Zhonya's Hourglass

Zhonya's Hourglass is a rare-rarity gear card from Riftbound's Origins expansion. This Gear costs 2 Energy and attaches to a unit to modify its play. Aligned with the Calm domain. It carries the Errata tag. The card uses the Hidden keyword. It sees significant competitive play, appearing in roughly 53% of tracked tournament decks.

2 Energy | Gear | Calm | rare | Origins

Rules Text

[Hidden] (Hide now for Any Rune to react with later for 0 Energy.) If a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.)

Keywords

Domain: Calm

Meta Statistics

Inclusion Rate: 53.3% | Win Rate: 50.7%

Related FAQ (2)

What about Zhonya's Hourglass and Stand United? When they're played from hidden, are their effects restricted to the battlefield where they were played?

Only effects that choose are restricted. Zhonya's Hourglass saves the next friendly unit that dies anywhere. Stand United can only give a buff to a unit at the battlefield where it was hidden, but its other effect, which causes buffs to grant an additional bonus, applies everywhere. This is a change from previous rulings on these cards, intended to simplify the question of what hidden cards can and can't do. Zhonya's Hourglass has additional rulings and minor errata related to saving dying units; see below.

When I replace a unit's death with a card like Unlicensed Armory, does damage on the unit stay? If the unit died to lethal damage, doesn't it just die again?

The intent behind these four cards is to save your unit from dying, whether it died due to direct kill like Hidden Blade or due to lethal damage. To better communicate this, these cards will receive updated wordings. Two of them, Highlander (from the Proving Grounds boxed set) and Unlicensed Armory, have straightforward fixes, adding “heal" and listing “exhaust" and “recall" as separate actions. Choose a friendly unit. The next time it dies this turn, heal it, exhaust it, and recall it instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) Discard 1, (E) Choose a friendly unit. The next time it would die this turn, you may pay (C) to heal it, exhaust it, and recall it instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) Zhonya's Hourglass also has a slightly updated wording making it clearer that its ability applies any time a friendly unit dies, not just on the turn you play it. If a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) The Boss was mistakenly worded like a triggered ability. It's receiving updated wording to make it clear that its ability is a replacement effect.

All Riftbound rules FAQ

Tournament Decks