How does Show Off work in Riftbound? As you play a card with Show Off, you may either reveal a matching card from your hand or pick a matching friendly object that is already on the board. Do either one and you have “shown off,” which unlocks the card’s bonus. You only ever need one of the two, and you choose which. Showing off doesn’t use anything up either: the card you reveal goes back into your hand, and the object you pick stays exactly where it is.
Page last updated: November 15 2026. Rules checked against Riot’s official Radiance Core Rules patch notes (October 16 2026).
What Show Off Means on a Card
Riftbound Show Off is one of the three new keywords that arrived with Radiance on October 23 2026, alongside Deploy and Disarm. It appears on both units and spells.
Every Show Off card has the same shape. The keyword is followed by a requirement (the kind of card you need to show), and somewhere later in the text there’s a line that starts with “if you showed off.” That second line is the bonus. If you don’t show off, the card still works normally. You just don’t get the extra part.
The clearest example in the set is Incorrigible Construct:
Incorrigible Construct: “SHOW OFF a Mech. (As you play me, you may reveal a Mech from your hand or pick another friendly Mech.) I enter ready if you showed off.”
Here’s how to read it, piece by piece:
| Part of the Card | What It Means |
|---|---|
| SHOW OFF a Mech | The requirement. You need to show a card or object with the Mech tag. |
| (As you play me, you may reveal a Mech from your hand or pick another friendly Mech.) | Reminder text. It explains the keyword. It does not add any new rules. |
| I enter ready if you showed off | The bonus. Only happens if you met the requirement. |
That bracketed sentence is worth a closer look. Text in parentheses on a Riftbound card is reminder text: a quick summary of how the keyword works, printed so you don’t have to look it up. It never adds an extra rule on top of the keyword. So if you’re wondering whether the brackets mean Incorrigible Construct has some special version of Show Off, it doesn’t. Every Show Off card works the same way, and the reminder text is just the rule spelled out.
Reveal From Hand or Pick From the Board: Which One Applies?
This is the question that trips people up, and the answer is simpler than it looks: both options are always available, and you choose. There’s no situation where the game forces you into one mode. Neither option is “better” in rules terms. They both count as showing off.
| Option | What You Do | What It Costs You | Best When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reveal from hand | Show your opponent a matching card from your hand, then keep it | Information. Your opponent now knows one card you’re holding. | You have nothing matching on the board yet |
| Pick from the board | Point to a matching friendly object you already control | Nothing. Your opponent can already see it. | You already have a matching unit or object in play |
My honest take: the board option is the one beginners underrate. If you already have a Mech in play, picking it gets you exactly the same bonus as revealing one from your hand, and you give away nothing about what you’re holding. When both are available, picking from the board is usually the smarter play.
Three details on the board option are worth knowing:
- It says “friendly.” You can only pick objects you control. Your opponent’s Mechs don’t count, however many they have.
- It says “object,” not just “unit.” The general Show Off rule lets you pick any friendly object on the board with the right characteristics. That matters for future cards that ask for something other than a unit, such as a piece of gear. If you’re still fuzzy on how gear sits on the board, the Gear and Equipment guide covers it.
- Picking is not targeting. Riftbound’s October 2026 rules update introduced “pick” as a separate term from “choose.” Choosing means targeting. Picking does not. So picking a unit for Show Off won’t set off any ability that triggers when that unit is chosen or targeted.
One more thing on Incorrigible Construct specifically. Its reminder text says “pick another friendly Mech.” The word “another” means it can’t pick itself. You need a second Mech, either in your hand or already on the board.
How to Use Show Off: Step by Step
Step 1: Read the requirement after the keyword
Look at what follows the words “Show Off.” On Incorrigible Construct it’s “a Mech.” Other cards ask for different things. That requirement is the only thing you need to match.
Step 2: Check your hand and your board before you play the card
Do you have a matching card in hand? A matching friendly object in play? If you have neither, you can still play the card. You just won’t get the bonus.
Step 3: Decide as you play the card
Show Off happens “as you play” the card. It’s part of putting the card into play, not something you can come back to afterwards. Make your decision at that moment.
Step 4: Reveal one card or pick one object
Either show your opponent the matching card from your hand, or point to the matching friendly object on the board. Don’t do both. One is enough.
Step 5: Apply the bonus
Now the “if you showed off” line applies. For Incorrigible Construct, that means it enters ready instead of exhausted. A revealed card goes back into your hand. A picked object stays where it was.
What “Referenced Information Is Locked In” Means
The official rule says that information Show Off refers to is locked in at the moment you show off. In plain English: whatever was true about the card you revealed or the object you picked at that moment is what counts. What happens to it afterwards doesn’t change anything.
For Incorrigible Construct this is simple. The only question the bonus asks is “did you show off?” Once you’ve shown off, the answer is yes, and it stays yes. If the Mech you picked gets killed a moment later, the Construct still enters ready.
Where locked-in information really matters is on Show Off cards whose bonus uses a detail of the thing you showed, like its Might or its cost. Those cards use that detail as it was when you showed off. If the unit you picked gets buffed, shrunk, or removed afterwards, the bonus doesn’t recalculate. You also can’t swap to a different card or object once you’ve made your choice. Whatever you showed is what you’re stuck with, so pick the best option the first time.
Locking in the information doesn’t lock the card itself in place, though. A card you revealed is still a normal card in your hand afterwards, so it can still be used for something else, such as being discarded to pay a cost.
What You Can’t Use to Show Off
Facedown cards don’t count. You can’t show off using a facedown card, even one that is sitting at a battlefield and would otherwise match. Riot confirmed this in an official ruling in the Radiance patch notes.
The reason makes sense once you see it. Show Off only ever reveals cards from your hand. Objects on the board are picked, not revealed. A facedown card’s details are hidden, so there’s no way for it to prove it matches the requirement, and Show Off gives you no way to flip it up to check.
The other limits come straight from the wording:
- Your opponent’s cards can’t be picked. The board option only covers friendly objects.
- A card that says “another” can’t count itself, as with Incorrigible Construct.
- You can’t show off after the card has already been played. The decision happens as you play it.
Why Show Off Is Worth Building Around
Incorrigible Construct shows why this keyword matters. Units normally enter play exhausted, which means they can’t take action the turn you play them. Entering ready means the Construct can get straight to work that same turn instead of sitting in your base waiting. That is a real tempo gain from a bonus that cost you nothing to unlock.
The catch is consistency. A Show Off bonus is only as good as how often you can meet the requirement. If your deck has two Mechs in it, Incorrigible Construct will usually just be a normal unit. If your deck is built around Mechs, you’ll show off almost every time, often by picking one that’s already in play.
That’s the real lesson of Show Off: it rewards decks that commit to a theme. When you’re building, count how many cards in your deck meet each Show Off requirement. More matches means a more reliable bonus. And because you can pick from the board, every matching unit you get into play early makes your later Show Off cards better without revealing anything.
The honest downside is that revealing from hand gives your opponent information. Sometimes that’s worth it. Sometimes, if the bonus is small and the card you’d reveal is a surprise you want to keep, it’s better to skip the bonus entirely. Show Off is always optional, and choosing not to use it is a legitimate play.
Building up enough matching cards is where a collection starts to matter. If you’re weighing up sealed product as a way to grow yours, the Vendetta Booster Display buying guide breaks down what a full box gets you and whether it’s worth the money. Bear in mind that Show Off cards themselves come from Radiance, not Vendetta.
Pick Up Incorrigible Construct as a Single
If you want to try Show Off in a Mech deck, buying singles is the cheapest way to get the exact cards you need instead of hoping they turn up in packs. You can find Incorrigible Construct and other Radiance cards on TCGPlayer.
Final Verdict
So, how does Show Off work in Riftbound? It’s simpler than it first looks. When you play the card, reveal one matching card from your hand or pick one matching friendly object on the board, and the bonus is yours. You choose which. Whatever you showed is locked in from that moment, and facedown cards never count.
If you have a matching unit in play, pick it. That’s the default. Reveal from hand only when there’s nothing on the board to pick and the bonus is worth giving away a card. And if a Show Off card in your deck keeps missing its bonus, that’s your sign to add more cards that match it.
You now know enough to play every Show Off card in Radiance correctly. If you’re still finding your feet with the game as a whole, the How to Play Riftbound hub is the best place to fill in the rest.