Riftbound Bo3 Rules
First to two game wins. Here is how a Riftbound best of 3 works by the rulebook, and how Aethos keeps the whole thing as one match.
Drawn games, who goes first, battlefields between games and the time limit, each with its Core Rules or Tournament Rules number. Then the record: every game's score, battlefields and point-by-point replay, saved on its own.
First to two game wins.
Riot splits the rules in two, the Core Rules (CR) and the Tournament Rules (TR), both dated 16 July 2026. In a competition the Tournament Rules take precedence (TR 104.1). Here is what they say about a best of 3.
- 2
- Game wins take the match (CR 486.6, TR 404.2)
- 8
- Points to win each game, the Victory Score (CR 486.3)
- 2
- Battlefields in play each game, one per player (CR 486.4)
- 3
- Battlefields each player registers, all different (TR 402.1)
- A game and a match are different things. A game is one play to the Victory Score. A match is the whole contest, and most Riftbound matches are best of 3: the first side to two game wins takes it (TR 404.1, 404.2).
- Drawn games do not count toward the two (TR 404.3), so a Bo3 can run to more than three games.
- A level match is a draw. If time ends the round first, the side with more game wins takes the match (TR 404.4); equal game wins is a match draw (TR 404.5, 408.3.b).
- Sideboards. Up to 10 cards (TR 601.1.c.1). Nothing comes in for game 1 (TR 403.5), and nobody sideboards after a drawn game (TR 403.10).
- Locked at registration. Your Legend and battlefields stay fixed for the event (TR 403.4.b).
- Best of 5 is allowed as a format too, first to three (CR 486.6.a).
What changes between games.
The sequence of a Bo3, game by game: who chooses the turn order, which battlefields come down, and what a drawn game resets.
- Game 1: a random method decides who chooses to play first or last (TR 407.1, 407.2).
- Later games: the player who lost the previous game chooses. After a drawn game, the turn order stays the same (TR 407.4).
- Going second in 1v1, you channel an extra Rune in your first Channel Phase (CR 486.7).
- Bo3 battlefields: you choose any of your registered battlefields each game, each copy once per match (TR 602.3.e.4). A battlefield used in a game that had a winner is gone for the rest of the match (CR 486.5). After a drawn game, the same ones are used again (CR 486.5.a, TR 406.1.b).
- Bo1 is different: your three registered battlefields are chosen from at random (TR 602.3.e.3).
- In Aethos, the screen between games shows the result, then asks who goes first and which battlefields come down. A battlefield spent in a won game is left out of the pick.
One match, every game inside it.
I kept losing track of Bo3s with a dice: game 2 started, game 1 was gone. Aethos treats the best of 3 as the rulebook does, one match made of games, and keeps all of them.
- Pick Bo3 before the first game, in 1v1. Free-for-all and 2v2 are Best of 1 by rule (CR 487 to 489), so the app keeps them single games.
- Game wins counted for you, first to two, shown as gems on the board and in history.
- Saved as one match. Each game keeps its own score, battlefields, who went first and a point-by-point replay.
- Only played one game? Save it as a Bo1 match instead.
- Recorded three Bo1s that were really one match? Join them into a Bo3 from the match page, and split it back if you change your mind. Coming in the next update.
- On Apple Watch too, Bo3 included. The match lands in your history on the phone.
When the round runs out.
The Tournament Rules recommend 60 minutes for a Swiss round (TR 604.1) and no clock in single elimination (TR 604.2). When time is called mid-game, the player whose turn it is finishes it, three more turns are played, and then a lead of two or more points wins the game; anything closer is a draw (TR 408.2, 408.2.b). If time ends between games, no new game starts (TR 408.2.d).
- Between games, past 50 minutes, the screen leads with "Time is up. Save this match" and says what it will record: 1-0 is a win, 1-1 a draw. Onward to the next game is still there; a kitchen table has no clock.
- At 1-1 settled at the table? "I won 2-1 by decision" or "They won 2-1 by decision". The third game is marked as never played, so the record stays honest.
- Mid-game, past the clock, Save asks who won the open game: I won, They won or Nobody won, with the answer the two-point rule gives at the top. You decide.
- Marked in history as Called for time, so a draw on the clock never looks like a game somebody walked away from.
Recording is free forever, Bo3 included. Free keeps your latest 10 matches in full detail and counts your stats over them; past that the oldest seal, locked but never deleted. The full chronicle ($3.99 a month or $39.99 once) opens all of it. Aethos is a recorder, not a judge: it keeps the result your table reached.
Questions
What are the Riftbound Bo3 rules?
A Riftbound Bo3 match goes to the first player with two game wins (Core Rules 486.6, Tournament Rules 404.2). Each game is played to a Victory Score of 8 with two battlefields in play (CR 486.3, 486.4). Drawn games do not count toward the two (TR 404.3), and if game wins are level when the match ends, the match is a draw (TR 404.5). Riftbound Counter: Aethos counts the game wins for you.
Who goes first in a Riftbound Bo3?
For game 1, a random method decides who chooses to play first or last (Tournament Rules 407.1 to 407.2). For every later game, the player who lost the previous game chooses, and after a drawn game the same order is kept (TR 407.4). In 1v1 the player going second channels an extra Rune in their first Channel Phase (Core Rules 486.7). Aethos records who went first in every game.
What is the Riftbound Bo3 time limit?
The Tournament Rules recommend 60 minutes for a Swiss round (TR 604.1) and untimed single elimination (TR 604.2). When time is called, the player whose turn it is finishes it, three more turns are played, and then a player with a lead of two or more points wins the game; otherwise the game is a draw (TR 408.2, 408.2.b). If time ends between games, no new game starts (TR 408.2.d). Aethos offers to save the match as it stands once its round clock passes 50 minutes.
How do battlefields work in a Riftbound Bo3?
Each player registers three battlefields with unique names (Tournament Rules 402.1) and in a Bo3 chooses which one to put down each game (TR 602.3.e.4). A battlefield used in a game that had a winner cannot be used again that match (Core Rules 486.5); after a drawn game the same battlefields are used again (CR 486.5.a, TR 406.1.b). Aethos leaves spent battlefields out of the next game's pick.
What is the sequence of a Riftbound Bo3 match?
Register a deck, Legend and three battlefields (Tournament Rules 402.1). For game 1, a random method picks who chooses to play first or last (TR 407.1 to 407.2), there is no sideboarding (TR 403.5), and each player puts down a battlefield. The game is played to 8 points. Before each later game, players may sideboard (up to 10 cards, TR 601.1.c.1), the loser of the last game chooses who plays first (TR 407.4), and new battlefields come down (CR 486.5). The first to two game wins takes the match. Aethos walks the same order between games: result, who goes first, battlefields.
What happens when a game in a Riftbound Bo3 is a draw?
A drawn game counts for nobody: it does not count toward the two game wins (Tournament Rules 404.3), no one may sideboard before the next game (TR 403.10), and the same battlefields are used again (Core Rules 486.5.a). If game wins are level when the match ends, the match is a draw (TR 404.5). Aethos records a match that ends level, such as 1-1 on time, as a draw.
How do I track a Riftbound Bo3 in an app?
Riftbound Counter: Aethos has a Bo3 mode for 1v1. Pick Bo3 before the first game and keep score with Conquer, Hold and Ability. The game wins are counted for you, and the whole Bo3 is saved as one match in which each game keeps its own score, battlefields, first player and point-by-point replay. It is free on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android, with no ads and no account.
Can I save a Riftbound Bo3 when time is called?
Yes. In Aethos, once the round clock passes 50 minutes, the screen between games leads with Time is up. Save this match, and the match is saved as it stands: 1-0 as a win, 1-1 as a draw. At 1-1 you can also record a result the table settled, as 2-1 by decision. Mid-game, Save asks who won the open game, and the match is marked Called for time in your history.
Every Bo3 adds to your record.
Each match feeds your win rate by Legend, going first and going second, and your head-to-head against each rival. The same app scans your cards and keeps your collection and decks.
Every game of the match, remembered.
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