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Annie's +1 kills the 5-Might body that 2 + 2 cannot, and that is a battlefield

Issue #380 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-16. 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 and data/Riftbound-Tournament-Rules-2026-07-16.txt. Read the unopposed clock for the baseline this is measured against.

Subject: annie-fiery-piercing-light-bonus-per-instance, the Fury ENGINE in which OGS-001 Annie, Fiery raises every Deal action of your spells by 1, and SFD-023 Piercing Light with its [Repeat] paid performs four of them: twelve damage for 4 Energy and 2 Fury Power. The entry is right about the rules. 715.2 pays the Bonus Damage per Deal action, and the four Deals of 3 are real. Walked as a game, going first, against a Body/Order Garen deck, the line did its job on T4. It killed their Chosen Champion OGS-013 Garen, Commander and the two 3-drops his aura had made 4s, and your Shipyard Skulker took the battlefield they had held for two turns. That is 4 to 2 after your T4 and 4 to 3 after theirs. The same spell without Annie kills two 4s and leaves Garen standing. Their better T3 is OGS-016 Vanguard Attendant into your battlefield instead of Garen. Then the spell kills the Attendant (5 Might, 3 + 3) and two 3-drops, and you take both battlefields: 4 to 3 after your T4. Without Annie the Attendant lives. Casting the spell on T3, before Annie, takes their battlefield a turn earlier, but the Attendant takes yours back: 4 to 3 after their T4 again, with their Attendant still holding your battlefield and Garen still in their Champion Zone. The entry's order is not slower; it kills more. The cheapest answer costs them one ready rune and no Power: OGN-133 Flurry of Blades, in the Skulker's combat, and B ends empty instead of yours. For one Body Power more, OGN-145 Unyielding Spirit prevents all twelve.

Why this line. scripts/sequence-pick.mjs --unplayed, re-run on 2026-10-16 at f5a0427, reads 773 entries, 262 with forced-ordering language, 100 in the queue and 23 of them with no play, as the issue measured. The two picks are unchanged: this entry is rank 78, the first in the list. The other entry of this slice is rank 79, shepherds-heirloom-xp-equip, played in The Heirloom took B from a three and kept Jinx off it, then went home when its carrier died. The rule that both executions are chosen when you cast the spell is walked on Rocket Barrage in both executions are chosen when you cast it.

1. Needs

LegendOGS-017 Dark Child - Starter (Fury/Chaos, tag Annie)
Chosen ChampionOGS-001 Annie, Fiery (Fury, E5 + 1 Fury Power, M4)
The spellSFD-023 Piercing Light (Fury, E2 + 1 Fury Power; [Repeat] 2 Energy + 1 Fury Power)
The bodyOGN-175 Shipyard Skulker (Chaos, E3, M3), to walk into the battlefield the spell clears

The entry admits any of sixteen legends with Fury in their pair. Dark Child is the one for this walk, because it is the only one of the sixteen tagged Annie, so Annie, Fiery can be its Chosen Champion. 103.2.a.2: "Must be a champion unit with a champion tag that matches the tag on your Champion Legend." She is a unit, tagged Annie and Noxus, and not a Signature card (signature in data/cards.json). So she starts in the Champion Zone, 103.2.a.1: "This will be placed in the Champion Zone at the start of the game." And she is playable from there on any turn, 419.1.a: "By default, a player can only Play cards from their hand or their Chosen Champion zone." Under this legend Annie is never a draw. Dark Child's own text plays no part in the line: "At the end of your turn, ready up to 2 runes."

Every card here is in the legend's domains, 103.1.b.1: "Cards included in your deck must abide by your Domain Identity." None is a Signature card, and none is in data/legality.src.json or marked [BANNED] in data/corpus_flat.txt.

The card text the play turns on:

2. What twelve damage is, and when it lands

Four Deal actions, each raised by 1. The bonus is paid per target, 715.2: "If the Deal action has multiple targets, the amount of Damage dealt to each target is increased by Bonus Damage individually and separately." Riot's example under that paragraph is this card's partner: "A player plays Singularity while they also control Annie, Fiery, a unit that says “Your spells and abilities deal 1 Bonus Damage.” Singularity deals 1 Bonus Damage to both of its targets, dealing 7 to each." The [Repeat] doubles the instructions, 820.1.b: "Repeat is an optional cost that a player may pay to execute the effect of their spells and abilities a second time." So it is 3, 3, 3 and 3.

All four targets are chosen when you cast it. 820.2: "When a spell or ability’s effect is performed an additional time with Repeat, choices must be made at the usual time during the Make Relevant Choices step of Playing a Card." That step is 355.5: "If a card requires you to specifically choose one or more Game Objects, that choice is made now." The second execution may pick the same units or others, 820.2.a: "Choices made for the additional execution do not have to be the same as the choices made for the initial execution." But it is picked before the first one resolves, not after seeing it.

Nothing dies until the spell has finished. 321: "Similarly, while Chain Items are Resolving, a Cleanup cannot occur." Death is a cleanup event, 142.4.a: "Lethal Damage is the amount of marked Damage that will cause a unit to die in a cleanup." So one unit can take the first Deal of both executions, 6 in all, and no Deal is wasted on a body the first execution already killed.

A static from a unit that dies goes away, and the next cleanup reads the smaller Might. 142.4.b: "Lethal Damage for a Unit is a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that Unit’s Might." Its example is a Might that drops with damage already marked: "When it resolves, the unit’s Might becomes 3, and it will have lethal damage marked on it." A unit leaving the board starts another cleanup, 319.6: "After any number of Game Objects enter or leave the Board". And 322: "If an event occurs during a Cleanup that qualifies for a Cleanup, another Cleanup will occur immediately after the first completes, repeating until a Cleanup occurs with no new change in the game’s state." §4 turns on this.

The reach. The first Deal of each execution needs "a unit at a battlefield". The second has no location clause, so it reaches a unit in a base. Without Annie the four Deals of 2 kill two bodies of Might 4 (2 + 2 each) or four of Might 2. With her, two of Might 6 or four of Might 3. What Annie adds is the third and fourth Might-3 body, or a 5- or 6-Might body killed by the first Deal of both executions.

It is cast only on your own turn. Piercing Light has no [Action] and no [Reaction]. A player can act at will in their own Main Phase, 312.2.a: "When the turn is in a Neutral Open State during their Main Phase."

The runes, going first. You have 2, 4, 6 and 8 runes on T1 to T4. Power is paid by recycling a rune, 164.2.b: "Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]." A rune you exhausted for Energy can be recycled for the Power, so Annie is five runes with one of them recycled, and Piercing Light with its [Repeat] is four runes with two Fury ones recycled. Both in one turn is nine runes, so T5 is the first turn going first. Before that it is Annie on T3 and the spell on T4, or the spell on T3 and Annie on T4.

3. Their deck: Body/Order Garen

OGS-023 Might of Demacia - Starter (Body/Order): "When you conquer, if you have 4+ units at that battlefield, draw 2." It never fires in the walk. Its Chosen Champion is Garen, Commander (Order, E6 + 1 Order Power, M5): "Other friendly units have +1 :rb_might: here." Their bodies are UNL-097 Kinkou Initiate (Body, E3, M3; "When you play me, draw 1 if your other units have total Might 5 or more."), VEN-076 Repair Specialist (Body, E3, M3; "I have [Assault] equal to the number of gear you control.", and they have no gear), SFD-159 Trusty Ramhound (Order, E2, M2; "While you have another unit here, I have +1 :rb_might:.") and OGS-016 Vanguard Attendant (Order, E6 + 1 Order Power, M5; "I enter ready."). Going second, they channel an extra rune on T1, 485.7: "The player going second channels an extra Rune from their Rune Deck during their first Channel Phase of the game." §5 names their answers.

4. The turns, going first

Fury/Chaos against Body/Order. Your battlefield is A, OGN-278 Bandle Tree ("You may hide an additional card here."); theirs is B, SFD-221 Veiled Temple ("When you conquer here, you may ready a friendly gear. If it's an Equipment, you may detach it."). Nothing in the walk uses either. Your opening four are OGN-013 Pouty Poro, two Shipyard Skulkers and Piercing Light. Your draws are OGN-185 Traveling Merchant (T1), OGN-171 Mystic Poro (T2), OGN-010 Legion Rearguard (T3) and OGN-003 Chemtech Enforcer (T4). Their opening four are Kinkou Initiate, Repair Specialist, Trusty Ramhound and Vanguard Attendant. Their draws are OGN-210 Daring Poro (T1), OGN-136 Pit Rookie (T2), UNL-102 Crowd Favorite (T3) and OGN-216 Soaring Scout (T4).

turn    runes   your turn                                                 points
T1      2       Pouty Poro (E2) to base. None left.                       0
their T1  3     Kinkou Initiate (E3) to base. None left.
T2      4       Poro walks to A, Conquer: +1. Shipyard Skulker (E3) to    1
                base. One left.
their T2  5     The Initiate walks to B, Conquer. Repair Specialist (E3)
                and Trusty Ramhound (E2) to B. None left.
T3      6       Hold A: +1. Annie, Fiery (E5 + 1 Fury Power) from the     2
                Champion Zone to base. Six runes, one recycled; one
                left.
their T3  7     Hold B. Garen, Commander (E6 + 1 Order Power) from the
                Champion Zone to B: the Initiate, the Specialist and
                the Ramhound are 4s. Seven runes, one recycled; one
                left.
T4      7       Hold A: +1. Piercing Light with its Repeat (E4 + 2 Fury   4
                Power): Garen, Initiate; Garen, Specialist; 3 each.
                Garen dies, then the two 3-drops. The Skulker walks to
                B: 3 against the Ramhound's 2, Conquer: +1. Shipyard
                Skulker (E3) to B. Seven runes, two recycled; none
                left.
their T4  8     Nothing to Hold. Vanguard Attendant (E6 + 1 Order Power)
                to base, ready; it walks to A: 5 against the Poro's 2,
                Conquer. Daring Poro (E2) to base. Eight runes, one
                recycled; none left.

Their points: 0 after their T1, 1 after their T2, 2 after their T3, 3 after their T4. After your T4 it is 4 to 2; after their T4, 4 to 3.

Your hand, card by card: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after the Poro; 5, then 4 after the Skulker; 5 after the T3 draw, still 5 after Annie, who comes from the Champion Zone; 6 after the T4 draw, 5 after Piercing Light, 4 after the second Skulker (Traveling Merchant, Mystic Poro, Legion Rearguard, Chemtech Enforcer). Theirs: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after the Initiate; 5, then 3 after T2 (Vanguard Attendant, Daring Poro, Pit Rookie); 4 after the T3 draw, still 4 after Garen; 5 after the T4 draw, 3 after the Attendant and the Poro (Pit Rookie, Crowd Favorite, Soaring Scout).

Your T2. The Poro takes A, which is empty, 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." The Skulker goes to base, not A. From base it can walk to B on a later turn, 144.4.a: "Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield." From A it could not. Moving from A takes it to base only, 144.4.b: "Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base."

Their T2: they build at B. The Initiate takes B, which is empty. The Specialist and the Ramhound go to B, which they now control, 355.2.a: "By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls." There the Ramhound is a 3, and B is 3 + 3 + 3 = 9 against your Skulker's 3, so their Hold on T3 is safe. Played to base instead, the pair could walk into A on their T3, 6 against your Poro's 2. But then your Skulker walks into the lone Initiate on your T3, 3 against 3, and both die, so they lose B. That is one point for them on their T3 either way. The walk takes B.

Your T3: Annie, kept home. Her text has no location clause, so she works from base. In base she is also out of reach of the removal that says "at a battlefield"; §5 counts what reaches her there. Six runes pay her: five exhausted, and a Fury one of them recycled for the Power. One rune is left, and nothing in your hand costs one. The Skulker stays in base: walking it into 9 is a loss.

Their T3: Garen makes their three bodies 4s. They Hold B, 469.2: "Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase." Garen goes to B, which they control (355.2.a). B is now Garen 5, the Initiate 4, the Specialist 4 and the Ramhound 4 (2, +1 for company, +1 for Garen): 17. Their units at B cannot reach A, and Garen enters exhausted, 143.4: "Units enter the Board exhausted." One rune is left, and their cheapest card in hand costs two.

Your T4: the twelve damage. Your runes are 5 + 2 channelled = 7, all ready, 315.1.b: "1. The Turn Player readies all Game Objects they control that are able to be readied." You Hold A. Piercing Light and its [Repeat] are four runes, two Fury ones recycled for the two Power. The four choices, all made at casting (820.2): first execution, Garen at B and then the Initiate; second execution, Garen and then the Specialist. Annie makes each Deal 3. When the spell finishes, Garen has 6 marked, and the Initiate and the Specialist have 3 each.

The first cleanup kills Garen: 6 is lethal on 5 (142.4.b). The 3-drops are still 4s at that moment, because Garen is still on the board while it reads them. His death starts another cleanup (319.6, 322). In that one his "here" is gone, the Initiate and the Specialist are 3s with 3 marked, and both die. The Ramhound is now alone at B, a 2 with no damage.

The Skulker, ready in base, walks into B. 465.2.c: "Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units." Your 3 kill the Ramhound; its 2 do not kill the Skulker. Only your unit remains at B, so you establish control, and that is a Conquer, 466.5.d: "Establishing Control results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored this Battlefield this turn." The second Skulker (E3) goes to B, now yours, with your last three runes.

Their T4. There is nothing to Hold. The Attendant enters ready and walks into A, where the Poro is alone: 5 against 2. They take A. Into B it would face your two Skulkers, 6 Might.

What Annie added. Without her, the same four Deals are 2 each. Garen is a 5 and takes at most 4; every other body there is a 4 while he lives. The best the spell does is 2 + 2 on two of the 4s. Garen and a 4 stay at B, 9 Might against your 3, and they Hold B on their T4. Annie's +1 was the difference between a battlefield and none, and it took their 6-Energy Champion with it.

Their better T3: the Attendant into A. Garen to B is not their best turn. Their seven runes pay for Vanguard Attendant instead (E6 + 1 Order Power), which enters ready and walks into A, where the Poro is alone: 5 against 2. They take A and Hold B: 3 after their T3, one more than the walk. B is the Initiate, the Specialist and the Ramhound, all 3s. On your T4 there is no A to Hold. Piercing Light's four choices are the Initiate and then the Attendant at A, and the Specialist and then the Attendant again. The Attendant takes 6 and dies; the two 3-drops take 3 and die. A is empty, and B is the Ramhound alone, a 2. The Skulker walks into A, empty, for a Conquer. Annie, ready in base since T3, walks into B: 4 against 2, a Conquer. The second Skulker (E3) goes to A. That is 4 to 3 after your T4, and their board is empty, with Garen still in their Champion Zone. Nothing in their hand can score on their T4 (Garen and every unit they hold enter exhausted), so it is still 4 to 3 after it. Without Annie the Attendant takes 4 of 5 and lives. The best is then 2 + 2 on the Initiate and on the Specialist, and the Skulker beats the lone Ramhound at B, while A stays theirs: 3 to 3. Annie's +1 is again a battlefield, and again by killing a 5-Might body. The price is Annie standing at B on their T4, in reach of every removal that says "at a battlefield".

Spell first, Annie second. Cast on your T3 instead, before either 5-Might body exists, the spell is four runes of the six, two Fury recycled. The Deals are 2 each: 2 + 2 on the Initiate and 2 + 2 on the Specialist, and both die. The Ramhound is left alone, a 2, and the Skulker, ready in base since its T2 play, takes B: 3 to 1 after your T3. Your last two runes put OGN-010 Legion Rearguard (E2, M2) at B, now yours (355.2.a). Their best T3 is the Attendant into A again: 5 against the Poro's 2, a Conquer, 3 to 2. Into B it meets the Skulker and the Rearguard, 5 against 5, and everything there dies for no point. Garen to their base scores nothing. On your T4 you Hold B, and nothing of yours reaches A: your units at B cannot move there (144.4.b), and Annie, who comes down now (six runes on the board, eight channelled and two recycled), enters exhausted. 4 to 2 after your T4. On their T4 they Hold A with the Attendant: 4 to 3. So all three lines stand at 4 to 3 after their T4. What differs is the board. Annie first, Garen or the Attendant is dead and their side is empty. Spell first, the Attendant holds A, Garen is still to come, and Annie has not yet met a spell.

How often this happens. The draw pile is 39 cards, the 40 of Tournament Rules 402.1 less the Chosen Champion, which 103.2.a.1 places in the Champion Zone. Tournament Rules 402.1: "In a constructed event, players must register a Main Deck of exactly 40 cards (including a chosen champion), 1 Legend, 12 runes, and exactly 3 battlefields each with a unique name." Annie is in every game under Dark Child. Going first, you have seen 8 cards by T4 (four opening, one draw a turn from T1). With three copies (103.2.b: "Your Main Deck can include up to 3 copies of the same named card."), a Piercing Light among them is 50.82%; by T3, with 7 seen, 45.73%. Under any of the other fifteen Fury legends Annie is a draw too: three copies among the 7 seen by T3 is 45.73%.

5. Breaks to

What the engine did, and the predicate. On your T4 it killed Garen and two 3-drops at B, and the Skulker took B. The predicate is: cast or played on your T4, or prepared before it, does it stop your Conquer of B? It can do that two ways: by saving the bodies, or by winning the Skulker's combat.

The scope. A Body/Order deck plays only Body, Order and Body/Order cards (103.1.b.1), and its Signature cards must carry its legend's tag, 103.2.d.2: "All of the Signature cards must have the Champion tag that corresponds to the Champion Legend of the deck." Might of Demacia's tag is Garen. The predicate is: a card in those domains in data/cards.json (not a legend, battlefield, rune or token), not a Signature card with another champion's tag. Folded by name, that is 255 cards. Of the five Signature cards in those domains, four carry another tag and are out (OGN-270 Showstopper, SFD-206 Riposte, UNL-204 Keeper's Verdict, VEN-154 Public Execution); Garen's own OGS-024 Decisive Strike is in. None of the 255 is banned.

Two windows, two keyword sets. While Piercing Light is on the chain the turn is closed, 309.1: "If a Chain exists, the turn is in a Closed State." Only [Reaction] plays there, 813.1.c.1: "This can be played during Closed States on any player's turn." 34 of the 255 have [Reaction], [Hidden] or [Ambush] in their text. The Skulker's walk into B opens a combat showdown, where [Action] plays as well, 806.1.b: "Action grants the corresponding card or effect permission to be played or activated during Showdowns, even when it is not the Controlling player's turn." With [Action] added it is 55.

The walk leaves them one ready rune. On your T4 they have six runes, one of them ready, and any of the six can be recycled for Power whether it is ready or not. So from hand they can pay one Energy and some Power. Of the 55, seven cost one Energy or less. Three break the line:

The other four do not:

A card hidden at B on their T3. They control B, which is what hiding needs, 811.1.b: "While this card is in your hand or in your Champion Zone on your turn during an Open State, you may pay [A] to hide this facedown at a battlefield you control that doesn't already have a facedown card hidden there for as long as you control that battlefield. Beginning on the next turn, this gains [Reaction] and you may play this, ignoring its base cost." The [A] is a rune recycled (164.2.b). On their T3 that still pays for Garen: six runes exhausted, two recycled, one left ready, and one rune fewer for good. [2026-10-24, #452: not for good. A recycled rune goes to the bottom of the Rune Deck (416.1, 416.1.b) and is channelled again when the deck reaches it (430.1). Going second, with 485.7's extra rune and then only the Channel Phase's two a turn (315.3.b), each rune they recycle is a rune short on every turn through their T5, until their Rune Deck runs dry (161.2.a); a card that channels more (430.2) brings it back sooner. The walk ends after their T4, so the count stands for every turn it covers. The wording above is kept as history.] Played from facedown, the card has Reaction, 811.6: "A card that is Hidden gains Reaction while facedown or played from facedown, and may be played any time a card with Reaction may be played as a result." A unit played from it must go to B, 811.1.d.1: "A hidden permanent must be played to that battlefield." Seven of the 34 have [Hidden]. All seven stop the Conquer; none saves a body. The spell kills the same three, and then the Skulker's walk into B fails:

A unit that joins this way becomes a defender, 464.2.c.3.a: "If a Unit controlled by the Attacker or Defender becomes present at this Battlefield after this moment, it will gain the Attacker or Defender designation during the Cleanup phase following the action that caused it to become present, as appropriate for its controller."

Before your T4: kill Annie in her base. Swept over the same 255 for a sentence with kill, deal N to, banish or return and then a unit, an enemy unit or enemy units: 20 cards by name, each read. Five of them reach a unit in a base. OGN-229 Vengeance (Order, E4 + 2 Order Power): "Kill a unit." OGN-234 Harnessed Dragon is E8 and UNL-118 Elder Dragon E12, both past their T3, and the Elder Dragon deals only 1. SFD-158 Sandshifter reaches only Might 3 or less, and Annie is a 4. UNL-164 Safety Inspector makes each player kill one of their own units, and you choose which. So Vengeance is the one: four runes and a card on their T3, in place of Garen. Then your T4 spell is 2 a Deal against four 3s at B (Crowd Favorite is the fourth, with their last three runes), it kills two, and B stays theirs.

6. Verdict

Right about the rules; silent about the clock. 715.2 pays Annie's +1 on every Deal, the [Repeat] makes four of them, and twelve damage from one card is real. Walked against a Garen deck, it killed their Chosen Champion and the two bodies his aura had grown, and it took the battlefield they had held for two turns: 4 to 3 after their T4. The same spell without Annie kills two 4s and leaves Garen standing. Their better T3, the Attendant into your battlefield, ends 4 to 3 after your T4: the spell kills the Attendant with 3 + 3 and you take both battlefields; without Annie the Attendant lives and A stays theirs. Casting the spell on T3, before Annie, takes B a turn earlier and still stands at 4 to 3 after their T4, with the Attendant holding A. Annie's +1 pays when their bodies are past 2 + 2: a 5- or 6-Might body hit with both executions, or a third and fourth Might-3 body. Here that was a 5-Might body every time, and each time it was worth a battlefield. The cheapest answer is Flurry of Blades, one ready rune, which the walk leaves them: in the Skulker's combat it kills the Skulker and B ends nobody's. Unyielding Spirit, the same rune and a Body Power, prevents all twelve.

7. Not verified

I did not deal the channel order. The walk assumes six Fury and six Chaos runes for you, Dark Child's two domains, in the twelve of Tournament Rules 402.1. Annie on T3 needs a Fury among the six channelled: it fails in 1 of 924 deals, 0.11%. Piercing Light on T4 needs two more Fury on the board, so three among the first eight, since the recycled one goes to the bottom of the rune deck: it fails in 28 of 924, 3.03%, which includes that one. The Poro and the Skulkers need no Power. The T3 order of §4 needs two Fury among six for the spell: it fails in 37 of 924, 4.00%; with Annie on T4 as well, three Fury among eight, 52 of 924, 5.63%.

Their walk assumes six Body and six Order. Garen on T3 needs an Order among seven, and the Attendant on T4 a second among nine: neither can fail with six Body, 0 of 924. Unyielding Spirit's Body Power needs a Body among their six runes on the board at your T4: 0 of 924 as well. Punch First's two need two Body among the first seven: it fails in 7 of 924, 0.76%. Flurry of Blades and hiding take any rune. Vengeance on their T3 needs two Order among seven: 7 of 924, 0.76%.

How likely an answer is. Out of their own 39, by your T4 they have seen 7 cards: four opening and a draw on each of their three turns. A hidden card has to be in those seven too, since it is hidden on their T3. Flurry of Blades, run three times, is among them in 45.73%. Two answers in three copies each (six cards), 72.23%; three (nine cards), 86.76%. These count only the cards named, not how many of them a deck runs.

Their hand holding no answer is the walk's assumption; §5 prices it. Not walked: going second, the mulligan, 2v2, the two-ready-rune window (they can have it on your T4 only by skipping Garen, which changes the board), Dark Child's two readied runes on their turn (nothing in your hand uses them), and a second Piercing Light. The probabilities count only the cards named.

Leads