Power Costs Deep Dive.

Power costs are one of Riftbound’s trickiest mechanics — they don’t just spend mana now, they shrink your resources for the rest of the game.

In this article, you’ll learn the key heuristics to judge when paying power is worth it, when it will set you too far behind, and how to use it to swing games in your favor.

Every time you pay a power, you’re effectively shrinking your total future rune pool.

Example: Spending power on Turn 1 leaves you 6 runes behind over a 7-turn game (your curve goes 2–3–5–7–9–11–12 instead of 2–4–6–8–10–12–12).

Heuristic: Only pay a power if the immediate gain is worth the total mana you’ll lose over the game.

The biggest trap isn’t just long-term rune loss — it’s when paying power now locks you out of your next turn’s big play.

Example: If spending 1 power on Turn 2 means you can’t reach 6 runes on Turn 3 for your deck’s spike, you’ve handicapped yourself.

Heuristic: If a power spend delays your power turn, its value must be enormous to be justified.

Power on Turn 1–2 taxes every future turn.

By Turn 5+, the tax is much smaller (losing 2–3 runes total).

Heuristic: Early power must win tempo immediately (securing a point, denying theirs, protecting a unit). Later power can be used more liberally.

A power card must do more than be “on rate” — it needs to swing the game state.

Evaluate in terms of:

Points: Did it secure/delay scoring?

Board: Did it create/deny a winning board state?

Cards: Did it net real advantage over opponent’s hand/resources?

Heuristic: If the effect doesn’t visibly change points, board, or card advantage, it’s rarely worth the rune debt.

Power cards are strong, but every one you include increases the risk of stumbling on curve.

If you draw too many at once, you’ll end up behind in rune development and unable to play your turns cleanly.

Heuristic: Keep power cards to a small, focused package. Treat them as tools to swing the game, not the backbone of your deck.