Combo · ENGINE

Scorn of the Moon is Reaction-speed Energy that costs no rune held ready — 415.3.a is why that is worth a whole legend

4 cards · mind + chaos · verified

Pieces

• Scorn of the Moon ×1 UNL-197 · legend · mind/chaos

  [Reaction][>] Exhaust: [Add] 1 Energy. Spend this Energy only during showdowns. (Abilities that add resources can't be reacted to.)

• Stupefy ×3 OGN-095 · payoff · mind

  [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Give a unit -1 Might this turn, to a minimum of 1 Might. Draw 1.

Payoff

Deck

• Scorn of the Moon IS the legend, UNL-197 or UNL-234 (Mind/Chaos), so this is a one-legend line by construction. Stupefy is mono-Mind, so 103.1.b.3 is satisfied and the Chaos half is free for the rest of the deck.

Prerequisites

• 415.3.a IS WHY THIS IS A LEGEND'S WHOLE TEXT AND NOT A ROUNDING ERROR. 'A player Readies all non-spell Game Objects they Control during the Awakening Phase on their turn.' So holding a rune back for Reaction mana costs you that rune for the whole of your own turn AND the whole of the opponent's — the project measured that as the thing OGS-017 Dark Child sells. Scorn's Energy needs no rune held: 315.1.b readies the legend every Awaken and the ability is [Reaction], so the mana is created at the moment it is spent.
• AND 167 IS WHY IT CANNOT BE BANKED: 'Every player's Rune Pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and the end of each player's turn.' Add it inside the showdown you intend to spend it in, never before.
• THE RESTRICTION IS REAL AND NARROW: 'Spend this Energy only during showdowns.' A Showdown or Combat is exactly where 312.2.a gives the non-turn player priority at all (with Closed States), so the restriction costs nothing that the [Reaction] wording had not already cost — but it does mean the Energy is dead in your own Neutral Open Main Phase.
• ONE ENERGY PER TURN, AND NO MULTIPLIER REACHES IT. The cost is the legend's own exhaust; 107.4.b keeps the legend out of every 'here' clause, so Reckoner's Arena and Blue Sentinel cannot see it, and 107.4.c is what lets it be exhausted at all. The five cards in the pool that ready a legend are the only way to activate it twice in a turn.
• WHAT IT BUYS, PRICED HONESTLY: every 1-Energy [Reaction] spell in Mind and Chaos becomes castable with an empty pool. Stupefy is the one named here because it also replaces itself; OGN-104 Retreat and OGN-169 Gust are the other two at that price.
• IT IS THE OPPOSITE DECK TO mystic-vortex-helm-suppression-tax, which prices [Reaction] cards in showdowns UP. The two should never be built together.

Steps

1. Deck-build under a Scorn of the Moon legend (UNL-197 or UNL-234) with cheap [Reaction] spells in Mind and Chaos.
2. Play your turn out normally, spending every rune. 415.3.a means nothing you exhaust comes back until your own Awakening, and this line does not need it to.
3. On the opponent's turn, when a Showdown or Combat opens, 312.2.a gives you priority in that state.
4. Exhaust the legend for its [Reaction] ability: [Add] 1 Energy. 429.2 resolves it as soon as it is finalized and 429.2.a keeps priority from passing, so nobody can respond to it.
5. Spend that Energy inside the showdown on Stupefy (E1): a unit gets -1 Might this turn and you draw 1. 167 would have emptied the pool at the end of the turn anyway, so nothing is wasted.
6. 315.1.b readies the legend at your next Awakening and the ability is available every turn thereafter.

Per iteration

1 Energy at Reaction speed inside any showdown, every turn, with no rune held back for it

How it ends

engine only — one Energy per turn, spendable only in showdowns; it scores nothing and 103.2.b caps the named payoff at three copies

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

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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