Galio is a six-Might Tank for three Energy and a Vanguard Captain makes three, so eight hold the Plaza and their six kill nothing

Issue #529 (a slice of #200), 2026-10-31. 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, the coverage table for why this pair, and the four earlier Plaza plays of the identity-first pass, Up from the Deep, the Frisky Hunters, the Towering Combatant and the hidden Marai, which this one is compared with throughout. Galio's own text was walked once before, in Galio alone deals no combat damage.

Subject: galio-vanguard-captain-grand-plaza, a new ALT_WIN synthesized for this slice. Body/Order is the least-covered legend pair the identity-first pass has not worked yet: seven finishers in the catalogue and none clocked by T4. The two Body slices before it hit the same wall from two sides: a [Tank] among seven units, and seven units from the seven cards seen by T3. Order answers both at once. UNL-171 Galio, Indefatigable is a 6-Might [Tank] for three Energy and one Order Power, and OGN-218 Vanguard Captain is three units for one card once another card has been played that turn. Both Powers come from runes that have already paid their Energy, recycled. Eight units at OGN-293 The Grand Plaza by the end of T3 for 11 Energy and 2 Order Power, and with Pit Rookie's buff on Galio, killing two of them costs 8 Might. The turn clock prices it at T4 against the Body/Order Hold baseline of T5. Walked as a game, going first, against the same Calm/Order Radiant Dawn deck and the same draws as the four earlier Plaza plays, it wins on T4. Their two T2 bodies attack with exactly 6, and all of it has to go to Galio, who has 7. Nothing of yours dies, both of theirs do, and the T4 Hold sees eight. It is the first identity-first Plaza walk to win on T4. The cheapest break is in their own identity: OGN-043 Charm (Calm, E1 + 1 Calm, and one Power more for Galio's [Deflect]) moves Galio off the Plaza, and then 1 Might of attack is enough. The walked hand held no Charm.

1. Needs

The line pays two Order Power, so two Order runes among the six you channel by T3, one of them among the first four (§8). From the opponent it needs less than 8 Might of attack on their T3, counted against the board below (§5), and no one-Energy sweeper.

The Boss is Body/Order and its tag is Sett, so Sett, Kingpin 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 line is mono-Body, mono-Order or colourless, so the 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 is the cap, 103.2.b: "Your Main Deck can include up to 3 copies of the same named card." The walk's list runs three each of Determined Sentry, Galio, Vanguard Captain and Pit Rookie, twelve of its 39. None of the cards 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.

Why these cards. Determined Sentry is the one unit at Energy 1 or less in Body or in Order. The [Tank] units at Energy 4 or less in the pair are Galio (E3 + 1 Power, 6 as a defender), OGN-241 Shen, Kinkou (E3 + 1 Power, 3 with [Shield 2], so 5), UNL-099 Towering Combatant (E4, 5 as a defender), SFD-176 Xin Zhao, Vigilant (E3 + 1 Power, M4) and OGN-240 Sett, Kingpin (E4 + 1 Power, M5): Galio is the largest and among the cheapest. The units at Energy 4 or less that put a token on the board when they are played are Vanguard Captain (two Recruits), OGN-211 Faithful Manufactor (E3, one Recruit) and SFD-157 Royal Guard (E4, one Sand Soldier); the Captain is the only one that is three units for one card. Pit Rookie is an Energy-2 body that is also the card the Captain's [Legion] needs, and its buff goes on Galio.

The card text the play turns on:

• The Grand Plaza: "When you hold here, if you have 7+ units here, you win the game."
• Galio, Indefatigable: "[Deflect] (Opponents must pay :rb_rune_rainbow: to choose me with a spell or ability.) [Tank] (I must be assigned combat damage first.) I don't deal combat damage."
• Vanguard Captain: "[Legion] — When you play me, play two 1 :rb_might: Recruit unit tokens here. (Get the effect if you've played another card this turn.)"
• Pit Rookie: "When you play me, buff another friendly unit. (If it doesn't have a buff, it gets a +1 :rb_might: buff.)"
• Determined Sentry: "I can't move to base." It only ever moves from base to the Plaza.
• The Boss: "If a buffed unit you control would die, you may pay :rb_rune_rainbow:, exhaust me, and spend its buff to heal it, exhaust it, and recall it instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) When you conquer, ready me." It is a "may", and nothing of yours dies in the walk, so it never fires.

2. What the line does, and why each step is legal

The Plaza has to be yours first. A battlefield's "you" is its controller, 190.6.d: "“You” in a battlefield’s abilities refers to the battlefield’s Controller, as does the implied “you” in instructions that don’t specify a player like “draw 1.” If the battlefield has no Controller, “you” refers to no one, and all such instructions are ignored." A unit enters exhausted, 143.4: "Units enter the Board exhausted.", so the two Sentries played on T1 are the first that can move, and they move from base, 144.4.a: "Units may move from their Base to a Battlefield." The Plaza is empty, so no 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." It is a Conquer, 348.2.a.1: "This results in a Conquer if that player has not yet scored that Battlefield this turn."

Everything after T1 is played straight onto it. 355.2.a: "By default, Valid locations include the controller’s Base or a Battlefield the controller controls." The Captain's Recruits come "here", which is where the Captain is played.

Both Powers are runes that have already paid their Energy. A rune makes Energy by exhausting and Power by being recycled, and the two are separate abilities, 164.2.a: "[E]: [Reaction] — Add [1]." and 164.2.b: "Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]." The recycle has no exhaust in its cost, so a rune already exhausted for Energy can still be recycled for Power, and the Power is that rune's domain, 164.2.b.1: "The Power added this way corresponds to the Domain of the Rune that is being Recycled." So each of Galio and the Captain needs an Order rune to recycle. The price is the rune itself, 161.2.b: "When a Rune is Recycled it is returned to the Rune Deck, not the Main Deck.", so you have one rune fewer from then on.

Three units for one card. [Legion] turns on with any other card played that turn, 812.1.c: "As long as a card different than the one with the Legion ability has been Finalized by you on the same turn then the Dependent Ability is Active on the card with Legion." One card is enough for every instance, 812.2: "All instances of Legion on cards a player controls are satisfied by that player playing a single card." On T3 that card is Pit Rookie, played first.

The buff. 702.2.a: "To Buff a Unit, a player chooses a Unit and then places a buff on it. That Unit is Buffed for as long as the buff remains on it." 703: "Each Buff individually contributes +1 Might to a Unit." Only one fits, 702.3: "There can only be one Buff on a Unit at a time." It goes on Galio, 6 to 7.

The win is counted at the Hold. The Hold is the first thing in your Beginning Phase, 315.2.b.2: "The Turn Player Holds all Battlefields they Control." and 469.2: "Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase." The seven are part of the trigger condition, 383.2.a.1: "Any additional conditional statement immediately after the Condition must be true in order for the Condition to be fulfilled. Such a conditional statement is part of the Trigger Condition and not the Effect." So they must be at the Plaza when the Hold happens. Once the ability resolves the game is over, 195: "A player also wins the game if an effect instructs them to do so, or if they are the only player remaining in the game."

Combat, and what Galio changes. 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." [Tank] puts an order on that, 815.1.b: "It is functionally short for "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.", and 815.1.c.2 closes the gap: "If more than one unit with Tank is present with the same controller in Combat, damage may be assigned to any of them. Units without Tank are invalid assignments until all units with Tank have lethal damage assigned to them." Galio has no [Shield], so his lethal is his Might: 6, and 7 with the buff. An attack that kills one of the eight therefore costs 7 Might, and one that kills two costs 7 + 1 = 8. The combat result: 466.3.a: "A Player has won a combat if they received either the attacker or defender designation and are the only Player that has units remaining at this battlefield during this step."

Galio deals no combat damage. His "I don't deal combat damage." takes his 7 out of your side of 465.2.c, and only that: combat damage is the units', 417.6.c: "Damage Dealt as a result of being assigned during Combat has the Units as its source." The other seven units bring 10, which the walk needs to be enough, and it is (§4).

Units move from base to a battlefield and back, never between battlefields, 144.4.b: "Units may move from a Battlefield to their Base." So a unit of theirs at their own battlefield cannot reach the Plaza on the same turn.

3. Their deck: Calm/Order Radiant Dawn

The same deck, in the same seat, with the same draws as in the four earlier Plaza plays, so the five walks can be read side by side. 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.)" Nothing in the walk stuns. Its Chosen Champion is OGN-238 Leona, Determined, never played. The cards it plays:

• OGN-210 Daring Poro (Order, E2, M2): "[Assault] (+1 :rb_might: while I'm an attacker.)"
• SFD-159 Trusty Ramhound (Order, E2, M2): "While you have another unit here, I have +1 :rb_might:."
• 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-052 Stalwart Poro (Calm, E2, M2): "[Shield] (+1 :rb_might: while I'm a defender.)"
• SFD-157 Royal Guard (Order, E4, M2): "When you play me, play a 2 :rb_might: Sand Soldier unit token here."

OGN-216 Soaring Scout and VEN-045 Helm of Suppression stay in their hand, and their Vanguard Captain, the T4 draw of the earlier walks, is never drawn, since the game ends before their T4; §5 says why the Helm does nothing here. 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

Body/Order against Calm/Order. Your battlefield is A, The Grand Plaza; theirs is B, OGN-282 Monastery of Hirana ("When you conquer here, you may spend a buff to draw 1.", and nobody spends one). Your opening four are Determined Sentry, Determined Sentry, Galio, Indefatigable and Vanguard Captain. Your draws are Pit Rookie (T1), Determined Sentry (T2) and a second Galio (T3, never played). Their opening four are Daring Poro, Trusty Ramhound, Soaring Scout and Helm of Suppression. Their draws are Sunlit Guardian (T1), Stalwart Poro (T2) and Royal Guard (T3).

turn      runes   play                                                      points
T1        2       Determined Sentry (E1) twice, to base. None left.         0
their T1  3       Daring Poro (E2) to base. One left.                       0
T2        4       The two Sentries walk to A, empty, Conquer: +1.           1
                  Galio (E3) to A, an exhausted Order rune recycled
                  for his Order Power. Determined Sentry (E1) to A.
                  Four at A; one kill costs 6 Might. Three runes stay.
their T2  5       Daring Poro walks to B, empty, Conquer. Trusty            1
                  Ramhound (E2) and Sunlit Guardian (E3) to base. None
                  left.
T3        5       Hold A: +1, four at A. Pit Rookie (E2, its buff on        2
                  Galio) to A, then Vanguard Captain (E3, a second
                  exhausted Order rune recycled), [Legion] on, two
                  Recruits at A. Eight at A; two kills cost 8 Might.
                  None left; four runes stay.
their T3  7       Hold B. Royal Guard (E4, Sand Soldier to base) and        2
                  Stalwart Poro (E2) to base. One left. The Ramhound
                  and the Guardian (3 + 3 = 6) attack A. All 6 go to
                  Galio, 7: nothing of yours dies; both of theirs do.
                  Eight at A.
T4        —       Hold A: eight at A. The Grand Plaza: you win the game.    3

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. Your T4 Hold scores the Plaza and its trigger ends the game.

Runes at the end of each turn: yours 2, 3, 4, the two recycled ones never coming back. Theirs 3, 5, 7.

Your hand, card by card: 5 after the T1 draw, 3 after the two Sentries (Galio, Vanguard Captain, Pit Rookie); 4 after the T2 draw, 2 after Galio and the Sentry (Vanguard Captain, Pit Rookie); 3 after the T3 draw, 1 after the Rookie and the Captain (the second Galio). Six of the seven cards you saw by T3 are on the Plaza. Theirs: 5 after the T1 draw, 4 after Daring Poro; 5 after the T2 draw, 3 after the Ramhound and the Guardian (Scout, Helm, Stalwart Poro); 4 after the T3 draw, 2 after Royal Guard and Stalwart Poro (Scout, Helm).

Your T2: one rune is the Power. The four runes are exhausted for four Energy (164.2.a): Galio's three and the third Sentry's one. One of them, an Order rune, is then recycled for Galio's Order Power (164.2.b, 164.2.b.1): no Energy is spent on it. A defends at Sentry 1, Sentry 1, Sentry 1, Galio 6. Their only ready body on their T2 is Daring Poro, 3 as an attacker; all 3 would go to Galio (815.1.c.2) and kill nothing, and your three Sentries would kill it. They take B instead.

Your T3: five runes, eight units. Three runes stayed and two are channelled: five Energy for the Rookie (E2, buffing Galio to 7) and the Captain (E3). A second Order rune, exhausted for that Energy, is recycled for the Captain's Order Power. The Rookie was played first, so the Captain's [Legion] is on (812.1.c) and two Recruits are played at A. Eight units: three Sentries, Galio, the Rookie, the Captain and two Recruits. The second Galio stays in hand; there is no Energy left for it.

Their T3: exactly 6, and it all goes to Galio. Royal Guard and Stalwart Poro go to base first, for six of their seven runes. Then the Ramhound and the Guardian attack A. The Ramhound has another unit of theirs at A, so it is 3; the Guardian's [Shield] works only on defence, so it is 3. They assign 6 (465.2.c), and all 6 must go to Galio until he has lethal damage (815.1.c.2): his lethal is 7 (142.4.b), so every point of it lands on him and none reaches a unit without [Tank]. Galio survives with 6 damage. Your 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 10 (Galio deals none) must go to the Guardian first (815.1.b), 3, then 3 to the Ramhound, and both die. Only your units remain at A, so you win the combat (466.3.a), and A stays yours with eight units on it.

Your T4: the Hold wins. 383.2.a.1 counts at the Hold: eight units at the Plaza, so its trigger resolves and you win the game (195). That is where the four earlier Plaza walks parted from the clock: slices 1, 2 and 4 had six or fewer at their T4 Hold, and slice 3 won at T5.

What made the difference. The four earlier lines put seven on the Plaza, so the first kill already cost the game, and their kill prices were 1, 3, 6 and 6. This one puts eight, so it takes two kills, and the first of them has to get through a 7-Might Tank. Their 6 is short of 7 by one, which the Rookie's buff paid. Without the buff Galio is 6, the 6 kills him and nothing else, and seven are left: it still wins, because the eighth unit is the slack. Their 6 would have to be 8 to stop it, or the Tank would have to leave first: a OGN-043 Charm in their T3 hand, cast on Galio before the attack (§5), leaves seven with no [Tank], and the same 6 then kills the three Sentries and both Recruits. Two left, and no win.

5. Breaks to

The predicate: on their turn before your Hold, does it leave you with six or fewer units at the Plaza? The answer has to land before the Hold: 383.2.a.1 fixes the count when the Hold happens.

The free answer: attack with 8 Might or more from base, the kill price of the eight at the end of your T3: lethal on Galio (7, with the buff), then the cheapest unit (1). At the end of your T2 the board is four and one kill costs 6, Galio himself; an attack on their T2 that kills Galio leaves the three Sentries, and your T3 then makes seven (the Rookie, the Captain and two Recruits), with no Tank, so one kill costs 1. The walked opponent had 6 ready on their T3 and 3 on their T2, and killed nothing with either.

The cheapest spells, pool-wide, constructed-legal, priced against the target. Galio has [Deflect], so a spell that chooses him costs one Power more, 809.1.c: "It is functionally short for "Spells and abilities an opponent controls that target [me/this] cost an amount of Power equal to [Deflect Value] more to play as an additional cost for each time they choose [me/this]."" and 809.1.c.1: "The Power used to pay this cost may always be of any Domain." Taking two of the eight needs a card that removes two, two cards, or one card that removes the Tank and an attack for the second: with Galio gone, the seven left have no [Tank], so one kill costs 1 Might (465.2.c.3).

The predicate searched: spells at Energy 3 or less in data/corpus_flat.txt whose text contains "all units", "each unit", "two units", "units here", "enemy units at" or "all enemy units". It returns the five rows above plus SFD-145 Switcheroo (Chaos, swaps the Might of two units) and VEN-148 Shadow Dash (Calm/Order, "Move an enemy unit to a battlefield where you have units.", one unit). No Calm or Order card in that search removes two of the eight with one card. The walked opponent's identity still has a one-card break, because removing one unit is enough when that unit is the Tank: Charm or Shadow Dash on Galio, then any attack of 1 Might, or 8 Might with no spell. The sweeper absence is inside that predicate, not a pool-wide one: a unit or gear whose ability removes two was not searched.

No spell tax reaches it. The slice-1 and slice-3 Plaza lines moved to T5 against VEN-045 Helm of Suppression on their T2: "Opponents' spells cost :rb_energy_1: more." This line casts no spell. The Helm changes nothing.

The battlefield cannot be answered. 170.3: "Battlefields cannot be Killed during the course of regular play." What can be answered is the count.

6. Against the free Hold curve

The clock prices the line at T4: Galio (E3 + 1 Power), the Rookie (E2), the Captain (E3 + 1 Power) and three bodies at E1 each (UNL-111 Determined Sentry, the cheapest Body/Order body it lists), eleven Energy, which T1 and T2 (six runes) cannot pay and T3 can, so the set completes on T3 and the Hold waits for T4. The hand count agrees on the parts and the turn: three Sentries is the cap (103.2.b) and exactly what the line runs, and both Powers are runes that have already paid their Energy (164.2.b). By the end of T2 the most at the Plaza is four, so T4 is the lower bound. The line uses no readying effect, no readying rune (#513), no refused rune readier (#523, merged in PR 531 and modelled by the clock now), no [Accelerate] (#517), no [Hidden], no legend [Add] and no fourth copy of a body (#528), no Weaponmaster (#530) and no Dragon (#532), so none of the clock's open gaps moves it.

On the clock's board the line is one turn faster than the Hold curve. By the issue's rule it beats the baseline, and it enters data/combos.json as status: candidate.

The walk is the other half, and here it agrees with the clock: against the opponent that took the four earlier Plaza lines to T5 or later, this one wins on the clock's turn.

7. Verdict

One turn faster than the Hold curve on the clock, and in the walk it wins on that turn. Order has what the Body/Fury slice lacked, a card that is three units, and a Tank whose Might is the price of the first kill with no [Shield] to lose outside combat. Eight units take two kills to stop, and the first is 7 Might. A deck that answers with bodies needs 8 ready on its T3, or one Energy-1 Body sweeper. The cheapest answer is cheaper than either, and the walked Calm/Order identity has it: a Charm on Galio (E1 + 2 Power, one of them Calm) before the attack, after which 1 Might is enough (§5). The walk won because that hand held no Charm. It is a rare draw: eight with Galio by the end of T3 in about one game in 8,600, seven with Galio in about one in 230 (§8).

8. Not verified

Runes. The line pays two Order Power, each by recycling an Order rune that has already paid its Energy (164.2.b.1): one among the four runes channelled by T2, and a second among the six by T3. No Body Power is paid. With six Order and six Body runes in the twelve of Tournament Rules 402.1 the deal fails in 5.63% of games; with eight Order and four Body in 0.20%; with twelve Order never. Their side is the same as in the earlier Plaza plays: the walk ends before they need an Order Power.

How often the eight are castable by T3. 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 5 cards by T1, 6 by T2 and 7 by T3. With the walk's three each of Determined Sentry, Galio, Vanguard Captain and Pit Rookie, computed exactly over ordered draws and every way to spend 2, 4 and 5 or 6 Energy on T1 to T3 (each Power a recycled rune, which leaves one rune fewer on later turns; [Legion] on only after another card that turn; a unit played before the Plaza is yours goes to base and walks on a later turn), runes and mulligan ignored:

The eight-unit board needs the Captain and the Rookie together on T3 with a Sentry pair on T1, which is why it is rarer than the seven-unit lines of the earlier slices.

The Plaza has to be in play. 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." One in three. With the 0.0116% that is about 0.0039% of games in which the eight are on the board with Galio by the end of T3, before the opponent does anything; with seven and Galio, about 0.15%.

Not walked: going second (three runes on T1); the mulligan; 2v2 and Match (486.5 lets you choose the battlefield); an opponent that runs any of the §5 spells, or 8 Might ready on its T3; and the other Body/Order legends (Leads).

Leads

• Grand Duelist may pay a rune back for Galio. SFD-205 Grand Duelist (Body/Order, tag Fiora): "When one of your units becomes [Mighty], you may exhaust me to channel 1 rune exhausted. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ :rb_might:.)" Galio enters at 6. Whether a unit played at 5 or more "becomes" Mighty is the question, 709: "A Unit "becomes Mighty" at the moment its Might changes from being less than 5 to being 5 or greater." A card in hand has no Might on the board, so it is not settled here. If it does, the channelled rune replaces the one Galio's Power recycled.
• A Tank played inside their attack. OGN-241 Shen, Kinkou (Order, E3 + 1 Power): "[Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve, including to a battlefield you control.) [Shield 2] (+2 :rb_might: while I'm a defender.) [Tank] (I must be assigned combat damage first.)" Played in their showdown, it is a second Tank they had not counted. It costs a third Power.
• Sett, Kingpin is a Tank that grows with buffs: "[Tank] (I must be assigned combat damage first.) I get +1 :rb_might: for each buffed friendly unit at my battlefield." At E4 + 1 Power it is a T4 card here, after the Hold that wins.
• The Faithful Manufactor shape. The catalogued vanguard-captain-manufactor-plaza is mono-Order: two Vanguard Captains and a Faithful Manufactor make eight units in one Main Phase, with no Tank, so two kills cost 1 + 1 = 2. It clocks T4 too. This line spends the second Captain and the Manufactor on Galio and three Sentries, and the price of two kills goes from 2 to 8. The two are the only Body/Order ALT_WINs that pay by T4.
• The stop rule's pair search is ALT_WIN only so far. No BURST or CHAIN was searched for Body/Order, so its clocked count stays 0.