Riftbound
Exhausted vs Ready in Riftbound
Exhausting a card in Riftbound looks like tapping one in Magic, and players who know Magic tend to bring the wrong rule along: exhausted units can't block. In Riftbound they can. Exhausted only means a card has paid an exhaust cost. This guide covers what that changes and what it doesn't, under Riot's Core Rules as of October 2026.
What exhausted and ready mean
Exhausted is a state for cards on the board. You turn the card sideways to show it has been used. Ready is the opposite: upright and available. Units, gear, runes and Legends can all be exhausted. Spells can't, because they never stay on the board.
The state matters mostly for costs. The exhaust symbol in a cost means "exhaust this," and a card that is already exhausted can't be exhausted again. So an exhausted unit can't use its standard move, an exhausted rune can't add Energy, and an exhausted Legend can't use an exhaust ability until something readies it.
Everything you control readies in your Awaken Phase, the first step of your turn. Nothing readies on your opponent's turn unless a card says so. Riftbound turn structure covers the Awaken Phase and the rest of the turn.
How each card type enters the board
Iron Ballista
OGN-017/298
Iron Ballista: gear that says it enters exhausted, so its ability waits a turn.
Mobilize
OGN-134/298
Mobilize channels its rune exhausted.
The rune rows explain a pattern in Body cards: extra runes from effects usually arrive exhausted, so they help from your next turn. Riftbound runes explained covers channeling and paying with runes.
Moving costs an exhaust
A unit's standard move, base to battlefield or battlefield to base, has one cost: exhaust the unit. That is why a unit you just played usually can't move, and why a unit normally moves once per turn. After it moves, it is exhausted until your next Awaken.
Moves made by spells and abilities are different. They have no exhaust cost unless the card says so, so a spell can move an exhausted unit. Ride the Wind moves a friendly unit and readies it, which can let a unit that already moved this turn take its standard move again.
Exhausted units still fight
This is the rule Magic players most often get wrong. When combat starts, every unit the attacker or defender controls at that battlefield gets the attacker or defender label, and each side's damage is the total Might of all its units there. Nothing in the combat rules checks whether a unit is ready.
The same goes for control. You control a battlefield for as long as you have units there, so an exhausted unit holds it as well as a ready one. Battlefield control in Riftbound covers when control is gained and lost.
An example turn pair
Your attackers become their defenders
On your turn, you move two units onto an open battlefield. Moving exhausts both. The showdown ends with no answer from your opponent, and you conquer it.
Your turn ends. Both units stay at the battlefield, exhausted, because nothing readies them until your next Awaken.
On your opponent's turn, they move units onto that battlefield. A combat starts, and your two exhausted units are the defenders.
Both of your units add their full Might to the damage. If at least one of them is still there after the combat, you keep the battlefield and can score a hold at the start of your next turn.
Recalls work the same way. A recall sends a unit to base without changing its state, so attackers recalled after a combat are still exhausted when they arrive home, and a unit that was ready stays ready.
Exhausted vs stunned
Stunned is the state that does keep a unit out of combat damage, and it is separate from exhausted. A unit can be either, both or neither.
Readying effects and Accelerate
There are two ways for a unit to be ready on the turn it is played, and the rules treat them differently.
The difference shows up on cards that trigger when you ready a unit. The rules say Accelerate doesn't trigger them, because the unit never went from exhausted to ready. A friendly unit readied by First Mate's play effect does count, so Pirate's Haven gives it +1 Might this turn.
Blazing Scorcher
OGN-001/298
Blazing Scorcher: Accelerate for 1 Energy and 1 Fury Power.
Warwick, Hunter
OGN-159/298
Warwick, Hunter: "I enter ready."
Pirate's Haven
OGN-143/298
Pirate's Haven: +1 Might when you ready a friendly unit.
Exhausting a friendly unit is also a cost on some cards, which makes your units a resource. With Meditation, you may exhaust a friendly unit as you play it to draw 2 instead of 1. A unit that already moved this turn can't pay that cost.
Common exhaust mistakes
Leaving a battlefield undefended in your head because your units there are exhausted. They still defend and deal full damage.
Moving a unit you just played. It entered exhausted, and moving costs an exhaust.
Treating exhausted as stunned. Only stunned units deal no combat damage.
Readying your units at the end of your turn. Everything readies in your Awaken Phase, at the start of your next turn.
Counting Accelerate as a ready trigger. The unit enters ready; it never becomes ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can exhausted units defend in Riftbound?
Yes. Nothing in Riftbound's combat rules asks whether a unit is ready. Every unit at the battlefield on the attacking or defending side takes part and adds its Might to the damage. A unit you moved onto a battlefield stays exhausted through your opponent's turn and still defends there.
Why can't I move a unit I just played in Riftbound?
Units enter the board exhausted, and the standard move costs exhausting the unit. An exhausted unit can't pay that cost. Accelerate, an "I enter ready" ability, or an effect that readies the unit lets it move the same turn.
What is the difference between exhausted and stunned in Riftbound?
Exhausted means the unit has been used and can't pay exhaust costs, such as moving. Stunned means it deals no combat damage this turn. An exhausted unit still deals full combat damage, and a stunned unit can still be exhausted or ready.
When do units ready in Riftbound?
In your Awaken Phase, the first thing in your turn, you ready everything you control. Units, gear, runes and your Legend all ready then. Nothing readies on your opponent's turn unless a card does it.
Do gear and runes enter exhausted in Riftbound?
No. Gear enters ready and runes are channeled ready, unless the card or effect says otherwise. Iron Ballista is gear that says it enters exhausted, and many channel effects say the rune comes in exhausted.
Does Accelerate count as readying a unit?
No. Accelerate replaces the unit entering exhausted with it entering ready, so the unit never becomes ready. Abilities that trigger when a unit is readied don't trigger from Accelerate.
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