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Riftbound Guide

Riftbound: Intro to Playing Purple (Chaos)

Beginner
Mechanics
Updated on Dec 16, 2025
Dec 16, 2025

Overview

The Chaos Domain plays around the edges of the rules. While most units need time to move and prepare, the allies of Chaos go wherever they please. This high mobility gives them a huge advantage on the battlefield, and any who oppose will have to embrace the storm.

When playing this Domain, it’s important to choose your battles wisely. Most of your interaction is great for stalling, but won’t permanently solve the problem. Make sure you save enough Might for the showdowns that really matter.

In this beginner guide, we’ll cover a handful of the themes and synergies that define the Domain, along with some examples. Of course, keep in mind that this is only one half of the equation, as you’ll always have two Domains at your disposal when you start building decks!

Chaos Legends

riftbound annie dark child starterriftbound jinx loose cannonriftbound miss fortune bounty hunter

riftbound teemo swift scoutriftbound yasuo unforgiven

Themes & Synergies

Bounce

“Bounce” effects (returning a unit from play to hand) are a great way to get ahead on tempo. While they aren’t a permanent form of removal, their flexibility and efficiency make them a great catch-all in many scenarios.

Most of the time they’re used to set back the opponent, either to protect your units or deny them from scoring. However, you can also choose to target your own units if the situation calls for it. 

riftbound gust

Let’s take a look at Gust. For the incredibly low cost of 1-Energy, it can send back a unit with 3-Might or less. This is great for dealing with units in the early game, and can also swing later showdowns (with multiple units) in your favor.

However, it can fall victim to combat tricks. Any Reactions that increase the target’s Might in response (and put it above 3) will cause the Gust to fizzle, denying the spell. So try to time it appropriately to avoid being punished.

riftbound rebuke

Rebuke is an alternative bounce spell that has zero targeting restrictions, but comes at Action speed. This can pick off any unit at a battlefield, making it very good at dealing with bigger threats. That said, 2-Power is a lot, so it’s better to avoid smaller units when possible.

riftbound zaunite bouncer

One last card I’d like to showcase is the Zaunite Bouncer himself. This is effectively Rebuke stapled onto a unit, allowing you to develop your board while simultaneously removing an enemy. At 4-Energy/2-Power it’s a bit expensive, but chances are the opponent will have to spend a lot more in order to come back.

Movement

Chaos is by far the most mobile Domain in Set 1. They have several tricky ways to traverse the battlefields, and can interact with both friend or foe.

Fight or Flight is one example that kinda feels similar to a bounce spell. While it doesn’t actually return a unit to hand, forcing it off the battlefield is often close enough. It’s solid at Action speed, and gets even better when played from Hidden.

riftbound fight or flightriftbound tideturner

Speaking of Hidden, Tideturner is another card with an interesting movement ability. Its unique swap effect can lead to some crazy interactions, allowing you to sneak in more Might at the opportune time. While situational, it can definitely create some fun “gotcha!” moments.

As you can already see, having more ways to move can create a lot of unexpected events, but it doesn’t stop there. On top of those shenanigans also exists ways to score points during the opponent’s turn. Behold, Ride the Wind!

riftbound ride the windriftbound yasuo windrider

This 2E/1P Action spell may look rather innocent on the surface, but don’t underestimate it. Action speed makes it playable during showdowns, giving you an opportunity to sneak in a unit when your opponent least expects it.

While there’s still a window to respond, this cheeky spell can lead to some surprise victories. And if you want to take it a step further, try to exploit this movement to trigger Yasuo, Windrider's ability!

Movement aside, Chaos has one other slippery angle of attack. A few units are able to bypass the normal rules of play, and simply jump straight to an open battlefield.

riftbound sneaky deckhandriftbound sai scoutriftbound miss fortune buccaneer

Sneaky Deckhand and Sai Scout skip right to the (open) showdown, giving players an easy way to score when the opponents’ guard is down. Miss Fortune, Buccaneer shares the same effect, while also granting it to the rest of your allies!

Overall, having additional movement can create a lot of interesting dynamics. It provides a lot of room for skill expression, rewarding players who can capture the perfect timing. 

Trash Manipulation

While the Trash is usually just a bin of lost cards, for Chaos, it’s an entirely separate resource. This is because they have many ways to interact with the Trash, either by returning the card to hand, or even putting it directly into play!

riftbound cemetery attendantriftbound morbid returnriftbound annie stubborn

Cemetery Attendant and Morbid Return are two basic examples. Both have the ability to return a unit from Trash to hand, giving you a second chance to play the card. Annie, Stubborn has the same effect but for spells, which can be incredibly useful for recurring spent removal.

Beyond that, there’s The Harrowing and Soulgorger which resurrect units from the dead. This can be a way to cheat high cost units into play much earlier, assuming you have a way to discard them ahead of time.

riftbound the harrowingriftbound soulgorger

On the subject of discarding, the more you have in your Trash, the easier it becomes to play cards like Rhasa the Sunderer. With a full bin, it’s even possible to get 6-Might for just 1-Power, which is a pretty insane tempo play.

riftbound rhasa the sunderer

It’s hard to argue against the value of reusing past cards. Regardless of whether or not you decide to build around the recursion, having the option to bring stuff back opens the door to more creative deckbuilding.

Key Interaction

Here we’ll briefly highlight a few key cards you can expect to see in your games. Keeping these in mind is important for recognizing what your opponent may have, giving you the opportunity to prepare and play around it!

riftbound fight or flight

Fight or Flight: For 2-Energy (or 1-Power), this spell removes the biggest threat off the battlefield. At worst, you can always use it to save one of your units.

riftbound gust

Gust: A very cheap Reaction that’s great for smaller exchanges. While counterable, its efficiency makes it well worth the inclusion given the tempo it can provide.

riftbound rebuke

Rebuke: While 2-Power makes this rather steep to play regularly, returning a sizable unit can lead to a complete blowout in terms of tempo. It’s incredibly punishing against decks that go big.

riftbound ride the wind

Ride the Wind: As mentioned earlier, having movement on the opposing turn can be game breaking. It’s definitely situational, but its existence can’t be forgotten.

riftbound fading memories

Fading Memories: For 4E/1P, this is one of the few spells Chaos has to interact and remove something permanently. It’s a bit expensive and requires you to wait, but does have the upside of destroying pesky gear like Dazzling Aurora.

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