Riftbound, The League Of Legends TCG, Mixes Fast Gameplay, A Consistent Resource System, And Unique Mechanics For A Standout TCG

Last week, I was invited to LA to visit Riot Games studios and get a chance to get my hands on four of the trial decks for Riftbound and play against a variety of well-known influencers in the TCG and League of Legends space.

Riftbound, featuring well-known characters from the world of League of Legends, is a fast-paced TCG where at any moment you can have your momentum reset, resulting in a game filled with entertaining highs where even when I was down, I never felt like I was 'out'.

If you want to learn more about the development of Riftbound, the spoiler season leading up to the release of Set 1: Origins, and what Organized Play will look like be sure to check out everything we learned Everything We Learned About Riftbound At The Pre-Launch Summit

How Does Riftbound Work?

In Riftbound, players use Runes to summon units and cast spells. The objective of play isn't to set up attacks to levy at your opponents directly, but instead, the game is about conquering and holding objectives called Battlefields to earn points.

At the beginning of a player's turn, they're able to trigger all Beginning of Turn text, refresh all of their cards, draw two additional mana, and then draw a card into their hand. From there, each player is free to take any other action. That could be to cast a spell, summon a unit, or move any active Units from your Base out to a Battlefield to begin a Showdown.

Summoning Units take up a certain number of Runes, and sometimes can also cause Runes to be recycled (returning it to the bottom of your Rune deck.)

The Rune system in Riftbound is unique, working perfectly to ramp up the speed of a game of Riftbound while also giving all decks a level of consistency. Every turn, you draw two more, letting your available resources grow from two to four, to six, etc. Games beginning with playing a single unit exhausted end up in larger turns where you're able to combine the strengths of Units and Spells to create entertaining combos.

"You'll never have to worry about not drawing a Land or Energy when playing Riftbound."

Once you have Units ready, you'll be able to move them to a Battlefield. If one is unoccupied, you'll automatically Conquer it, earning yourself a point. If you hold the Battlefield until your next turn, you'll earn another point.

When players' Units collide on a Battlefield, that's when you'll have a Showdown. At its core, the Showdown is just a matter of "Are my Units' might numbers higher than your Units?" If one side has two Units of 3 and 4 Might, and you move a powerful creature with 8 Might onto the Battlefield, then without the intervention of any spell (or other player), the weaker units will perish.

In a situation where each side has multiple units, you might not be able to successfully hold or conquer the Battlefield, but you could defeat one or two of your opponents' Units, weakening their side.

A nice touch about the win condition, of earning eight points, is that you need to win your final point by holding a Battlefield uncontested for a turn or by capturing all Battlefields simultaneously (this means two in a standard game). This adds a fun level of tension as you can view your opponent creeping closer and closer to their eighth point, and can work to deny them.

With an ever-progressing mana system and a tweaked final point/win condition, it gives players a lot of chances to regain ground while stalling their opponent on their final point. It also means that the game is always progressing towards its conclusion. Even while being taught the game, a standard 1v1 only took 20 minutes, and even less time once everyone really started to understand the ins and outs of their decks.

Losing The Final Point Isn't Exciting

One downside of the point system, and how scoring the final point is done, is that the writing is normally on the wall on the losing player's final turn. They'll be able to look at their hand, available Runes, and Units out on the field and know if they're going to win or lose.

Unlike other TCGs where players are in the game until it's over, there's a recognizable "There's nothing I can do here, I surrender" on the final point.

There are scenarios where combat can take place, and spells can fly, shifting the final battle one way or another, but that's going to be far less likely in comparison to a recognizable defeat.

Overall, I think to have a very tense battle for 90% of the game, to have a bit of a weak ending is far more valuable to me as a player who is very interested in playing this game when compared to playing a different TCG where not pulling certain cards or resources can lead the competition to really even begin.

Differences Between 1v1 and Multiplayer Riftbound

Riftbound is designed to be played not only 1v1 but also multiplayer with four players, either as a 2v2 or a free-for-all. There are only a few rule differences when it comes to multiplayer, but it also changes a lot of the mentality behind the game.

When playing a free-for-all or 2v2, rules-wise, the first player doesn't draw on their first turn, and there's a third Battlefield placed in the center of the players. With more Battlefields to conquer, you can stay out of each other's way a little bit longer, but if you want to be making points then you'll need to be advancing your units.

The change in mentality comes from the final point/win condition. There's clear visibility on who has how many points, and as one person is creeping towards winning, it's in the best interest of the other players to stop them. This combined effort of all players to stop one person winning creates shifting allegiances and the ability to team up and betray one another.

Interestingly, in Multiplayer, there are also rules that while the Showdown will always be against the two players whose Units are at the Battlefield, a participating player can invite another to cast spells to help turn the tide of victory.

This kind of gameplay stirs discussion at a table, asking others if they move their weaker units into a Battlefield if someone would be able to help them win it over.

In a 2v2 game, the descriptions on some cards expand. Card text normally doesn't say "Your Units" but instead "Friendly Units." The effects of these cards in a 2v2 game will allow you to trigger abilities that assist you and your partner.

Riftbound Decks And Their Playstyle

Each of the Trial Decks we got to use had its own unique mechanics: 

• Jinx is a Red/Purple deck whose purpose is to always be going full out. When you start a turn with only one card in your hand, you'll get a chance to draw twice.
• Volibear is a Red/Orange deck that ramps quickly to pull out singular, powerful creatures that you'll have trouble coming up with the Might to take on
• Viktor is a Blue/Yellow deck that is all about building up recruits to create a small army to hold Battlefields, even if they may not hold it for long
• Yasuo is a Green/Purple deck where a number of cards have the Ganking ability, which allows them to traverse from one Battlefield to another (instead of having to return home first). This allows for attacks to come from anywhere with speed and precision.

Of the decks that I played, the one that I had the most difficulty with was Jinx. While I understood the benefit of milling out cards and drawing more to unleash powerful attacks, I always felt like I was in a situation with less flexibility due to having fewer cards in my hand.

Volibear and Viktor were both extremely interesting sides of the same coin. Is it better to have eight Units with 1 Might or to have a giant bear with 8 Might? Depending on the Battlefields in play and the speed at which each can activate the deck's engine, I found these two decks to be very evenly matched.

Yasuo, I had the least experience. There was talk about Yasuo games where he swept across each of the Battlefields, resetting every opponent's momentum, but I didn't get to experience that firsthand.

At launch, there will be three pre-made decks, four weaker decks as part of a Proving Grounds 4-player set aimed at beginners, and twelve Champions available from Booster Packs

Outside of the Trial Decks, I also got to try out a pre-made Darius deck that was Red and Yellow. This deck was an absolute powerhouse and one that I can't wait to build when Riftbound fully releases. Darius had a mix of powerful cards that could Accelerate allowing them to be ready on their first turn, as well as a 1 Might Recruit generating engine like the Viktor trial deck.

Another powerful keyword of the Darius deck was the Legion ability, these are effects that only activate if another card has already been played that turn. You could summon Darius's Champion Unit card, play a card with a Legion ability to generate a 1 Might Recruit, and then trigger Darius's Unit Card's effect that if a second card is played, he's readied. Your side could go from nothing to a 7 Might Unit ready to move, and two additional Units currently Exhausted but ready to move up next turn.

These kinds of natural combos are so fun, letting you utilize your ever-growing Runes to take larger and larger turns.

Riftbound League of Legends TCG Preview | Final Thoughts

The speed with which Riot has been able to create Riftbound has been insane, and the final product feels insanely polished. With quick-to-complete games that always feel like you're only just ahead or slightly behind, and wide mechanical variety, Riftbound is a game that can appeal to a hardcore TCG player while also being entertaining for new players to pick up a game and get started.

The Battlefield mechanics and movement in general in a TCG is novel but easy to understand. It also keeps you engaged as you try to shift tactics to win over one instead of another.

For collectors or players, whether you're into the world of League of Legends or not I would definitely recommend picking up a few decks and trying them out with your friends when it releases in October.

---

The copies of Riftbound decks used to produce this preview were provided by Riot Games. All images where taken over the course of the preview.