Combo · ENGINE

Ember Monk and Teemo, Scout — seven Might of defence for zero Energy, and the body is in the damage step it arrived for

2 cards · chaos · verified

Pieces

• Ember Monk ×1 OGN-167 · payoff · chaos

  When you play a card from [Hidden], give me +2 Might this turn.

• Teemo, Scout ×1 OGN-197 · engine · chaos

  [Hidden] (Hide now for 1 Power of any domain to react with later for 0 Energy.) When you play me, give me +3 Might this turn.

Payoff

Deck

• Any legend with Chaos among its two domains (103.1.b.3) — 16 names: Loose Cannon (OGN-251), Unforgiven (OGN-259), Swift Scout (OGN-263), Bounty Hunter (OGN-267), Dark Child - Starter (OGS-017), Glorious Executioner (SFD-185), Blade Dancer (SFD-195), Prodigal Explorer (SFD-199), Battle Mistress (SFD-203), Bloodharbor Ripper (UNL-185), Gloomist (UNL-193), Scorn of the Moon (UNL-197), Voidreaver (UNL-201), Master of Shadows (VEN-143), Soul's Reflection (VEN-151), Heart of the Tempest (VEN-155).
• The Ember Monk standing at the battlefield you hid Teemo at — 811.1.d.1 puts Teemo there and nowhere else.
• A battlefield you control with no facedown card on it, one turn earlier (811.1.b).

Prerequisites

• SEVEN MIGHT FOR NOTHING, AND EVERY POINT OF IT ARRIVES IN THE CLOSED STATE. 811.1.b's tail gives every hidden card [Reaction] once it is face down, and 813.1.c.1 admits a [Reaction] card to 'Closed States on any player's turn'. So on the opponent's attack you play Teemo from face down for 0 Energy: his own trigger puts him at 4 (1 printed + 3), and the Ember Monk's trigger puts him at 6 (4 + 2). Seven points of Might appear in the defence for one rainbow paid on an earlier turn.
• AND TEEMO IS IN THAT DAMAGE STEP, NOT THE NEXT ONE. 464.2.c.3.a defers the designation of a unit that becomes present after the Attacker/Defender step to 'the Cleanup phase following the action that caused it to become present'; 319.6 makes a Cleanup Outstanding 'After any number of Game Objects enter or leave the Board', and 323.2.a gives units present without a designation 'the same designation as their Controller now'. The Cleanup runs before 465.2 resolves, so both bodies are counted when 465.2.b sums the defending Might.
• BOTH BONUSES ARE MODIFIERS, NOT BUFFS. '+3 [M] this turn' and '+2 [M] this turn' are continuous modifiers, so 702.3's 'There can only be one Buff on a Unit at a time' never applies and they stack with a real buff; equally, neither can be SPENT by a buff-spender (702.2.b) and neither survives the turn.
• ONE PLAY IS ONE TRIGGER, WHICH IS WHY A MULTI-BODY HIDDEN CARD IS NOT BETTER HERE. The Ember Monk pays per card played from [Hidden], not per body: UNL-081 Keeper of Masks makes three bodies on one play and still gives the Monk a single +2. Teemo is the opposite shape — a small card whose own play trigger triples its own Might — which is why he is the partner and the Keeper is not.
• The ceiling is the keyword's, not the deck's: 811.1.b allows one facedown card per battlefield you control and 485.4 puts two on a Duel table, so the Monk can be fed at most twice a turn (+4) whatever the [Hidden] density of the list.
• Teemo lands where he was hidden (811.1.d.1: 'A hidden permanent must be played to that battlefield'), so the Monk has to be standing there for the +2 to matter — the Monk's trigger fires wherever he is, but a +2 on a body at the wrong battlefield buys nothing.
• ONE ENERGY AT REACTION SPEED ANSWERS THE BODY THIS ENGINE STANDS ON (Teemo, Scout (M1 x1)). OGN-133 Flurry of Blades is Body, 1 Energy: "[Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Deal 1 to all units at battlefields." 143.2.a kills a unit whose marked damage equals or exceeds its Might and 142.4.b defines Lethal Damage as "a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that Unit's Might", so one damage is lethal to every body of Might 1 or less. RUNNING MORE COPIES IS NOT A DEFENCE: 370.1.a.2 makes events simultaneous when they "are all the result of the same Game Action", so the sweep kills every copy at once. And because it carries [Reaction], 813.1.c.1 lets it be played "during Closed States on any player's turn" - it never has to be cast a turn early the way the base-reaching removals do, and it can land in response to the very trigger this engine exists to fire. WHAT PROTECTS IT: this entry's cards are chaos, so the second domain is still free and CHOOSING IT DECIDES WHICH PROTECTION YOU GET - 103.1.b allows exactly one partner, so these are alternatives and not a list you can run together. only if the second domain is FURY: VEN-018 Rage Amplifier (gear, 'Your units have +1 Might' - the only UNCONDITIONAL board-wide one, +2 while Empowered) | only if the second domain is ORDER: OGN-243 Darius, Executioner ('Other friendly units have +1 Might HERE' - his battlefield only, and never himself); OGS-013 Garen, Commander (same clause as Darius, same limits) | only if the second domain is MIND: UNL-077 Soul Shepherd ('Your TOKEN units have +1 Might' - tokens only, nothing for a printed body); SFD-089 Rumble, Scrapper ('Your MECHS have +1 Might' - Mech tag only) | colourless, so legal whatever the second domain is: OGN-294 Trifarian War Camp (colourless battlefield, 'Units here have +1 Might') - but 485.5 makes a battlefield you bring a 1-in-3, and 103.4.c forbids two of the same name. A single-target pump is no use against a sweep that hits every body at once, which is why only permanent, board-wide sources are listed.

Steps

1. Play Ember Monk (4 Energy) and keep him at a battlefield you control.
2. On your turn, pay 1 rainbow to hide Teemo, Scout at that same battlefield (811.1.b).
3. On the opponent's turn they attack it; the Combat Showdown opens.
4. Play Teemo from face down for 0 Energy (811.1.b's [Reaction] grant, 813.1.c.1). 811.1.d.1 puts him at that battlefield.
5. His own trigger gives him +3 Might this turn (4 total); the Ember Monk's trigger gives the Monk +2 (6 total).
6. The Cleanup that follows his arrival designates him a Defender (464.2.c.3.a, 319.6, 323.2.a), and 465.2.b sums 4 + 6 into the defending assignment.

Per iteration

-1 card, -1 rainbow, +1 body at 4 Might and +2 Might on the Ember Monk, all inside the opponent's combat

How it ends

engine — +7 Might of defence and a second body for one rainbow and no Energy, at most twice a turn (811.1.b); 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

Walked here, in this project

• Hand walk 2026-09-07, issue #169 — matrix families rows 6-18, second pass 2026-09-07 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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