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Feral Strength's +2 saves the T2 pair, the Repeat never changes a count, and Combat Experience stays a +1

Issue #440 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-23. 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: combat-experience-feral-strength-repeat-versus-level, the Calm ENGINE that compares two [Reaction] pumps: UNL-031 Combat Experience (Calm spell, E1), +1, or +3 at [Level 6], and SFD-034 Feral Strength (Calm spell, E2), +2, with a [Repeat] of two more Energy that may put a second +2 on a different unit. The entry is right about the rules: one extra execution, a second target allowed, and a rung that replaces the +1. Walked as a game, going first, under UNL-191 Wuju Master against the Fury/Chaos Draven deck of the En Garde play, three lists were dealt the same hand with one card changed. The Feral Strength list keeps two runes up on T2 behind a pair of 2s at A. Their Saboteur, made a 5 by OGN-016 Dangerous Duo, attacks. The +2 keeps one body alive and kills the Saboteur: 2 to 1 after their T3, 3 to 2 after their T4. The Combat Experience list has the same deal, but at 1 XP the card is a +1. Both bodies die with the Saboteur, A is left empty, and on T3 every unit goes to base: 1 to 2 after their T3. The control, a third UNL-094 Gemhand Hunter in the slot, plays it on T2. Their Saboteur takes the empty battlefield instead: 2 to 2 after their T3. The Repeat is never paid. In these lists, whose bodies all cost 2, it cannot be paid with two of your units at one battlefield before their T3. And against the walk's fights, a second +2 kills no more and saves no more than the first. Combat Experience's rung is dark in both pump lists through their T4, at 4 XP at most; only the control, which lost no body on their T2, reaches 6, on its T4 Hold. The cheapest answer to Feral Strength is one rune: OGN-004 Cleave, SFD-003 Blood Rush or UNL-010 Vault Breaker, played before the attack as the card that turns on the Duo's [Legion], or VEN-015 Decree of Rage on the Calm body.

Why this line. scripts/sequence-pick.mjs --unplayed, re-run on 2026-10-23 at b2d869d, reads 773 entries, 262 with forced-ordering language, 97 in the queue and 7 of them with no play, unchanged from the issue's measurement at e878182. The pick is by global rank, skipping entries that already have a play: this entry is rank 91 (a hit on before), first in the list. The other entry of this slice is rank 92, crumbling-sands-decree-of-focus-conditional-reactions.

1. Needs

LegendUNL-191 Wuju Master (Calm/Body, tag Master Yi)
Chosen ChampionUNL-113 Master Yi, Tempered (Body, E4, M4), never played in the walk
The forkSFD-034 Feral Strength (Calm spell, E2) in one list, UNL-031 Combat Experience (Calm spell, E1) in the other, a third UNL-094 Gemhand Hunter (Body, E2, M2) in the control
The bodiesUNL-094 Gemhand Hunter (Body, E2, M2), UNL-040 Wuju Apprentice (Calm, E2, M2), UNL-102 Crowd Favorite (Body, E3, M3), UNL-097 Kinkou Initiate (Body, E3, M3)

The entry admits any legend with Calm in its pair. Wuju Master is the one for this walk because its own rungs read XP, so its deck is built to gain it, and Combat Experience's rung gets its best chance. Its deck is the Calm/Body [Hunt] deck of the Gardens play, without the Gardens and without UNL-109 Blood Rose, so every XP in the walk comes from [Hunt]. Its tag is Master Yi, so Master Yi, Tempered 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."

Every card in the three lists is mono-domain, Calm or Body, 103.1.b.3: "If a card has a single Domain, then that card is permitted in the Domain Identity that corresponds to the same Domain." Three copies of each is the cap, 103.2.b: "Your Main Deck can include up to 3 copies of the same named card." None of the cards in this play is a Signature card (signature in data/cards.json), and none is in data/legality.src.json or marked [BANNED] in data/corpus_flat.txt.

The card text the play turns on:

2. Plus two, twice, or plus one that becomes three

The Repeat is one more execution, chosen when you cast it. 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." 820.1.c.1: "The Cost is an Additional Cost to be paid during the steps of playing the spell or ability." 820.1.d.1: "When the additional cost is paid, the effect of the spell or ability, upon resolution, will be performed an additional time." The second +2 may go elsewhere, 820.2.a: "Choices made for the additional execution do not have to be the same as the choices made for the initial execution." And there is one, 820.1.c.3: "Each Repeat Cost can be paid only a single time." So Feral Strength is +2 for two Energy, or +2 and +2 for four, both fixed as you cast it.

The open [Repeat] reading does not bear on this walk. The #187 bullet in docs/rules-notes/rules-findings.md carries the gap between 820.3.a, "Regardless of the number of times a spell or ability's instructions are executed with this keyword, it is only Played once.", and 820.2's two sets of choices. The gap matters only to a card that counts plays, choices or targets. No card in either deck does, and the main line never pays the Repeat. Where §2 prices a paid Repeat, its two +2s go on two different units, which 820.2.a allows in words.

The rung is a balance, read continuously. 824.1.b.1: "It is functionally short for “While you have [N] or more XP, this card gains ‘[Text]’.”" 824.1.d: "The Dependent Ability will be Inactive as soon as the controlling player has less than [N] XP." In this deck the XP comes only from [Hunt], 823.1.c.1: "Hunt is functionally short for: “When I Conquer or Hold, my controller gains X XP.”" So every XP is a Hunt body that conquered or held, and the bodies that pay XP are the ones the opponent's attacks kill. Below 6 XP Combat Experience is a +1 for one Energy.

Both are bought after they commit. Both have [Reaction], 813.1.c.1: "This can be played during Closed States on any player's turn." So you cast either in the showdown of their attack. In that showdown the attacker acts first, 464.2.d: "3. The Attacker gains Focus." And an [Action] card of theirs plays there too, 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."

Combat is a sum, and lethal comes one body at a time. 465.2.c: "Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units." 465.2.c.3: "Units must have lethal damage assigned to them in full before damage is assigned to a different Unit." 142.4.b: "Lethal Damage for a Unit is a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that Unit’s Might." So against two of your units the attacker kills the cheaper one first, and the number that die is the most whose lethal values fit inside their sum.

Where the shape pays. Two 2s, attacked for a sum of S:

pump on the pair              lethal values   one dies at S   both die at S
none                          2, 2            2 to 3          4 or more
Combat Experience, +1         2, 3            2 to 4          5 or more
Feral Strength, +2            2, 4            2 to 5          6 or more
Combat Experience at L6, +3   2, 5            2 to 6          7 or more
Feral Strength repeated       4, 4            4 to 7          8 or more

The repeated Feral Strength saves one body more than the single cast only when S is 2 or 3 (none dies instead of one) or 6 or 7 (one dies instead of two). Against the walk's 5 it saves the same one body as the single cast and as the rung, for four Energy instead of two or one. It also adds 2 to your own sum, which the walk never needs: 6 already kills the 5.

When four Energy can be open. Going first you have 2, 4, 6 and 8 runes on T1 to T4. Units move from base to a battlefield and back, never between battlefields, 144.4.a: "Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield." 144.4.c.1 is the one exception: "Units with Ganking may use their Standard Move to Move from Battlefield to Battlefield." No unit in this walk has [Ganking]. In these lists every body costs 2. Two of them at A on their T2 means one walked on T2 and one was played there for two of your four runes, so two are left, not four. So the first turn of theirs on which the Repeat can be paid behind a pair of these is their T3: one two-drop and four runes up out of six, instead of your T3's development.

The identity has two E1 bodies that open it a turn earlier. UNL-111 Determined Sentry (Body, E1, M1): "I can't move to base." VEN-043 Steel Paws (Calm, E1, M0): "[Deflect] (Opponents must pay :rb_rune_rainbow: to choose me with a spell or ability.) [Empower] :rb_energy_7: (:rb_energy_7:: Empower me. Use only if not Empowered.) [Empowered][>] I have +7 :rb_might:." They are the only Calm, Body or Calm/Body units costing E1 or less. Two of them played to base on T1 for your two runes can both walk to A on T2, and all four runes stay up. Against the walk's 5, two Sentries are where the Repeat pays: a single +2 leaves lethal values of 1 and 3, so a sum of 4 or more kills both, and your 4 do not kill the 5; the repeated cast leaves 3 and 3, so one dies and your 6 kill the Saboteur. That is the table's 6-to-7 window moved down two, because the pair is two 1s instead of two 2s. It is not walked: the Sentry and Steel Paws are not in this deck, and a T1 of two 1-Might bodies is its own line.

Where a unit can be played. 355.2.a: "By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls." A unit played to a battlefield you already control opens no showdown, 190.3.a.1: "Units moving to or being played to a battlefield apply Contested status if that battlefield is not already Contested and that Unit’s controller does not already control that battlefield." It enters exhausted, 143.4: "Units enter the Board exhausted." It still defends, 464.2.c.3: "The attacker and defender gain the Attacker or Defender designation now, as appropriate. Units at the Contested Battlefield controlled by the Attacker or Defender gain the Attacker or Defender designation now, as appropriate."

3. Their deck: Fury/Chaos Draven

The deck of the En Garde play linked above, in the same seat and with the same draws. SFD-185 Glorious Executioner (Fury/Chaos): "When you win a combat, draw 1. (You win if only your units remain after combat.)" It fires once in the main line. Its Chosen Champion is OGN-028 Draven, Showboat, never played. Their bodies are OGN-018 Noxus Saboteur (Fury, E3, M3), OGN-010 Legion Rearguard (Fury, E2, M2), Dangerous Duo (Fury, E3, M3), OGN-013 Pouty Poro (Fury, E2, M2), OGN-171 Mystic Poro (Chaos, E2, M2), OGN-165 Cemetery Attendant (Chaos, E3 + 1 Chaos Power, M3; "When you play me, return a unit from your trash to your hand."), OGN-006 Flame Chompers (Fury, E3, M3) and OGN-012 Noxus Hopeful (Fury, E4, M4; "[Legion] — I cost :rb_energy_2: less. (Get the effect if you've played another card this turn.)"). Going second, they channel an extra rune on T1, 485.7: "First Turn Process: The player going second channels an extra Rune from their Rune Deck during their first Channel Phase of the game."

4. The turns, going first

Calm/Body against Fury/Chaos. Your battlefield is A, OGN-281 Hallowed Tomb ("When you hold here, you may return your Chosen Champion from your trash to your Champion Zone if it is empty.", and Master Yi never leaves the Champion Zone); theirs is B, SFD-210 Hall of Legends ("When you conquer here, you may pay :rb_energy_1: to ready your legend.", and neither legend has an exhaust ability). Your opening four are Gemhand Hunter, Wuju Apprentice, Crowd Favorite and the fork card: Feral Strength, Combat Experience or the third Gemhand Hunter. Your deck then gives a second Gemhand Hunter (T1), Kinkou Initiate (T2), a second Wuju Apprentice (T3), a second Crowd Favorite and a second Kinkou Initiate. Their opening four are Noxus Saboteur, Legion Rearguard, Dangerous Duo and Pouty Poro. Their draws are Mystic Poro (T1), Cemetery Attendant (T2), Noxus Hopeful (T3), a second Legion Rearguard (T4), and Flame Chompers if the legend draws.

The main line is the Feral Strength list.

turn      runes   your turn                                                 XP   points
T1        2       Gemhand Hunter (E2) to base. None left.                   0    0
their T1  3       Noxus Saboteur (E3) to base. None left.
T2        4       Gemhand walks to A, Conquer: +1, Hunt +1 XP. Wuju         1    1
                  Apprentice (E2) to A. Two left, Feral Strength in hand.
their T2  5       Legion Rearguard (E2), then Dangerous Duo (E3): its
                  +2 on the Saboteur, a 5. The Saboteur attacks A. Feral
                  Strength (E2) on the Apprentice: a 4. Their 5 kill
                  Gemhand and leave the Apprentice; your 6 kill the
                  Saboteur. A stays yours. None left on either side.
T3        6       Hold A: +1, Hunt +1 XP. Crowd Favorite (E3) to A, then    2    2
                  Kinkou Initiate (E3) to A: the others are 5, so it
                  draws. None left.
their T3  7       The Rearguard and the Duo walk to B, empty, Conquer.
                  Cemetery Attendant (E3 + 1 Chaos Power) to base: the
                  Saboteur comes back to their hand. Noxus Hopeful (E2
                  with Legion) and Pouty Poro (E2) to base. Seven
                  runes, one recycled; none left.
T4        8       Hold A: +1, two Hunts +2 XP. Crowd Favorite (E3),         4    3
                  Gemhand Hunter (E2) and Wuju Apprentice (E2) to A.
                  One left.
their T4  8       Hold B. Noxus Saboteur (E3), Mystic Poro (E2) and
                  Legion Rearguard (E2) to base. One left.

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

Your hand, card by card: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after Gemhand; 5 after the T2 draw, 4 after the Apprentice, 3 after Feral Strength; 4 after the T3 draw, 3 after Crowd Favorite, 2 after Kinkou and 3 after its draw (Gemhand Hunter, Wuju Apprentice, Crowd Favorite); 4 after the T4 draw, 1 after the three bodies (Kinkou Initiate). Theirs: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after the Saboteur; 5 after the T2 draw, 3 after the Rearguard and the Duo; 4 after the T3 draw, 3 after the Attendant, 4 with the Saboteur back, 2 after the Hopeful and the Pouty Poro (Mystic Poro, Noxus Saboteur); 3 after the T4 draw, 0 after the three bodies.

Your T2: two runes up instead of the second Gemhand. Gemhand, readied by your Awaken (315.1.b: "1. The Turn Player readies all Game Objects they control that are able to be readied."), takes A, which is empty: a non-combat showdown, 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." They spent their three runes on the Saboteur, so it is a Conquer, 348.2.a.1: "This results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored that Battlefield this turn." The Apprentice is played to A, which you now control (355.2.a), with no showdown (190.3.a.1). The second Gemhand Hunter stays in hand, and its two runes stay up for Feral Strength.

Their T2: the Duo goes first, and the +2 answers it. A is two 2-Might bodies with two runes up, and nothing they can see says what those runes are for. The Rearguard turns on the Duo's [Legion], and the Saboteur is a 5 before it moves. Without a pump the 5 kill both, the 4 do not kill it, and they conquer A and draw. In the showdown they have no rune left, and Feral Strength makes the Apprentice a 4. Their 5 cannot kill both (2 + 4 = 6), so they kill Gemhand and put the other 3 on the Apprentice. Your 2 + 4 = 6 kill the Saboteur. Only your unit remains, so A stays yours and their legend does not draw. The Repeat was not payable: no rune was left.

Your T3: development, not four runes up. Feral Strength is spent and nothing else in hand has [Reaction], so the runes go to the board. Crowd Favorite first makes your other units 2 + 3 = 5, so Kinkou Initiate draws. A is 2 + 3 + 3 = 8. The Apprentice cannot take B: only a unit in base can walk there (144.4.a), and your base is empty.

Their T3: the empty battlefield. Their ready bodies are the Rearguard and the Duo, 5 against A's 8, and nothing in their hand pumps. They take B, empty, in a non-combat showdown with no rune of yours up. The Attendant brings back the Saboteur that Feral Strength killed, and the Hopeful costs two with [Legion].

Your T4 and theirs. You Hold A, 469.2: "Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase." The Apprentice and Crowd Favorite hunt: 4 XP. Your units at A cannot reach B, so the three bodies go to A, and A is 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 15. Their base holds the Attendant, the Hopeful and the Pouty Poro, 3 + 4 + 2 = 9, so they do not attack. They Hold B: 3 to 2.

The Combat Experience list, same deal. Through their T2 attack it is the main line. Combat Experience (E1) makes the Apprentice a 3: you have 1 XP, so its rung is dark. Their 5 kill both, 2 + 3. Your 5 kill the Saboteur. Nobody is left, 466.5.b: "If there are no Units remaining here controlled by any player, the Battlefield becomes Uncontrolled." They score nothing and do not draw, 1 to 0, and one of your runes did nothing. On T3 you control no battlefield, so 355.2.a sends Crowd Favorite and Kinkou Initiate to base (Kinkou sees 3 and does not draw), and nothing holds or hunts. On their T3 the Rearguard takes A and the Duo takes B, both empty: 1 to 2, at 1 XP. Holding Combat Experience still beats holding nothing. Without it, their 5 kill both and survive your 4: 1 to 1, and the legend draws.

The control: the third Gemhand in the slot, same deal. On T2 it goes to A beside the Apprentice, and A is 6 with no rune up. Their Saboteur at 5 against it would kill two and die, and A would stay yours. They take B instead, empty: 1 to 1. On T3 you Hold A with three Hunts, 4 XP, and Crowd Favorite and Kinkou go to A, 12. Kinkou sees 9 and draws. On their T3 they Hold B, and their 5 do not attack 12. The Attendant finds no unit in their trash. 2 to 2. The control is the list that would light the rung soonest. Its T4 Hold has four Hunts at A and makes 8 XP, a turn before the main line's T5 Hold.

The Feral Strength list against an opponent who takes B. If they walk the Saboteur to the empty B on their T2 instead of attacking, it is the control's game, with Feral Strength in hand instead of a third body on the board.

How often this happens. The draw pile is 39 cards, the 40 of Tournament Rules 402.1 less the Chosen Champion. 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." Going first, you have seen 6 cards by T2 (four opening, one draw a turn from T1). With three copies, Feral Strength among the first 6 is 40.30%, and so is Combat Experience. Their Dangerous Duo among their own first 6 is 40.30%.

5. Breaks to

What the engine did, and the predicate. In the main line Feral Strength's single +2 kept the Apprentice and A on their T2, and killed the Saboteur. The predicate is: with their T2's five runes, can they leave both your units dead and a unit of theirs at A?

The scope. A Fury/Chaos deck plays only Fury, Chaos and Fury/Chaos cards (103.1.b), 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." Folded by name, and leaving out legends, battlefields, runes, tokens and Signature cards with another champion's tag, that is 252 cards. The five banned in constructed leave 247. 52 of the 247 have [Action] or [Reaction] in their text (the regex \[(Action|Reaction)\], case-insensitive, on the text with reminder text left in). Of those, thirteen cost one rune or less: one Energy, or one Power paid by recycling the same rune (164.2.b: "Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]."). Five runes cannot buy the Rearguard, the Duo and one of them. So each of the thirteen enters the turn in the Rearguard's place, as the card that turns on the Duo's [Legion]. That leaves one rune, and the Rearguard stays in hand.

The one-rune answers: four of the thirteen break it.

Two more empty A instead of taking it. OGN-009 Hextech Ray ("[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield.") and UNL-014 Monster Harpoon (deal 2; they control no facedown card) each cost E1 + 1 Fury Power. Cast before the attack, either kills a 2 unless you answer it. Feral Strength in response keeps the target alive, at 4, but the damage stays marked until the combat's cleanup, 143.3.b.2: "During a Combat Cleanup." So the target needs only 1 or 2 more damage, and the Duo's 5 kill both bodies. Your 6 kill the Saboteur, and nobody is left (466.5.b): 1 to 0, the Combat Experience list's result. Without the response, the target dies and the 5 take A from a lone 2.

The rest do not touch the line. OGN-169 Gust returns a unit with 3 Might or less. Answered by Feral Strength, its target is a 4 when it resolves, 359.3.e.5: "If any of the spell's targets are no longer legal, those game objects, players, or zones are unaffected by the spell as it resolves. Any instructions related to an illegal target can’t be followed." UNL-134 Existential Dread stuns an attacking unit, and yours defend. OGN-179 Acceptable Losses and SFD-135 Factory Recall act on gear, and you have none. The two Seals are gear themselves, E0 and one Power, whose ability adds a rune: OGN-040 Seal of Rage, ":rb_exhaust:: [Reaction] — [Add] :rb_rune_fury:. (Abilities that add resources can't be reacted to.)", and OGN-204 Seal of Discord, the same with :rb_rune_chaos:. OGN-183 Stacked Deck draws. Played as the Legion card, each of those is the main line.

The free answer is the empty battlefield. Walked to B on their T2, the Saboteur scores 1 to 1 and lives, and Feral Strength stays in your hand. Nothing they can see tells them to; the walk's attack is what a player does into two runes that could be anything.

Combat Experience needs no answer below its rung. In the walk its +1 already cost both your bodies, and A went to nobody. The four one-rune breaks above turn that into their Conquer, and so does any +1 on the Saboteur, whose 6 then survive your 5.

6. Verdict

Right about the rules; the size it prices is not the size that played. Feral Strength's single +2 was the card. Held over the second two-drop on T2, it kept one body and A against their Duo-pumped Saboteur, killed the Saboteur, and denied the legend's draw. That led the game, 2 to 1 after their T3 and 3 to 2 after their T4, against 2 to 2 for a third two-drop in the slot. Combat Experience in the same slot was a +1 at 1 XP. It traded both bodies for the Saboteur and left A empty, 1 to 2 after their T3. Its rung was dark in both pump lists through their T4. [Hunt] pays XP only for bodies that conquer or hold, and the lists that held a pump lost bodies; the control, which lost none, is the one that reaches 6 XP on T4. The Repeat was never paid. Going first with these 2-cost bodies it cannot be paid behind a pair before their T3; two E1 bodies, UNL-111 Determined Sentry or VEN-043 Steel Paws, would open it on their T2. Against two 2s, its second +2 changes the count only against a sum of 2 to 3 or 6 to 7, and the walk's sum was 5. The cheapest answer to Feral Strength is one rune: Cleave, Blood Rush or Vault Breaker as the Duo's [Legion] card, or Decree of Rage on the Calm body.

7. Not verified

I did not deal the channel order. No card you play in the walk costs Power, so your side rests on no rune assumption at any split of Wuju Master's two domains in the twelve of Tournament Rules 402.1. Their walk assumes six Fury and six Chaos. The Cemetery Attendant on their T3 needs a Chaos among their first seven runes: with six Fury it cannot fail, 0 of 792. Cleave and Blood Rush take any rune. Vault Breaker, Decree of Rage, Hextech Ray and Monster Harpoon on their T2 need a Fury among five: each fails in 6 of 792, 0.76%, the deals with five Chaos first.

How likely an answer is. One of Cleave, Blood Rush, Vault Breaker and Decree of Rage, three copies each, twelve cards, is among their first 6 cards in 90.93% of games. Each break also needs the Duo among those 6, 40.30% on its own. These count only the cards named, not how many of them a deck runs.

Their hand holding no showdown card is the walk's assumption; §5 prices it. Not walked: going second, the mulligan, 2v2, Master Yi, a second Feral Strength held through their T3 with its Repeat paid, the Combat Experience list and the control past their T3, the Feral Strength list's T5 (the first Hold at 6 XP or more), and UNL-216 The Academy or SFD-211 Marai Spire as your battlefield.

Leads