The Player Who Respects Threats, Wins.
You’ve checked the score. You’ve sorted your hand. Now the question is simple: what do I need to answer?
This guide shows you how to spot the real threats, deny their best lines, and keep control of the match.
3. What Do I Need To Answer?
In Riftbound, no unit is truly harmless. Left unanswered, any single unit can eventually score all 8 points needed to win the match. That means every unit on the board carries a built-in timer — ignore it long enough, and it will end the game by itself.
But that doesn’t mean you should panic and kill everything. The skill comes from recognising which units need to be answered now versus which ones you can afford to let sit for a turn or two. Determining factors can be;
- Point Parity
- Conquer/Holding Effects
- Difficulty of Dealing with that Unit Later.
The real question isn’t “Do I answer this?” — it’s “When do I answer this, and with what?” Every unit has to be dealt with eventually, but not all on the same clock.
✅ Actionable Steps
- Sort the threats — high-value vs low-value, battlefield vs base.
- Decide if you must hold — ask; "Is using this card, right now, better than saving for later?"
- Identify forced answers — kill what loses you the game right now.
- Avoid overextending — ask; "Am I putting myself in a vulnerable position afterwards?"
- Hunt for tempo gains — the best lines answer AND push you forward, boarstate + tempo wise.
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But answering only solves half the puzzle.
The real challenge is the ones you can’t see yet — the cards still in their hand, the runes they’re holding, and the lines they’re planning for next turn.
That’s where the fourth and final question comes in. See you in pt.4
