Riftbound Points to Win
8 points wins a game of Riftbound, 11 in 2v2. The last point has its own rule.
How Conquer, Hold and abilities score, why a Conquer at 7 sometimes draws a card instead, and when exactly the game is won, each with its Core Rules number. Then how the Aethos board counts it on the table.
The Victory Score is 8.
"The Victory Score is 8 points by default" (Core Rules 194.3). Every sanctioned format uses it except one. All numbers here are from the Core Rules dated 16 July 2026.
- 1v1, Bo1 or Bo3: 8 (CR 485.3, 486.3).
- Three and four player free-for-all: 8 (CR 487.3, 488.3).
- 2v2: 11, and the points belong to the team (CR 489.3, 489.8.d).
- Cards can change it (CR 194.3.a). Aspirant's Climb raises the points needed to win by 1 for each copy in play: up to 10 in 1v1, 11 in free-for-all and 14 in 2v2. It is banned in Constructed (ban list effective 2026-07-16), so you meet it in casual games.
- Never below zero. Points can be lost, but not past 0 (CR 194.4).
Four ways to gain a point.
Core Rules 194.1 lists every source of points. Two of them are scoring battlefields, which the rules call Scoring (CR 468); the other two come from cards and from your opponent's deck.
- Conquer
- Gain control of a battlefield you have not scored this turn (CR 469.1)
- Hold
- Still control a battlefield you have not scored this turn, in your Beginning Phase (CR 469.2)
- Ability
- A spell or ability tells you to gain points (CR 194.1.c)
- Burn Out
- An opponent runs out of deck and picks you to gain 1 point (CR 194.1.d, 431.2.c)
- One point per score. A Conquer or a Hold gains up to one point (CR 471.1).
- Once per battlefield per turn, by either method (CR 470). So in 1v1, controlling both battlefields is worth 2 points a turn.
- Holds come all at once. At the start of your turn you hold every battlefield you control (CR 315.2.b.2).
- 2v2: a battlefield your teammate controlled during your Beginning Phase cannot be scored by your team that turn (CR 469.1.a, 489.8.b).
The 8th point is different.
This is the rule people get wrong at the table. When you would gain a point through a Conquer and you are 1 point below the Victory Score or higher, you only gain it if you have scored every battlefield this turn. If you have not, you draw a card instead (CR 471.1.b.1).
- Only Conquer is restricted. Hold, spells, abilities and Burn Out still give the point (CR 471.1.a.1). So you can go from 7 to 8 by holding.
- Conquer at 7 in 1v1: you need to have scored both battlefields this turn, the one you just took and the other one.
- The win comes at a cleanup. You win when, in a cleanup, you have at least the Victory Score and more points than any other player (CR 194.2, 472).
- Two players at or over it? The one with more points wins. Tied, play goes on until one of them is ahead in a cleanup (CR 194.2.a, 194.2.b).
- When time is called in a tournament round, a game can also end with a lead of two or more points after the extra turns (TR 408.2.b). That is covered on the Bo3 page.
The rules, as three buttons.
I wanted the counter to ask the same question the rulebook does: not just plus one, but how was it scored. That is why the board has three buttons on each half instead of one.
- Conquer, Hold, Ability. Tap how the point was scored. Spells, abilities and Burn Out all go under Ability.
- The Victory Score on the board: 8, or 11 in 2v2. Pick Aspirant's Climb as a battlefield and it goes up by one per copy.
- The final Conquer asks. One point short of the Victory Score, Conquer opens "Did this win the game?": Winning point if you scored every battlefield this turn, Drew a card if you did not. A card draw keeps the Conquer in the record with no point, and the game goes on.
- A final Hold or Ability just scores, as the rule says.
- Long-press to undo a wrong tap, and the replay stays honest.
- Every point kept in order, with the minute it was scored, so any game can be read back later.
Scoring and saving are free forever, in every format. Free keeps your latest 10 matches in full detail; the full chronicle ($3.99 a month or $39.99 once) opens every older match. Aethos is a recorder, not a rules judge: it counts what your table agrees happened.
Questions
How many points do you need to win in Riftbound?
8. The Victory Score is 8 points by default (Core Rules 194.3), in 1v1, three player and four player free-for-all (CR 485.3 to 488.3). 2v2 is the exception at 11, counted for the team (CR 489.3). Card effects can change it: each Aspirant's Climb in play adds one. Riftbound Counter: Aethos sets the Victory Score from the format and battlefields and shows it on the board.
How do you score points in Riftbound?
Four ways (Core Rules 194.1): holding a battlefield, conquering a battlefield, a spell or ability that tells you to gain points, and an opponent who Burns Out choosing you to gain 1 point. A Conquer is gaining control of a battlefield you have not scored this turn; a Hold is still controlling one during your Beginning Phase (CR 469.1, 469.2). Each battlefield scores at most once per turn (CR 470). Aethos has a button for Conquer, Hold and Ability.
How do you get the 8th point in Riftbound?
By Hold, by an ability, or by a Conquer on a turn when you scored every battlefield. When you are 1 point below the Victory Score or higher, a Conquer only gives you the point if you have scored every battlefield this turn; otherwise you draw a card instead (Core Rules 471.1.b.1). Hold, spells, abilities and Burn Out are not restricted (CR 471.1.a.1). In Aethos, a final Conquer asks whether it won the game or drew a card.
Can you win Riftbound by holding a battlefield?
Yes. The final point restriction applies only to Conquer (Core Rules 471.1.a.1), so a Hold at the start of your turn can take you from 7 to 8. All the battlefields you control are held at once in the Beginning Phase, one point each (CR 315.2.b.2). In Aethos, a Hold at 7 scores the winning point straight away.
When exactly do you win a game of Riftbound?
At a cleanup, when you have at least the Victory Score and more points than any other player (Core Rules 194.2, 472). If more than one player is at or over the Victory Score, the one with more points wins; if they are tied, play continues until one has more in a cleanup (CR 194.2.a, 194.2.b). Aethos ends the game on the board when a side reaches the Victory Score.
How does Aspirant's Climb change the points to win?
Each Aspirant's Climb in play raises the points needed to win by 1, and copies stack, so a 1v1 can run to 9 or 10 and 2v2 up to 14. It is on the Constructed ban list effective 2026-07-16, so it turns up in casual games. When you pick it as a battlefield in Aethos, the Victory Score on the board goes up by one per copy.
What counts as an ability point in Riftbound?
Any point that does not come from scoring a battlefield: a spell, a triggered ability or an activated ability that tells a player to gain points (Core Rules 194.1.c), and the point an opponent hands you when they Burn Out (CR 194.1.d, 431.2.c). Aethos files all of these under its Ability button.
Can points go down in Riftbound?
Yes, card effects can make a player lose points, but never below 0 (Core Rules 194.4). Aethos has no lose-a-point button; long-press takes back a point that was tapped by mistake.
Every point becomes the record.
Games you score go into your match history, grouped by session, with your win rate by Legend and against each rival. The same app scans your cards and keeps your collection and decks.
Every point, the way it was scored.
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