RIFTCOMBO
← All plays

Protective Sands draws once on turn two, the Sandspinner's three Energy cost four runes, and the Dragon cannot be cast

Issue #466 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-26. 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: protective-sands-few-runes-fury, the Fury ENGINE built on one clause printed three times: "if you control 4 or fewer runes". VEN-162 Protective Sands (battlefield) draws a card for 1 Energy when you conquer it, VEN-016 Eclipse Dragon (Fury, E8, M8) draws when it moves, and VEN-001 Baccai Sandspinner (Fury, E6, M6) gets its [Empower] for E2 instead of E5. The entry says the condition is free in the opening and later a timing choice: tap the runes for Energy, then recycle down to four. It is right that the condition is free on your T2 going first, and right that the recycle pays. Walked as a game, going first, under SFD-181 Mechanized Menace against the Calm/Order Shield deck of the Rell play. The main line: a Rearguard conquers Protective Sands on T2 with four runes on the board, and you pay 1 and draw. That is the only conquer of A in the walk, because A stays yours. On T4 you tap all eight runes and recycle four, the Sandspinner's [Empower] costs E2, it takes their battlefield at Might 8, and the 3 Energy saved buy one more two-drop. On their T4 eleven Might kill it. 4 to 3 after their T4, on 4 runes. The control pays the [Empower] at E5 and recycles nothing: also 4 to 3, on 8 runes. On T5 the control can cast the Dragon and the main line cannot. The cheapest answer is one rune, recycled: VEN-034 Resonating Strike, hidden at their battlefield with the one rune their T3 leaves spare, moves their Sunlit Guardian in from base, and the Sandspinner dies attacking a 9. From hand it takes two runes: VEN-040 Decree of Focus and OGN-046 En Garde with none recycled, or SFD-040 Thwonk! or VEN-126 Ki Barrier with one.

Why this line. scripts/sequence-pick.mjs --unplayed, re-run on 2026-10-25 at a67d27f, reads 773 entries, 266 with forced-ordering language, 94 in the queue and 3 of them with no play, as the issue measured. This entry is rank 76, a hit on first; the other entry of this slice is rank 44, helm-empowered-spell-tax. Both entered the queue at 0098d17 (#460), whose CORRECTED sentence on a step of each says "going first".

1. Needs

LegendSFD-181 Mechanized Menace (Fury/Mind, tag Rumble)
Chosen ChampionSFD-026 Rumble, Hotheaded (Fury, E4, M4), never played
The battlefieldVEN-162 Protective Sands (Colorless battlefield)
The payoffsVEN-001 Baccai Sandspinner (Fury, E6, M6), VEN-016 Eclipse Dragon (Fury, E8, M8)
The other bodiesOGN-010 Legion Rearguard (Fury, E2, M2), OGN-013 Pouty Poro (Fury, E2, M2), OGN-018 Noxus Saboteur (Fury, E3, M3)

The entry admits any legend with Fury in its pair and names Mechanized Menace. It is the one for this walk because its text does nothing here: "Your Mechs have [Shield]. (+1 :rb_might: while they're defenders.)" No Mech is played. Its tag is Rumble, so Rumble, Hotheaded 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 here is mono-Fury or Colorless, so a Fury/Mind deck admits it, 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." The deck runs three Sandspinners and three Dragons, as the entry asks. None of the cards in this play, on either side, 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. What the clause counts, and what a recycled rune costs

Runes come two a turn, and a recycled one is gone for the walk. 315.3.b: "1. The Turn Player channels 2 runes from their Rune Deck." Going first you control 2 runes after T1, 4 after T2, 6 after T3 and 8 after T4, as the entry says. The clause is free on T1 and T2 and on no later turn. A rune adds Energy by exhausting, 164.2.a: "[E]: [Reaction] — Add [1].", and Power by leaving, 164.2.b: "Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]." The recycle has no exhaust in its cost, so an exhausted rune still pays it, which is the entry's point. It goes to the bottom of the Rune Deck, 416.1: "Recycling cards is the action in which a player takes one or more cards from a specific zone and then puts it on the bottom of the corresponding deck.", and channelling takes from the top, 430.1: "Channeling is the action of taking one or more Runes from the top of a player's Rune Deck and putting them on the board." So each rune recycled is a rune short on every later turn of this walk.

The Power a recycle adds is lost if nothing pays for it. 167: "Every player's Rune Pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and the end of each player's turn." Nothing in this deck costs Power except an [Accelerate]. The four Power the main line's T4 adds are spent on nothing.

The discount is read when the [Empower] is paid. 827.1.c.3: "Empower abilities may also include text that alters the Empower cost. Such text is taken into account when determining a card’s Empower cost for any reason." A unit's activated ability waits for your Main Phase, 145.2: "The Activated Ability of Units may be executed at any time during the controlling player's Main Phase during an Open State, and not during a Showdown." The state stays once paid, 441.1.a: "Empowered is a binary state. A Game Object is Empowered or it isn’t."

The Dragon can never be cast with four runes. It costs E8, and this deck has no Energy but its runes, so you control at least 8 the turn it is played. To draw when it moves you must then recycle down to four: at least four runes for one card, every time. With [Accelerate] it moves the turn it lands. That is E9 and one Fury Power, nine runes exhausted, and at least five recycled to reach four. 805.1.a: "Accelerate is functionally short for "As you play me, you may pay [1][C] as an additional cost. If you do, I enter ready."" Without it the Dragon enters exhausted, 143.4: "Units enter the Board exhausted.", and moves a turn later, when two more runes have come.

A conquer at Protective Sands needs A not to be yours. 469.1: "Conquer: A player gains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn." While A stays yours you Hold it each turn, 469.2: "Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase.", and a Hold is not a conquer. A unit taking an empty battlefield is a conquer without a combat, 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." 348.2.a.1: "This results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored that Battlefield this turn."

Movement and combat. 144.4.a: "Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield." 144.4.b: "Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base." A unit is played to base or to a battlefield you control, 355.2.a: "By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls." Damage is read at the end of the showdown with current Might, 465.2: "When the Showdown closes, Attackers and Defenders resolve Combat Damage at the Battlefield that was attacked, using their current Might." [Tank] goes first, 815.1.b: "I must be assigned lethal damage before any other unit with the same controller as me that does not have [Tank] during the Combat Damage step." A unit dies at its Might, 142.4.b: "Lethal Damage for a Unit is a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that Unit’s Might." An attacker still facing a defender goes home, 466.1.a.2: "Insert “3d. Recall Attackers present at the Battlefield if Defenders are still present.”"

3. Their deck: Calm/Order Shield bodies

The deck of the Rell play linked above. OGN-261 Radiant Dawn (Calm/Order): "When you stun one or more enemy units, buff a friendly unit. (If it doesn't have a buff, it gets a +1 :rb_might: buff.)" It is idle in the main line. Its Chosen Champion is OGN-238 Leona, Determined, never played. Their bodies are OGN-052 Stalwart Poro (Calm, E2, M2, "[Shield] (+1 :rb_might: while I'm a defender.)"), OGN-054 Sunlit Guardian (Calm, E3, M3, "[Shield] (+1 :rb_might: while I'm a defender.) [Tank] (I must be assigned combat damage first.)"), OGN-044 Clockwork Keeper (Calm, E2, M2; they do not pay its Calm), OGN-219 Vanguard Sergeant (Order, E4, M4, no text) and SFD-037 Navori Scout (Calm, E4, M4, [Deflect]). Nothing in their hand stuns, kills or counters. 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

Fury/Mind against Calm/Order. Your battlefield is A, Protective Sands. Theirs is B, OGN-282 Monastery of Hirana ("When you conquer here, you may spend a buff to draw 1.", and nobody has a buff). Your opening four are Legion Rearguard, Pouty Poro, Noxus Saboteur and Baccai Sandspinner. Your Main Deck then gives, in order: Eclipse Dragon (the T1 draw), a second Rearguard (T2), a second Pouty Poro (Protective Sands' draw on T2), a second Saboteur (T3) and a third Rearguard (T4). Their opening four are Stalwart Poro, Sunlit Guardian, Clockwork Keeper and Vanguard Sergeant. Their draws are Navori Scout (T1), a second Stalwart Poro (T2), a second Sunlit Guardian (T3) and a second Clockwork Keeper (T4).

The main line recycles down to four on T4, as the entry's step 3 says.

turn      runes   your turn                                                 points
T1        2       Legion Rearguard (E2) to base. None left.                 0
their T1  3       Stalwart Poro (E2) to base. One left.                     0
T2        4       The Rearguard walks to A, empty, Conquer: +1.             1
                  Protective Sands: four runes, pay 1, draw 1. Noxus
                  Saboteur (E3) to A. None left.
their T2  5       The Poro walks to B, empty, Conquer. Sunlit Guardian      1
                  (E3) and Clockwork Keeper (E2) to base. None left.
T3        6       Hold A: +1. Baccai Sandspinner (E6) to base. None        2
                  left.
their T3  7       Hold B. Vanguard Sergeant (E4) and the second Stalwart    2
                  Poro (E2) to base. One left.
T4        8       Hold A: +1. All eight exhausted, four recycled: four     4
                  runes. [Empower] at E2. The Sandspinner (8 attacking)
                  walks to B and kills the Poro: Conquer B, +1. Pouty
                  Poro, the second Rearguard and the second Pouty Poro
                  (E2 each) to A. Four Power unspent.
their T4  9       The Guardian, the Keeper, the Sergeant and the second     3
                  Poro (3 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 11) attack B. The Sandspinner
                  kills the Guardian and the Keeper and dies. Conquer
                  B. Navori Scout (E4), the second Guardian (E3) and the
                  second Keeper (E2) to base. None left.

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

Runes on your board at the end of each turn: 2, 4, 6, 4. On theirs: 3, 5, 7, 9. They recycle nothing.

Your hand, card by card: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after the Rearguard (Pouty Poro, Saboteur, Sandspinner, Dragon); 5 after the T2 draw, 6 after the Protective Sands draw, 5 after the Saboteur; 6 after the T3 draw, 5 after the Sandspinner (Pouty Poro, Dragon, second Rearguard, second Pouty Poro, second Saboteur); 6 after the T4 draw, 3 after the three two-drops (Dragon, second Saboteur, third Rearguard). Theirs: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after the Poro (Guardian, Keeper, Sergeant, Scout); 5 after the T2 draw, 3 after the Guardian and the Keeper (Sergeant, Scout, second Poro); 4 after the T3 draw, 2 after the Sergeant and the second Poro (Scout, second Guardian); 3 after the T4 draw, 0 after the three bodies.

Your T2: the one free card. The Rearguard, played on T1, is ready and walks into A, empty. It is a conquer (348.2.a.1), you control four runes, and Protective Sands' trigger lets you exhaust one rune for its Energy and draw. Three runes are left for the Saboteur at A. That card cost one Energy and no rune off the board, which is what the entry means by free in the opening.

Their T2 and T3. The Poro takes the empty B. Their T3 bodies in base are the Guardian and the Keeper, 5 Might, against A at 2 + 3 = 5. That trade would empty both sides of A, and it is not taken in the main line: an empty A is the only way you could conquer Protective Sands a second time (§5).

Your T4: the recycle. You exhaust all eight runes, eight Energy in the pool, and recycle four of them for four Power: four runes on the board. The Sandspinner's [Empower] now costs E5 less 3, E2 (827.1.c.3). It is ready, having been played on T3, and attacks B at 6 + 2 = 8 against the Stalwart Poro's 2 + 1 = 3. The Poro dies; its 3 are not lethal on the Sandspinner. B is yours, a conquer, 466.5.d: "Establishing Control results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored this Battlefield this turn." The six Energy left buy three two-drops at A, which now defends at 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11. The four Power go unspent (167).

Their T4: the Sandspinner dies at B. Empowered, it takes a battlefield every time it attacks. On defence it has no [Assault]: it is a 6, alone at B. Their four ready bodies attack it with 11. Its 6 must go first to the Guardian, which has [Tank] (815.1.b): 3 to it, 2 to the Keeper, 1 to the Sergeant. Their 11 kill it. B is theirs again: 4 to 3.

The control: no recycle. The same deal. On T4 the [Empower] costs E5 out of eight runes and the Sandspinner takes B the same way. The three Energy left buy the second Saboteur (E3) at A, which defends at 2 + 3 + 3 = 8. Their T4 is the same attack on B, with the same result: 4 to 3. You end on 8 runes, with Pouty Poro, the Dragon, two Rearguards and the second Pouty Poro in hand.

What the recycle bought. Three Energy on T4, once: three two-drops at A instead of one three-drop, 11 there instead of 8. It cost four runes. On T5 the main line has 6 runes and the control 10. The control can cast the Dragon (E8) and the main line cannot until T6. If the control casts it with [Accelerate] (E9 and one Fury Power) and wants its draw, it recycles six of its ten runes to reach four.

How often this happens. Protective Sands is one of your three battlefields, and the one in play is picked at random, 485.5: "Setup: Each player randomly selects one (1) of their three (3) Battlefields. The other two are removed and will not be used for this game. The selected Battlefields are placed simultaneously in the Battlefield Zone." So it is in play 1 game in 3. 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, with the Protective Sands card, you have seen 8 cards by T3. A Sandspinner among them, at three copies, is 50.82%; with Protective Sands in play as well, 16.94%.

5. Breaks to

What the engine did, and the predicate. It drew one card on T2, and on T4 it bought the Sandspinner's [Empower] for E2 and four runes. The predicate is: played by them with the runes they have, does it stop the T2 card, or keep the Empowered Sandspinner from taking B on your T4?

The scope. A Calm/Order deck plays only Calm, Order and Calm/Order 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." As in the Rell play, that is 254 cards folded by name (not a legend, battlefield, rune or token, and not a Signature card with another champion's tag), none of them banned in constructed: 159 units, 62 spells and 33 gear.

The candidates. On your turn they can play only a card with [Reaction], or with [Action] inside a showdown, or one they hid earlier. 813.1.c.1: "This can be played during Closed States on any player's turn." 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." Of the 254, 62 carry [Reaction], [Action] or [Hidden]. I read the 32 that cost E2 or less, and the 4 [Hidden] cards above E2, since from facedown they cost no Energy.

The T2 card has no answer. On your T2 they have one ready rune, left over from their T1, and no facedown card: they controlled no battlefield to hide one at. Nine of the 32 cost E1 or less. Two are the Seals, which only add Power. OGN-045 Defy and VEN-039 Crumbling Sands counter spells, and you cast none: the move is not a spell and Protective Sands' trigger is an ability. UNL-173 Sacrifice needs a [Mighty] unit of theirs. OGN-046 En Garde, UNL-031 Combat Experience and UNL-046 Friendship pump a unit of theirs, and none is at A. VEN-040 Decree of Focus needs a unit of theirs in combat, and there is no combat.

No one card from hand at one rune stops the Sandspinner. On your T4 they have the one rune left from their T3. It attacks at 8. Decree of Focus is the largest one-rune pump: "[Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Choose a friendly unit that's in combat with an enemy Fury (:rb_rune_fury:) unit or that's being chosen by an enemy Fury spell. Give it +4 :rb_might: this turn." The Poro is 2 + 1 + 4 = 7. The Sandspinner's 8 kill it, its 7 do not kill the Sandspinner, and B is yours anyway. En Garde makes it 5, and Combat Experience and Friendship (the Poro tag only) 4.

The cheapest answer: one rune, recycled, hidden on their T3. VEN-034 Resonating Strike (Calm, E2 + 1 Calm Power): "[Hidden] (Hide now for :rb_rune_rainbow: to react with later for :rb_energy_0:.) [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.) Choose a battlefield you control and a unit you control at a different location. Move that unit to that battlefield and give it +2 :rb_might: this turn." The walk's own T3 leaves them one rune, and B has been theirs since their T2, so they hide it at B for that rune, recycled for its Power (811.1.b, quoted below). On your T4 it is played from facedown, ignoring its base cost, the printed E2 and one Power, 204.1.a: "On cards, the Base Cost is found in the upper left corner of the card." It chooses no unit of yours, so [Deflect] adds nothing. A hidden spell's choices stay at its battlefield unless the text makes that impossible, 811.1.d.2: "If a hidden spell or a play effect of a hidden permanent chooses any targets, those targets must be chosen from among options at that battlefield, unless the ability explicitly restricts targeting in a way that makes this impossible." "a unit you control at a different location" is that case, as the rule's own Tideturner and Smoke and Mirrors examples show, so it moves the Sunlit Guardian in from their base at 3 + 2. A unit that arrives mid-combat is a defender from the next Cleanup on, 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." So its [Shield] counts: 6, and with the Poro's 3, B defends at 9. Their 9 kill the Sandspinner, a 6 + 2 = 8 while it attacks. Its 8 must go first to the Guardian, which has [Tank] (815.1.b): 6 to it, and the 2 left do not kill the Poro. B stays theirs. Without the [Shield] it is 5 + 3 = 8, still lethal on an 8.

From hand: two runes. They keep runes up on their T3 by holding the second Stalwart Poro back. Then:

None of them cares whether the [Empower] cost E2 or E5, so each answers the control the same way. Against the main line they also leave the four runes you recycled with nothing to show. OGN-050 Rune Prison (Calm, E2 + 1 Calm Power) stuns it too, for two runes, both recycled once [Deflect] is paid.

A hidden card that chooses the Sandspinner costs two runes, both recycled, and no Energy. From their T2 they control B, so they can hide a card there for one rune, 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." OGN-220 Facebreaker stuns the Sandspinner and their Poro, UNL-042 Back Off stuns the Sandspinner, and OGN-213 Hidden Blade kills it and you draw 2. Each chooses the Sandspinner, so [Deflect] adds the second rune. Of the hidden cards that do not choose it, Resonating Strike is the one that works (above); the rest fail. OGN-057 Block makes the Poro a 2 + 1 + 3 = 6, short of 8. OGN-077 Zhonya's Hourglass and SFD-043 Emperor's Divide take the Poro home and hand you B. A unit that arrives mid-combat is a defender (464.2.c.3.a), but these fall short: VEN-117 Disciple of Shen is 1 + [Shield 3] = 4 beside exactly one other unit, and with the Poro's 3 that is 7; the 2 Might Sand Soldier of SFD-154 Guards! and the Poro make 5. OGN-053 Stand United buffs the Poro to 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5. VEN-135 Kennen, Keeper of Balance does choose the Sandspinner, but its stun costs E2 on top of the hide and the [Deflect] Power: three runes in all, dearer than every answer above.

The free answer: garrison B to 9. On their T2 the Guardian and the Keeper go to B instead of their base, for the same five Energy. B defends at 3 + 4 + 2 = 9. The Sandspinner's 8 kill the Guardian and the Poro and their 9 kill it, so it does not attack, and the [Empower] the recycle bought takes nothing. And leave A alone. Protective Sands draws on a conquer, and you only conquer A again if they empty it. Their T3 attack on A would have done exactly that.

6. Verdict

Right that the clause is free in the opening and that the recycle pays, and the recycle is the expensive half. Going first the free window is your T1 and T2. On T2 Protective Sands drew one card for one Energy, and that was its only draw: A stayed yours and was never conquered again. On T4 the recycle to four runes cut the Sandspinner's [Empower] from E5 to E2. The three Energy bought one more two-drop, and the price was four runes for the rest of the walk. It took their battlefield and died there on their T4. 4 to 3, on 4 runes against the control's 8 and the same score. On T5 the control can cast the Dragon and the main line cannot. The cheapest answer is one rune, recycled: Resonating Strike, hidden at B on their T3, brings their Guardian in and B defends at 9. From hand it takes two runes: Decree of Focus and En Garde with none recycled, or Thwonk! or Ki Barrier with one. The free answer is a garrison of 9 at B, and leaving A alone.

7. Not verified

Runes. I did not deal the channel order. The walk assumes six Fury and six Mind runes for you, Mechanized Menace's two domains, in the twelve of Tournament Rules 402.1. You pay no Power in the walk: the four the main line adds on T4 go unspent, and any four runes can be the ones recycled. So the split does not change the walk: 0 of 495 deals of your first eight fail it.

Their main line pays no Power. Of the answers in §5, Thwonk!'s [Deflect] Power is any domain. (2026-10-26 correction, #484: Thwonk! has no [Deflect]; the Empowered Sandspinner does, and the Power is due because Thwonk! chooses it, 809.1.c.1: "The Power used to pay this cost may always be of any Domain." The price is unchanged: Thwonk! is E2 and no Power of its own, plus 1 Power of Deflect against the Sandspinner, so two runes, one recycled.) Ki Barrier needs an Order rune among their first seven runes. With six of each, it fails only when all seven are Calm, which six cannot be: 0 of 792.

How likely an answer is. The walk fixes their opening four and their three draws to their T3. A Resonating Strike, a Thwonk! or a Ki Barrier among their first 7 cards of 39, at three copies each, is 86.76%; without Resonating Strike, 72.23%. That counts only those three single-card answers, not the Decree of Focus and En Garde pair, and not how many of them a Calm/Order list runs.

data/cards.json carries no champion supertype. I read Rumble, Hotheaded as a champion unit by his title name and his Rumble tag. Their choice not to attack A on their T3, and to attack B and not A on their T4, is the walk's choice of opponent; §5 prices the others. Not walked: going second; the mulligan; 2v2; Bo3 (486), where the battlefield is chosen and not drawn; the Dragon, which neither line casts before T5; Thwonk! with its [Repeat] paid; and the turns after their T4.

Leads