Combo · ENGINE

359.2 - a permanent is a Game Object BEFORE its own rules text runs, so the Musicians pump themselves across Mighty and Fiora readies them onto a battlefield the turn they land

4 cards · calm + order · verified

Pieces

• Field Musicians ×3 VEN-026 · engine · calm

  When you play me, give a unit +3 Might this turn.

• Fiora, Worthy ×1 SFD-180 · payoff · order

  When a unit you control becomes [Mighty], you may pay 1 Order Power to ready it. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ Might.)

Payoff

Deck

• Field Musicians is mono-Calm and Fiora, Worthy is mono-Order, so 103.1.b.1 forces a Calm/Order legend. The census against data/cards.json returns four names and eight base codes: OGN-261/OGN-306 Radiant Dawn, SFD-197/SFD-247 Emperor of the Sands, UNL-195/UNL-233 Green Father, VEN-147/VEN-193 Eye of Twilight.
• Fiora already on the board and READY is not required - her trigger costs Power, not an exhaust - but one Order Power must be available at the moment the trigger finalizes.

Run play

• the Musicians take B at six and hold it at three

Prerequisites

• 359.2 IS THE PARAGRAPH AND ALL THREE ROWS WERE UNCITED: '359.2. A Permanent leaves the Chain and becomes a Game Object.' '359.2.a. Any passive abilities become active.' '359.2.b. Execute all rules text on the card, from top to bottom.' So the body is ON THE BOARD before its own rules text runs, which is the mechanism behind the consequence 355.5.b states from the other side - 'The target will be chosen when the ability triggers.' The Musicians are therefore a legal choice for their own play trigger, and the pump can go on the card that just arrived.
• 709 MAKES IT AN EVENT AND THAT DICTATES THE AIM: 'A Unit "becomes Mighty" at the moment its Might changes from being less than 5 to being 5 or greater', with the second worked example spelling out that 'A Unit with Might 5 that gets +1 [M] does not become Mighty, because it was already Mighty.' So the +3 is wasted on anything already at 5, and the Musicians' own printed 3 is the cheapest legal crossing on the board.
• THE POINT IS ARRIVAL, NOT MIGHT, AND THE MIGHT EXPIRING COSTS NOTHING. 143.4 makes units enter the board exhausted and 144.2 with 420.3.a put the exhaust on the Standard Move, so a body played this turn normally cannot walk to a battlefield until your next Awakening (415.3.a). Fiora's ready is a REAL ready - 415.1 is marking a Game Object already on the board, which is exactly what an 'enters ready' grant is not (805.6, 805.6.a) - so for one Order Power the Musicians walk in the turn they are played. 710's own sentence then retires the Might: 'When that effect expires at the end of the turn, it will no longer be Mighty.' That is free here, because the Might was only ever transport; at your next Beginning Phase a plain 3 Might body is standing at the battlefield and 315.2.b.2 Holds it.
• WHAT THIS ADDS TO THE THIRTEEN OTHER FIORA ENTRIES: it is the only one in which a single card supplies the crossing AND is the body that walks, so nothing else on the board has to be arranged first, and the only one in which the pump expiring is not a loss. Fiora is the most partner-rich trigger card in the pool - a coverage matrix once showed her with 117 uncovered partners while she sat in thirteen entries - which this project records as a warning flag rather than a prize: the MECHANISM is catalogued many times over and what is worth a row is a partner that changes the shape.
• 702.3 NEVER ENGAGES. '+3 Might this turn' is a continuous modifier, not a 702 buff counter, so the one-buff-per-unit cap is silent and the pump stacks with a real buff. It also means no buff-spender can take it away.
• FIORA'S 'you may pay' IS A BLIND COMMITMENT, which is the honest cost of the line. 383.3.e.2.a puts the decision at FINALIZATION of her trigger and 383.3.e.2.b removes the trigger from the chain if you decline, while 204.3.a makes the Power due there too - and 312.2.c hands out no priority until every pending chain item has finished finalizing. So you commit the Order Power before the opponent has acted. 444.2.c is the relief: a Basic Rune's two abilities both carry [Reaction] (164.2), so the Power can be found at the instant of payment rather than banked.
• AIM IT ELSEWHERE WHEN THE BOARD IS BETTER. 'Give A unit' names no controller, so the +3 can go on any body under 5 Might you control - a token engine's 2 Might Sand Soldier, a 4 Might body about to fight - and 465.2.c reads current Might at assignment, so a crossing aimed at a combatant is also three more damage in that combat. The Musicians' self-pump is the floor, not the ceiling.
• IT SCORES NOTHING: the class is ENGINE. Nothing here Conquers or Holds by itself; it delivers a body to a battlefield a turn earlier than the rules otherwise allow.

Steps

1. Have Fiora, Worthy on the board and one Order Power available.
2. Play VEN-026 Field Musicians for 4 Energy. 359.2 makes them a Game Object and 359.2.b then executes their rules text, so they are standing on the board before the trigger chooses anything.
3. The play trigger finalizes and, under 355.5.b, chooses now: name the Musicians themselves, or any friendly body under 5 Might that you would rather move.
4. The trigger resolves: +3 Might this turn. A printed 3 becomes 6, which 709 makes a crossing from below 5 to 5 or more.
5. Fiora's trigger goes on the chain. Decide at ITS finalization (383.3.e.2.a) and pay one Order Power there (204.3.a), finding it with a rune at that instant if needed (444.2.c).
6. The body is readied (415.1). Spend that readiness on the Standard Move (144.2) and walk it to a battlefield.
7. At the end of the turn the +3 expires (710) and you are left with the printed body standing where you put it; 315.2.b.2 Holds the battlefield at your next Beginning Phase.

Per iteration

one body delivered to a battlefield on the turn it was played, for 4 Energy (Musicians) plus 1 Order Power (Fiora's ready)

How it ends

engine only - it scores nothing, 103.2.b caps the Musicians at three copies, and 709 refuses the crossing on any body already at 5 Might

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 2026-09-12, uncited Core Rules sub-rules 300-499, batch 11 2026-09-12 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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