Combo · ENGINE

727.1.c.2 - a Dependent Keyword's passive begins applying the instant the Condition becomes true, so two [Hunt 2] bodies switch each other on inside the Scoring Step

6 cards · calm + mind · verified

Pieces

• Mosstomper ×3 UNL-047 · engine · calm

  [Hunt 2] (When I conquer or hold, gain 2 XP.) [Level 3][>] I have +1 Might and [Deflect]. (While you have 3+ XP, get the effect. Opponents must pay 1 Power of any domain to choose a [Deflect] unit with a spell or ability.)

• Gustwalker ×3 UNL-075 · engine · mind

  [Hunt 2] (When I conquer or hold, gain 2 XP.) [Level 3][>] I have +1 Might and [Ganking]. (While you have 3+ XP, get the effect. A [Ganking] unit can move from battlefield to battlefield.)

Payoff

Deck

• Mosstomper is mono-Calm and Gustwalker mono-Mind, so 103.1.b.1 needs a Calm/Mind legend and the census gives four names: Nine-Tailed Fox (OGN-255), Fire Below the Mountain (SFD-189), Bashful Bloom (UNL-189), Curator of the Sands (VEN-145).
• Neither card is Signature (checked against data/cards.json) and neither appears in data/legality.json in either format.
• A deck that SPENDS no XP. 730.2 and 824.1.d make a [Level N] rung a threshold you hold, not a price you pay, so a single XP sink switches both bodies back off.

Prerequisites

• 727.1.c.2 WAS UNCITED AND IT IS THE TIMING THE PAIR RUNS ON: 'Passive Abilities begin applying at the same time the Dependent Keyword becomes true.' 823.1.c.1 pays [Hunt] XP on the Conquer or the Hold, and 315.2.b.2 Holds every battlefield you control, so two [Hunt 2] bodies standing at one held battlefield hand you 4 XP inside the Scoring Step - and both [Level 3] passives begin applying AT THAT INSTANT, not on the following turn. 727.1.b.2 states the steady case: 'The Dependent Ability is Active exactly as written while the Condition is true.'
• WHAT THAT INSTANT IS ACTUALLY WORTH, AND IT IS NOT THE MIGHT. The Hold happens in your own Beginning Phase, so +1 Might buys nothing there. What lands in time is Mosstomper's [Deflect]: the Hold trigger puts a Chain Item up, 312.2.c hands out priority in the resulting Closed State and 813.1.c.1 admits a [Reaction] card, so an opponent answering your Scoring Step meets a body that acquired 809.1.c's tax between their decision and their payment. 809.1.b.3 values that bare [Deflect] at 1.
• THE OTHER HALF IS A MAIN-PHASE KEYWORD AND ARRIVES A PHASE EARLY. Gustwalker's [Ganking] is 810.1.b - permission to move battlefield to battlefield - and 810.1.c.3 is the standing warning that it 'does not give additional abilities or activations of Movement, only new options for the Standard Move'. Switched on at 315.2.b.2, it is live by the time 316 opens, which is the only phase it can be used in (144.1.b).
• TWO BODIES, ONE THRESHOLD, AND THAT IS THE WHOLE TRICK. Each is [Hunt 2] and the rung is [Level 3], so ONE Hold with both on the board crosses it, where either alone needs two Holds. 485.4 puts two battlefields on a Duel table and 315.2.b.2 Holds each of them, so a split board is 4 XP a turn from one pair and 8 from two.
• THE ANTI-SYNERGY IS PRINTED IN THE SAME DOMAINS. 730.2 - 'To Spend XP, reduce the value of XP marked on the Player spending it.' - with 824.1.d, 'The Dependent Ability will be Inactive as soon as the controlling player has less than [N] XP.': every Spend-N-XP cost in the deck is a switch that turns both of these bodies off. This is a faucet-only list by construction.
• AND THE TRIGGER TWIN OF 727.1.c.2 IS DEAD LETTER IN THIS POOL, WHICH IS WHY THE PASSIVE VERSION IS THE ONE TO WALK. 727.1.c.1.a says 'If a Triggered Ability becomes active at the same time as its trigger condition would be fulfilled, it triggers.' Swept 2026-09-09: the pool prints exactly one [Level N] Triggered Ability, UNL-040 Wuju Apprentice's '[Level 6][>] When you play me, draw 1', and playing a card grants no XP, so no card in the pool can meet that condition simultaneously. The passive branch, 727.1.c.2, is the branch with cards behind it.

Steps

1. Play Mosstomper (3 Energy + 1 Calm Power) and Gustwalker (3 Energy + 1 Mind Power) and walk both to a battlefield you control. At 0 XP both [Level 3] abilities are Inactive - 727.1.b keeps the text on the card 'for the sake of reference or evaluation' (727.1.b.1).
2. At your next Beginning Phase, 315.2.b.2 Holds every battlefield you control.
3. Each body's [Hunt 2] pays 2 XP (823.1.c.1). Four XP crosses the [Level 3] rung of both.
4. 727.1.c.2 applies both passives at that instant: Mosstomper is Might 4 with [Deflect], Gustwalker is Might 4 with [Ganking].
5. The Deflect is live for the Closed State the Hold trigger opens (312.2.c, 813.1.c.1), so a [Reaction] answer now pays 809.1.c's rainbow per choice.
6. In the Main Phase that follows, Gustwalker's [Ganking] gives its Standard Move a battlefield-to-battlefield destination (810.1.b, 144.4.c.1) - one move, not an extra one (810.1.c.3).

Per iteration

4 XP per Hold from one pair, both [Level 3] rungs crossed on the first Hold instead of the second

How it ends

engine - 4 XP per held battlefield per turn, and two Might-4 bodies carrying [Deflect] and [Ganking] from the first Hold onward; nothing in the pool converts XP to points, so this never 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 2026-09-09, issue #191 - uncited Core Rules sub-rules 500-899 2026-09-09 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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