If you are at 7 points with one open battlefield and another battlefield with a unit, do you win immediately by using Ride the Wind on the opponent's turn to conquer the second battlefield?

Question

Accepted Answer

You cannot play Ride The Wind on your opponent’s turn unless a Showdown is already ongoing. If you do play Ride The Wind in a Showdown and the Move you make causes you to establish Control and later Conquer that Battlefield, the Conquer (and any point from it) happens during the Showdown’s cleanup — and if that point brings you to the Victory Score and you have more points than your opponent, you win in that cleanup. [345] [348] [464.1] [FAQ:unleashed#12]

You can only win on your opponent’s turn with Ride The Wind if there is an active Showdown so you’re allowed to play the spell (it reads “Play on your turn or in showdowns”). Play outside a Showdown on the opponent’s turn is not permitted. If played in a Showdown and your Move causes you to establish Control and thus Conquer in the Showdown’s resolution, the Conquer is applied during the Showdown cleanup and that is when the scoring (and any resulting game win) is checked. [345] [348] [464.1] [FAQ:unleashed#12] [FAQ:unleashed#6]

Check whether there is an active Showdown at the battlefield; Ride The Wind can be played only on your turn or in showdowns, so on the opponent’s turn you may only cast it if a Showdown is ongoing there. [345] If you cast Ride The Wind in that Showdown, you move a friendly unit and ready it per the card text; that Move can cause a Battlefield to become Contested or otherwise change presence. [447] If the Move results in you establishing Control (for example, you end up as the only player with Units there and you did not previously Control it), Conquer will be applied in the Showdown cleanup as part of closing the Showdown. [348] [464.1] When the Showdown closes and the Conquer is applied, scoring happens during cleanup; if that Conquer point brings you to the Victory Score and you have more points than your opponent, you Win the game during that cleanup. [FAQ:unleashed#12]

If there is no Showdown staged/ongoing at that battlefield on the opponent’s turn, you cannot play Ride The Wind then because it’s only playable on your turn or in showdowns. If you already scored that Battlefield earlier this turn, a Conquer there will not grant you another point; Conquer only gives a point if you have not yet scored that Battlefield this turn. [464.1] If the Move opens Combat rather than a non-Combat resolution (for example, it creates opposing units together and triggers Combat), the Combat/Showdown resolution procedures differ; moving into contested situations can open Combat per rule [447]. If the action that applied Contested just staged a Showdown in the following cleanup (per [FAQ:unleashed#6]), timing matters: the Showdown may not yet be 'ongoing' until that cleanup, so you might not be able to play in-showdown until the Showdown actually exists.

Short answer: only if there is an active Showdown. Ride The Wind is playable “on your turn or in showdowns,” so you cannot cast it on your opponent’s turn unless a Showdown is in effect at that battlefield. [345]

If a Showdown is ongoing and you cast Ride The Wind there, you move a friendly unit and ready it. Movement can cause a battlefield to become Contested or to change which player’s units occupy it, and movement can open Combat when it creates opposing units together. [447]

When a Showdown closes (all players pass Focus without playing a spell or activating an ability), Conquer/Control is applied during that Showdown’s cleanup: if only one player’s Units remain and that player does not already Control the Battlefield, that player establishes Control and that becomes a Conquer if they have not yet scored that Battlefield this turn. [348] [464.1]

Scoring from a Conquer is applied in the Showdown cleanup, and the game checks for win conditions during cleanup. If that Conquer point brings you to the Victory Score and you have more points than your opponent, you win in that cleanup. The official FAQ clarifies that winning happens during cleanup when a player has points greater than or equal to the Victory Score and more than any opponent. [FAQ:unleashed#12]

Therefore: if there is no Showdown, you cannot cast Ride The Wind on the opponent’s turn and you cannot instant-win that way. If there is a Showdown and your Ride The Wind Move causes you to establish Control and then Conquer in that Showdown’s cleanup, you will score that point in cleanup and, if that score meets the Victory conditions, win during that cleanup. [345] [447] [348] [464.1] [FAQ:unleashed#12]