Combo · ENGINE

Every body present when Control is gained fires its own conquer trigger — one bloodless Conquer, seven XP

6 cards · body · verified

Pieces

• Stare Down ×3 UNL-107 · engine · body

  Choose a friendly unit and a battlefield. Move all enemy units at that battlefield with less Might than the chosen unit to their base. Gain 1 XP.

• Voracious Gromp ×1 UNL-100 · payoff · body

  [Hunt 3] (When I conquer or hold, gain 3 XP.)

• Arachnoid Horror ×1 UNL-117 · payoff · body

  [Hunt 2] (When I conquer or hold, gain 2 XP.) I can be played to an occupied battlefield if an enemy unit is alone there. Friendly units can be played to an occupied battlefield if an enemy unit is alone there.

• Master Yi, Tempered ×1 UNL-113 · payoff · body

  [Hunt 2] (When I conquer or hold, gain 2 XP.) [Level 6][>] I have [Deflect] and [Ganking]. (While you have 6+ XP, opponents must pay 1 Power of any domain to choose me with a spell or ability and I can move from battlefield to battlefield.)

Payoff

Deck

• All four cards are mono-Body, so ANY legend whose two domains include Body runs the line (103.1.b.1). Nothing here is Signature, so no legend is forced (103.2.d.2).
• An enemy battlefield whose garrison is entirely under 6 Might, and three ready bodies at your base.

Prerequisites

• 383.4.c.2.a IS THE ENTRY: PRESENCE, NOT PARTICIPATION. 'The Conquer Abilities of Units are put on the Chain as Pending Items after the Unit(s) these effects correspond to are present at a Battlefield when a player gains control of it and gains 1 Victory Point from Conquering.' Nothing there asks which unit walked in, or which one was chosen by the spell. So the whole pack scores on ONE Conquer, and 144.3 delivers them in one action — 'Players may perform multiple Units' standard move simultaneously. This is treated as one game action performed on multiple Units', with 144.3.a requiring only that 'the units' Destination must be the same' and 144.3.c paying all the exhausts together.
• SEVEN XP, WITH THE QUANTITIES DECLARED. 823.1.c.1 spells Hunt out: 'When I Conquer or Hold, my controller gains X XP.' Voracious Gromp 3 + Arachnoid Horror 2 + Master Yi, Tempered 2 = 7, plus Stare Down's own printed 'Gain 1 XP' = 8 XP from one 2-Energy spell and one move. 470 allows one Score per battlefield per turn and 485.4 puts two battlefields on a Duel table, so the ceiling is two packs a turn.
• THE XP IS NOT A RATCHET, AND THAT IS WHY THE PAYOFF IS INSIDE THE PACK. 824.1.d — 'The Dependent Ability will be Inactive as soon as the controlling player has less than [N] XP' — with 730.2, 'To Spend XP, reduce the value of XP marked on the Player spending it': paying XP switches your own Level abilities off. So the honest payoff of this engine is a THRESHOLD crossed and held, not a currency banked. Master Yi, Tempered's [Level 6] ([Deflect] and [Ganking]) is reached by the first pack and stays on as long as you do not spend, and Gemhand Hunter's [Level 6] (+1 Might, E2 M2, mono-Body) is a fourth Hunt body at the same threshold. Nothing in the pool converts XP into points, which is why this is ENGINE and can never be more.
• THE YARDSTICK IS INSIDE THE PACK TOO. Stare Down chooses a friendly unit and a battlefield as two independent choices, so choose Arachnoid Horror at M6 and the sweep clears every enemy body under 6 — the same card is the threshold and 2 of the 7 XP. The victims are not targets (355.10.d), so a garrison of [Deflect] bodies costs nothing to evacuate.
• WHY NO COMBAT HAPPENS, AND WHY THAT MATTERS FOR HUNT. After the sweep the Cleanup strips the opponent's Control (323.6) and the battlefield is open in the sense of 170.11.c. The pack walks in, 190.3.a.1 and 450 apply Contested, 323.9 stages NO Combat because no opposing units are present, 323.8 stages a Showdown, 323.12 opens it, and 348.2.a / 348.2.a.1 make it a Conquer. Hunt is 'both a Conquer and a Hold effect' (823.1.b), so it is paid by this bloodless route exactly as it would be by an attack — with no damage assigned (465.1) and no body risked.
• WHAT THE PACK COSTS TO STAND UP, AND WHEN. E5 + E6 + E4 = 15 Energy and 1 Body Power for the three bodies, spread over as many turns as you like; 143.4 makes each of them enter exhausted, so a body played this turn is not in this turn's pack. From then on the recurring cost is 2 Energy and three exhausts.
• WHAT REFUTES IT. (a) Any enemy body at 6+ Might survives the sweep, and then 323.9 stages a Combat instead: the pack has summed Might 15 (465.2.c) and will win it, but it is no longer bloodless and 465.2.c.3's lethal-first rule can cost you a body. (b) Stare Down moves to their base, it does not banish — the same garrison walks back next turn. (c) 431.1.a is not in play here: nothing in this entry draws.

Steps

1. Earlier turns: play Voracious Gromp (E5), Arachnoid Horror (E6 + 1 Body Power) and Master Yi, Tempered (E4). Each enters exhausted (143.4) and is readied in your next Awaken (315.1.b).
2. Main Phase, Neutral Open State. Play Stare Down for 2 Energy, choosing Arachnoid Horror (M6) and the enemy battlefield. Every enemy body under 6 moves to their base; you gain 1 XP.
3. The Cleanup strips the opponent's Control (323.6): the battlefield is unoccupied and uncontrolled (170.11.c).
4. Standard-Move all three bodies in as ONE action (144.3, 144.3.a, 144.3.c; 144.4.a). Contested applies (190.3.a.1, 450).
5. The next Cleanup stages a Showdown and no Combat (323.8, 323.9); 323.12 opens it; 348.2.a and 348.2.a.1 make it a Conquer and 471.1 pays the point.
6. 383.4.c.2.a puts all three Hunt triggers on the Chain together, because all three units were present when Control was gained: 3 + 2 + 2 = 7 XP.

Per iteration

1 point, 8 XP (7 from Hunt, 1 printed on the spell) and an evacuated garrison, for 2 Energy and three exhausts

How it ends

engine only — nothing in the pool turns XP into points, so this feeds Level thresholds and never a win; 470 and 485.4 cap it at two Conquers a turn and 103.2.b at three sweeps a game

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

• Synergy rule stare-down-empties-the-garrison (data/synergies.json) 2026-09-06
• Hand walk 2026-09-07 (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-07-rules-second-pass.md), issue #170 2026-09-07 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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