Combo · ENGINE

The word 'instead' is what stops a Level ladder stacking - and Grim Resolve is the fastest XP in the domain

6 cards · body · verified

Pieces

• Concentrate ×3 UNL-091 · payoff · body

  Draw 2. [Level 6][>] This costs 2 Energy less. (While you have 6+ XP, get the effect.) [Level 11][>] This costs 4 Energy less instead.

• Grim Resolve ×3 UNL-095 · engine · body

  [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Give a friendly unit +3 Might this turn. When it wins a combat this turn, gain 2 XP.

Payoff

Deck

• Both cards are mono-Body, so 103.1.b.3 admits any legend with Body in its pair: SFD-203/SFD-250 Battle Mistress, OGN-257/OGN-304 Blind Monk, OGN-267/OGN-309 Bounty Hunter, VEN-141/VEN-190 Butcher of the Sands, VEN-149/VEN-194 Defender of Tomorrow, SFD-205/SFD-251 Grand Duelist, SFD-193/SFD-245 Grandmaster at Arms, UNL-203/UNL-237 Keeper of the Hammer, VEN-153/VEN-196 Matriarch of War, OGS-023 Might of Demacia - Starter, UNL-183/UNL-227 Pridestalker, SFD-183/SFD-241 Purifier, OGN-249/OGN-300 Relentless Storm, OGN-269/OGN-310 The Boss, UNL-201/UNL-236 Voidreaver, OGS-019 Wuju Bladesman - Starter, UNL-191/UNL-231 Wuju Master.
• Neither card is banned or restricted in either format, and neither is a Signature card.
• A deck that never SPENDS XP. 824.1.d switches both rungs off the moment the counter drops below the threshold.

Prerequisites

• 'INSTEAD' IS THE WHOLE PRICE OF THE SECOND RUNG. Concentrate prints '[Level 6] This costs 2 less' and '[Level 11] This costs 4 less INSTEAD' - so at 11 XP the discount is 4, not 6. 356.4.b covers a card that 'costs [amount] less' and 356.6 floors it ('Energy and Power costs can't be reduced below 0'), so the ladder is 5 Energy, then 3, then 1. Five more XP for two more Energy is the honest trade, and it is worth stating because a reader adding the rungs would price the top of the ladder at 0.
• 824.1.d IS WHY THE COUNTER HAS TO BE BANKED. 'The Dependent Ability will be Inactive as soon as the controlling player has less than [N] XP', with 730.2 ('To Spend XP, reduce the value of XP marked on the Player spending it'). So a list running this ladder cannot also run an XP sink - the same fork this project recorded on bandle-soldier-enthralling-protector-xp-floor (issue #180), and the exact opposite of wily-newtfish-gemhand-hunter-xp-turn from batch 1 of this walk, whose clause reads a turn rather than a threshold and does not care.
• WHY GRIM RESOLVE IS THE FAUCET AND NOT A COMBAT TRICK. 2 XP is double what any [Hunt] card in the domain pays, and the +3 Might is the thing that MAKES the combat win: 465.2.c reads Might at assignment, and its [Action] permission (806.1.c.1) means it is bought inside the combat once both sides' summed Might is known. Three copies (103.2.b) are 6 XP if all three combats are won.
• AND 'WINS A COMBAT' IS STRICTER THAN IT SOUNDS. 466.3.a: 'A Player has won a combat if they received either the attacker or defender designation and are the only Player that has units remaining at this battlefield during this step', 466.3.c passes the result to their units, and 466.3.d makes it 'No Result' if units were recalled in step 3d or if both players still have units present. Since 466.1.a.2 recalls surviving Attackers when Defenders remain, an attack that trades without clearing the garrison pays NO XP. The same paragraph governs nidalee-towering-combatant-ambush-draw in this walk, and both entries state it.
• THE LADDER, PRICED. 11 XP at 2 per won combat is six won combats, or fewer with the domain's other faucets (UNL-092 Demacian Diplomat, 1 XP on play; UNL-094 Gemhand Hunter, 1 XP per Hold). Until then the card is a 5-Energy Draw 2 and the deck is paying for a payoff it has not reached - which is why the entry is an ENGINE with its threshold named and not a plan.
• WHAT IT IS NOT. Nothing here scores. 469 defines Scoring as Conquer or Hold, and neither card touches either; the XP is spent on nothing in this entry by design, because spending it is what switches the payoff off.

Bodies no card supplies

Play Grim Resolve (2 Energy) inside a combat you intend to win, under its [Action] permission (806.1.c.1), giving a friendly unit +3 Might

Steps

1. Play Grim Resolve (2 Energy) inside a combat you intend to win, under its [Action] permission (806.1.c.1), giving a friendly unit +3 Might.
2. Win the combat outright - 466.3.a needs you to be the ONLY player with units remaining there - and gain 2 XP.
3. Repeat with the second and third copies (103.2.b), and add UNL-092 Demacian Diplomat or UNL-094 Gemhand Hunter for 1 XP each if the ladder is slow.
4. At 6 XP, Concentrate costs 3 Energy for Draw 2 (824.1.d keeps the Dependent Ability Active while the counter holds).
5. At 11 XP it costs 1 - four less, not six, because the second rung says 'instead'.
6. Never spend the XP: 730.2 reduces the counter and 824.1.d switches both rungs off the moment it drops below the threshold.

Per iteration

2 XP per combat won outright, and Draw 2 for 3 Energy at 6 XP or 1 Energy at 11

How it ends

engine only - three of each card by 103.2.b, a ceiling of 1 Energy for Draw 2, and the whole ladder goes dark the moment anything spends the XP (824.1.d + 730.2); nothing here scores

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-body.md, batch 2) 2026-09-07 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

Match a deck list against the whole catalogue