Combo · BURST · 8 points

Tryndamere, Barbarian × Red Brambleback — multiplied Conquer points

5 cards · fury · verified

Pieces

• Tryndamere, Barbarian ×2 OGN-034 · payoff · fury

  When I conquer after an attack, if you assigned 5 or more excess damage to enemy units, you score 1 point.

• Red Brambleback ×3 UNL-029 · engine · fury

  [Accelerate] (You may pay 1 Energy + 1 Fury Power as an additional cost to have me enter ready.) Your conquer effects for conquering here trigger an additional time. When I conquer, [Buff] a friendly unit. (Give it a +1 Might buff if it doesn't have one.)

Payoff

Deck

• Mono-Fury: any Fury legend.

Run plays

• Seal of Rage and Upstage Comedy bring Tryndamere's nine to turn six, the turn the free Hold curve wins, and one Hextech Ray holds it to three
• Tryndamere scores two on turn five, the nine needs a garrison under four Might, and eight Might at the battlefield is the free answer
• the unopposed clock: eight points by turn 5 with no combo at all

Prerequisites

• Move Tryndamere and the Bramblebacks (not play them) onto an enemy battlefield with a thin garrison so the excess-damage clause is met.
• Points on the Conquer: 1 + T x (1 + K), T = Tryndamere copies, K = Red Bramblebacks. The entry asked for T=1, K=2, which is 4 — its own REFUTE note said so in 2026-09-03 ("a strong Conquer, not a burst to 8") and the fix was never applied. Corrected on 2026-09-04 to T=2, K=3 = 9 points for 26 Energy and 7 Power, which is the board REFUTE itself named. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md): the formula counts every Tryndamere and every Brambleback as present at the Conquer, and a dead one is not. 383.4.c.2.a: '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.' 365.1: 'Passive Abilities of Permanents are typically only active while on the Board.' And the defender picks the deaths: 465.2.c, 'Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units.', with 465.2.c.3, 'Units must have lethal damage assigned to them in full before damage is assigned to a different Unit.' So the count is 1 + (surviving T) x (1 + surviving K). Against a garrison of summed Might G with no damage marked and nothing else changing Might in the combat, the defender choosing the deaths that cost most, T=2 and K=3 score: G 1 to 3, 9; 4 to 7, 7 (a Brambleback dies); 8 to 11, 5 (a Tryndamere, or two Bramblebacks); 12 to 15, 3 (three Bramblebacks); 16 to 23, 1; 24 to 27, 1 (the excess is under 5). Re-derived on 2026-10-24 from the rules above, and it matches the play's table. THE DECLARED QUANTITIES STILL REACH 8, so the class stays BURST: nine in one Conquer, but only into a garrison of 1 to 3 summed Might.
• The Conquer path mirrors the Hold path exactly: 383.4.c.2.a puts each present unit's conquer ability on the chain once the player gains control and gains a point from Conquering, and R1 = A names Red Brambleback directly. Conquering from 0 is safe despite 471.1.b, because that Final Point restriction only bites when the player is already within 1 of the Victory Score, and 471.1.a.1 exempts non-Conquer Gains anyway.
• STILL A CANDIDATE because of R28: "excess damage" is printed on six cards (Tryndamere, Sivir Ambitious, Yeti Brawler, Piltover Enforcer among them) and is NOT defined anywhere in Core Rules 2026-07-16. The natural reading is attacking Might beyond what 465.2.c.4 allows to be assigned, which 2 Tryndamere + 3 Brambleback (28 Might) clears trivially against a thin garrison — but it is a reading, not text. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md): stale. R28 was ruled A on issue #11 on 2026-09-04, and this entry was hand-walked on that ruling the same day (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-04-r6-r10-r28-batch.md, in notes), which is why its status is verified. 'Excess damage' is still undefined in the 2026-07-16 Core Rules (zero occurrences), so the entry stands on R28 = A and not on rules text.
• A BLOODLESS CONQUER IS NOT A FAIT ACCOMPLI, AND 46 OF THE 47 ENTRIES CITING 344.2 DID NOT SAY SO (added 2026-09-12, #187 batch 25). **316.8.b.1.a**: during a Non-Combat Showdown *"units controlled by a different player may become present at the Battlefield where the Showdown is"*, which converts it to a COMBAT Showdown in the following cleanup - so the opponent can turn your uncontested walk-in into a fight. 316.8.c is the permission (a Showdown is a Window of Opportunity for [Action] and [Reaction] cards). **The answer set is THREE CARDS, swept on the ACTOR rather than on the destination**: `OGN-173 Ride the Wind` (Chaos, E2+1), `OGN-262 Zenith Blade` (Calm/Order, E3+2) and `SFD-184 Relentless Pursuit` (Fury/Body, E2+1) - twelve printings move a friendly unit, and nine of them send it to base or need a body already there. They span three identities, so **no identity is safe**; and `OGN-262 Zenith Blade` is the worst to walk into, because it STUNS your body on the way in, and 423.1.b removes a stunned unit`s contribution to the damage step while 423.1.c keeps its full Might as the price to kill it - one 3-Energy card takes the unit and the battlefield. **[Ambush] is not a fourth answer**: 822.1.b needs a battlefield where the player already has units, and the defining feature of that board is that they have none there. **THE REMEDY IS A COUNTERSPELL, AND A FIRST VERSION OF THIS NOTABLE SAID SOMETHING FALSE THAT IS WITHDRAWN HERE (corrected within the hour, 2026-09-12).** It said that because all three answers are [Action] and 358.4 admits an Action card only as the card that CLOSES the state, the attacker - who holds Focus by 345 and priority by 335.1 - could shut them out by playing any cheap Action card first. Every step is true and the conclusion is false, because **a Showdown is a LOOP, not a single window**: 346 - *"When the last item on the chain resolves and the turn returns to an Open State during a Showdown, Focus passes, and the next Player gains both Focus and Priority"* - with 347.1.b and 347.2.a. Closing the state buys a lock-out lasting exactly that CHAIN; when it resolves the Showdown reopens, Focus passes TO THE DEFENDER, and they play their answer into an open Showdown after all. **The real sequence**: walk in, take Focus, **PASS** (acting first gains nothing); they play the answer, which closes the state as it is played; **you COUNTER it**, since 358.4`s other half now admits only [Reaction] and all eleven of the pool`s counters are Reaction, and 425.1.c refunds them nothing; all players then pass in sequence, 347.2.a ends the Showdown, and 348.2.a with 348.2.a.1 give you Control and the Conquer. The cheap counter is `OGN-045 Defy` (Calm, E1 + 1 Power, *"counter a spell that costs no more than 4 Energy and no more than one rainbow"*), which covers all three answers; `OGN-064 Wind Wall` is the unconditional one. **So the protection narrows to pairs containing CALM** - it is not the one-Energy insurance any deck can buy. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md): this notable does not bear on this line. 316.8.b.1.a is about a Non-Combat Showdown, the one an empty battlefield opens (316.8.b.1: 'Showdowns that occur as a result of a player moving to an empty Battlefield are a stand-alone Phase and do not create a Combat.'), and step 1 already says an uncontested walk-in fires nothing here: Tryndamere needs a garrison. The answers that matter are in the combat; see the answers notable.
• WHEN THE NINE FIRST ATTACKS, GOING FIRST - ADDED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md). The five bodies cost 26 Energy and 7 Power before any [Accelerate], and every attacker has to be ready in your base on the turn of the attack: 144.4.a, 'Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield.', 144.4.b, 'Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base.', and 143.4, 'Units enter the Board exhausted.', which only a Brambleback can lift (805.1.a: 'Accelerate is functionally short for "As you play me, you may pay [1][C] as an additional cost. If you do, I enter ready."'). Two runes channelled a turn, each Power a rune recycled, a Brambleback on the attack turn only if Accelerated: the earliest attack is T7, and OGN-249 Relentless Storm's extra rune ('When you play a [Mighty] unit, you may exhaust me to channel 1 rune exhausted. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ :rb_might:.)') does not move it. Re-derived on 2026-10-24 by exhaustive search over those purchases, which matches the play. The T5 board the walk could build, one Tryndamere and two Bramblebacks, is worth 4 at most (1 + 1 x 3, into a garrison of 1 to 3), and the walk scored 3 with it, 6 to 4 after your T5. The class does not change: BURST is one scoring event reaching 8, and the declared board does, on T7 at the earliest. CORRECTED 2026-10-27 (#495, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-27-seal-of-rage-and-upstage-comedy-bring-tryndameres-nine-to-turn-six-the-turn-the-free-hold-curve-wins-and-one-hextech-ray-holds-it-to-three.md): T7 is the earliest for the entry's own cards only. OGN-040 Seal of Rage is a Fury gear at E0 + 1 Fury Power, ':rb_exhaust:: [Reaction] — [Add] :rb_rune_fury:. (Abilities that add resources can't be reacted to.)'; it enters ready, 359.2.d, 'If it is a Non-Unit Gear, it enters the Board Ready at the player's Base.', and 415.3.a readies it every Awakening, so it pays one Fury Power a turn with no rune recycled. With it the attack is T6: Seal T2, Brambleback T3, Tryndamere T4, two Bramblebacks T5, the second Tryndamere and UNL-009 Upstage Comedy ('Ready a unit.', E2) T6, on 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 runes from T2 to T6 with one Fury rune recycled on T2, T4, T5 and T6. Two Seals and the entry's own [Accelerate] also reach T6 (Seals T1 and T2, Brambleback T3, Tryndamere T4 and T5, two Accelerated Bramblebacks T6), and so does one Seal with SFD-004 Bushwhack ('Friendly units enter ready this turn.'); without a Seal neither readying card moves the attack off T7. T5 is out of reach whatever pays the Power: going first there are at most 2t runes on turn t and a Tryndamere is E7, so the two are bought on T4 and T5, which leaves at most 1 Energy on T4 and 3 on T5 for an E4 Brambleback, two Bramblebacks by T5 where the nine needs three. Re-derived by hand on 2026-10-27, and it matches the play's search. T6 is the free Hold curve's own turn in Chaos/Fury, Fury/Mind and Fury/Order, and the curve is T5 in Body/Fury and Calm/Fury, so the faster line still never beats it. The class and the status do not change: the declared board still reaches 9 in one Conquer.
• NO ANSWER WAS NAMED - ADDED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md). The free one: 8 Might at the battlefield Tryndamere has to attack, which kills a Tryndamere in the combat (the table in the formula notable); in the walk the Draven deck had it on its T4 by placing one 2-drop, and the game was 4 to 5 after their T5 instead of 6 to 5. Card answers, from the walked Fury/Chaos Draven census (247 cards), not every deck's: on the walk's T5 board, with two runes open, 13 cards break it, the cheapest at one rune each, exhausted for its Energy and recycled for its Power: OGN-009 Hextech Ray ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield.'), UNL-014 Monster Harpoon ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Deal 2 to a unit at a battlefield. If you control a facedown card, deal 4 to it instead.') and UNL-134 Existential Dread ('[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) [Repeat] :rb_energy_2: (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.) [Stun] an attacking enemy unit. If it's already stunned, return it to its owner's hand instead. (A stunned unit doesn't deal combat damage this turn.)'). Against the declared nine (checked here, 2026-10-24, not walked in the play): Hextech Ray on a Brambleback, with any garrison finishing it (465.2.c.4 counts the 3 already marked), and Monster Harpoon the same against a garrison of 2 or more, leave 7. One Existential Dread without its [Repeat] does not: 423.1.b ('A Stunned Unit does not contribute its might to damage in the combat damage step.') takes a stunned body's Might out of the excess, but the other bodies still leave 5 or more against a garrison of 1 to 3, and 423.1.c keeps the stunned one alive and present. With its [Repeat] paid (E3 and 1 Chaos Power, three runes, one of them recycled) it does. 820.1.d: 'Repeat is functionally short for “You may pay [Cost] as an additional cost as you play this. If you do, execute the instructions of this chain item one additional time during resolution.”' 820.2.a: 'Choices made for the additional execution do not have to be the same as the choices made for the initial execution.' So the second execution can choose the Tryndamere the first one stunned, find him already stunned, and return him to his owner's hand. The other four are 20 Might against a garrison of 1 to 3, the excess still clears 5, and the count is 1 + 1 x (1 + 3) = 5. This is the reading docs/plays/2026-10-07-the-bounce-hands-the-mech-back-and-the-second-stun-kills-it.md already walks, with the same target chosen twice, not the open #187 question about a payoff that tells one play from two choice-sets.

Steps

1. Standard-Move two Tryndamere and three Red Bramblebacks from base to an enemy-held battlefield. Defenders must be present: 'When I conquer after an attack' needs the Attacker designation, which exists only inside a Combat (383.4.e), so an uncontested walk-in conquers but fires nothing.
2. Win the combat. The board attacks with 2x8 + 3x4 = 28 Might, and 465.2.c.4 forbids assigning a unit more damage than the minimum needed to kill it, so any garrison under 23 total Might leaves the 5 or more excess the trigger asks for (R28 = A). CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md): off by one, and it is the excess condition only. Against a garrison with no damage marked the excess is 28 less the garrison's summed Might (465.2.c.4), so a garrison of exactly 23 still leaves 5: the condition is 23 or less. Clearing it is not scoring nine. The garrison's own damage kills attackers before the Conquer, and only a garrison of 1 to 3 summed Might leaves all five alive (the formula notable).
3. Conquer: 471.1 gains the Score's own point first, then 471.2 triggers the Score abilities at that battlefield. Each Brambleback adds one trigger instance (R1 = A with stacking), so each Tryndamere fires 1 + 3 times.
4. 1 + T x (1 + K) with T=2, K=3 = 9 points. The eight ability points are Gains by ability (R2 = A), so 470's once-per-battlefield cap does not touch them and 471.1.a.1 exempts them from the Final Point restriction. CORRECTED 2026-10-24 (#457, from the run play docs/plays/2026-10-24-tryndamere-scores-two-on-turn-five-the-nine-needs-a-garrison-under-four-might-and-eight-might-at-the-battlefield-is-the-free-answer.md): nine only if all five are alive at the Conquer, which is a garrison of 1 to 3 summed Might; 4 to 7 is seven, 8 to 11 five, 12 to 15 three, and 16 or more the Conquer alone (the formula notable). CORRECTED 2026-10-26 (#472, the follow-up PR #471 listed for #464): '16 or more the Conquer alone' holds from 16 to 27 only, and the formula notable's table stops at '24 to 27, 1' without the end. At a garrison of 28 summed Might the board's 2 x 8 + 3 x 4 = 28 and the garrison kill each other outright (465.2.c, with no damage marked lethal equals Might, 143.2.a: 'If a Unit ever has nonzero damage marked on it equalling or exceeding its Might, it is Killed.'), so nobody remains (466.5: 'If no Showdown or Combat is staged at this location, the player with Units remaining here Establishes Control if they didn’t already control this Battlefield.'), and above 28 the garrison survives. So the count is 16 to 27, the Conquer alone, and 0 from 28. Re-derived on 2026-10-26.

How it ends

burst of ability points in one Conquer

Sources

Published elsewhere

• YouTube — Pukha Riftbound, "Bring the Storm! | Riftbound Budget Volibear Deck Tech" — la mitad Tryndamere, con la aritmética del excess damage 2026-01-14

Walked here, in this project

• Phase 0 hunt, entry A-02 2026-09-02 record
• REFUTE pass 2026-09-03 2026-09-03 record
• Hand walk 2026-09-04 2026-09-04 record
• Run play 2026-10-24, issue #449 2026-10-24 record
• Run play 2026-10-27, issue #491 2026-10-27 record

Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16

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