Riftbound battlefields explained

Battlefields are the whole game. Every point in Riftbound comes from one, and no point comes from anywhere else. If you are new and want one thing to focus on, focus on the ground.

How many there are, and which ones

Each player puts three battlefield cards in their deck. At setup, one of each player's three is chosen at random, and those two are the battlefields for the game (rules 480.4.a and 480.5). The other four are set aside and not used.

So in a two player game there are exactly two battlefields on the table. You know one will be from your deck and one from theirs, but not which.

This is worth knowing when deckbuilding: you only ever see one of your three, at random, so all three should be ones you are happy to play with. A battlefield that only works with a specific card is a one in three chance of being relevant.

Controlling a battlefield

You control a battlefield when you are the only player with units there.

That is the whole definition. There is no marker, no flag, no claim that persists. Control lasts exactly as long as you have a unit standing on it (rule 187.4.a). The moment your last unit there dies or walks away, the battlefield becomes uncontrolled.

A battlefield with nobody on it is uncontrolled, and an uncontrolled battlefield scores for nobody.

Getting onto one

Two ways:

• Play a unit there, but only if you already control it (rule 355.2.a). You cannot play a unit onto neutral or enemy ground.
• Move a unit there. Base to battlefield costs exhausting the unit (rule 144.2). Battlefield to battlefield only works with Ganking (rule 144.4.c).

Since you cannot play onto ground you do not hold, taking new ground always means moving. And since units enter exhausted (rule 143.4), a unit you played this turn cannot take ground until next turn.

That one-turn delay is the rhythm of the whole game.

Contesting and fighting

When your unit arrives at a battlefield the other player has units on, it becomes Contested and a showdown opens (rules 187.3.a and 344). The rest is combat.

When the fight resolves, whoever is left standing alone takes control, and if they have not scored that battlefield this turn, that is a Conquer and they score at once (rule 461.5.d).

If both sides still have units there, nobody controls it. If nobody has units there, it goes uncontrolled.

One thing that catches people: while a combat is running at a battlefield, control there cannot change (rule 187.4.b). It gets sorted out when the showdown closes, not during it.

Scoring from them

Two ways, and only two (rule 464):

• Conquer: take control of a battlefield you have not scored this turn. Scores immediately.
• Hold: still control it at the start of your Beginning Phase. Scores then.

Once per battlefield per turn, either way (rule 465).

Holding is the one that wins games. A conquest pays once. A hold pays every turn you keep the ground.

The battlefield abilities

Battlefields are not just squares. Each has an ability that triggers when its controller scores it (rule 466.2). These are the ones in the Origins decks:

Grove of the God-Willow — When you hold here, draw 1. The best of the bunch for a patient deck. It pays you for doing the thing you already want to do, every turn, forever.

Zaun Warrens — When you conquer here, discard 1, then draw 1. A filter rather than card advantage. In a deck that wants cards in the trash, discarding is a benefit rather than a cost.

Targon's Peak — When you conquer here, ready 2 runes at the end of this turn. Effectively two extra energy, but only on the turn you take it and only at the end. Best when taking the battlefield is already the plan.

Monastery of Hirana — When you conquer here, you may spend a buff to draw 1. Only worth anything in a deck making buffs. Note it is optional and it costs you the buff.

Reaver's Row — When you defend here, you may move a friendly unit here to base. The subtle one. It lets you pull a unit out of a fight before damage, which saves a big unit from a bad trade. Used carelessly it hands over the battlefield, because a unit that leaves is a unit not holding the ground.

How to think about the ground

A few things that took me longer to work out than they should have:

Base is safe and worthless. Units in your base score nothing. They are a reserve, not a position. A board where all your units are home is a board scoring zero.

Denying is as good as scoring. If they are holding a battlefield and about to collect, moving a unit in stops that point, whether or not you win the fight. You just have to stop them being the only player present.

Contested is not lost. If you control a battlefield and they contest it, you still control it until the fight resolves. If your Beginning Phase arrives first and the fight has not happened, you still score it.

Reinforcing beats reaching. Adding a second unit to ground you already hold is often worth more than taking new ground, because Might is summed and holding pays every turn.

Two battlefields means the board is small. There is nowhere to hide and no third lane. Every unit is either contributing to one of two fights or doing nothing.

Practising it

The Trainer covers battlefields across several sections: how they are chosen at setup, taking ground, contesting, and a whole section on reading the board that asks which battlefield is worth committing to in a given position.

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