The Boss
Sett's Legend saves buffed units, and this list keeps those buffs coming with Pit Rookie, Cithria of Cloudfield, Arena Bar and Valley of Idols. Sett, Kingpin, Fiora and Call to Glory then turn the same buffs into Might.
Pick Sett if you like building a board that can take a fight and keep its best unit afterward. Think twice if you want protection that works without holding Power or setting up a buff.
Kingpin gets +1 Might for each buffed friendly unit at his battlefield, counting himself, and Tank means he takes combat damage before your other units. Fiora, Victorious starts at four Might, so a single buff makes her Mighty and gives her Deflect, Ganking and Shield. Call to Glory is how a buff becomes a free combat trick: spend one as you play it and the +3 Might costs nothing. That buff could also have paid for The Boss's save, so the real skill in this list is deciding which buff to spend.
The Boss
Legend
Sett, Kingpin
Chosen Champion · Order
Fiora, Victorious
Key card · Order
Call to Glory
Key card · Order
Sett wants a board worth keeping. A buff makes a unit larger and gives The Boss something to spend when that unit would die. With the Legend ready and a Power available, you can heal it, exhaust it and send it to base instead. That changes which fights you can afford to take, especially after buffing a key threat. It does not make the board unkillable. The saved unit leaves the battlefield, loses its buff and cannot immediately make a standard move. Sometimes letting a cheaper unit die is better than spending the Power that protects the real threat or takes the next point.
Use affordable units to establish the board, then add buffs without giving up development. Kingpin becomes stronger for every buffed friendly unit at his battlefield, including himself, and Tank lets him take combat damage ahead of the units you want to preserve. Strong individual threats also turn Rampage into removal: the units deal damage to each other without needing to share a battlefield. The Boss can keep your side of that trade alive. Showstopper then buffs a friendly unit at base and moves it back to a battlefield, giving the deck a way to recover presence after a save. The point comes from the unit actually reaching the field, not from the removal by itself.
Kinkou Monk · Pit Rookie · Sett, Kingpin
Rookie buffs another friendly unit; Monk buffs up to two others. Kingpin gains one Might for each buffed friendly unit at his battlefield, so buffing Kingpin himself adds both the normal buff Might and another point from his ability. Punch First's temporary five Might is not a buff. It makes a unit hit harder, but does not qualify it for The Boss's protection unless it also has an actual buff.
Rampage · The Boss · Showstopper
Rampage makes your unit and an enemy unit deal damage equal to their Might to each other, and an optional Body Power gives your unit +2 Might first. If your unit is buffed and takes lethal damage in return, The Boss can save it for one Power: it is healed, exhausted and recalled, and the buff is spent. Showstopper can then buff it again in base and move it to a battlefield. It is still exhausted, though: the play restores presence, not another attack. Rampage, the save and Showstopper cost four Energy and two Power together, or three Power with Rampage's bonus.
Irresistible Faefolk · Rengar, Trophy Hunter · Vi, Peacekeeper
When Faefolk moves to a battlefield, it can pull an enemy unit to that same field. That can remove a blocker from somewhere else, but a one-Might Faefolk may need help with what it brings over. Rengar and Vi can add bodies through Ambush. Vi stuns when she first becomes an attacker in a combat, not simply because she entered during combat; using her on defense does not supply the stun. Check the resulting combat before treating the relocation as removal.
2nd place · City League: Jiangsu - Finals - Baikemeng Card Club,
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Deck total $112.47
111
2
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1313
4
554232432521353If you would rather build your own list, start one in the Riftbound deck builder.
This is my Sett pick because almost every cheap card here does something with buffs, and Sett, Kingpin turns a board of buffed units into a very large Tank. Pit Rookie buffs another unit when you play it, Cithria of Cloudfield buffs herself whenever you play another unit, and Arena Bar can buff an exhausted friendly unit, including one The Boss recalled to base earlier in your turn. Kingpin with his own buff and one buffed ally at his battlefield already has eight Might. I like that each buff gives you a choice afterward: The Boss can spend it to save that unit, Call to Glory can spend it to cost nothing, and Monastery of Hirana can spend it for a card after you conquer there. Fiora only needs one of those buffs to become Mighty, which gives her Ganking, so a ready Fiora can move from one battlefield straight to the other. Vi, Nidalee and Rengar add Ambush on top of that, letting you add a body to a fight at Reaction speed. Before cashing in a buff, I would check which unit needs it for The Boss on the opponent's turn.
Valley of Idols · Vi, Peacekeeper · Nidalee, Cat Form
When a player plays a unit at Valley, they may pay one Energy to buff it. An Ambush unit played here arrives buffed for that extra Energy, which makes it eligible for The Boss and adds to Kingpin if he is here. I would take Valley as the default because it supplies buffs without spending a card. Units that move here do not trigger it, and the opponent has the same option for their own units.
Monastery of Hirana · Cithria of Cloudfield
Conquering Monastery lets you spend a buff to draw one card. Spend a buff from a unit that does not need The Boss's protection, such as a Cithria that can regain her buff when you play another unit. If the buff comes from a unit at Kingpin's battlefield, he loses Might as well.
Star Spring · Rengar, Trophy Hunter · Vi, Peacekeeper
The first time a player plays a non-token unit at Star Spring each turn, they may move another unit they control here to its base. If you have a unit here during a fight, Ambush Vi or Nidalee here and send a damaged or outmatched unit home rather than losing it. Rengar can be played here when only enemy units are present, but then there is no other unit to move. The opponent can use the same trigger when they play a unit here.
Sett, Brawler
Between games you can swap Brawler into the Champion Zone and move Kingpin to the sideboard. Brawler buffs himself when played and when he conquers, and he can spend that buff for +4 Might this turn. He suits games where you cannot keep several buffed units together at one battlefield. Spending his buff for Might also removes his eligibility for The Boss until he gets another one.
Ashe, Focused · Decree of Strength
Decree of Strength costs one Energy and recycles a Mind card from the opponent's revealed hand, including a unit. Ashe banishes any card from the revealed hand when you play her, but it returns to their hand when they Hold. Bring these in when one specific answer is what stops your board from sticking, trimming a fight spell that has fewer good targets in that game.
Ruin Runner · Solari Sunhawk
Ruin Runner cannot be chosen by enemy spells and abilities, though it still needs a buff for The Boss and can lose a combat. Sunhawk's two-Energy Empower gives it +1 Might and Deflect 2, which makes opponents pay two more Power to choose it. Empowered is not a buff. These fit games where the opponent relies on spells that choose a unit, in place of cheaper units those spells answer too easily.
Salvage · Rampage
Salvage is an Action that may kill a Gear and draws a card either way. The third Rampage helps when one large enemy unit keeps deciding battlefields. Swap them for a Sabotage or combat trick that is not doing enough in that game.
