Combo · ENGINE
The Warden herds every enemy unit into their base, and Vengeance is the only SINGLE-TARGET kill in the pool with neither a location clause nor any other gate (swept 2026-09-07 at merge: UNL-180 The Ruination also omits 'at a battlefield' but is a sweeper, 'Kill all units', and VEN-131 Decree of Unity omits it but gates on an enemy CHAOS unit or gear)
Pieces
- Mageseeker Warden ×1
OGN-070 · engine · calm
While I'm at a battlefield, opponents can only play units to their base. While I'm at a battlefield, spells and abilities can't ready enemy units and gear.
- Vengeance ×3
OGN-229 · payoff · order
Kill a unit.
Payoff
Deck
- Mageseeker Warden is mono-Calm and Vengeance mono-Order, so 103.1.b.1 needs a Calm/Order legend: OGN-261 / OGN-306 Radiant Dawn, SFD-197 / SFD-247 Emperor of the Sands, UNL-195 / UNL-233 Green Father, or VEN-147 / VEN-193 Eye of Twilight. Neither card is Signature.
Prerequisites
- THE SWEEP THAT MAKES THIS A PAIR AND NOT A COINCIDENCE. Every other 'kill a unit' spell in the pool prints the location: `OGN-213 Hidden Blade`, `OGS-012 Blast of Power`, `SFD-164 Drag Under` and `UNL-186 Death from Below` all say 'Kill a unit at a battlefield', and `UNL-159 Soul Harvest` adds a Might threshold on top. `OGN-229 Vengeance` says only 'Kill a unit'. The two unit-based kills that also omit the clause are `OGN-234 Harnessed Dragon` ('kill an enemy unit', E8 + 2 Power) and `SFD-158 Sandshifter` (Might 3 or less) — so Vengeance is the only SINGLE-TARGET, UNGATED kill spell with no location clause. Two more cards also omit the clause and are named here because the first sweep missed them: UNL-180 The Ruination ("Kill all units", E9 + 3 Power) reaches the base too and clears the whole pile - a real alternative to this line, not a counterexample to it - and VEN-131 Decree of Unity omits it while gating on an enemy CHAOS unit or gear.
- WHICH IS EXACTLY THE ZONE THE WARDEN CREATES. 'Opponents can only play units to their base' means every body they deploy while she stands arrives in a zone most of the format's removal cannot see. Three cards in the pool name that zone as a target at all (`SFD-077 Rocket Barrage`, `SFD-116 Yone, Blademaster`, `UNL-182 Curtain Call`), and none of them is an unconditional kill.
- THE WARDEN'S REAL DELTA IS THREE ROUTES CLOSED WITH ONE NAMED LEAK. 054.2 with 355.2.a / 355.2.b kills the 15 [Hidden] units outright, switches off the seven cards that grant a non-standard play location, and forbids reinforcing an own battlefield; the leak is the 26 [Accelerate] units, which enter ready at the base (805.1.a with 143.4.a) and can Standard-Move in the same turn.
- AND HER SECOND SENTENCE IS THE HALF PEOPLE FORGET: 'spells and abilities can't ready enemy units and gear', which is a separate lock on every readier in their deck and on every Gold token they make (187.5's ability needs an exhaust).
- VENGEANCE IS MAIN-PHASE ONLY. It carries neither [Action] nor [Reaction], so 155 bars it from a Showdown — this is a proactive answer played on your own turn into the pile the Warden has built, not a response.
- SHE HAS TO STAND AT A BATTLEFIELD FOR ANY OF IT. Both clauses open 'While I'm at a battlefield', so 323.6 taking your Control away, or her death, ends the lock at once; and a heal / exhaust / RECALL save switches it off for a turn as well (455 sends her to base), which is the same trap `counter-strike-tianna-crownguard-in-place-save` is built around.
- IT DOES NOT SCORE. What the pair buys is a board the opponent cannot deploy onto usefully and a kill that follows them into the one zone they are allowed.
Steps
- Play Mageseeker Warden (E6 + 1 Calm Power) and move her to a battlefield you control. Both of her clauses go live.
- From now on the opponent's units can only be played to their base (054.1 makes the prohibition beat every permission), and no spell or ability of theirs can ready a unit or gear.
- They accumulate bodies at the base, where most of the format's removal — every 'kill a unit at a battlefield' — cannot reach.
- In your Main Phase, play Vengeance (E4 + 2 Order Power) and kill any one of them. No Might threshold and no location clause applies.
- Repeat with the other copies; 103.2.b caps it at three, which is why the Warden's lock rather than the removal is what wins the exchange.
- Keep her alive AT the battlefield: both clauses read 'While I'm at a battlefield', and a Recall-based save (455) would switch them off for a turn.
How it ends
engine only — the opponent's deployment confined to their base for as long as the Warden stands, plus three unconditional kills that reach it (103.2.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
- Riftbound Core Rules, Last Updated 2026-07-16 (data/Riftbound-Core-Rules-2026-07-16.txt) 2026-07-16
- 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-rules-second-pass.md), issue #170 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 #170, from the Core-Rules-named sweep; OGN-229 Vengeance was in zero entries. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt, and the 'kill a unit' family was swept over the corpus (OGN-213, OGS-012, SFD-164, UNL-159, UNL-186 all print 'at a battlefield' or a Might threshold; OGN-234 and SFD-158 are units, one at E8 + 2 Power and one gated at Might 3). The content is that the Warden manufactures the one zone most removal cannot see, and Vengeance is the only single-target ungated spell that sees it, with UNL-180 The Ruination as the sweeper alternative at E9 + 3 Power. Trap check: the sweep is stated with its members so the next reader can refute it in one grep; Vengeance is stated as Main-Phase only (155); the Warden's [Accelerate] leak is named rather than hidden; and the Recall trap on her own two clauses is cited, which is the same 455 fact the Counter Strike entry stands on.
Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16