Updated for Vendetta

Draven

Glorious Executioner

Fury

ChaosIntermediate

Draven turns won combats into the cards for his next attack. Spinning Axe makes a small unit worth fighting with, while Showboat gets larger as you score. Keep a defender behind that pressure so the first conquest becomes a Hold.

Key Cards

Glorious Executioner draws a card when you win combat on attack or defense. Showboat starts at 3 Might and adds your current points, so at four points he is already 7 Might before Equipment. Spinning Axe can be played as a Reaction for two Energy and one Fury or Chaos Power, then attach through its play trigger for another +3 Might.

Spinning Axe
Key interaction · Fury / Chaos

Draven’s Field Guide

Draven rewards you for finishing a fight with a unit still standing. The Legend draws when you win combat, whether you were attacking or defending, but taking an empty battlefield does not trigger it. Neither does a fight where both sides lose everything. Build the turn around a unit that can survive, then spend the card that makes that result possible. That does not mean chasing a combat every time the opponent leaves a point open. Take the free point. Showboat grows with your score, and a defender left behind can make the next Hold worth more than a fight you had to force.

How Draven wins

Use cheap units to establish the first battlefield, then make the opponent account for Equipment and Hidden cards before they commit to combat. A 2-Might body holding an Axe is a different problem from the unit they originally planned to trade with. If that body wins and survives, the Legend helps replace what you spent while the Equipment stays attached. Showboat becomes the larger threat as your points increase, but he normally enters exhausted. That is useful when you need another defender at a battlefield you control. If you need an attack this turn, choose a ready attacker or set up a way to ready him. Keep enough presence elsewhere that moving your best attacker does not give the opponent a free conquest.

Key interactions

Make the Axe change the result

Draven, Showboat · Spinning Axe · Edge of Night

Quick-Draw lets you play a fresh Spinning Axe as a Reaction and attach it through its play trigger. The opponent can react to that trigger, so do not count the three Might until the attachment resolves. At four points, an otherwise unmodified Showboat goes from seven Might to ten with an Axe. Put it on the smaller unit instead when that is the one defending the point you need. Quick-Draw does not let an old Axe jump between units as a Reaction. Edge of Night is a different setup: hide it at a battlefield you control, then play it on a later turn to attach there for +2 Might. From hand, it costs three Energy and does not attach itself; you still need its Equip payment or another attachment effect.

Leave a defender behind the Fan

Overzealous Fan · Glorious Executioner · Vex, Apathetic

When Overzealous Fan defends, you can kill it to send one attacker back to base. The kill is paid when you put the trigger on the chain, not after seeing how the opponent responds. If Fan was your only defender, sacrificing it does not leave you a combat winner. Put another useful unit behind it. Sending the last attacker away while that second defender remains can win the combat and draw through the Legend without trading away the unit you wanted to keep. Vex is a good unit to protect because her battlefield trigger can stop newly played enemies from dealing combat damage or moving that turn. That restriction begins when her trigger resolves; she does not shut off older units simply moving into the fight.

Choose what the Hidden slot is supposed to do

Tideturner · Evelynn, Entrancing · Pyke, Dockside Butcher

Tideturner lets a later-turn Hidden play swap places with a friendly unit at another location. Bring a larger unit from base into the battlefield, or move a threatened unit out while leaving Tideturner behind. Neither unit readies just from swapping. Evelynn is the aggressive choice: played from face down on your turn, she can pull an enemy from a different location into her battlefield. Played on the opponent's turn, she is a Backline body without that pull. Dockside Butcher can use his extra Fury Power payment even when played from Hidden, then ready and gain +2 Might through his trigger. On your turn, after the Showdown ends and you have an open Main Phase, his Ganking can let him move to the other battlefield. The original payment to hide him does not cover that extra Power, and a ready unit still cannot make a standard move during the Showdown or on the opponent's turn.

Strengths

The Legend pays for winning on defense too. Keeping the right unit alive can protect a Hold and supply another card without needing a new attack.
Axe and Hidden cards let modest units threaten much larger combats, while surviving Equipment can keep contributing after the first exchange.
Showboat turns early points into a stronger late attacker. You do not have to win every early fight with the Champion himself.

Weaknesses

A mutual trade does not draw through the Legend. Spending several cards to clear the enemy is not enough if you lose every friendly unit as well.
Power payments for Equipment, bounce, and ready attackers add up quickly. A full hand can still leave you without the runes needed to play it.
Hidden cards need setup at a battlefield you control. Losing that battlefield before using them can cost the prepared card as well as the point.

Shadow's Pick

Draven tournament list by V0LKATA2

33rd place · Riftbound Regional Qualifier - Barcelona - Final Standings, 2026-08-23

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Deck total $365.15

Legend (1)

1x$0.17 ea.

Runes (12)

6x$0.11 ea.
6x$0.10 ea.

Battlefields (3)

1x$0.09 ea.
1x$0.09 ea.
1x$0.22 ea.

Spells (11)

1x$0.09 ea.
Energy
1
1x$0.15 ea.
Energy
1
2x$17.35 ea.
Power
2
Energy
2
3x$0.27 ea.
Power
2
Energy
2
3x$12.77 ea.
Energy
1
1x$0.25 ea.
Energy
3

Gear (5)

2x$0.30 ea.
Energy
3
3x$5.67 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2

Units (24)

1xChosen$0.35 ea.
Might
3
Power
1
Energy
5
2x$0.79 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
1x$1.99 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
6
3x$62.18 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4
3x$0.35 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4
3x$0.10 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
1x$8.18 ea.
Might
2
Energy
3
2x$0.46 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
1x$9.27 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
1x$0.82 ea.
Might
3
Power
1
Energy
3
3x$3.47 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
3x$13.91 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4

Sideboard (10)

1x$0.29 ea.
Energy
2
2x$0.13 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
1x$2.77 ea.
Might
5
Energy
6
1x$0.79 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
1x$1.99 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
6
2x$0.27 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
1x$1.37 ea.
Power
2
Energy
2
1x$0.25 ea.
Energy
3

Shadow's take

This is my Draven pick because the small units keep doing useful work after the first attack. Noxus Hopeful puts a 4-Might body on the board for two Energy after another card, and an Axe can make that body worth defending instead of replacing it with something more expensive. Overzealous Fan helps keep the defender you care about, while Pyke, Returned turns an enemy death into an exhausted Gold. Once that Gold readies, it can pay Power toward the next Axe, Rebuke, or accelerated Kai'Sa without recycling another rune. I like having those future payments covered because this list asks for plenty of Power, even on turns that do not look expensive in Energy. The three Kai'Sas can turn a cleared battlefield into a ready attack and another card, while Showboat gives the points you already earned a larger body to build around. I would keep the board wide enough that Fan can be spent without abandoning the battlefield, and be selective about where the Equipment goes. Making one enormous attacker is less useful than leaving two units that each force the opponent to spend a card.

The Game Plan

Early gameLook for a cheap unit and a way to make its next fight worthwhile. With three Energy available, Stacked Deck into a discounted Noxus Hopeful develops a 4-Might unit and lets you select the card you need next. Fan or Evelynn can also start the board when the hand needs a two-Energy body. I would send Forerunner or surplus Rebukes back when the rest of the hand cannot establish a unit early. An Axe needs someone to carry it; Showboat is already waiting in the Champion Zone and does not fix that opening. Once you control a battlefield, choose whether its Hidden slot needs a combat trick, another body, or Tideturner's swap. Hiding costs Power and is not playing a card, so it does not enable Hopeful's Legion discount. Do not spend your last useful rune hiding a card if it leaves you unable to pay for the attack that would keep the battlefield.
MidgameGet Pyke, Returned to a battlefield before the enemy unit you expect to kill dies. Once each turn, an enemy death can make a Gold even if it happens elsewhere, but returning a unit to hand with Rebuke does not count as a death. The Gold enters exhausted, so it will not pay for the next card in that same fight. Use Falling Star before moving into combat when its two three-damage hits can remove the blocker. It has no Action or Reaction; Rebuke is the battlefield-only bounce option for an open Showdown, at two Energy and two Chaos Power. Cleave gives an attacker +3 Might for one Energy, while Blood Rush gives Assault 2 and can repeat for another Energy. Repeating it on the same attacker gives +4 while attacking. Neither spell helps a defender through Assault, and neither can answer a pending spell. Keep the fresh Axe or a prepared Hidden card for the exchange that needs an actual Reaction.
Late gameChoose the ready attacker that the board needs. Kai'Sa costs five Energy and one Fury Power with Accelerate; if she conquers an empty battlefield, she still draws through her own ability even though the Legend does not. Winning a combat and conquering with her can draw from both. If Rek'Sai, Breacher is already in play, Showboat gains Accelerate when played from the Champion Zone. That makes his ready entrance six Energy and two Fury Power rather than his normal five Energy and one. Do not assume Breacher makes a Showboat played from hand ready. Rengar can join an attack as a Reaction for three Energy and one Fury Power, contributing five Might while attacking or three on defense. He can leave you a survivor when the original attacker is lost, but does not cancel the spell killing that attacker. Keep a defender on the battlefield you intend to Hold instead of spending every body on the largest possible attack.

Battlefields

Blind

Forge of the Fluft

Forge lets the Equipment you already paid for follow the unit that needs it next. While you control it, exhaust the Legend to attach an Equipment you control to a friendly unit without paying its Equip cost. That can shift an attached Axe from an early body to Showboat, including across locations. The Legend still draws when exhausted; its combat-win trigger does not require a ready Legend. Make the transfer during your own open Main Phase, because Forge's granted ability has neither Action nor Reaction. It cannot rescue an unattached Axe at the start of your turn before Temporary kills it. Decide where the Axe belongs while you still have a legal window, rather than expecting Forge to move it during combat.

Going First

Amateur Recital

Recital rewards establishing a Hold that Fan and the Hidden slot can protect. On the Hold, you may send a unit from any battlefield to its own base, not just a unit here. Removing the opponent's only defender elsewhere can open a conquest without spending Rebuke. You can also bring your own unit home so it can choose a different battlefield later, provided it is ready; Recital itself does not ready it. The effect gives you nothing on the first conquest, so have a plan to survive the opponent's turn. If that plan works, take the open point Recital creates rather than insisting on another combat just to draw from the Legend.

Going Second

Zaun Warrens

Warrens helps a retake find the card for the next exchange. Conquering makes you discard one and then draw one, so choose what the hand can spare before reaching for the new card. Up from the Deep is a useful discard when you plan to pay its three-Energy Flow cost later; putting it in the trash does not make that replay free. If you already need its Tentacles to hold the board, play it instead of discarding it for a prettier hand. Warrens filters rather than growing your hand when you have a card to discard. A combat win can provide a separate Legend draw, but neither card arrives in time to pay for the fight that earns it.

Sideboard

Take the Gear away before the next fight

Brittle Steel · Ravenbloom Prefect

Brittle Steel is for a Gear already on the board. It costs two Energy and Fury Power to kill one, then can be played again from the trash for four Energy and Fury Power through Flow. Neither use has Action or Reaction, so remove the Gear during your own open Main Phase before attacking. Prefect handles a Gear the opponent has not played yet. Establish the three-Energy unit first, then you may banish it when an opposing Gear play triggers it. You pay that banish cost before the trigger resolves; this is a trade, not repeatable removal from the same Prefect. It does not erase play effects already on the chain. I would trim Rebuke when returning the bearer just gives the same Equipment another unit to carry it, and trim a combat trick before cutting the cheap bodies needed to hold your own battlefield.

Keep the decisive spell from resolving

Abandon

Bring Abandon when one stun, bounce, or removal spell is undoing the attack you spent the turn building. Two Energy counters the spell and lets you Predict. Ordinarily the spell returns to the opponent's hand, so use the opening to take the point or keep the defender rather than treating the problem as permanently gone. A spell played through Flow is banished instead when it leaves the chain. I would trim Cleave or Blood Rush when another Might boost does not answer the way your attacker is being stopped. Keep enough Power available for the cards you still need after Abandon; countering the first answer does not mean the opponent has no second one.

Make the final attack after Brynhir's trigger

Brynhir Thundersong

Brynhir is the six-Energy play for a turn where you already have attackers and need to stop the opponent adding more cards. Let her play trigger resolve before committing to that attack. They can still react above the trigger, and it does not counter cards already on the chain. Once the restriction applies, activated abilities on the board remain available, so check those before deciding the fight is safe. Brynhir normally enters exhausted and is not the ready attacker herself. I would replace Ferrous Forerunner when the game hinges on closing one protected attack rather than leaving Mechs after a trade. Do not add her to an opening hand that cannot establish a board first.

Change which defender you have to beat

Evelynn, Entrancing · Switcheroo

The third Evelynn helps when a unit at base or the other battlefield needs to be pulled into a fight on your terms. Her pull still requires playing her from Hidden on your turn; she cannot drag an enemy across the board just because you played her from hand. Switcheroo is for the large defender you are already fighting. It swaps the current Might of two units at the same battlefield for the turn, without moving any Equipment. A small friendly unit can take the enemy's larger number, or you can redistribute an Axe-boosted total between your own units. From hand it is an Action for two Energy and two Chaos Power; from an earlier Hidden setup it can be a Reaction, with both targets at that battlefield. I would trim a Falling Star when damage is not clearing the important body, and keep enough units to give the swap a useful friendly target.

Leave bodies after the first trade

Ferrous Forerunner · Up from the Deep

Add Forerunner when the opponent is killing your larger units and you need something left for the following turn. Its death makes two 3-Might Mechs at base, normally exhausted; they do not replace its presence at the battlefield it just lost. The extra Up from the Deep is the cheaper way to build more bodies: three Energy makes two 1-Might Tentacles, also normally exhausted, and another three from the trash through Flow can do it again before the spell is banished. It has no Action or Reaction. Use a legal controlled battlefield when a Tentacle needs to stay behind a Fan, or develop them at base for later moves. I would trim one Rebuke when temporary bounce is not solving the longer game, or an attack-only trick when keeping defenders matters more than adding Might to a single attacker.

Updated for Vendetta

Draven

Glorious Executioner

Fury

ChaosIntermediate

Key Cards