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Two XP on T2 kept Kha'Zix alive and moved no point, and T2 is the last turn their answers are all in hand

Issue #393 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-18. 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: mindsplitter-insightful-investigator-hand-attack, the Chaos ENGINE that pairs two hand attacks: UNL-135 Insightful Investigator (E3) reveals an opponent's hand and, for 2 XP, swaps a card of it for a draw, and OGN-192 Mindsplitter (E7 + 2 Chaos Power) reveals it again and strips a card with no replacement. The entry is right about the rules. Riot's own example under 383.3.b is this card, and the 2 XP is paid on resolution, after you have seen the hand. Walked as a game, going first, with UNL-201 Voidreaver against a Body/Order Garen deck, the Investigator's swap on T2 took the OGN-229 Vengeance that would have killed your Chosen Champion UNL-119 Kha'Zix, Evolving Hunter on their T3. Mindsplitter on T4 then took the OGS-016 Vanguard Attendant that could still trade with him. 3 to 3 after their T4. Without the swap the score is the same, 3 to 3: Vengeance kills Kha'Zix, and your battlefield is never at stake by their T4 whatever you do. So the hand attack bought a body, not a point. The swap's 2 XP is paid back by T5, by the Hunt of the champion it kept alive. The timing is the finding: going first, your T2 is the last turn their answers are all in their hand. From their T2 they control a battlefield, and a card with [Hidden] can go where no hand attack reaches; Mindsplitter, on T4, comes two such turns too late. The cheapest answers are three cards that each cost them two runes on their T1, one Order recycled, and kill your UNL-127 Mister Root in base before it can move; without its 2 XP the Investigator only looks. The one named here is VEN-131 Decree of Unity, because the same card kills Mindsplitter.

Why this line. scripts/sequence-pick.mjs --unplayed, re-run on 2026-10-18 at 89c173a, reads 773 entries, 262 with forced-ordering language, 100 in the queue and 21 of them with no play, as the issue measured. The two picks are unchanged: this entry is rank 80, the first in the list. The other entry of this slice is rank 81, keeper-of-law-royal-guard-exact-two, played in The Guard's pair has to walk out of base, and one answer is not enough to stop the Keeper's discount.

1. Needs

LegendUNL-201 Voidreaver (Body/Chaos, tag Kha'Zix)
Chosen ChampionUNL-119 Kha'Zix, Evolving Hunter (Body, E5 + 1 Body Power, M5)
The XPUNL-127 Mister Root (Chaos, E2, M1)
The swapUNL-135 Insightful Investigator (Chaos, E3, M3)
The stripOGN-192 Mindsplitter (Chaos, E7 + 2 Chaos Power, M7)

The entry admits any of sixteen legends with Chaos in their pair. Voidreaver is the one for this walk, because it is the XP legend of the sixteen: "When you win a combat, gain 1 XP. Spend 1 XP, :rb_exhaust:: [Buff] a unit. Spend 2 XP, :rb_exhaust:: Move an exhausted friendly unit from a battlefield to its base." So the 2 XP the Investigator spends has other buyers in the same deck, which is the question the entry's notable raises. Voidreaver is tagged Kha'Zix, and Kha'Zix, Evolving Hunter is a unit tagged Kha'Zix and The Void, not a Signature card (signature in data/cards.json). So he can be the Chosen Champion, 103.2.a.2: "Must be a champion unit with a champion tag that matches the tag on your Champion Legend." He starts in the Champion Zone, 103.2.a.1: "This will be placed in the Champion Zone at the start of the game." And he is playable from there, 419.1.a: "By default, a player can only Play cards from their hand or their Chosen Champion zone."

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 the two triggers do, and what they cannot see

The 2 XP is paid after you have seen the hand. Riot's example under 383.3.b is this card: "The “pay 2 XP” is a cost within instructions, but because it does not appear in the first part of the effect, it is not taken as the base cost of the triggered ability. Paying 2 XP is performed on resolution." So the reveal comes first and is free either way, 424.1: "Revealing is the act of presenting a card to all players from a zone that one or more players do not have access to the information of." And 424.1.a: "Revealed is a temporary state and is not a zone."

XP is spent from one pool. 730.2: "To Spend XP, reduce the value of XP marked on the Player spending it." And the opponent sees how much you have, 729.2: "The amount of XP a Player has is Public Information." The entry's notable is that spending can switch off a Level ability, 824.1.d: "The Dependent Ability will be Inactive as soon as the controlling player has less than [N] XP." No Body or Chaos card carries [Level 3]; the lowest threshold in those domains is [Level 6] (UNL-091 Concentrate, UNL-094 Gemhand Hunter, UNL-113 Master Yi, Tempered). At 2 XP nothing is on, so on T2 the swap switches off nothing.

A discard is not a play. 422.1: "Discarding a card is moving it from a player's hand directly into their trash without activating or executing its normal rules text." The Investigator's victim is replaced by the top card of their deck; Mindsplitter's is not.

What a hand attack cannot reach. It chooses "a card from their hand". Their Chosen Champion is not in it: it sits in the Champion Zone from the start (103.2.a.1). Nor is a hidden card, which waits facedown at a battlefield, 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." To hide, they must control a battlefield, on their own turn. Going second, they control none on their T1. So on your T2 every card they hold is in their hand, and from their T2 on it need not be.

The XP has to come from somewhere by T2. The Chaos cards that gain XP are Mister Root (2, when it moves to a battlefield), UNL-129 Vicious Snapjaws (1, when another friendly unit dies), UNL-136 Scryer's Bloom (1, by killing the gear) and UNL-143 Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror (2, when he attacks or defends against a lone enemy). Only Root banks 2 before a T2 Investigator going first: played on T1, it moves on T2, 144.4.a: "Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield." The Mutating Horror is four runes, which is all of T2.

The runes, going first. You have 2, 4, 6 and 8 runes on T1 to T4, less any recycled. 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, and it leaves your board. Kha'Zix is five runes with a Body one recycled; Mindsplitter is seven with two Chaos ones recycled. So Mindsplitter is a T4 card at the earliest.

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 OGS-013 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 Vanguard Attendant (Order, E6 + 1 Order Power, M5; "I enter ready."). Their removal is Vengeance (Order, E4 + 2 Order Power): "Kill a unit." No location clause, so it reaches a unit anywhere. 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 other answers.

4. The turns, going first

Body/Chaos against Body/Order. Your battlefield is A, OGN-277 Back-Alley Bar ("When a unit moves from here, give it +1 :rb_might: this turn."); 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 Mister Root, Insightful Investigator, Mindsplitter and Vicious Snapjaws. Your draws are SFD-130 Treasure Hunter (T1), UNL-126 Megatusk (T2), Concentrate (T3) and UNL-098 Targonian Visionary (T4). Their opening four are Kinkou Initiate, Repair Specialist, Trusty Ramhound and Vengeance. The top of their deck is Vanguard Attendant, OGN-210 Daring Poro, OGN-136 Pit Rookie, UNL-102 Crowd Favorite and OGN-216 Soaring Scout, in that order.

turn    runes   your turn                                                 points  XP
T1      2       Mister Root (E2) to base. None left.                      0       0
their T1  3     Kinkou Initiate (E3) to base. None left.
T2      4       Root walks to A, Conquer: +1, and 2 XP. Insightful        1       0
                Investigator (E3) to A: their hand is revealed; pay 2
                XP, Vengeance is discarded, they draw Daring Poro. 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. Kha'Zix (E5 + 1 Body Power) from the          2       0
                Champion Zone to A. 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, and Kha'Zix's Hunt: 1 XP. Mindsplitter (E7   3       1
                + 2 Chaos Power) to A: their hand is revealed; the
                Attendant is discarded. Seven runes, two recycled;
                none left.
their T4  8     Hold B. Daring Poro (E2), Pit Rookie (E2) and Crowd
                Favorite (E3) to B. Eight runes; one left.

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

Your hand, card by card: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after Root; 5, then 4 after the Investigator; 5 after the T3 draw, still 5 after Kha'Zix, who comes from the Champion Zone; 6 after the T4 draw, 5 after Mindsplitter (Vicious Snapjaws, Treasure Hunter, Megatusk, Concentrate, Targonian Visionary). Theirs: 5 after the T1 draw (the Attendant), 4 after the Initiate; still 4 after the swap (Vengeance out, Daring Poro in); 5 after the T2 draw (Pit Rookie), 3 after the Specialist and the Ramhound; 4 after the T3 draw (Crowd Favorite), still 4 after Garen; 3 after Mindsplitter; 4 after the T4 draw (Soaring Scout), 1 after the Poro, the Rookie and the Favorite.

Your T2: the XP, then the swap. Root entered exhausted on T1, 143.4: "Units enter the Board exhausted." It is ready on T2, 315.1.b: "1. The Turn Player readies all Game Objects they control that are able to be readied." It walks into 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." Its trigger gives you 2 XP, and you establish control: a Conquer, 466.5.d: "Establishing Control results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored this Battlefield this turn." The Investigator goes to A, which you now control, 355.2.a: "By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls." There it matters: A is 1 + 3 = 4, and their Initiate is a 3. In base, A would be Root alone, and the Initiate would take it on their T2.

Their hand is revealed: Repair Specialist, Trusty Ramhound, Vengeance and Vanguard Attendant. The choice is Vengeance. It kills Kha'Zix anywhere, on their own turn, and spends no body. The Attendant can only kill him by attacking into A and dying there. You pay the 2 XP; Vengeance goes to their trash, and they draw the Poro, which was to be their T2 draw. They have no ready rune to answer the trigger with: the Initiate took all three of their T1.

Their T2: they build at B. The Initiate takes B, which is empty. The Specialist and the Ramhound go to B. There the Ramhound is a 3, and B is 9.

Your T3: Kha'Zix to A. You Hold A, 469.2: "Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase." Kha'Zix goes to A, which is now 1 + 3 + 5 =

  1. In base he would be safe from removal that says "at a battlefield", but A would be 4 again, and

his Hunt would not fire on your T4 Hold. One rune is left, and nothing in your hand costs one.

Their T3: Garen. They Hold B, and Garen goes there: Garen 5, and the Initiate, the Specialist and the Ramhound 4 each, 17. Their units at B cannot reach A: a unit at a battlefield moves only to its base, 144.4.b: "Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base." Garen enters exhausted (143.4). One rune is left, and their cheapest card in hand costs two.

Your T4: the strip. Your runes are 5 + 2 channelled = 7. You Hold A, and Kha'Zix's Hunt gives 1 XP, 823.1.c.1: "Hunt is functionally short for: “When I Conquer or Hold, my controller gains X XP.”" Mindsplitter takes all seven, two Chaos ones recycled. Their hand is revealed: Vanguard Attendant, Daring Poro, Pit Rookie and Crowd Favorite. Garen, on the board, was never in it. The choice is the Attendant, the one card of the four that enters ready and so can reach A this turn. Into A it is 5 against 16, and it dies; but the attacker assigns first, 465.2.c: "Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units." And it may give its 5 to Kha'Zix first, 465.2.c.3: "Units must have lethal damage assigned to them in full before damage is assigned to a different Unit." So the strip took the last card in their hand that could trade for him.

Their T4. They Hold B. The Poro, the Rookie and the Favorite go to B, and all three enter exhausted. Nothing of theirs reaches A. 3 to 3.

Without the swap. You play the Investigator, see the same hand, and keep the 2 XP. Their T2 is the same. On their T3 they Hold B and cast Vengeance on Kha'Zix: four runes, two Order ones recycled. With the three ready runes left the Poro goes to base. On your T4 you Hold A (no Hunt: Kha'Zix is dead) and Mindsplitter takes the Attendant, the only card left with the Pit Rookie. On their T4 they Hold B and play Garen; the Poro, in base, stays there, 3 against 11 at A. 3 to 3 again. Without Mindsplitter too, your seven T4 runes put Vicious Snapjaws and Treasure Hunter at A, which is then 1 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 10; the Attendant and the Poro walking in are 5 + 3 = 8, since the Poro's [Assault] adds 1 only while it attacks. They do not take A. On this board your battlefield was never at stake by their T4. What the swap decided is Kha'Zix.

What the 2 XP cost. With the swap you have 0 XP after T2 and 1 after T4. Without it, 2, and still 2 after T4, because the Hunt that pays 1 a Hold died with Kha'Zix. On your T5 Hold the swap line reaches 2 as well, and passes the other line after that. Nothing else wanted the 2 XP by T4: Kha'Zix's strike needs 3 and an attack, Voidreaver's Buff needs a target worth it, and no [Level 6] is near.

Their other T3: the Attendant into A. After the swap their seven runes can pay for Vanguard Attendant instead of Garen. It enters ready and walks into A: 5 against 9. They assign the 5 to Kha'Zix, and your 9 kill the Attendant. Both die, A stays yours, and they Hold B: 2 to 2 after their T3, the same as the walk. On your T4 Mindsplitter reveals the Poro, the Rookie and the Favorite, and takes the Favorite. Their T4 is Garen to B: 3 to 3. In this line the 2 XP did not save Kha'Zix. It made them pay a 6-drop body for him instead of a 4-Energy spell. Garen to B leaves B at 17; the Attendant trade leaves it at 9.

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." Kha'Zix is in every game under Voidreaver. Going first, you have seen 5 cards by T1, 6 by T2 and 8 by T4. With three copies of each (103.2.b: "Your Main Deck can include up to 3 copies of the same named card."), Mister Root by T1 is 34.52%, the Investigator by T2 40.30%, and Mindsplitter by T4 50.82%. Root on T1 and the Investigator on T2 together, which the paid swap needs, is 12.41%; all three, 5.36%.

5. Breaks to

What the engine did, and the predicate. On your T2 it took the one card in their hand that kills Kha'Zix wherever he stands, and he held A on your T4 for 1 XP. The predicate is: does a card of theirs stop that, either by denying the 2 XP before your T2, or by killing Kha'Zix at A before your T4 Hold anyway?

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. 58 of them have kill, deal N, banish, return or stun in their text.

Before your T2: kill Mister Root in base. On their T1 they have three runes and control no battlefield, and Root is in your base. Of the 58, 27 cost three runes or fewer. Each was read; most reach only a unit "at a battlefield", "here" or "in combat", or a friendly unit, or a gear. Three reach Root:

Any of the three leaves you no XP on T2. The Investigator still reveals their hand, but cannot take the Vengeance, and Kha'Zix dies on their T3 as in the line without the swap. It is not free for them. It costs one of their three runes for good, and their T1 Initiate, so B is not theirs on their T2 either. [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.] And A is not yours on your T2: nothing of yours can move there.

On your T2, in answer to the trigger. While it 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." Vengeance has no [Reaction]. And the walk leaves them no ready rune: the Initiate took all three on their T1.

Before your T4: a second answer to Kha'Zix. On their T3 they have seven runes. Of the 58, four kill a 5-Might unit at a battlefield within that budget:

VEN-131 Decree of Unity does not reach him: Kha'Zix, Evolving Hunter is Body. The swap draws them a card, and it can be one of these: §7 counts how often.

And the answer to the strip: hide it. Hidden Blade in hand on your T2 would be revealed, and the Investigator takes one card. With Vengeance and Hidden Blade both there, one of them stays, and Kha'Zix dies on their T3. Hidden Blade in hand on your T4 is a different matter: on their T2 and T3 they controlled B, so they could already have hidden it there (811.1.b), for one rune recycled. Mindsplitter cannot see a hidden card. Seven of the 255 have [Hidden]: Hidden Blade, OGN-220 Facebreaker, SFD-111 Here to Help, SFD-154 Guards!, VEN-117 Disciple of Shen, VEN-135 Kennen, Keeper of Balance and OGN-135 Pakaa Cub.

And Mindsplitter itself is Chaos. Decree of Unity kills it anywhere for two runes, against your seven and two recycled.

6. Verdict

Right about the rules; a body, not a point. 383.3.b's example settles when the 2 XP is paid, and both triggers do what the entry says. Walked against a Garen deck, the Investigator's swap on T2 took the Vengeance that kills Kha'Zix, and Mindsplitter on T4 took the Attendant that could still trade with him: 3 to 3 after their T4, with your champion alive at A and holding for 1 XP a turn. Without the swap it is also 3 to 3, with Kha'Zix dead. No line of this walk put your battlefield at stake by their T4. The 2 XP is repaid by T5 through the Hunt of the champion it kept alive. The entry's 824.1.d notable costs nothing this early, because no Body or Chaos Level ability is on below 6 XP. The two halves are not equal. Of the entry's two cards, the Investigator, on T2 and for three runes, is the only one that comes before they can hide an answer. Mindsplitter, on T4 and for seven, comes after two such turns, and the card that would beat it, Decree of Unity, costs them two runes. The cheapest answers to the line are three cards at two runes on their T1, one Order recycled: Decree of Unity, Lacerate or Cull the Weak. Root dies in base, and the swap cannot be paid. Decree of Unity is the one named, because it also kills Mindsplitter.

7. Not verified

I did not deal the channel order. The walk assumes six Body and six Chaos runes for you, Voidreaver's two domains, in the twelve of Tournament Rules 402.1. Kha'Zix on T3 needs a Body among the six channelled: it fails in 1 of 924 deals, 0.11%. Mindsplitter on T4 needs two Chaos among the eight channelled, since the one recycled on T3 was Body: that never fails on its own, so with Kha'Zix it is still 1 of 924, 0.11%. Root and the Investigator need no Power.

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. Vengeance on their T3, in the line without the swap, needs two Order among seven: it fails in 7 of 924, 0.76%. Hidden Blade needs one Order among seven: 0 of 924. Decree of Unity, Lacerate and Cull the Weak on their T1 need one Order among their first three: they fail in 84 of 924, 9.09%.

How likely an answer is. Out of their own 39, by their T1 they have seen 5 cards. One named card in three copies among them is 34.52%; two (Decree of Unity and Lacerate, six cards), 58.78%; all three, 75.25%. After the swap, the draw it gives them comes from the 34 left. If they run three Vengeance and three Hidden Blade, two Vengeance and three Hidden Blade are among the 34, and the one draw finds one of them in 14.71%. Across that draw and their T2 and T3 draws, three cards, it is 38.94%; a Vengeance alone, 17.11%. The first three figures are before the deal: the walk fixes all five cards they have seen by their T1, and none of them is an answer to Root. These count only the cards named, not how many of them a deck runs.

Their hand holding none of these is the walk's assumption; §5 prices it. Not walked: going second, the mulligan, 2v2, Root's [Accelerate], Voidreaver's Buff and its move to base, Kha'Zix's 3-XP strike, T5 and after, and a second Investigator.

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