Combo · ENGINE
187.4 gives a Mech token its tag by rule, so the first token pays for the second spell
Pieces
- Iterative Design ×3
VEN-051 · engine · mind
Play a 3 Might Mech unit token. [Flow] 2 Energy + 1 Mind Power (You may play this from your trash for its Flow cost. Then banish it.)
- Production Surge ×3
SFD-076 · payoff · mind
This costs 2 Energy less if you control a Mech. Play a 3 Might Mech unit token to your base. Draw 1.
Payoff
Deck
- Both cards are mono-Mind, so 103.1.b.3 admits any legend with Mind in its pair.
- Neither card is banned or restricted in either format, and neither is a Signature card.
- A Mech on the board when Production Surge is played, for the discount. The first Iterative Design supplies it. CORRECTED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): any Mech unit supplies it, not only a token. Production Surge reads "This costs :rb_energy_2: less if you control a Mech.", and 187.4 gives the token the tag but the discount does not ask for a token. VEN-058 Patched Porobot (Mind unit, E2, M2, "(I enter exhausted.) When you play me, if you control 3 or more other gear, draw 1.", tags Mech, Poro, Piltover) on T1 brings the first Production Surge to T2 at 2 Energy + 1 Power, which the steps' order (Iterative Design first, 4 Energy) cannot reach before T3. Walked going first under SFD-181 Mechanized Menace against a Mind/Order Lux deck: the Surge-first line ended 4 to 3 after their T4, the entry's order 3 to 3.
Run play
Prerequisites
- THE TAG COMES BY RULE, NOT FROM ANY CARD. 187.4: 'A 3 [M] Mech token is a domainless unit token with 3 Might and the Mech tag', and 185.2.d puts a token inside the rules for its type. So the token Iterative Design makes satisfies Production Surge's 'if you control a Mech' with nothing else on the board - and 203.1 with 356.4.b price the spell as it is played, so a token minted earlier the same turn already counts.
- AND THE TWO SPELLS DO NOT PUT THEIR TOKENS IN THE SAME PLACE. Production Surge says 'to your base'; Iterative Design names no destination at all, which 355.2.a resolves as 'the controller's Base or a Battlefield the controller controls'. That is the difference between a body that has to walk (144.4, paying 144.2's exhaust, and 143.4 enters it exhausted so the walk is next turn) and one that arrives where you need it. Spend the cheap spell on the base and the flexible one on the battlefield, not the other way round. CORRECTED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): the advice is not supported by a walk, and the 355.2.a reading is not a property of this spell. 355.2.a ("By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls.") is the default for every played unit; the outlier is Production Surge's "to your base", which 184.2 authorises ("The effect may restrict the location to which the token may be played."). A token played to a battlefield you control can only defend what you already hold. Walked with Iterative Design's token on your own battlefield A, that line lost, 3 to 3 against 4 to 3: the T3 Conquer of their battlefield B needed two bodies ready in base, Production Surge's base token from T2 was one of them, and the token on A was a defender nothing attacked. That walk also differs from the main line in order and spend, so the destination is not isolated; Iterative Design on T2 with its token to base was not walked.
- [FLOW] IS SIX PLAYS AND NOT AN ENGINE. 829.1.b: 'You may play this from your trash for its flow cost. Then banish it', with 829.1.b.1 making the banish a delayed replacement and 108.6.c keeping it gone. Three Iterative Designs are SIX Mechs, and the replay is 2 Energy + 1 Mind Power - cheaper than the first cast, which is unusual for the keyword.
- THE LEDGER, WITH THE QUANTITIES DECLARED. First Iterative Design 4 Energy for a 3 Might body. Every Production Surge afterwards is 2 Energy + 1 Power for a second 3 Might body AND a card. Each Iterative Design replays from the trash for 2 Energy + 1 Mind Power. Six Mechs from three copies, three more from three Surges, and three cards. CORRECTED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): the "+ 1 Power" is a rune. 164.2.b: "Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]." The recycled rune leaves the board, so every Production Surge and every [Flow] play costs a rune from every later turn. Going first the curve is 2, 4, 6 and 8 runes on T1 to T4; at one Power a turn from T2 it is 2, 4, 5 and 6, and in the walk the two cards the Surges drew were ones those 6 runes could not cast. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#452): every later turn until the Rune Deck runs dry, not for good. 416.1.b: 'Runes are Recycled to the Rune Deck.' 430.1 channels it again when the deck reaches it, which with a rune recycled is T7 at the earliest going first with only the Channel Phase's two a turn (161.2.a, 315.3.b); each two more runes recycled push it a turn later, and a card that channels more (430.2) brings it back sooner. The T1 to T4 curve above stands.
- AND THE TOKENS ARE ALSO A GEAR-COUNT DECK'S BODIES, NOT ITS GEAR. 187.4 makes them UNIT tokens - the Gold of 187.5 is the gear one - so this engine feeds a body payoff and not the 'control N or more gear' thresholds that plundering-poro-patched-porobot-gold-gear-count is built on. The two Mind token engines are different resources and a deck can want both.
- WHAT IT IS NOT. Nothing here scores; 469 defines Scoring as Conquer or Hold. And 143.4 enters every token exhausted, so none of them moves on the turn it is made unless SFD-171 Renata Glasc, Industrialist is out (R25 = A), which is mono-Order and needs a Mind/Order legend. CORRECTED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): the Renata clause is wrong. SFD-062 Bubble Bot (Mind unit, E3, M3, "When you play me, ready another friendly Mech.", tags Mech, Yordle, Bandle City) readies a token played the same turn inside the entry's own identity (415.1: "Readying is an action that marks a non-spell Game Object on the board as available for action."), and a ready token can pay the Standard Move. In the walk that ready was the T3 Conquer. Bubble Bot is a counterexample, not a census of Mind readiers.
- NO ANSWER WAS NAMED - ADDED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md). These are from the walked Mind/Order Lux census, not every deck's answers. The two 3s survive every open one-rune answer that deck casts, because each changes one body's Might by 1 or 2 and the attack is a sum (465.2.c: "Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units."). A card hidden at the battlefield the tokens attack stops it, for one recycled rune and no Energy (811.1.b: "While this card is in your hand or in your Champion Zone on your turn during an Open State, you may pay [A] to hide this facedown at a battlefield you control that doesn't already have a facedown card hidden there for as long as you control that battlefield. Beginning on the next turn, this gains [Reaction] and you may play this, ignoring its base cost."; 811.1.d.3: "If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent causes you to play a unit, you must choose to play that unit at that battlefield."). The best is VEN-117 Disciple of Shen (Order unit, E2, M1, "[Hidden] (Hide now for :rb_rune_rainbow: to react with later for :rb_energy_0:.) I have [Shield 3] while I'm at a battlefield with exactly one other unit you control. (+3 :rb_might: while I'm a defender.)"): beside one 3-Might defender (UNL-154 Crimson Pigeons in the walk) it defends at 1 + 3 = 4, so the defense is 7 against your 6: their 7 kill both tokens, your 6 kill one of the two, the Disciple or the defender (you assign your damage, and 465.2.c.3 only asks that one body get its lethal in full before the next), and the battlefield stays theirs. VEN-066 Temporal Breach (Mind spell, E2 P1, "[Hidden] (Hide now for :rb_rune_rainbow: to react with later for :rb_energy_0:.) Banish a unit, then its owner plays it to the same location, ignoring its cost.") is removal on a token, because a banished token does not come back (186.1: "If a token is put into any Non-Board Zone besides the chain, it ceases to exist immediately after moving to its new zone."). The play names five more hidden cards that stop the Conquer: OGN-097 Blastcone Fae, OGN-094 Sprite Call, UNL-081 Keeper of Masks, OGN-213 Hidden Blade and SFD-070 Wages of Pain.
Steps
- Play Iterative Design (4 Energy). It names no destination, so 355.2.a lets the 3 Might Mech token appear at your base or at a battlefield you control.
- You now control a Mech (187.4 gives the token the tag by rule), so Production Surge costs 2 Energy + 1 Power instead of 4 + 1.
- Play it for a second 3 Might Mech at your base and draw 1. 203.1 and 356.4.b price it as it is played, so the token from step 1 already counts.
- Later, replay Iterative Design from the trash for its [Flow] cost of 2 Energy + 1 Mind Power; 829.1.b banishes it afterwards.
- Repeat with the other copies: three Iterative Designs are six Mechs, and every Production Surge after the first Mech is discounted.
Per iteration
one 3 Might Mech token per spell, and a card with every Production Surge, at 2 Energy + 1 Power once the first Mech is out
How it ends
engine only - six Iterative Design plays and three Production Surges by 103.2.b with [Flow]; nothing here scores and every token enters exhausted CORRECTED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): true of the cards, but the walked line's points come from what the tokens take. Two 3-Might attackers survive every open one-rune answer a Mind/Order deck casts, which a 3 and a 2 do not; against an opponent who stacks their own battlefield, every walked line is 3 to 3.
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 6) 2026-09-07 record
- Run play 2026-10-23, issue #416 2026-10-23 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 #188). The first entry to use VEN-051 Iterative Design or SFD-076 Production Surge. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt. Citations opened and quoted: 103.1.b.3, 103.2.b, 108.6.c, 143.4, 144.2, 144.4, 185.2.d, 187.4, 187.5, 203.1, 355.2.a, 356.4.b, 469, 829.1.b, 829.1.b.1. The destination difference is the entry's practical content: one spell prints 'to your base' and the other prints nothing, which 355.2.a resolves in the controller's favour - a distinction that decides which token can be used this turn. Ban check: neither card is banned or restricted; neither is a Signature card. No unruled reading. REVISED 2026-10-23 (#428, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-23-the-surge-goes-first-off-a-two-drop-mech-and-its-base-token-is-the-one-that-takes-b.md): the play's leads are applied as dated notes. The entry stays verified: the play found it right about the rules (the tag by rule, the discount, [Flow]). It does not claim to score, and on the walked board it did not outscore its control: plain Mechs in the three engine slots also ended 4 to 3, a rune richer, and what the engine bought was the attackers' size. The corrections are to which Mech turns the discount on first, an unwalked destination rule, the Renata-only claim, the rune each Power costs, and the answers. Citations added: 164.2.b, 184.2, 186.1, 415.1, 465.2.c, 811.1.b, 811.1.d.3. No unruled reading.
Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16