Updated for Vendetta

Lucian

Purifier

Fury

BodyBeginner

Lucian turns Equipment into extra attacking Might, then finds another use for the unit carrying it. Merciless supplies the first-conquest ready, while Faefolk changes which defender has to fight where.

Should you play Lucian?

Pick Lucian if you want Equipment to make efficient attackers matter more than once. Think twice if you expect the same combat strength on defense or want to ignore movement routes.

Best for: Aggressive players who enjoy choosing the right bearer, paying for the useful attachment, and planning the next attack before taking the first point.
Think twice if: You dislike hands that need both units and Gear, or prefer to leave one large defender in place for the whole game.

Key Cards

Purifier gives each friendly Equipment Assault 1, so a bearer with Doran's Blade gains three Might while attacking: two from the Blade and one from the Legend. Merciless makes that investment matter again after his first conquest. Faefolk is the other card I would learn carefully. Pulling an enemy to its destination can move a defender away from the field you actually want, but you still need an attack capable of dealing with the unit you brought over.

Lucian, Merciless
Chosen Champion · Body

Lucian’s Field Guide

Lucian wants Equipment on a unit that can use it more than once. Purifier adds Assault 1 to every friendly Equipment, making even a modest bearer a serious attacker. The Equipment's printed Might still helps outside combat, but the extra Assault applies only while attacking. Merciless is the natural starting point: Weaponmaster offers an attachment when he is played, and his first conquest each turn readies him. The next decision is where that ready unit can go. A ready unit at a battlefield does not automatically have permission to move straight to another battlefield. Plan the movement route along with the combat math, or the supposed second attack will never happen.

How Lucian wins

Develop enough inexpensive bodies to contest the board, then concentrate Equipment where it changes a fight. Hopeful rewards playing another card first, Kinkou replaces itself once the other units have enough Might, and Survivor draws after conquering. Those cards help maintain pressure without spending every card on a single attacker. Merciless and First Mate give an equipped unit another action, while Faefolk can pull a defender away from the next target. Gear surviving its bearer also gives the following unit a useful starting point. The best attack gets the point and leaves a credible next attack or defense; piling every attachment onto a unit you cannot protect is much less convincing.

Key interactions

Give Merciless a route after the ready

Lucian, Merciless · Relentless Pursuit · Windswept Hillock

Pursuit moves a friendly unit, can attach one of your Equipment to it, and gives it the option to return to base when it conquers that turn. It does not ready the unit. Merciless supplies that part after his first conquest: resolve the ready and optional return, then standard-move the ready unit from base into another attack. Hillock offers a different route because units there have Ganking and can move directly to another battlefield. Neither route gives Merciless a second conquest-ready in the same turn. Sometimes staying to defend the first field is worth more than taking the optional move.

Spend on the attachment that changes the fight

Doran's Blade · Long Sword · Blighted Battleaxe

Doran's Blade costs two Energy to play and one Body Power to Equip. Merciless can attach it through Weaponmaster, but that colored Equip payment remains; Weaponmaster's discount only removes a universal-Power component. Long Sword costs two Energy and one Fury Power, but Quick-Draw lets you play it as a Reaction and attach it through its play effect without another Equip payment. Battleaxe is the larger commitment: four Energy to play, then one Energy and one Fury Power to Equip, including through Weaponmaster. Forge and Pursuit can instead attach it directly without paying Equip. If its bearer does not conquer that turn, the Axe comes off before dealing four damage to the bearer. Losing the four-Might bonus first can make that damage lethal.

Move the defender before choosing the next attack

Irresistible Faefolk · First Mate · Lucian, Merciless

When Faefolk moves to a battlefield, it can move an enemy unit to that destination. Bringing a defender away from the other field can make the follow-up attack much easier, but the abandoned field is not scored automatically. You still have to send a unit there and conquer it. Faefolk also does not remove the imported enemy; your current attack has to survive the new fight. First Mate can ready Faefolk or a stronger equipped unit for another use, but it cannot ready itself and does not grant Ganking. Count the bodies, their locations, and the remaining movement before spending the ready.

Strengths

Small Equipment contributes both its printed Might and extra attacking Might, making inexpensive units worth defending.
Merciless and First Mate can reuse the best equipped attacker instead of requiring another full Equipment investment.
Faefolk, Pursuit, and Hillock let the deck change where fights happen rather than repeatedly attack the largest defender.

Weaknesses

Assault disappears outside the attack. A unit that just won a fight may be much easier to remove or attack on defense.
Ready effects do not fix missing movement routes, and an unsupported Faefolk can bring a stronger enemy into its own attack.
Gear development, Equip payments, and double-Power spells compete for the same resources. A hand of expensive attachments can fail to establish a board.

Shadow's Pick

Lucian tournament list by BANRATE DEMON

25th place · Riftbound Regional Qualifier - Barcelona - Final Standings, 2026-08-23

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Deck total $307.56

Legend (1)

1x$0.12 ea.

Runes (12)

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

Battlefields (3)

1x$0.25 ea.
1x$0.09 ea.
1x$0.08 ea.

Spells (9)

3x$15.03 ea.
Power
1
Energy
1
3x$0.16 ea.
Power
2
Energy
1
2x$17.35 ea.
Power
2
Energy
2
1x$1.00 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2

Gear (8)

3x$0.28 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
3x$0.07 ea.
Energy
2
2x$0.28 ea.
Energy
4

Units (23)

1xChosen$0.33 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$0.35 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4
3x$0.20 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$0.14 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
3x$1.99 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
6
3x$0.12 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$2.89 ea.
Might
1
Energy
2
1x$0.33 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$62.18 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4

Sideboard (10)

3x$0.13 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
3x$0.19 ea.
Energy
3
2x$0.07 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
1x$17.35 ea.
Power
2
Energy
2
1x$0.16 ea.
Energy
3

Shadow's take

This is my Lucian pick because the early units do useful work before the big Equipment turn. Pit Rookie improves a second body, Hopeful gets cheaper after another card, and Kinkou helps keep cards coming once the board is established. The three Survivors give the deck another attacker that rewards a conquest instead of making everything depend on Merciless. I like the three Sabotages here. Seeing and removing the non-unit answer before committing an equipped attacker is often worth more than adding another piece of Gear to it. Falling Star can clear the defender before combat, and First Mate lets the unit that survived go back to work. I would be careful with the two Battleaxes: they are excellent when the extra Might earns a conquest, but attaching one and passing is a real risk to the bearer. Ferrous Forerunner is the fallback when the early attacks trade. Its death leaves two Mechs at base, and the surviving Equipment gives those replacement bodies something useful to do once they are ready.

The Game Plan

Early gameKeep a cheap body, a way to improve it, and a reasonable follow-up. Pit Rookie buffs another unit, so give it a target instead of leading with it automatically. Play the cheaper card before Hopeful when that lets Legion reduce Hopeful to two Energy. Doran's Blade plus Merciless produces five Might outside combat, enough for a later Kinkou to draw if those other units are still present when the effect resolves. Do not count Kinkou itself or Purifier's attacking bonus toward that normal main-phase total. I would send back multiple Forerunners or Battleaxes when the rest of the hand cannot develop. Save the appropriate Power as well as Energy: Punch First requires two Body Power, and Falling Star requires two Fury.
MidgameUse Sabotage before the committed attack when there is a non-unit answer worth taking. A Merciless at base with a previously played Doran's Blade available can use Pursuit for two Energy and one Fury or Body Power to move into a fight and attach the Blade. He attacks at six Might. Against an otherwise unmodified five-Might defender, with no additional interaction, he wins and survives. His first-conquest ready and Pursuit's optional return leave him ready at base for a second attack. That line depends on the earlier unit and Gear setup; Pursuit did not produce them for free. If the first battlefield needs defending, keep him there instead. Faefolk can change which defender the other attack faces, and Long Sword's Quick-Draw can supply an attachment during the showdown when keeping resources open was the better play.
Late gameDecide whether the next point needs an immediate attacker or a unit that can survive several exchanges. Survivor costs five Energy and one Fury Power when accelerated, enters ready, and draws after a conquest. Forerunner costs six Energy and one Fury Power and leaves two exhausted three-Might Mechs at base only if it actually dies. Neither bounce nor banish gives that replacement board. Move surviving Equipment to the new bodies when the attachment payment is worthwhile; First Mate can ready another exhausted unit to use it sooner. Keep track of Merciless' once-per-turn conquest-ready and the Might lost when an attack ends. A Battleaxe wearer that has not conquered needs a credible point this turn, not a promise that it will be useful next turn.

Battlefields

Blind

Forge of the Fluft · Blighted Battleaxe · Doran's Blade

Forge gives your Legend an exhaust ability that directly attaches your Equipment to a friendly unit while you control the battlefield. It can save the Axe's one-Energy, one-Fury-Power Equip payment or move a Blade onto the unit that is actually attacking next. This is an ordinary ability on your turn, not a Reaction attachment. I would start here when the hand can contest the first point without needing that saving beforehand; the benefit only exists once you control the field.

Going First

Windswept Hillock · Lucian, Merciless · First Mate

Hillock rewards establishing an equipped attacker early. Merciless can ready after his first conquest here, then use the battlefield's Ganking to move directly into the other field. First Mate can provide a later ready for another unit already here. Leaving Hillock also leaves its Ganking behind, so do not assume the same unit can keep crossing back and forth. Check what you are giving up at the first field before moving the best defender away.

Going Second

Forbidding Waste · Falling Star · Irresistible Faefolk

Waste makes a lone defender two Might smaller, giving an equipped attacker a better chance to recover the point. Falling Star can remove one of several defenders before the attack, and Faefolk can change which unit is left to defend elsewhere. The penalty also applies to your own lone defender later. Plan the follow-up body or accept that this may be a field you conquer repeatedly rather than hold with one exhausted attacker.

Sideboard

Answer the Gear that is deciding the game

Brittle Steel · Blighted Battleaxe · Sabotage

The three Brittle Steels give you immediate Gear removal for two Energy and one Fury Power, followed by a four-Energy, one-Fury-Power Flow use from the trash. Make that change when an opposing attachment or resource Gear is worth spending a card on directly. I would first trim an expensive Axe or a less important threat rather than cut every Sabotage; removing an answer from the hand can still be what makes your remaining Equipment safe. Flow is a second use, not unlimited recursion.

Match the removal to the defender

Rampage · Falling Star · Punch First

Use the three Rampages when a large equipped unit can beat targets beyond Falling Star's damage. Rampage costs three Energy, with an optional Body Power payment to give your unit +2 Might before the units deal their Might to each other. That is not combat: Purifier's Assault does not inflate your unit during an ordinary main-phase Rampage. Count the Equipment's flat bonus and any actual temporary Might instead. The extra Falling Star is more attractive when its two three-damage instructions can clean up small units. Start by exchanging the less suitable removal or combat-spell slots, not stripping out the units those cards need.

Lower the curve or reward repeated movement

Legion Rearguard · Pendulum Blade · Ferrous Forerunner

The two Rearguards can replace expensive top end when waiting for Forerunner is too slow; accelerated Rearguard is a ready two-Might unit for three Energy and one Fury Power. Pendulum Blade gives only one printed Might, but adds two more for the turn whenever its bearer moves to a battlefield. That suits a game where Merciless is actually making the second move. Compare it with an Axe when movement is reliable but the Axe's cost and end-turn damage are awkward. Ready without moving does not trigger the Blade.