What are keywords in Riftbound?

Most units, spells and gear in Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game have at least one keyword in their text. A keyword is a single word or a short phrase that stands for a longer rule, so a card can say Tank instead of a full sentence about how combat damage is assigned. The Core Rules describe a keyword as a shorthand for a game effect or an ability, and a card can have any number of them.

Keywords keep card text short, and once you know what Shield does, you know it on every card that has it.

How do you recognize a keyword on a card?

A keyword is printed in capital letters in a small colored box in the text box. Most keywords are followed by reminder text in italics and in parentheses, which says in a few words what the keyword does. Sunlit Guardian shows both: Shield, with the reminder "+1 Might while I'm a defender", and Tank, with the reminder "I must be assigned combat damage first".

Some keywords carry a number that says how strong they are, such as Assault 2, and without a number Assault, Shield, Deflect, Hunt and Disarm count as 1. Others carry a cost, such as Equip and Repeat, and a few are followed by a piece of text that the keyword sets off or switches on. Scorchclaw has Hunt 2, which gives you 2 XP when it conquers or holds, and a Level 3 text that gives it +1 Might once you have 3 XP.

The color of the box makes no difference to the game, and not every word in a box is a keyword. Stun, Predict and Buff are game actions in the Core Rules, and Mighty describes a unit with 5 Might or more. Tags such as Mech or Poro are not keywords either, because a tag has no rules meaning of its own and only matters when a rule or a card refers to it.

The four cards below show the difference. Sunlit Guardian and Scorchclaw have their keywords in colored boxes and no gray box.Back Off and Enthusiastic Promoter set a game action in a gray box beside their keywords: Stun on Back Off, beside Hidden and Action, and Buff on Enthusiastic Promoter, beside Backline.

Does the reminder text decide what a keyword does?

No. Reminder text only helps you read the card, and the Core Rules say that whether it is printed, and how it is worded, has no effect on the game. The full meaning of every keyword is in the Keyword Glossary of the Core Rules, which starts at rule 804.

The reminder of Tank, for example, says the unit must be assigned combat damage first. Rule 815 says more exactly that it must be assigned lethal damage before its controller's units without Tank. Some cards print a keyword with no reminder at all: Fiora, Victorious has Deflect, Ganking and Shield while she is Mighty, and her reminder text explains only Mighty.

What kinds of keywords are there?

Sorted by how they work, the keywords fall into six kinds.

• Keywords that change when a card can be played. Action lets a card be played during showdowns on any player's turn, and Reaction also lets it be played while something waits on the Chain. Ambush lets a unit be played as a Reaction to a battlefield where you have units.
• Keywords that are always on. Assault and Shield give a unit extra Might while it attacks or defends, and Tank changes the order in which units take combat damage. Ganking lets a unit move from one battlefield straight to another, and Deflect makes an opponent pay extra Power to choose the card with a spell or ability.
• Keywords that trigger when something happens. Deathknell gives an effect when the card dies. Vision lets you look at the top card of your Main Deck when the card is played and recycle it if you like. Temporary kills the card at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring.
• Keywords that let you pay more to get more. Accelerate lets a unit enter ready for 1 Energy and 1 Power of its domain on top of its cost, and Repeat lets a spell's effect happen a second time for an extra cost. Equip and Empower are abilities you pay for while the card is in play.
• Keywords that switch text on. The text after Legion works only if you have played another card this turn. The text after Level works only while you have enough XP, and the text after Empowered only while the card is Empowered.
• A keyword for deck building. Unique does nothing during a game. It means a deck may hold only one card with that name.

Hidden stands apart: it lets you hide the card facedown at a battlefield you control for one Power and play it on a later turn for free.

Can a card gain or lose a keyword?

Yes. Many cards give keywords to other cards, and the card that gives a keyword says how long it lasts. Block gives a unit Shield 3 and Tank for the turn. Raging Soul has Assault and Ganking only on a turn in which you have discarded a card. Shadow Fiend gains Assault 3 once you pay 2 Energy and one Fury Power to Empower it, and Kato the Arm hands his keywords to another friendly unit when he moves to a battlefield.

When an effect gives a keyword without saying for how long, the keyword lasts as long as the card stays on the board, and it is lost when the card leaves, for example when a unit returns to its owner's hand. A keyword that depends on a condition goes away as soon as the condition stops being true. The Core Rules use Fiora, Victorious as their example: a buff takes her to 5 Might, so she is Mighty and has her three keywords, and when the buff is removed she loses all three.

What happens when a card has the same keyword twice?

Keywords with a number add up: Stalwart Poro has Shield, and after Block gives it Shield 3 it has Shield 4 for the turn. The same goes for Assault, Deflect, Hunt and Disarm, so with two copies of Clanging Sentry in play, each of your Mechs has Disarm 2.

Many keywords without a number do nothing extra the second time, so a unit with Tank twice is the same as a unit with Tank once. A few count every copy: each Deathknell on a card triggers on its own, and so does each Vision.

Do new sets add new keywords?

Yes. Origins, the first set, brought the keywords the game was built on, among them Action, Reaction, Accelerate, Assault, Shield, Tank, Hidden and Deathknell. Every later main set brings a few of its own.

• Spiritforged brought Equip for equipment gear, such as Serrated Dirk, and Repeat, which lets Desert's Call play a second Sand Soldier token for 2 more Energy.
• Unleashed brought Hunt, which earns XP, Level, which rewards having it, and Ambush, as on Inferna.
• Vendetta brought Empower and Flow. A spell with Flow, such as Brittle Steel, can be played again from your trash for its Flow cost and is then banished.
• Radiance, the fifth set, with its release on 23 October 2026, adds Deploy for gear played to a battlefield, such as Banner of Conquest. It also adds Show Off, which reveals a card from your hand or picks one in play to unlock an effect, as on Stubborn Construct, and Disarm, which takes Might from an enemy unit when the unit with Disarm attacks.

The older keywords keep coming back: Radiance has new cards with Accelerate, Shield, Tank and Hidden.

Which keywords should you learn first?

Learn Action and Reaction first: they are the keywords you will meet most often, and they decide when a card can be played. Next come Assault, Shield and Tank, which change who wins a combat, and after them the keywords of your own deck. When a keyword is new to you, read its reminder text aloud the first time it is played.

The units, spells and gear pages list every card, and each card opens with its full text, keywords included. The exact wording of every keyword is in the Core Rules, which Riot publishes on its Rules Hub.