Combo · ENGINE
Heisho is one of only two cards in the pool that ignore [Deflect], and the only one that does it for every spell and ability, repeatedly
Pieces
- Heisho, Shell of the World ×1
VEN-158 · battlefield
Players ignore [Deflect] while paying for spells and abilities choosing something here.
- Challenge ×3
OGN-128 · payoff · body
[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Choose a friendly unit and an enemy unit. They deal damage equal to their Mights to each other.
Payoff
Deck
- Challenge is mono-Body and Heisho is Colorless, 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, UNL-191/UNL-231 Wuju Master, OGS-019 Wuju Bladesman - Starter (restricted in 2v2).
Prerequisites
- WHAT THE TAX ACTUALLY IS, SO THE SAVING CAN BE PRICED. 809.1.c: Deflect is functionally 'Spells and abilities an opponent controls that target me cost an amount of Power equal to [Deflect Value] more to play as an additional cost FOR EACH TIME they choose me', and 809.1.c.1 lets that Power be any Domain. So the cost scales with the number of choices, not with the number of spells — which is why a two-choice spell like Challenge is the right measure. The pool's largest is [Deflect 2] (VEN-046 Nasus, Ascended and SFD-085 Ornn, Forge God), so a single choice can cost 2 Power.
- AND THE WORST CASE IT ANSWERS IS A BLANKET GRANT. SFD-104 Petricite Monument (Body gear, E2) reads 'Friendly units have [Deflect]' — every enemy body on the board taxed at once. Heisho switches that off for anything standing at this battlefield.
- 355.10.d IS THE OTHER HALF OF THE PICTURE AND IT IS WHY THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER: a Game Object 'programmatically selected based on its characteristics rather than chosen' is not a target, so a mass effect never pays the Deflect tax in the first place and gains nothing from Heisho. The project's own worked contrast is Stare Down (free) against Public Execution (pays). Heisho is for the choosing half of your removal.
- IT IS SYMMETRIC AND IT COSTS YOU YOUR OWN PROTECTION THERE. 'PLAYERS ignore [Deflect]' — so your [Deflect] bodies standing at this battlefield are equally naked, which makes Heisho actively wrong beside a Deflect package: UNL-044 Flurry of Feathers' four [Deflect] Birds, SFD-102 Hexdrinker, SFD-054 Jax, Unmatched and SFD-104 Petricite Monument all want the opposite battlefield.
- HEISHO IS NOT GUARANTEED TO BE ON THE TABLE: 485.4.a, 485.5, 486.5 and 103.4.c as for every battlefield entry.
Bodies no card supplies
Play Challenge (E2 + 1 Body Power) choosing one of your units and one enemy unit standing at Heisho
Steps
- Bring Heisho, Shell of the World as one of your three battlefields, in a deck whose own units do not rely on [Deflect]. It needs no Control: there is no 'you' in its text.
- Let the fight happen at Heisho — either the opponent garrisons it, or you attack into it after they take it.
- Play Challenge (E2 + 1 Body Power) choosing one of your units and one enemy unit standing at Heisho. Because the enemy unit is here, 809.1.c's additional Power cost is not paid, however large its Deflect Value.
- The two units deal damage equal to their Mights to each other. 143.2.a kills on nonzero damage equalling or exceeding Might, and 143.3.b.1 heals whatever survives at the end of the turn.
- Repeat with the other two copies; the discount applies to every spell and every ability that chooses something at this battlefield, not only to this one.
Per iteration
up to 2 rainbow Power saved per choice made at this battlefield — the whole Deflect tax, for the rest of the game
How it ends
engine only — an unbounded waiver of the Deflect tax at one battlefield; it scores nothing, and the named payoff is capped at three castings by 103.2.b
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 (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-07-uncatalogued-cards.md), issue #171 2026-09-07 record
How this entry was audited
REFUTE = a refutation pass, with its date and verdict · WOUNDED = the pass found a flaw and the entry was rewritten · BUDGETED = the pass checked the recycle-and-draw ledger · lens = the hunt that proposed it.
HAND-WALKED 2026-09-07, issue #171 — the first entry to use VEN-158 or OGN-128. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt. The uniqueness claim names both members (VEN-061 and VEN-158) so the next grep refutes it in one command, per the #175 correction. Trap check: 355.10.d is cited so the entry does not overclaim — half the removal in the pool never pays the tax at all; the symmetry is stated together with the four specific cards it makes this battlefield wrong for, rather than as a general caveat; 809.1.c.1 is cited so the tax is not assumed to be domain-matched; exactly one battlefield is named, so 485.4.a is respected.
Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16