RIFTCOMBO
← All plays

the save draws its card, and the runes held for it cost the battlefield

Issue #321 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-13. Constructed, Duel (485). Rules version 2026-07-16. Card text verbatim from data/corpus_flat.txt; rules pasted from data/Riftbound-Core-Rules-2026-07-16.txt. Read the unopposed clock for the baseline this is measured against.

Subject: spirit-wheel-tactical-retreat-reaction-draw, the Chaos/Order ENGINE in which UNL-175 Tactical Retreat, played on the opponent's turn, chooses a friendly unit that is about to die, and SFD-144 Spirit Wheel draws a card for the choice. The entry is right about the rules: the spell is legal in the opponent's Closed State, the Wheel's trigger goes on the Chain above it and draws first, and the unit comes home healed and exhausted instead of dying. Walked as a game, the save works on T3: their Hextech Ray kills nothing and you draw. But the three runes held for it on T3 are half your runes, and they were the body that kept A. Seven Might walks into a battlefield of five and takes it. The recall itself cost nothing, because a dead unit leaves the battlefield too. The holding cost the point.

Why this line. scripts/sequence-pick.mjs --unplayed, re-run on 2026-10-13 at b10d9a2, reads 771 entries, 262 with forced-ordering language, 102 in the queue and 51 of them with no play, unchanged from the issue. The pick is by global rank, skipping entries that already have a play: this entry is rank 51 (a hit on before), second in the list. The other entry of this slice is rank 50, played in Repulse pays for itself, and the next spell kills Jae. Tactical Retreat aimed at your own Hidden Blade is played in the Blade draws what it costs.

1. Needs

LegendChaos/Order (103.1.b), which is one name: VEN-155 Heart of the Tempest (also printed as VEN-197)
ChampionVEN-113 Kennen, Storm of Shuriken (Chaos, E3 + 1 Power, M4), in the Champion Zone
The drawSFD-144 Spirit Wheel (Chaos gear, E2), in your base and ready
The saveUNL-175 Tactical Retreat (Order spell, E2), in hand, with three runes ready on their turn
Board it wantsa friendly unit at a battlefield that an enemy spell is about to kill

103.1.b.2: "Your deck’s Domain Identity is dictated by the domains of your Champion Legend." data/cards.json has two Chaos/Order legend codes, VEN-155 and VEN-197, both named Heart of the Tempest. Neither the Wheel nor Tactical Retreat is a Signature card.

The card text the play turns on:

The legend is idle until T4. Nothing here is played from anywhere but your hand until Kennen comes out of the Champion Zone, 108.3.d: "The Chosen Champion can be played from here as normal, following the rules of Playing a Card." That play empowers it. Its Assault 2 is not needed that turn.

2. Your order: the save on their turn, three runes held from yours

The spell is legal on their turn. Their removal spell puts an item on the Chain, and Tactical Retreat is a [Reaction], 813.1.c.1: "This can be played during Closed States on any player's turn." The runes that pay for it have to be left ready on your own turn. 167: "Every player's Rune Pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and the end of each player's turn." A rune adds Energy at reaction speed, 164.2.a: "[E]: [Reaction] — Add [1]." Two runes pay for the spell and a third pays for the Wheel.

The Wheel draws first. Tactical Retreat chooses its unit as it is played, 355.7: "When a card Chooses one or more specific Game Objects to affect, it is Targeted unless indicated otherwise by the rules in this section." That choice fires the Wheel on their turn, 383.3.c: "Triggered Abilities can be put on the Chain during Closed States or Open States on any player's turn." Its Energy has to be paid as it goes on, 204.3.a: "When Costs within Instructions appear as the first part of the effect in triggered abilities, the cost is taken to be the base cost of the triggered ability. It must be paid to finalize the triggered ability." It sits above Tactical Retreat, and 340.1 resolves it first: "The newest Finalized Chain Item resolves." You draw. Then the shield is set, and then their spell resolves under it.

The death is replaced at the cleanup. A damage spell does not kill on its own, 142.4.a: "Lethal Damage is the amount of marked Damage that will cause a unit to die in a cleanup." When the cleanup would kill the unit, it is healed, exhausted and recalled instead, 455: "A Recall is when a Permanent is relocated from anywhere to its Base without it being a Move." It readies in your next Awakening, 415.3.a: "A player Readies all non-spell Game Objects they Control during the Awakening Phase on their turn." So it can walk back on your next turn.

What the recall costs, against the death it replaces. The unit leaves the battlefield. It would have left it by dying too, and 323.6 reads the same either way: "Players lose control of any controlled Battlefields without their Units occupying them if the turn is in an Open State and there is no Showdown or Combat ongoing there." The one thing the recall loses that the death would have given is a Deathknell. 808.1.d.1 says that when the kill is replaced by a recall, "the triggered ability will be removed from the chain." No unit in this walk has one. So the save is a body and a card for three Energy. Its price is the Energy, which is held back on your own turn.

The Wheel's cap. The exhaust in its own cost makes it one draw per turn. It readies only in your Awakening (415.3.a), so a Wheel used on their T3 is ready again on your T4.

3. Their order: removal, then the attack

Fury/Body under OGN-249 Relentless Storm. It is idle: "When you play a [Mighty] unit, you may exhaust me to channel 1 rune exhausted." They play nothing with 5 Might. They take B on their T2 and hold it with one Legion Rearguard. Every attacker after that goes to base; the one body they add to B is a Determined Sentry on T3. From T2 on they spend every rune on their own turn. On T3 they do what a Fury deck does to a battlefield it cannot take. They burn one body off it with OGN-009 Hextech Ray (Fury, E1 + 1 Power, "[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield."), then walk in with what they have. OGN-016 Dangerous Duo (Fury, E3, M3) adds the last two Might: "[Legion] — When you play me, give a unit +2 :rb_might: this turn. (Get the effect if you've played another card this turn.)"

4. The turns, going first

Chaos/Order against Fury/Body. Your rune deck is six Chaos and six Order. Your opening four are Daring Poro, Trusty Ramhound, Spirit Wheel and Tactical Retreat. The draws are Shipyard Skulker, Vanguard Sergeant and a second Daring Poro, and the Wheel draws a Mystic Poro. Kennen waits in the Champion Zone. Nothing you play before T4 costs Power.

turn    runes   your turn                                                 points
T1      2       Daring Poro (E2) to base.                                 0
their T1        Legion Rearguard (E2) to base, with the 485.7 extra
                rune. One unspent.
T2      4       Poro walks to A, Conquer: +1. Spirit Wheel (E2) to        1
                base. Trusty Ramhound (E2) to A. All four spent.
their T2        Rearguard walks to B, Conquer. Dune Surfer (E3) and
                Pouty Poro (E2) to base. All five spent.
T3      6       Hold A: +1. Shipyard Skulker (E3) to A. Three ready,      2
                held. A stands at eight: Poro 2, Ramhound 3, Skulker 3.
their T3        Hold B. Hextech Ray (E1 + 1 Fury) on the Skulker. You:
                Tactical Retreat on the Skulker (two runes) and the
                Wheel's trigger (the third): draw 1. The Ray deals 3;
                the Skulker is healed, exhausted and recalled. Duo
                (E3, Legion: +2 to the Surfer) and Noxus Hopeful (E2
                with Legion) to base, Determined Sentry (E1) to B. The
                Surfer and the Pouty Poro walk into A, seven against
                five. They take A. All seven spent.
T4      8       The Skulker walks to A and kills the Pouty Poro,          3
                Conquer: +1. Kennen (E3 + 1 Chaos) from the Champion
                Zone and Vanguard Sergeant (E4) to A. One ready.

Their points: 1 on T2, and on T3 the Hold of B and the Conquer of A make 3. After your T4 it is 3 to 3.

The save, on their T3. The Chain holds the Ray, Tactical Retreat on top of it, and the Wheel's trigger on top of that. The trigger resolves first and you draw. Tactical Retreat resolves and sets the shield. The Ray deals 3 to the Skulker, which is lethal at Might 3. At the cleanup its death is replaced: healed, exhausted, and sent home. You spent Tactical Retreat and drew a card, so the Ray cost them a card and cost you none. A now holds the Poro at 2 and the Ramhound at 3: the Ramhound keeps its +1, "While you have another unit here, I have +1 :rb_might:.", because the Poro is still there.

The attack, on their T3. The Ray cost them one rune, exhausted and then recycled for its Power, which left six ready. The Duo, the Hopeful and a Determined Sentry (Body, E1, to B) take all six. The Surfer, at 5 with the Duo's +2, and the Pouty Poro at 2 walk in from base. Damage is dealt when the showdown closes, 465.2: "When the Showdown closes, Attackers and Defenders resolve Combat Damage at the Battlefield that was attacked, using their current Might." Their seven kill the Poro and the Ramhound. Your five go to the Surfer, which needs all five; the alternative is the Pouty Poro and three on the Surfer, which kills only the Pouty Poro. You have no rune ready to change it. The Pouty Poro is the only unit left, 466.3.a: "A Player has won a combat if they received either the attacker or defender designation and are the only Player that has units remaining at this battlefield during this step." And 466.5.d makes it a Conquer: "Establishing Control results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored this Battlefield this turn."

Your T4. The saved Skulker is ready again (415.3.a). It takes A back from the Pouty Poro, 3 against 2, and survives with 2 damage that the combat cleanup heals. Kennen and the Sergeant go to A, which you control again (355.2.a).

What the line bought. Play the same T3 without holding anything: the Skulker and Kennen (E3 + 1 Chaos) to A, all six runes spent, and A stands at twelve. On their T3 the Ray kills the Skulker, leaving nine. They have seven to attack with, and the Rearguard at B cannot join them: 144.4.b moves a unit from a battlefield only to its base, and the Rearguard has no Ganking (144.4.c.1). So they do not attack. After their T3 it is 2 to 2. A is yours with three bodies on it, and Tactical Retreat is still in your hand. Your T4 opens with a Hold: 3 to 2. With the line, after their T3 it is 2 to 3, A is theirs, and your one body is the Skulker the save sent home. The save kept a three-drop and drew a card. The three runes it needed were a Kennen, and the Kennen was A.

How often this T3 happens. The Wheel has to be in the first six cards, to be played on T2, and Tactical Retreat in the first seven: 4 + 2 and 4 + 3 cards of 39 (Tournament Rules 601.1.b makes the Main Deck exactly 40, and 103.2.a.1 sets the Chosen Champion aside). That is 16.9% of games with three of each and 2.4% with the entry's one of each, without a mulligan.

5. Breaks to

The line breaks to an attack, for no extra card. The save takes the body off the battlefield just as the death would have. So a battlefield their removal thins is thinned either way, and they only need Might enough for what is left. On this board that was the Duo's +2, a card they were playing anyway. The cheapest answer is to have one body's Might more than you. The Wheel's card does not change that sum.

What does not break it. OGN-169 Gust (Chaos, E1) in response to the save: "[Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Return a unit at a battlefield with 3 :rb_might: or less to its owner's hand." It puts your unit in your hand. Tactical Retreat then finds no target, and neither does their removal, 359.3.e.2: "A target is illegal as the spell resolves if it no longer meets the targeting requirements of the spell, or if it has changed Zones to or from a Non-Board Zone." The Wheel's card is already drawn. They spent two cards to put your unit in your hand. UNL-007 Smite (Fury, E2 + 1 Power) does not get past it either: "Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield. If it would die this turn, banish it instead." Both replacements apply to the same death. 372: "If more than one Replacement Effect applies to the same event being executed, then the controller of the object being acted on determines the order the Replacement Effects will apply." That is you, so Tactical Retreat applies first. 370.1.a.1's example settles the rest: "A unit’s death being replaced by Zhonya’s Hourglass is the same as the kill action that caused that death not occurring." No death is left for Smite to banish.

In combat the save is open to the bounce. Combat damage is dealt when the showdown closes (465.2). So the save has to be cast during the showdown, before the damage, and the opponent can answer it. A Gust on the shielded unit sends it to hand, and the card that comes back is not the one you chose, 124: "A Game Object that changes zones to or from a Non-Board Zone becomes a new object for the purposes of tracking that object." The entry reaches the same result through 390.5.a: "If that Ability affects a Game Object, the Delayed Linked Ability’s window will be as long as that Game Object is in an appropriate zone." Gust reaches only a unit of Might 3 or less: the Skulker here, but not Kennen or the Vanguard Sergeant at 4. On such a unit, for one Energy, Tactical Retreat becomes a dead card and the Wheel's draw is all it bought. A Fury/Body opponent has no Gust. A Chaos one does.

6. Verdict

Right, and on T3 the runes held for it cost more than the save returns. The rules hold on their turn. 813.1.c.1 admits the spell, the Wheel draws above it (340.1), the death is replaced at the cleanup, and their removal spell is answered for no card. The play adds three things. The recall costs nothing that the death would not have cost, apart from a Deathknell (808.1.d.1). Its real price is the three runes held on your own turn. On T3, with six runes, that is half your runes, and walked it was the body that kept A: 3 to 3 after your T4 instead of 3 to 2 with A held. And it breaks to an attack: a garrison their removal thins is thinned either way, and it takes one body's Might more to finish it.

7. Not verified

I did not deal the channel order. Nothing you play before T4 costs Power. Kennen's Chaos Power on T4 needs one Chaos among your eight runes, and none of the 924 deals of six Chaos and six Order fail that. In the comparison line, Kennen on T3 needs one Chaos among the first six, and it fails in 1 of the 924 deals, the one whose first six are all Order. Their Hextech Ray on T3 needs one Fury among their first seven, and with six Fury and six Body none of the 792 deals fail. I did not walk the opponent aiming the Ray at the Ramhound or the Poro, the opponent holding runes through your turn, the save in a combat on your own turn, a unit with a Deathknell (UNL-172 LeBlanc, Fragmented is one in Order), Kennen's own "When I conquer, give a spell in your trash [Flow] equal to its cost this turn." bringing Tactical Retreat back, T5 on, the mulligan, or 2v2.

Leads