How To Play Riftbound, The League Of Legends TCG

The new TCG from Riot Games, the creators is League of Legends is almost out, and with that you'll want to make sure you understand how to play. In this guide we'll go over what you need to get started, what to do on your turn, and how to resolve Showdowns.

What You Need To Play Riftbound

You can play Riftbound with 2-4 players, each player must have a complete Riftbound deck of at least 55 cards and will need to ensure they have the following:

• 1 Legend Card
• 40 Card Main Deck including;
  • 1 Champion Unit to match your Legend
  • 39 other cards that are within the Colors of your selected Legend (You can only have a max of three of the same card in a deck)
• 12 Rune Cards, should be a healthy mix of the two colors of your Legend
• Any additional Tokens or Counters that your deck may require.

If you're interested in learning more about what Pre-Configured decks are available, or the rules of building a deck be sure to check out our Deckbuilding Guide.

Setting Up Riftbound

Before you begin each player should do the following:

1. Remove your Rune Cards (White Back Cards) from the rest of your cards, shuffle them and place them to the left of your play area.
2. Remove your Legend (Black Back Card) and corresponding Champion Unit and place it to the top right of your play area face up.
3. Select one Battlefield (Black Back Card) you wish to use and place it above your play area for all players to read. Set aside the rest of the Battlefields, they will not be needed for the game.
4. Shuffle the rest of your deck and draw 4 cards

Completing the above steps your decks should be fully set up to play with two Battlefields between players ready to start the game.

Multiplayer Difference
In a multiplayer game of Riftbound (4-players) all players should combine their selected Battlefield cards, shuffle them, and remove one. The remaining three will be put into play as the objectives.

How To Play Riftbound

First Round Of Play

To begin the game select a player to go first, this can be done via any means such as flipping a coin, playing rock-paper-scissors, or guessing the color of the first Rune to be flipped.

On the first round of Riftbound whether you're playing 1v1 or Multiplayer there is a slight difference:

• In a 1v1 the player going first channels two Runes and draws one card, and the player going second channels three Runes and draws one card.
• In a Multiplayer game the player going first channels two Runes and does NOT draw a card, the second and third player channel two Runes and draws one card, and the player going last channels three Runes and draws one card.

Aside from the initial drawing of a card and channeling of a rune the rest of the turn is as normal.

Steps On Your Turn

1. 'At The Beginning Of Your Turn' effects resolve
2. Earn a point for any Battlefields that you've held
3. Refresh all exhausted cards (return all cards that are on their side to the upright position)
4. Channel two runes from your Rune Deck
5. Draw a card from your Main Deck
6. Take actions on your turn until you choose to pass your turn to your opponent, the types of action you can take include:
   • Summoning a Unit
   • Moving a Unit to or from a Battlefield, if the Battlefield is occupied then a Showdown is initiated. If a Unit has Ganking they can also move between Battlefields
   • Play a Hidden Card to a Battlefield
   • Summon Gear
   • Activating the ability of a Unit or Gear that is Ready

How to play a Unit

In the top left of every Unit card there is a number in a circle, this is the summoning cost of a Unit. To Summon a Unit you must Exhause a number of Runes equal to the Summoning Cost.

If a Unit also has one or multiple colored symbols underneath the summoning cost then you must Recycle the number of colored runes displayed. You can recycle a rune that has already been exhausted this turn.

For example Summoning Scrapyard Champion costs 5 Runes and 1 Fury Rune Recyclement. If you only have 5 Runes you can exhaust them all, and then recycle one of the exhausted Runes to successfully summon the Unit.

The Unit that is summoned should be placed on the field in an exhausted state.

Where does a summoned unit go?

A unit that has been summoned can normally only be summoned to your base. If you have a Unit currently holding a Battlefield you can summon your Unit directly to the Battlefield.

How and when to play a Spell

There are two types of Spells in Riftbound; Action and Reaction. Action Spells are only to be played during your turn or when a Showdown is initiated. A Reaction Spell can be played in reaction to an event that takes place, normally an opponent summoning or moving their own Unit.

Spells are activated the same way as summoning a Unit where the Summoning Cost is paid, and if there is a recycle cost that must also be paid.

How To Play A Hidden Card

Cards with the Hidden keyword on them can work as traps. You can pay the cost of the card and place them facedown on a Battlefield that you are in possession of.

During a Showdown you can then activate the Hidden card for no additional cost and trigger it's effect to turn the tides of the Showdown.

Note: If at any point you lose control of the Battlefield and you haven't activated your Hidden card it is destroyed and it's effect is wasted.

How to initiate a Showdown

A Showdown is automatically initiated when Units from one player are moved to a Battlefield that is already occupied by another player. Multiple Units can be moved to the Battlefield at the same time to increase your odds of conquering it.

Note: Unless a Unit has the Ganking keyword they can only move from the Base to the Battlefield or back, they cannot normally move from Battlefield to Battlefield.

Once a Showdown has been initiated the players, beginning with the defending player, are able to play spells that can augment the outcome. This might mean activating spells that buff their own Units, or debuff or outright kill their opponents units.

Multiplayer Note
In a multiplayer game the showdown is between the Attacking and Defending player, but on an invite from a participating player any other players in the game can intervene with their own spells

Once all spells have been played and the Showdown has been augmented then you compare the Might of each side of combat and the winner is the side with the highest might. If the attacking player won the Showdown they've successfully Conquored Battlefield, if the defending player wins the Showdown then they continue to maintain the Battlefield.

How do Showdowns resolve with multiple units?

Showdowns are easy when it's just one Unit per side, but when there are multiple there are some differences. The calculation of the winner is still the same, the total of either side, but each player is able to allocate which unit takes what Might damage, if a Unit takes as much damage as their Might then that Unit dies.

For example if Player A has a Might 2 Unit and a Might 3 Unit their total is 5 Might, Player B could have a Might 4 Unit making their total 4 Might. In the battle of Player A's 5 Might vs Player B's 4 Might the victor will be Player A, but Player B can allocate their single unit's attack to one of the two units such as Player A's Might 2 Unit. This means at the resolution of the Showdown Player A now holds the Battlefield, but only their Might 5 Unit survived.

How to score points and win Riftbound

You win Riftbound by being the first player to score eight points. You can earn points in two different ways:

• Holding a Battlefield - This is accomplished when you reach the start of your turn and you're holding a Battlefield uncontested
• Conquering a Battlefield - This occurs if you move a Unit to an unoccupied Battlefield OR when you initiate a Showdown as an attacker and succeed in defeating all of your opponents 

 

There are some slight tweaks to the above when it comes to earning your eighth point of the game. The final point of the game must be earned by:

• Holding a single Battlefield
• Conquering and holding all Battlefields - In a 1v1 this means conquering two Battlefields, in Multiplayer this means conquering three Battlefields.