Updated for Vendetta

Renekton

Butcher of the Sands

Fury

BodyIntermediate

Renekton turns Power into extra Energy for units, trading future rune income for a stronger board now. Rage Fueled rewards that smaller rune count when he attacks.

Should you play Renekton?

Pick Renekton if you like getting the important unit onto the board early and making the opponent answer it before they are ready. Spend the extra Energy toward a point, not just a bigger board at base.

Best for: Proactive players who enjoy planning an explosive unit turn while keeping track of the resources it leaves for the next one.
Think twice if: You want permanent ramp or plenty of spare Power for every combat trick. The Legend spends two Power to make unit-only Energy, and recycling runes to pay it has a real cost.

Key Cards

Rage Fueled is a six-Might attacker whose attack trigger deals two to every enemy unit here when you control four or fewer runes. First Mate makes another unit ready, which helps expensive bodies contribute without waiting a turn and works with Star Spring to send an attacker back out from base. Those are the two conversions that matter: resources into a useful unit, then the unit into another point.

Renekton, Rage Fueled
Chosen Champion · Fury

Renekton’s Field Guide

Butcher of the Sands has a Reaction ability that costs two Power of any domain and exhausts the Legend to add two Energy. You can spend that Energy only to play units or activate abilities of units. It does not pay for spells, gear, or a battlefield's draw payment. When runes supply the Power, exhaust them for Energy before recycling them so you get both resources. The payoff is more unit Energy this turn; the price is having fewer runes left afterward. This is a deliberate trade, not permanent ramp.

How Renekton wins

Renekton wants that extra Energy to change who controls the board. It can bring a larger unit forward, help pay Accelerate, or leave ordinary Energy available for the answer that protects the attack. Rage Fueled adds a reason to watch the remaining rune count: when he attacks with four or fewer runes under your control, he deals two to all enemy units at that battlefield. That can clear small defenders or put larger ones in range before combat damage. Get the count right before he attacks. Recycling a rune afterward cannot create a trigger that did not happen.

Key interactions

Separate the unit budget from the spell budget

Butcher of the Sands · Renekton, Rage Fueled · Punch First

Rage Fueled costs six Energy, or seven Energy and one Fury Power with Accelerate. The Legend's two Energy can help pay that unit bill, but it does not supply the Fury Power. Punch First still needs one ordinary Energy and two Body Power. If you spend all your available Power activating the Legend and accelerating the Champion, the combat trick in hand may no longer be usable. Decide which payment wins the point before recycling the runes.

A ready unit still needs a legal route

First Mate · Star Spring · Kai'Sa, Survivor

First Mate readies another unit; it does not give Ganking. A ready unit at one battlefield cannot make a normal move directly to another just because Mate readied it. Star Spring supplies a way back to base: your first non-token unit played here each turn may move another friendly unit here to its base. Play Mate here with an exhausted Kai'Sa already present, use Spring to move Kai'Sa back, and use Mate to ready her. She can then attack from base while Mate remains behind. Spring alone neither readies Kai'Sa nor replays her.

Spend the Legend on a surprise unit when it matters

Butcher of the Sands · Rengar, Trophy Hunter · Nidalee, Cat Form

The Legend can supply Energy during an Ambush payment, including on the opponent's turn. Nidalee and Inferna need a battlefield where you already have a unit. Rengar's permission also reaches a battlefield occupied only by enemies. You still pay their normal costs, including Nidalee's or Rengar's Body Power. This is often a better use of the ability than adding a unit at base with no immediate job, but the extra Energy does not make an unfavorable fight favorable by itself.

Strengths

The Legend can help play the unit that changes a fight on either player's turn, rather than requiring you to commit every resource in advance.
Rage Fueled pressures small defending groups before combat damage when the rune threshold is active.
The featured list has several ways to make surviving units useful again, with First Mate, Star Spring, and a Grim Apothecary return to hand.

Weaknesses

Repeatedly recycling runes for the Legend can leave a poor next turn if the extra units do not earn points or cards.
The extra Energy cannot fund the removal or combat trick you may need after developing the unit.
Rage Fueled loses his attack damage trigger above four controlled runes. The board still needs to function when lowering that count is not worth the cost.

Shadow's Pick

Renekton tournament list by MаskofMomentum

251st place · Riftbound Regional Qualifier - Barcelona - Final Standings, 2026-08-23

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Deck total $316.77

Legend (1)

1x$0.08 ea.

Runes (12)

7x$0.11 ea.
5x$0.10 ea.

Battlefields (3)

1x$0.14 ea.
1x$0.12 ea.
1x$0.12 ea.

Spells (8)

1x$0.15 ea.
Energy
1
3x$0.16 ea.
Power
2
Energy
1
2x$0.19 ea.
Energy
3
2x$15.03 ea.
Power
1
Energy
1

Units (32)

1xChosen$0.19 ea.
Might
6
Energy
6
1x$1.72 ea.
Might
5
Power
1
Energy
5
2x$1.99 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
6
3x$0.20 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
1x$0.17 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$0.09 ea.
Might
1
Energy
2
3x$2.89 ea.
Might
1
Energy
2
3x$62.18 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4
3x$0.12 ea.
Might
3
Energy
3
3x$1.09 ea.
Might
4
Power
1
Energy
3
3x$0.35 ea.
Might
4
Energy
4
3x$0.14 ea.
Might
2
Energy
2
3x$19.41 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
5

Sideboard (10)

2x$0.24 ea.
Energy
1
2x$0.13 ea.
Power
1
Energy
2
1x$0.19 ea.
Energy
3
1x$1.99 ea.
Might
6
Power
1
Energy
6
1x$15.03 ea.
Power
1
Energy
1
1x$0.23 ea.
Power
1
Energy
1
2x$0.16 ea.
Energy
2

Shadow's take

I like this version because more of the hand gives the Legend an immediate job. There are no Seals to set up first: the cheap units build the board, First Mate gets a larger body moving, and the two Forerunners leave Mechs behind when ordinary removal trades for them. The third Faefolk is important too. Pulling a defender away from one field or dragging it into a fight you can win can do more than another Might boost. Kai'Sa and Nidalee then help refill the hand, but they ask for different things. Kai'Sa draws from a conquest, including an uncontested one. Nidalee needs to remain after an actual combat win. I would make those small distinctions part of the turn before spending runes. A turn that gets a point and replaces a card is much easier to justify than using the Legend to put six Might at base and hoping it matters later. First Mate is what keeps the expensive units from being one-use threats, especially at Star Spring, but that movement needs to be set up. There is no free battlefield-to-battlefield move hiding in this list.

The Game Plan

Early gameLook for useful two-Energy units and an affordable follow-up. Inferna is three Might while attacking but only one while defending. Rookie wants another unbuffed friendly unit to improve; played alone, it does not buff itself. Faefolk is a one-Might positioning tool, so send enough support when pulling an enemy into its fight. A cheap card before Hopeful makes Hopeful cost two Energy. Activating the Legend is not a card play and does not activate Legion. Once your other units total at least five Might, Initiate's play trigger can draw a card; its own three Might does not count toward that check.
MidgameDecide whether you need an accelerated Renekton, a ready Kai'Sa, or an Ambush reinforcement before committing the two Power to the Legend. Six ready runes can produce six Energy before you recycle any. Recycling two to activate the Legend and a Fury rune for Renekton's Accelerate leaves three runes and pays a ready Champion with one ordinary Energy left. That remaining Energy can pay Protective Sands after a conquest; the Legend's restricted Energy cannot. Do not force this line against a board that does not reward it. Sometimes a cheaper unit plus keeping Punch First available does more than spending three runes to bring Renekton forward.
Late gameUse the survivors and replacement bodies rather than rebuilding every attack from hand. First Mate can ready a unit at base immediately, and Star Spring can put a previous attacker back there first. Grim Apothecary can return a friendly battlefield unit to hand, saving it or setting up a later paid replay of Mate, Rookie, or Initiate. Forerunner leaves two three-Might Mechs at base when it dies, but not when it is banished or returned to hand. Darius readies and gains two Might when you play your second card of the turn, including when he is that second card. Plan the route for the ready unit. Use Sabotage before committing the decisive attack to remove a non-unit answer, or Rampage during your Main Phase to clear a unit your own threat can damage without making a losing exchange.

Battlefields

Blind

Protective Sands · Renekton, Rage Fueled · Butcher of the Sands

When you conquer with four or fewer runes, Sands lets you pay one Energy to draw. Keep ordinary Energy for that payment; the Legend's Energy is restricted to units and their activated abilities. The Champion and Sands check at different moments: attack for his damage, conquest for the field's draw trigger. Count before each relevant event. Do not keep yourself short of runes indefinitely for a conditional draw when a stronger next turn would earn more points.

Going First

Seat of Power · Kai'Sa, Survivor · Irresistible Faefolk

Seat rewards conquering here while you control another battlefield. Kai'Sa adds her own conquest draw, so she can refill the hand well when you can make that second-field attack safely. Faefolk can move an enemy defender into the field it enters, potentially changing which field is easier to take. Do not pull a unit into a fight merely because you can. Seat draws nothing from being your only field, and losing the other field before the trigger resolves changes the return.

Going Second

Star Spring · First Mate · Grim Apothecary

Use the first non-token unit play here each turn to move another friendly unit here back to base. Mate can ready that returning unit while leaving its own three-Might body behind. An Ambush unit can also replace a threatened defender and send the old one back, but Spring does not ready it. Grim's separate return-to-hand effect is what enables a future replay; moving through Spring does not trigger play abilities again. Check that you have not already used the field's first play for the turn, and remember the opponent gets the same opportunity with their units.

Sideboard

Take the answer out of their hand first

Decree of Strength · Sabotage · Cleave

The two Strengths cost one Energy and can recycle a Mind card from the opponent's revealed hand, including a unit. Sabotage costs one Energy and one Body Power and reaches non-units of any domain. Bring the third Sabotage when protecting the attack from a spell matters most, or Strength when the Mind unit itself is the problem. I would trim Cleave or a Rampage that does not line up with their board. These are Main-Phase plays to make before the important fight, not responses to a card already on the chain.

Remove the object the unit plan cannot ignore

Brittle Steel · Decree of Rage · Rampage

Brittle Steel kills a gear for two Energy and one Fury Power, then can be played from the trash for four Energy and one Fury Power through Flow before being banished. Bring both against an important gear engine, replacing Rampage if fighting a unit does not solve the problem. Rage is the one-Energy, one-Fury Action that cannot be countered and deals four to an enemy Calm unit. Damage prevention can still stop it. Bring it over a weaker combat trick when four damage answers the actual target, not just because the opposing Legend includes Calm.

Win the unit exchange and retain a board

Rampage · Ferrous Forerunner · Punch First

The extra Rampage helps when your larger unit can kill theirs and remain useful. Its optional Body Power gives the friendly unit +2 Might before the units damage each other. Punch First can improve that exchange too, but both spells need ordinary Energy, and Rampage has normal Main-Phase timing. Cleave's Assault does not improve a unit sitting at base for that fight. Bring the third Forerunner for repeated kill trades where its two Mechs matter, trimming a small Inferna or Cleave that keeps failing to preserve a body. Avoid treating the death replacement as insurance against banishment or a return to hand.

Break the next replay

Disposal Order · Ferrous Forerunner · Cleave

Disposal Order is a two-Energy Reaction with a choice: recycle up to three cards from opponents' trashes, or draw one. It does not do both. Remove the relevant cards while they are still in the trash; it cannot recycle a unit that has already been played onto the chain or board. I would bring the two copies over a slow Forerunner or a low-impact Cleave when the opponent's repeated replay is deciding the game. Keep enough threats to use the turn you gain by breaking it.