Updated for Vendetta

Ezreal

Prodigal Explorer

Mind

ChaosAdvanced

Ezreal plays a control game against both the board and the hand. Reuse your removal, keep Bewitching Spirit coming back, and make the opponent rebuild with fewer cards while your own resources grow.

Key Cards

Bewitching Spirit and Fizz are the cards you want to keep playing. Spirit makes the opponent discard, reducing their ability to rebuild or protect a threat. Fizz reuses a cheap spell from your trash to deal with what is already on the board. Pack of Wonders lets you repeat those play effects, while Trove and Prodigal Explorer help keep your own hand supplied.

Ezreal’s Field Guide

Ezreal wants to keep answering threats without needing a fresh card for every exchange. Pack of Wonders returns a useful permanent so you can play it again: Treasure Trove draws and develops your runes, Bewitching Spirit makes the opponent discard, and Fizz turns a spell in your trash into another answer. Which one you return depends on what is stopping you from taking control of the game. Spirit is valuable while the opponent is holding cards back, but it does nothing to remove the attacker already taking a point. Prodigal Explorer supports that plan by drawing after your spells or unit abilities choose enemy units or Gear twice in a turn. The draw helps you keep going; the important decision is still which effect the current board and hand call for.

How Ezreal wins

Repeated discard makes the opponent choose between committing their cards and risking losing them to the next Spirit. Your removal handles the threats they play, and Fizz gives you another use of the answer that worked. The List helps small spells reach bigger units, so you can keep controlling the board without paying for a large clear every turn. As their hand shrinks, it becomes harder to protect a new threat or replace one you remove. That is when your surviving units can start holding a battlefield behind interaction. You do not have to wait for a huge finisher, but you do have to leave something on the board: returning a ready Fizz for another spell may be worse than using it to take a point. Once the opponent has no cards, switch from repeated discard to the removal, resources or attacker that actually advances the game.

Key interactions

Choose what Pack needs to replay

Pack of Wonders · Treasure Trove · Bewitching Spirit

With Pack and Trove already on the board, exhaust Pack to return Trove. Its departure draws a card and channels a rune exhausted; two Energy puts Trove back for another trip. Unlike Trove's own activation, the return costs no Chaos Power and keeps the card. Keep the new rune for future Energy, or recycle it for its domain's Power now if that pays for the answer you need. When the opponent's hand is the problem instead, return Spirit and pay three Energy to play it again. The opponent chooses which card to discard. Two ready Packs and six Energy can replay the same Spirit twice for two more discards, but you finish with one exhausted Spirit, not extra bodies. Each return uses a ready Pack, so spending one on Trove means not using that activation on Spirit or Fizz. Pack works in your own open Main Phase, not during a Showdown or in response to removal.

Use The List again before committing the answer

The List · Pack of Wonders · Bellows Breath · Gust

The List gives one unit with its named tag -2 Might for the turn. That puts an otherwise unmodified three-Might unit in range of one Bellows damage, or a five-Might battlefield unit in range of Wages of Pain or Gust. If one reduction is not enough, use Pack to return the exhausted List and replay it for one Energy. It enters ready, you name a tag again, and you can activate it again. The first reduction stays on its target for the turn, so you can weaken the same enemy further or switch tags to deal with a different one. This is why the List matters beyond its first activation. Do the setup during your own open Main Phase, before starting a Showdown. Let the reduction resolve before playing Gust; the target has to be in range when you play it. Reducing Might to zero does not kill an undamaged unit by itself.

Replay the answer, then pressure what is left in hand

Fizz, Trickster · Wages of Pain · Star-Crossed · Bewitching Spirit

Fizz costs three Energy and one Chaos Power, then can play a spell from your trash with printed Energy cost three or less while ignoring its base Energy. Wages of Pain adds three battlefield damage and exhausted Gold without another Energy payment. Stupefy or Stacked Deck can supply another card when damage is not what you need. Pack can return Fizz for a later replay, but the spell he reused is recycled into your Main Deck; you need another useful spell in the trash for the next Fizz. Power and additional costs still apply. Fizz into Star-Crossed costs three Energy and two Chaos Power and can return Fizz himself alongside an enemy, leaving him in hand rather than on the board. Star-Crossed can also pick up Spirit. Replay Spirit afterward to make the opponent discard from the hand you just put their unit into. They choose the discard, so the returned threat only has to go if it is their only remaining card when the effect resolves.

Get the Legend draw from the spells you already need

Prodigal Explorer · Ezreal, Prodigy · Bellows Breath

Bellows choosing two enemy units supplies both choices for the Legend. Against one relevant enemy, paying Repeat can choose it once for each execution instead. With Prodigy present, repeated Bellows from hand costs either two Energy and one Mind Power or one Energy and two Mind Power. Choose the payment that leaves resources for your next play. Bellows is an Action, not a Reaction to a spell already on the chain. Once you have made two qualifying choices, the ready Legend can exhaust as a Reaction to draw. It can do that on the opponent's turn too, but does not ready at the start of every player's turn. The List's Gear ability, Spirit choosing a player, and Watcher's untargeted reduction do not count. Do not spend a second spell just to unlock the draw when saving it would protect the next point.

Strengths

Spirit attacks the hand while Fizz reuses the spells that control the board. The opponent has fewer cards to rebuild with, and you do not need to draw a new copy of an answer every time you want that effect again.
Pack and Trove keep cards and runes coming while preserving the Trove itself. Additional ready Packs let you divide a turn between resource development, another discard and the removal setup you need.
The List and Watcher make cheap damage or bounce reach larger threats. That leaves more of the turn available for another control play or a unit that can take the cleared battlefield.

Weaknesses

The engine needs time, usable resources and ready Pack activations. Early pressure can force you to spend the turn answering the board instead of developing Trove, and losing Pack makes the repeated play effects harder to access.
Replayed units normally enter exhausted. Picking up a ready defender can give away the point you were trying to protect, and returning your last unit from a battlefield can lose control before you can replay it there.
Repeated effects still need a worthwhile result: Spirit cannot strip an empty hand, Fizz needs a legal spell in the trash, and bounce can give an enemy another strong play effect. Deflect can also turn a cheap-looking sequence into several Power payments that Prodigy does not discount.

Shadow's Pick

Ezreal tournament list by PoW SpаghetiCode

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

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Deck total $183.63

Legend (1)

1x$0.16 ea.

Runes (12)

6x$0.11 ea.
6x$0.16 ea.

Battlefields (3)

1x$0.06 ea.
1x$0.39 ea.
1x$0.17 ea.

Spells (20)

3x$3.23 ea.
Power
1
Energy
1
3x$0.22 ea.
Energy
4
1x$0.17 ea.
Energy
1
1x$1.35 ea.
Energy
2
1x$0.89 ea.
Power
2
Energy
6
3x$12.77 ea.
Energy
1
2x$0.16 ea.
Power
1
Energy
3
3x$0.23 ea.
Energy
1
1x$0.18 ea.
Energy
2
2x$0.15 ea.
Energy
3

Gear (8)

3x$0.56 ea.
Energy
2
1x$2.59 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
2x$0.13 ea.
Energy
1
2x$0.50 ea.
Energy
2

Units (12)

1xChosen$9.42 ea.
Might
3
Power
1
Energy
3
3x$0.08 ea.
Might
2
Energy
3
3x$12.42 ea.
Might
3
Power
1
Energy
3
1x$0.16 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
2x$20.58 ea.
Might
7
Power
1
Energy
7
2x$13.91 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4

Sideboard (10)

1x$0.59 ea.
Energy
1
1x$0.15 ea.
Might
5
Power
1
Energy
5
1x$0.17 ea.
Energy
1
1x$1.35 ea.
Energy
2
2x$0.25 ea.
Might
4
Power
1
Energy
4
1x$1.39 ea.
Might
7
Power
2
Energy
7
1x$0.16 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
1x$2.59 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
1x$0.18 ea.
Energy
2

Shadow's take

The three Bewitching Spirits and three Fizz are what I like most about this list. Pack lets you keep playing Spirit until the opponent has fewer cards to work with, then reuse Fizz when the problem is already on the board. Trove supplies the draw and rune development to pay for those turns without needing another copy of every card. The two Lists make the removal package fit that plan: reduce a threat, use Bellows or Wages to finish it, and return the List when you need another activation or a different tag. Star-Crossed ties the two sides together by returning an enemy and your Spirit, giving you another discard after the bounce. That does not guarantee they discard the unit you returned, but a small hand gives them fewer ways to keep everything they need. Once Vex is at a battlefield, her trigger makes newly played units slower to get back into the fight. I want to reach the point where the opponent is trying to rebuild one threat at a time while I still have a board and the next answer. Watcher can close that game, but the repeated hand and board control is what gets you there.

The Game Plan

Early gameBuild toward a repeatable effect without giving up the board to do it. A hand of Pack, Trove, Spirit and Stupefy has a development plan, a body and interaction; against a slower opening, I would keep it and get Trove working. Against fast pressure, the body or the spell that prevents a point may have to come first. Extra Packs without a useful card to return do not make a functional engine, and Watcher or Singularity should go back when the rest of the hand cannot cover the opening. Prodigy is already available in the Champion Zone for three Energy and one Chaos Power. His discard and two draws can find missing pieces and put a spell in the trash for Fizz, but do not discard the only answer you need right now. Stacked Deck is another way to look for that missing piece. Start tracking what Fizz could actually reuse as you spend spells; an early Fizz with no useful trash target gives up much of the reason to play him.
MidgameDecide what each ready Pack is buying before you activate it. If the opponent has cards but little pressure, replay Spirit and make them give up another option. If a unit is preventing you from scoring, use The List and the appropriate removal, then return Fizz when replaying that answer matters. If the turn is limited by cards or resources, return Trove instead. With two Packs, Trove and Spirit already in play, five Energy can replay Trove and Spirit for a draw, an exhausted rune and another discard. You are building your next turn while reducing theirs. The newly channeled rune can be recycled for Power, but the exhausted Gold from Wages or Flourish cannot be used immediately. Wages works well with Fizz; Flourish reaches units in base but costs four Energy and is outside his range, as is Singularity. Use Star-Crossed when both the enemy return and your own replay improve the position. Establish Vex at a battlefield you can defend so newly played enemies face her stun and no-movement trigger; she does not stop an existing unit from moving over or prevent the new unit's play effect.
Late gameAn empty hand is your cue to stop paying for more Spirit discards and start protecting the position you built. Leave a ready unit available to score instead of returning every useful body. Pack can replay Sprite Fountain for two Energy and one Mind Power to make another ready Sprite when you need an attacker now; returning the Fountain does not also trigger Deathknell. For a larger closing turn, Prodigy makes an accelerated Watcher cost seven Energy and two Mind Power, or eight Energy and one Mind Power. Its -3 to all enemy units, minimum one, sets up Bellows while its ready seven-Might body takes the opening. If Singularity clears the important enemies and you already have an attacker, use that instead of waiting for Watcher. Keep Hard Bargain in hand for the opposing spell that would undo the turn: with Prodigy, its Repeat costs three Energy total and asks for two separate two-Energy payments on the same spell. Neither Singularity nor Flourish can answer a pending spell. For a Hold, leave a lasting unit: Fountain's original Sprite dies at your next Beginning before scoring, and the Deathknell replacement arrives at base, not at the battlefield you wanted to keep.

Battlefields

Blind

Heisho, Shell of the World

Heisho makes your targeting spells easier to budget by ignoring Deflect when they choose something here. That matters when a removal sequence needs both Stupefy and a second answer, or when repeated Bellows would otherwise pay for choosing the same protected enemy twice. Prodigy does not remove those mandatory costs on his own. I would use Heisho as the default when I want the board state, rather than a Deflect tax, to decide which spell is efficient. It is symmetrical: your Vex loses that protection from opposing spells and abilities choosing here too. Keep Hard Bargain or a useful Star-Crossed available instead of treating her printed Deflect as insurance. An enemy left at another location does not become cheap to target just because Heisho is in the game.

Going First

Sigil of the Storm

Choose Sigil when the plan is to establish a field and defend it. Conquering here makes the conquering player recycle one of their runes; holding it does not charge you again. You can recycle an exhausted rune, but that compulsory recycle does not generate Power. Trove helps rebuild your rune count, while an opponent repeatedly buying back this battlefield keeps paying the same cost. That only favors you if your defense actually lasts. Do not trade Sigil back and forth just to activate draw effects while both players lose the resources they need to play. Before the first conquest, check that recycling a rune still leaves the next turn's Vex, Fizz, or removal payment intact. Take a different field if the sacrifice would strand the only useful play in your hand.

Going Second

Frozen Fortress

Fortress deals one to every unit here at the start of each player's Beginning Phase, before scoring. It gives you a way to threaten an established holder without first winning a full combat. If an otherwise unmodified two-Might enemy is waiting to Hold, you can react to the Fortress trigger with Stupefy: after the reduction resolves, the one damage is lethal before that Hold. Bellows from hand cannot be used in that same response window because it is only an Action. Apply the same arithmetic to your own defense: a one-Might holder dies to the ping, and an opponent's Stupefy can put a two-Might holder in range. Damage clears at the end of each turn; Fortress is a fresh one-damage threat each Beginning, not damage that stacks forever on every survivor.

Sideboard

Add bodies when removal is not buying enough time

Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror · Sprite Fountain

The two Kha'Zix and second Sprite Fountain are the first additions when the opponent keeps taking fields after you answer their initial attacker. Kha'Zix costs four Energy and a Chaos Power and can Ambush into a battlefield where you already have a unit. Against a lone enemy, his attack or defend trigger gives him two more Might for the turn; arriving with a second enemy after that trigger has fired does not undo it. He cannot Ambush into an empty field just because you need a defender there. Fountain offers a ready three-Might Sprite for two Energy and a Mind Power, then another from Deathknell. Use those bodies for immediate contests rather than counting on a Temporary token to Hold next turn. Cut a slow Watcher or redundant Pack before removing the cheap spells that let these smaller bodies win their fights.

Punish a board of small units

Angler Beast · Gust

Angler Beast is the larger reset when the opponent is spreading units with two Might or less across several locations. Its play effect returns all of them, including your own Bewitching Spirits. That can give you another discard later, but it also removes a defender now. The List can put a matching four-Might enemy into Angler's range before you play it. At five Energy and a Chaos Power, this is a planned Main Phase clear, not a Reaction. The second Gust is for turns when returning one relevant battlefield unit is enough and spending five Energy would be too much. Replace a slow Watcher for Angler when that lower threshold actually covers the board; trade out Turn to Dust for Gust when the opponent has no Gear worth answering. Keep Bellows against small bodies.

Choose the Gear answer that reaches the target

Pickpocket · Turn to Dust · Acceptable Losses

Bring the extra Pickpocket when the important Gear costs one Energy or less. Its play effect can remove that Gear, leave a three-Might unit, and make exhausted Gold; expensive Equipment is outside its range. Turn to Dust has no such Energy ceiling, but it gives the Gear Temporary instead of killing it immediately. The opponent can still use it before their next Beginning, and attaching it does not switch off that granted Temporary. Acceptable Losses is useful when the opponent cannot protect their important Gear by sacrificing something expendable. Each player chooses their own sacrifice, so an opposing Gold can absorb it. Your Trove gives a draw and rune when sacrificed; Fountain gives its next Sprite. Start by replacing Singularity or an inefficient damage spell when Gear is the actual problem. Do not add all three answers against one cheap item you can already handle.

Fight over the card that would undo the turn

Hard Bargain · Mindsplitter

The second Hard Bargain belongs in games decided by a large spell or a protection spell your removal must beat. Leave enough Energy for Repeat when the opponent can afford the first two-Energy payment, and remember it counters spells, not a unit's play trigger. Mindsplitter is for slower games where a particular card remaining in their hand matters more than reducing their board's Might. Its play effect reveals their hand and lets you choose the discard, but they can react before that effect resolves. At seven Energy and two Chaos Power, it is a deliberate commitment and normally enters exhausted. Exchange a Watcher for Mindsplitter when the opponent gives you little to shrink; replace a spare Bellows or narrow Gear answer with Hard Bargain when those cards are not covering a real threat. Keep enough bodies and cheap interaction to survive the turn before your expensive discard matters.

Updated for Vendetta

Ezreal

Prodigal Explorer

Mind

ChaosAdvanced

Ezreal plays a control game against both the board and the hand. Reuse your removal, keep Bewitching Spirit coming back, and make the opponent rebuild with fewer cards while your own resources grow.

Key Cards