ('the effect ... will be performed an additional time') and 820.1.c.1 makes the Repeat cost an Additional Cost paid during the steps of playing the spell.
• AND THE REPEAT IS EXACTLY ONE EXTRA EXECUTION. 820.1.b: 'Repeat is an optional cost that a player may pay to execute the effect of their spells and abilities a second time', with 820.1.c.3: 'Each Repeat Cost can be paid only a single time.' 820.1.c.2 is the case that does not apply here - a card with more than one instance of Repeat gets one extra execution per instance, and Feral Strength prints one. So 4 Energy is the ceiling and there is no third +2. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md): true of the card alone. UNL-216 The Academy ('When you hold here, give your next spell this turn [Repeat] equal to its base cost. (You may pay the additional cost to repeat the spell's effect.)') gives Feral Strength a second instance, [Repeat] 2. 820.1.c.2: 'If a spell or ability has more than one instance of Repeat, each Cost may be paid or not paid individually.', and 820.3: 'Multiple instances of Repeat can be paid for separately. The spell or ability’s instructions will be executed an additional time on resolution for each instance of Repeat that is paid for.' So on the turn you hold it (315.2.b.2, your Beginning Phase), if Feral Strength is your next spell it is three +2s for six Energy. SFD-211 Marai Spire ('While you control this battlefield, friendly [Repeat] costs cost :rb_energy_1: less.') makes the repeated cast three Energy. Each is a battlefield, and 485.4.a uses one of a player's three: 'Each player provides three (3) Battlefields, included in their deck during deck building. Only 1 will be used, chosen during setup.'
• THE OTHER CARD'S RUNG REPLACES RATHER THAN ADDS, WHICH IS THE OTHER HALF OF THE COMPARISON. Combat Experience's '[Level 6] Give it +3 :rb_might: this turn INSTEAD' means the ladder is +1, then +3 - never +4 - the same 'instead' this catalogue found on UNL-091 Concentrate's discount. And 824.1.d re-evaluates it continuously, so a copy drawn at 0 XP is not spoiled; it simply gives +1 until the counter reaches six.
• SO THE CHOICE IS SHAPE, NOT SIZE. At six XP: 1 Energy for +3 on one body, or 4 Energy for +2 on each of two. 465.2.c assigns damage equal to each side's SUMMED Might, so for raw output the cheap card wins outright; the expensive one wins when the extra Might has to be in two places - keeping two bodies above a lethal threshold under 465.2.c.3, which forces lethal onto one unit in full before any damage goes elsewhere. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md): only at six XP. Below it, which in the walk was every turn of every list through their T4, the choice is +1 for one Energy against +2 for two, and the walk's fight was decided by that size: against the Saboteur made a 5 by OGN-016 Dangerous Duo, Feral Strength's single +2 kept one body and the battlefield, 2 to 1 after their T3, and Combat Experience's +1 lost both bodies, 1 to 2.
• BOTH ARE [REACTION], WHICH IS THE PROPERTY THAT MAKES EITHER WORTH A SLOT. 813.1.c.1: 'This can be played during Closed States on any player's turn' - so both are bought after 464.2.c.3 has designated the attackers and 465.2.c has fixed the sums, which is exactly when a Might pump is worth its cost. A Main Phase pump has to guess.
• NEITHER IS A BUFF. Both are '+N Might this turn' modifiers rather than 702 counters, so 702.3's one-per-unit cap is silent and they stack with each other and with a real buff.
• WHAT IT IS NOT. Nothing here scores; 469 defines Scoring as Conquer or Hold.
• WHEN THE SECOND +2 IS OPEN, GOING FIRST - ADDED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md). Behind a pair of 2-cost bodies the Repeat's four Energy are open no earlier than their T3. Only the identity's two E1 units, UNL-111 Determined Sentry (Body, M1) and VEN-043 Steel Paws (Calm, M0), the only Calm or Body units at E1, open it on their T2, with both walked to a battlefield and four runes up. And it changes how many die only in narrow windows, because 465.2.c.3 reads 'Units must have lethal damage assigned to them in full before damage is assigned to a different Unit.': against two 2s, +2 on one makes a 4 and a 2 and +2 on each two 4s, so the count differs only at a summed attack of 2 to 3 or 6 to 7; against two 1-Might Sentries the windows are 1 to 2 and 4 to 5, which is where the walk's 5 falls.
• NO ANSWER WAS NAMED - ADDED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md). These are from the walked Fury/Chaos Draven census, not every deck's answers. Feral Strength's cheapest answers are one rune each: OGN-004 Cleave ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Give a unit [Assault 3] this turn. (+3 :rb_might: while it's an attacker.)'), SFD-003 Blood Rush ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) [Repeat] :rb_energy_1: (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.) Give a unit [Assault 2] this turn. (+2 :rb_might: while it's an attacker.)') and UNL-010 Vault Breaker ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Give a unit [Assault 2] and [Ganking] this turn. (+2 :rb_might: while it's an attacker. It can move from battlefield to battlefield.)'), played before the attack as the card that turns on OGN-016 Dangerous Duo's '[Legion] — When you play me, give a unit +2 :rb_might: this turn. (Get the effect if you've played another card this turn.)', so the attacker is seen too big before you cast anything; and VEN-015 Decree of Rage ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) This can't be countered. Deal 4 to an enemy Calm (:rb_rune_calm:) unit.') on a Calm 2, which +2 makes a 4 and 4 still kills (142.4.b). OGN-009 Hextech Ray and UNL-014 Monster Harpoon, cast before the attack, leave the battlefield empty instead: answered by Feral Strength the damage stays marked until the combat's cleanup (143.3.b.2: 'During a Combat Cleanup.'), and the Duo's 5 kill both bodies.

Steps

1. Hold both. Their [Reaction] permission (813.1.c.1) means neither is committed until the attackers are designated and both sides' summed Might is known.
2. If one body needs to survive, play Combat Experience (1 Energy) - +1, or +3 at six XP, which 824.1.d keeps Active while the counter holds.
3. If TWO bodies need to survive, play Feral Strength (2 Energy) and pay its [Repeat] for 2 more: 820.1.d.1 executes the effect twice and 820.2.a lets the second +2 go on a different unit.
4. Do not expect a third execution: 820.1.c.3 allows each Repeat cost to be paid once, and the card prints one instance. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md): true of the card alone. A spell with a second [Repeat] instance executes once more for each instance paid (820.3), and UNL-216 The Academy gives Feral Strength one on the turn you hold it: three +2s for six Energy (see the notable).
5. Remember which way 465.2.c.3 works - lethal is assigned to one body in full before any goes elsewhere, so spreading Might is what stops a second body dying.

Per iteration

+3 on one body for 1 Energy, or +2 on each of two for 4, both bought after the attack is declared

How it ends

engine only - three of each by 103.2.b, one extra execution per Feral Strength (820.1.c.3), and Combat Experience's rung is dark below six XP; nothing here scores CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#448, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-feral-strengths-plus-two-saves-the-turn-two-pair-the-repeat-never-changes-a-count-and-combat-experience-stays-a-plus-one.md): the card alone; on a turn you hold UNL-216 The Academy it gets a second extra execution (820.3). Walked going first under UNL-191 Wuju Master against a Fury/Chaos Draven deck, Feral Strength gave 2 to 1 after their T3 and 3 to 2 after their T4, Combat Experience 1 to 2 after their T3 and a third Gemhand Hunter in the slot 2 to 2 after their T3; the Repeat was never paid, and Combat Experience's rung stayed dark in both pump lists through their T4.

Sources

Published elsewhere

• Riftbound Core Rules, Last Updated 2026-07-16 (data/Riftbound-Core-Rules-2026-07-16.txt) 2026-07-16
• Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt (built from Riot's gallery content API) 2026-09-07

Walked here, in this project

• Hand walk 2026-09-07 (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-07-uncatalogued-calm-mind-order.md, batch 10) 2026-09-07 record
• Run play 2026-10-23, issue #440 2026-10-23 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

Match a deck list against the whole catalogue