Combo · ENGINE
Two Order bodies that arrive after the attackers are declared — and the one with [Tank] makes every other body of yours an illegal assignment
Pieces
- Shen, Kinkou ×3
OGN-241 · payoff · order
[Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve, including to a battlefield you control.) [Shield 2] (+2 Might while I'm a defender.) [Tank] (I must be assigned combat damage first.)
- Soulspinner ×3
VEN-123 · enabler · order
[Ambush] (You may play me as a [Reaction] to a battlefield where you have units.)
Payoff
Deck
- Both cards are mono-Order, so 103.1.b.3 admits any legend with Order in its pair: SFD-201/SFD-249 Chem-Baroness, UNL-199/UNL-235 Deceiver, SFD-197/SFD-247 Emperor of the Sands, VEN-147/VEN-193 Eye of Twilight, SFD-205/SFD-251 Grand Duelist, UNL-195/UNL-233 Green Father, OGN-253/OGN-302 Hand of Noxus, VEN-155/VEN-197 Heart of the Tempest, OGN-265/OGN-308 Herald of the Arcane, UNL-203/UNL-237 Keeper of the Hammer, OGS-021 Lady of Luminosity, VEN-153/VEN-196 Matriarch of War, OGS-023 Might of Demacia - Starter, UNL-187/UNL-229 Piltover Enforcer, OGN-261/OGN-306 Radiant Dawn, OGN-269/OGN-310 The Boss, SFD-187/SFD-243 Void Burrower.
Prerequisites
- A BODY THAT ARRIVES MID-COMBAT IS A DEFENDER IN TIME. 319.6 makes a Cleanup Outstanding after a Game Object enters the Board and 323.2.a assigns the Defender designation there, which happens before 465.2 resolves — so a unit flashed in during the Closed State of an attack is assigned the designation and fights in that combat. That is how the project's hidden Keeper of Masks lands inside an opponent's attack, and Shen does it without [Hidden] at all.
- ENTERING EXHAUSTED COSTS NOTHING ON DEFENCE. 143.4 has him enter exhausted, and neither 464.2.c.3 nor 465.2.b filters by state — an exhausted defender fights at his full Might. The only thing 143.4 denies him is a Standard Move that turn, which a defender does not want.
- THE TANK IS THE POINT AND ITS PRICE IS EXACT. 815.1.c.2: 'Units without Tank are invalid assignments until all units with Tank have lethal damage assigned to them', with 815.1.c.1 forcing lethal onto one at a time and 465.2.c.4 forbidding more than the minimum — so the attacker must spend exactly FIVE summed Might on Shen (M3 + [Shield 2] under 814.1.c) before a single point can be assigned to anything else you control there.
- AND SHIELD SUMS IF ANOTHER SOURCE GRANTS IT. 814.2: 'the Shield Value of all granted Shield keywords is summed', with Riot's worked example reaching Shield 4. Shen's is printed rather than granted, so a granted [Shield 2] on top makes the toll seven.
- THE TWO CARDS COVER DIFFERENT BOARDS, WHICH IS WHY BOTH ARE IN uses[]. Shen's clause is 'a battlefield you control'; 822.1.b's Ambush is 'a battlefield where you have units'. Defending a battlefield you hold, either works; contesting one you do not control but have bodies at, only Soulspinner does.
- IT IS DEFENCE, NOT DENIAL, AND IT SCORES NOTHING. An attacker with five or more summed Might to spare pays the toll and proceeds in the same damage step; what this buys is that the rest of your garrison survives, and with it Control under 323.6.
Bodies no card supplies
815.1.c.2 now makes every other unit you control in this combat an invalid damage assignment until Shen has taken lethal; 815.1.c.1 and 465.2.c.4 make that exactly five
Steps
- Hold Shen, Kinkou and Soulspinner in hand rather than deploying them — their whole value is arriving after information.
- The opponent attacks. 190.3.a.1 applies Contested, 323.9 stages the Combat and 464.2.c.3 designates their attackers, so you can now count 465.2.c's summed Might.
- In the Combat's Closed State, where 312.2.c gives you priority and 813.1.c.1 admits a [Reaction] card, play Shen, Kinkou (E3 + 1 Order Power) directly to the battlefield under attack — his own parenthetical grants the location at Reaction speed.
- 319.6's Cleanup runs and 323.2.a gives him the Defender designation before 465.2 resolves. 814.1.c reads him at Might 5.
- 815.1.c.2 now makes every other unit you control in this combat an invalid damage assignment until Shen has taken lethal; 815.1.c.1 and 465.2.c.4 make that exactly five.
- If the battlefield is one you do not control but have units at, play Soulspinner instead under 822.1.b's Ambush — three more Might for E3 and no Power, at the same speed.
How it ends
engine only — an attacker must find five summed Might for Shen before touching anything else of yours, three times a game per copy (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
Walked here, in this project
- Hand walk 2026-09-07 (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-07-uncatalogued-order.md), issue #180 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 #180 — the first entry to use OGN-241 or VEN-123. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt. This is the third route to the 815.1.c.2 damage redirect this session has walked — after a legend's exhaust (eye-of-twilight-zephyr-sage-tank-redirect) and a free Quick-Draw attach (ornns-forge-jax-free-equipment) — and the differences are stated rather than the three being written as one: this one is a whole extra body rather than a grant, it needs no set-up on the board, and it costs a card. Trap check: 319.6 + 323.2.a are cited so 'arrives in time to defend' is a rule and not an assumption; 143.4 with 464.2.c.3 / 465.2.b is cited so entering exhausted is priced at zero on defence; the toll is stated as an exact number from 814.1.c + 815.1.c.1 + 465.2.c.4; 822.1.b and Shen's own clause are contrasted so the two cards are read as complements rather than redundant.
Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16