What does Deathknell do?

Deathknell is the keyword in Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game for a unit or gear that leaves something behind. The card prints the keyword followed by an effect, usually with the reminder "When I die, get the effect". Watchful Sentry, a 2 Energy Mind unit from Origins with 1 Might, draws you a card when it dies, however it dies.

The Core Rules treat the keyword as short for "When I die" followed by the effect, so it is a triggered ability like any other, and it makes a card hard to trade against: your opponent spends a spell or a fight to remove it, and you still get something back.

When does a Deathknell trigger?

A Deathknell triggers when its card is killed and goes from the board to the trash. It does not matter how the card dies, who killed it or whose turn it is. A unit can die from combat damage equal to or more than its Might, or from a spell or ability of either player, including your own: Deathgrip, an Order spell from Spiritforged, kills a friendly unit and, if it does, gives another friendly unit Might equal to the killed unit's Might for the turn.

Two keywords kill their own card as well. Temporary kills a permanent at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase. Deploy, the keyword that arrives with Radiance, the fifth set, with its release on 23 October 2026, kills a gear when an opponent holds its battlefield.

The effect goes to the player who controlled the card, even when an opponent did the killing. If your opponent's spell kills your Watchful Sentry, you draw the card.

When does a Deathknell not trigger?

A Deathknell does nothing unless its card truly dies. A unit returned to a hand, banished or recycled into a deck leaves the board without dying, so Rebuke, which returns a unit at a battlefield to its owner's hand, and Wind and Ghosts, which banishes a unit at a battlefield with 3 Might or less and returns a bigger one to its owner's hand, remove a Deathknell unit without giving its owner anything.

A unit whose death is replaced does not die either. Guardian Angel and Tactical Retreat heal, exhaust and recall a unit instead of letting it die, so its Deathknell never triggers. Only cards on the board can die, so a Deathknell card that goes to the trash from your hand or your deck does nothing.

How does a Deathknell resolve?

A Deathknell goes on the Chain at the moment its card dies, just before the card reaches the trash, and both players may answer it with Reactions before it resolves. The game notes where the card died and what it was like at that moment, so "here" means the place where it died, and a Deathknell written in the past tense looks back at that moment.

• Unsung Hero, a 2 Might Order unit from Spiritforged, draws you 2 if it was Mighty, which means it had 5 or more Might when it died. Might it gained for the turn counts.
• Ekko, Recurrent, a Mind champion unit from Origins, recycles himself from your trash into your Main Deck to ready your runes, so a death on your own turn pays for more cards.

A Deathknell is not optional unless it says "you may". Ruined Rex has to deal 4 to an enemy unit, while Mournful Spirit lets you choose whether to kill a unit or gear at its location. When several of your Deathknells trigger at the same time, you choose the order in which they go on the Chain.

What happens when a Deathknell unit dies in combat?

Units killed by combat damage go to the trash together, the survivors are healed, and then the Deathknells resolve, all before the game decides who won the combat. Kog'Maw, Caustic, a Chaos champion unit from Origins with 1 Might, deals 4 to all units at his battlefield when he dies. If he is the last defender to fall, his 4 damage hits the attackers who survived the fight, and if it kills them all, nobody is left to conquer the battlefield.

His damage hits your own units there as well, so Kog'Maw, Caustic works best when he defends alone, and an attacker with 4 Might or less should expect to die even if it wins the fight.

Which cards have Deathknell?

Deathknell is found in every main set from Origins to Radiance, mostly on units and sometimes on gear. Order has more Deathknell cards than any other domain, and Mind comes second. Ekko, Kog'Maw and LeBlanc each have a champion unit with it. These four cards show how varied the effects are.

• Ferrous Forerunner, a 6 Might Fury unit from Spiritforged, plays two 3 Might Mech unit tokens to your base.
• Rift Herald, an Order unit from Unleashed, lets you play a unit from your hand to your base without paying its Energy cost.
• Noxian Emissary, an Order unit from Vendetta, plays two 1 Might Recruit unit tokens, but only if it dies while Empowered.
• Sprite Fountain, a Mind gear from Unleashed, plays a ready 3 Might Sprite token when you play it, and both have Temporary. When Temporary kills Sprite Fountain at the start of your next Beginning Phase, its Deathknell plays a new Sprite.

Which cards work well with Deathknell?

Some cards make a Deathknell count twice, and others plan the death for you.

• Karthus, Eternal, an Order champion unit from Origins, makes every Deathknell of yours trigger an additional time while he is on the board.
• Detonation Amplifier, a Fury gear with Deploy from Radiance, does the same for friendly Deathknells at its battlefield.
• Deceiver, the Legend of LeBlanc in Mind and Order, makes Reflection tokens with Temporary that copy another unit at the battlefield, so a Reflection of a Deathknell unit gets its effect when Temporary kills it at the start of your next Beginning Phase.
• LeBlanc, Fragmented, an Order champion unit from Unleashed, fits a plan with Deceiver, since she draws you 2 instead of 1 when she dies in your Beginning Phase.

How do you play with Deathknell, and against it?

Cheap Deathknell units such as Watchful Sentry and Carrion Dredger make good defenders for a battlefield you expect to lose, since the attacker has to kill them and they leave a card or a token behind. At tournaments, announce your Deathknell when it triggers: under the Tournament Rules, a trigger you do not acknowledge before it would change the game is missed, and your opponent does not have to remind you.

Against Deathknell, the cleanest answer is one that does not kill, such as Rebuke or Wind and Ghosts. When you do kill a Deathknell unit, pick the moment that helps its owner least, for example Kog'Maw, Caustic at a battlefield where none of your units stand.

The cards with Deathknell are among the units and gear on the site. The full wording of Deathknell is rule 808 of the Core Rules on Riot's Rules Hub.