Combo · ENGINE
Viktor, Leader × Sprite Queen — a permanent body every turn, paid for by a token that dies on schedule
Pieces
- Viktor, Leader ×1
OGN-246 · engine · order
When another non-Recruit unit you control dies, play a 1 Might Recruit unit token into your base.
- Sprite Queen ×1
UNL-084 · engine · mind
When you play me or at the start of your Beginning Phase, play a ready 3 Might Sprite unit token with [Temporary] to your base. (Kill them at the start of their controller's next Beginning Phase, before scoring.)
Payoff
Deck
- Legend domains cover Mind and Order — OGN-265 Herald of the Arcane, OGS-021 Lady of Luminosity, SFD-201 Chem-Baroness, UNL-199 Deceiver.
Prerequisites
- THE TAG IS THE MECHANISM. 187.2 makes the Sprite 'a domainless unit token with 3 Might, the Fae tag, and the Temporary keyword' — Fae, not Recruit — so its death is 'another non-Recruit unit you control dies' and Viktor pays. 383.2.c.2 is the rules' own worked example on Viktor and confirms the trigger fires as long as Viktor himself survives the same game action. 186.1 does not interfere: the token reaches the Trash and only then ceases to exist, so it did die.
- THE CLOCK IS THE [Temporary] KEYWORD, WHICH IS NORMALLY THE DRAWBACK. 816.1.b reads '[Temporary]' as 'At the start of this permanent's controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring, kill this' — the same instant at which Sprite Queen's own trigger plays the replacement. Both are yours, so 383.3.d lets you order them, and the order does not matter.
- PER TURN, AFTER THE SETUP, FOR 0 ENERGY AND 0 CARDS: the old Sprite dies and Viktor pays a permanent 1 Might Recruit into your base, and Sprite Queen plays a fresh ready 3 Might Sprite. Setup is 11 Energy + 2 Power (Sprite Queen 7E + 1P, Viktor 4E + 1P), which is slow, and the entry is ENGINE and claims nothing more.
- TRAP 4, APPLIED: the Sprites are [Temporary] and are killed BEFORE scoring (816.1.b), so they never Hold and never see a Main Phase start. Only the Recruits are permanent (187.1) and only they can Hold.
- AND THE RECRUITS ARE BORN AT YOUR BASE, WHICH IS THIS LENS'S STRUCTURAL FINDING. Viktor's text says 'into your base' outright. A Grand Plaza finish therefore needs a Standard Move per body — one per turn each, exhausting each of them (144.2, 144.4.a) — or azir-sovereign-token-gather, the only bulk relocation in the pool.
- The Sprite is played READY (the card says so, overriding 143.4), so it defends the turn it appears — a 3 Might blocker every turn for free is most of what this line does before the Recruits add up.
Steps
- Play Viktor, Leader (4 Energy + 1 Power).
- Play Sprite Queen (7 Energy + 1 Power). Her own play trigger gives the first ready 3 Might Sprite with [Temporary], at your base.
- At the start of each of your Beginning Phases both triggers fire: the previous Sprite is killed (816.1.b) and a new one is played. Order them as you like (383.3.d).
- The dead Sprite is a non-Recruit friendly unit, so Viktor plays a 1 Might Recruit into your base (383.2.c.2).
- Walk the Recruits out to a battlefield one per turn each (144.4.a), or gather them in bulk with azir-sovereign-token-gather.
Per iteration
+1 permanent Recruit at your base and +1 ready 3 Might Sprite per turn, for 0 Energy and 0 cards
How it ends
engine only — one free body a turn; the bodies still have to walk to a battlefield to be worth points
Sources
Published elsewhere
- YouTube — GG Haven, "Master Garen's Recruit Army | Demacia Strategy & Deck Breakdown" — sólo la mitad Viktor; el video no nombra a Sprite Queen 2025-10-19
- Riftbound Core Rules, Last Updated 2026-07-16 (data/Riftbound-Core-Rules-2026-07-16.txt) 2026-07-16
- Token lens — issue #48 (GitHub) 2026-09-06
Walked here, in this project
- Hand walk 2026-09-06 2026-09-06 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 2026-09-06 (docs/phase0/walks/2026-09-06-token-lens-candidates.md), issue #48 candidate 7. The candidate's arithmetic and class both survive unchanged; the walk adds 187.2 (the Sprite carries the Fae tag, which is what makes it non-Recruit) and 383.2.c.2 (the Core Rules' own worked example on Viktor). Depends on no unruled reading. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt.
Walked against Core Rules 2026-07-16