Riftbound Flow Explained: Playing Cards From Your Trash
Flow is one of three new mechanics in Riftbound: Vendetta (out 31 July 2026). It turns your trash from a graveyard into a resource — here's exactly how the Flow mechanic works and how to build around it.
What is Flow in Riftbound?
Flow lets you play a card from your trash instead of from your hand. Cards you've used, discarded or had destroyed aren't gone — with Flow, they become a second pool of plays. It draws on the League champions who fuel their kits with Energy: your spent cards keep on working.
How the Flow mechanic works
- Your trash is a second hand. A card with Flow can be cast straight out of the trash, often for its normal or a modified cost.
- Fill the trash on purpose. The more cards in your trash, the more Flow options you have — so effects that discard, cycle or Burn your own deck actively help a Flow deck.
- Know what's waiting. Flow rewards players who track what's in the trash and sequence replays for maximum value.
Building a Flow deck
Flow is the recursion engine of Vendetta. Its best partner is Burn, which stocks your trash quickly — Burn fills it, Flow cashes it in. Deckbuilding pointers:
- Enable it. Include cheap ways to get cards into the trash early so Flow is online when you need it.
- Grind the long game. Flow decks win by out-valuing opponents over time, not by racing — plan for longer games.
- Watch trash hate. Effects that exile or shuffle away the trash are your weakness; play around them.
See how Flow fits full decklists in the best Vendetta decks guide.
Flow vs the other new mechanics
Empower upgrades a card in play; Burn sends cards to the trash; Flow plays them back out of it. All three are covered together in Vendetta's new mechanics explained.
Flow cards will show live prices on the Vendetta set page as they release — compare every store on RiftCompare so you build your Flow deck for the cheapest total. Track the live countdown to release day.