RiftBound is an impressive League of Legends trading card game
Blog Andrew Joseph 28 Jun , 2025 0
League of Legends has become a global phenomenon, running for the music industry with popular MOBA games, award-winning TV series Arcane and Virtual K-Pop Group K/DA. Among the many projects patched by Riot Games, we can finally check out the expected League of Legends physical trading card game Riftbound. After mastering the cards and understanding the game’s flow, it was a surprise that the RiftBound team transformed MOBA into a competitive card game.
After having the opportunity to talk to the game director at Riftbound, Dave Guskin and receiving the crash of the game starting to the upcoming release, I got a good idea of what the Riftbound team hopes for the future. With four trial decks representing Jinx, Viktor, Volibear and Yasuo, it's time to get some games in. Just like many TCG debut their first set, game-specific keywords will provide a brief description for beginners and experienced players to familiarize themselves with the mechanics. That being said, if you have any TCG experience, the gameplay is easy to get. Guskin did mention that they weren't trying to “reinvent the wheel”, which was inspired by other card game systems and developed an “appropriate” game that highlights the League of Legends champions. From my experience so far, I do think that League of Legends players will be very good at playing this game. Either way, it seems like a good foundation for those who are both a fan of the game and TCG.
All common TCG card types suspects are there, and specific suspects are reminiscent of the leader-type game format. First, there are legendary cards that determine the deck you are playing. For example, jynx loose cannon is a legend in red and purple, so the deck must be composed of two cards in two colors. These also determine the style of the deck's play – usually with their abilities – so choosing a legend is very important for deciding which deck to play. Next, we have units that are creatures or characters that can help you compete for dominance in the field of competition. Another familiar type is the spell card that can be used for deletion or supported. Then, there are some equipment cards as workpieces or items that can be left on site with your unit. Rune Cards are resources or mana in the game that are located on its own resource deck. Finally, the interesting card that really emphasizes the MOBA aspect is the battlefield card. Players will conquer these battlefields and score and win games. Each battlefield also has unique effects, which allows players to move back and forth to maintain these battlefields throughout the game.
In some of my games, the gameplay reminds me of other card games that revolve around leaders. For example, a card game or Hearthstone is a good example of Riftbound, where leaders have unique abilities to support the cards you play. Unlike leaders who usually have the option to participate in the battle, your legend will benefit players step by step and use passive or activated abilities that can be used at some point. For example, Viktor legends can play the chart of recruiting units by paying for a rune and striking or exhausting. That being said, players can choose a champion unit with the same name as the legend in order to sit outside the deck as much as possible. Therefore, instead of a leader's unit eliminating and using abilities, the game is safely next to a legend that can always assist the player when the champion unit is fighting. This champion unit acts like any other unit on your deck. As part of the setup, the game guarantees that you see the champion unit you want to play the most, rather than hoping you can attract it.
The game starts with four hands, and the lottery phase only gives one card, but I don't feel like I've abandoned too many cards. For example, jynx thrives in rushing down and playing cards because if the player starts turning with one more or less card in hand, she allows the player to draw a second card. Sometimes you can turn luck and you just don’t have enough runes to play anything meaningful, but there are plenty of opportunities to manipulate the venue and give yourself time to set it up. Also, if all other methods fail, you will have the champion unit you selected in the settings. Obtaining two mana or rune cards per turn is a familiar concept that helps avoid being delayed. There are up to 12 runes in this game, which leaves more room for card performance compared to similar games. There is a recycling action, which is just another name for “placed at the bottom of their respective decks”, whether it's a rune card or a card on the main deck. Recycling most of the payments in your runes happens in the form of a card. Strong cards tend to have a recycling cost, which means you put the total number of runes down to play powerful cards. This helps avoid spam spam and can also allow players to consider effective or curved play card options. It happens here often, but it is not enough to distract people.
To help with recycling mechanics, there are equipment cards on the deck that help you pay for recycling costs rather than using an actual rune card. This is a nice addition to help speed things up and strengthen the movement. Speaking of which, fighting and scoring are probably the most interesting part of the game. Battlefield Cards are the location where your unit will fight, similar to how players compete for lanes in MOBA. In a one-on-one match, each player selects a battlefield from three matches owned on the deck and sets them on the field. When a unit enters or conquers the battlefield, the player scores one point. If the players continue to maintain the battlefield until the next round starts, they also score points. The last bit of score is a bit subtle, but the concept is very simple. Additionally, RiftBound simplifies a lot of the math that players often have to do when participating in this battlefield battle. Unlike the Magic Zone party, the unit card in the RiftBound has only one number to indicate its strength and health. Having five unit cards could attack a battlefield with two units, one with three possible abilities and the other with two abilities, all three units killed each other and sent to garbage. that's right! It's simple, like adding the sum of offensive and defensive units in a battlefield showdown to determine who survives. Sure, spells can help break any connection or turn the table around, but the system simplifies combat compared to other games.
I can see that League of Legends players can get a good idea of the game's strategy based on how the game plays in the game. When the units are deployed for the first time, they will play in your base. From there, you can move units on any battlefield, regardless of enemies or not. A unique keyword in Riftbound is Ganking, which Moba fans are familiar with. For those who don't know, Ganjin is another term for surprise attacks on enemy units. In Riftbound, units can only travel to and from the base and battlefield. Unless they have a clumsy ability, they will not be able to move from the battlefield to the battlefield. Knowing when to move and the strategy that really matters in this game is a pleasant surprise, from typical character accusations to the opponent's life in other TCGs.
Meanwhile, for me, deck brewing is the lifeblood of any TCG. There is no better feeling in a card game than making a deck that satisfies your play style or taste and sees it performs well with your friends or local shops. The RiftBound comes in six different colors – or domain names, and decks can be built around. Of course, red or rage is an aggressive color, which includes cheap units that remove damage and pop up to quickly attack. Green or calm seems to surround polishing and reverse needles. Blue or mind has many attractions and is often known for its control. Orange or body appears to play a role around the large body and mana push effects. Purple or Chaos are composed of bouncers and their ability to get out of the wild and athletic. Finally, the yellow or order seems to be concentrated on the token unit and broad. It's all based on what I've seen from the trial deck, but I've seen some overlap in the disassembly. The most exciting color for me is purple because of the action of this game. In Riftbound, your movement throughout the game is really crucial, and purple has some benefits when it comes to moving.
Judging by what I heard and heard from others, the game could be fast – if both players are familiar with the mechanics, it's average less than 25 minutes. Guskin mentioned to me that they would leave it to the store to see if the event was one to three. The best of the three matches from Switzerland to the top cuts when it comes to bigger competitive activities is planning, but final details are still being determined at this stage. The Riftbound will debut in China this summer and then begin globally in late October. As I've seen in other card games, the staggered distribution does leave a sour taste – especially if it affects large competitive activities – but Guskin assured me that the goal is to “close the gap in the first few sets and eventually have a simultaneous global distribution”.
With a moderate understanding of MOBA and characters, I was very surprised that I liked the gameplay. I came from an RTS background and never really understood what a MOBA custom game was at the time, but then I learned about this genre. Now, I enjoy every aspect of League of Legends with arcane and even K/DA music. Like many TCGs today, existing enthusiasts can help people experience new TCGs through the door. With League of Legends pedigree, I really think Riftbound has set a good foundation for what they hope to build, and I look forward to checking out more games as they do it.