When can you play a spell?

Every spell in Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game has a timing, and the timing often matters as much as what the spell does. A spell that deals 3 damage on your own turn and a spell that deals 3 damage in the middle of your opponent's attack play like two different cards. Many spells carry no timing keyword, and the others carry Action or Reaction, each with a short reminder of what it allows.

When can you play a spell without Action or Reaction?

A spell without Action or Reaction can only be played on your own turn, in your Main Phase, while no showdown or combat is going on and nothing waits on the Chain. The Core Rules call this moment the Neutral Open state. You cannot play such a spell in the phases at the start of your turn, in your Ending Phase, during your opponent's turn or in reply to another card.

Inside your Main Phase you can play one spell after another, as often as your runes allow, but not a second spell of this kind while the first still waits on the Chain. A waiting spell closes the turn to everything except Reactions, from your opponent or from you.

Spells with this timing often have the broadest effects. Vengeance kills any unit, wherever it stands, Progress Day draws four cards and Time Warp gives you an extra turn. Supernova from Radiance, the fifth set, with its release on 23 October 2026, deals 10 to a unit and draws you two cards. All four have to be played before or after the fighting of your turn, never during it.

What does Action add to a spell's timing?

Action adds showdowns. A spell with Action can be played at every moment a spell without a keyword can, and also during a showdown or a combat, on any player's turn. In a showdown the players take turns with Focus, usually starting with the player who moved units in, and each may play one card with Action or Reaction or pass.

Action does not let a spell answer another card. While anything waits on the Chain, an Action spell has to wait as well. Action spells are mostly the tricks and the removal of a fight. Hextech Ray deals 3 to a unit at a battlefield, Punch First gives a unit +5 Might for the turn, and Guttural Roar from Vendetta gives a unit +2 Might, or +4 when that unit is Empowered.

What does Reaction add to a spell's timing?

Reaction adds the Chain. A spell with Reaction can be played at every moment an Action spell can, and also while a spell or ability waits on the Chain, on any player's turn. The Reaction goes on the Chain above the card it answers and resolves first, so it can change what that card will do.

The reminder on Reaction cards says "Play any time", which is a shorthand: on your opponent's turn you still need an opening, either a showdown in which you have Focus or something waiting on the Chain. Abilities that trigger at the start or the end of a turn go on the Chain as well, so a Reaction can be played in phases where no other card can.

So far, every spell that counters another spell has Reaction, because the spell it counters exists only while it waits on the Chain. Wind Wall counters any spell, and Defy counters one that costs no more than 4 Energy and 1 Power. Other Reactions protect your units. Flash moves up to two of your units to your base, and Against the Odds gives a friendly unit at a battlefield +2 Might for each enemy unit there.

How do the Core Rules sum up these moments?

The Core Rules sort every moment of a turn into four states, decided by whether a showdown or combat is going on and whether anything is on the Chain.

• Neutral Open. With no showdown and an empty Chain, only the turn player may play cards, in their Main Phase, and any spell is allowed.
• Showdown Open. During a showdown or combat with an empty Chain, the player with Focus may play a spell with Action or Reaction.
• Neutral Closed and Showdown Closed. While something waits on the Chain, only spells with Reaction may be played, by the players in turn order.

A spell played at a moment its timing does not allow is taken back, and everything done to play it is undone.

Can you play spells on your opponent's turn?

You can play spells on your opponent's turn, with Action during a showdown and with Reaction whenever something waits on the Chain. To pay for them you need runes left ready from your own turn, because your runes ready only in your Awaken Phase unless a card readies them. The abilities of runes have Reaction, so a ready rune can pay a cost at any of these moments.

A card with Hidden is another way in. From the turn after you hide it, a facedown card has Reaction and is played without paying its Energy and Power cost. Hidden Blade is an Action spell when you play it from your hand, but from facedown it can kill a unit at its battlefield in reply to a spell of your opponent's. Some cards reward this kind of play: Viktor, Innovator plays a 1 Might Recruit unit token in your base each time you play a card on an opponent's turn.

Can other cards change when a spell can be played?

Cards can change the timing of spells in both directions. Kai'Sa, Rebel, a Mind unit from Radiance, the set with its release on 23 October 2026, gives all your spells Reaction while she is in a showdown. Even a spell without a keyword can then be played in the middle of her fight or in reply to an opponent's card. Other cards close the window. Brynhir Thundersong, a Fury unit from Origins, stops opponents from playing any cards for the rest of the turn when you play it. Cataclysm, a Radiance spell, stops opponents from playing spells for the rest of the turn once it resolves, so an opponent who wants to answer it has to do so while it still waits on the Chain.

How should timing change the way you play?

Play your spells without a keyword before you move into a fight, because once the showdown opens they have to wait until it is over. Keep your Action spells for the showdown itself, where a few points of Might or damage decide who wins. Leave a rune or two ready at the end of your turn when you hold a Reaction, so your opponent has to play around it.

Units, gear and abilities can carry Action or Reaction too, and they follow the same timing as a spell does. When both players keep answering each other, the newest item on the Chain resolves first, so a Reaction played in reply to a spell resolves before that spell does. The spells page lists every spell in the game, and the full timing rules are rules 307 to 313, 806 and 813 of the Core Rules on Riot's Rules Hub.