While Riot Games dabbled in the past with card gaming inLegends of Runeterra,Riftboundis its all-in go at a proper physical trading card game. Not content with merely shipping aMagic: The Gatheringclone with aLeague of Legendscoat of paint,Riftboundboasts a unique gameplay flow and ruleset that cleverly leverages the wildly varying playstyles of iconicLeague of Legendschampions. In fact, players who enjoy a particular champion inLeague of Legendsmay find they enjoy that same one inRiftboundthanks to surprisingly faithful thematic transitions to the card game format.
Recently, Game Rant attended ahands-on preview eventwhere we got to experienceRiftboundfirst-hand, including the deckbuilding process with free range of the game’s initial 298 cards. We tried out numerous decks and playstyles from the ramp-up-style Volibear deck to Yasuo’s highly mobile deck, and found a refreshing variety of approaches to achieving victory inRiftbound. Since the game is a race to score points rather than eliminate opponents, it’s also highly suitable for multiplayer: deckbuilding can often involve considering one’s teammates, and politics erupt during play as alliances are formed and broken.
Following up after our hands-on experience, Game Rant was given a set of three cards to debut exclusively before they’re added to Riftbound’s official card gallery. Similar to otherTCGs likeDisney LorcanaandMagic: The Gathering,Riftboundcards are divided into sets of colors such as red, blue, green, and purple. Each deck is comprised of a combination of two colors: for example, Yasuo is a green/purple deck, Darius is red/yellow, and Ahri is green/blue. All three cards we’re revealing today fall under the green category, so they’d be usable by the likes of Yasuo and Ahri, among others.
Three New Riftbound Cards Revealed
The Rune Prison Spell Card
The first card isRune Prison, a green spell card that’s playable as an action.Riftbound’s Action cardsmay be played either during one’s turn or when opposing forces face off on a battlefield card, making them potential game-changers at the right moment. Rune Prison stuns a single unit, removing its damage from the equation during showdowns that turn and possibly turning the tide.
The Last Stand Spell Card
Next up isLast Stand, another spell/action card that’s quite high risk and high reward. Last Stand doubles a friendly unit’s Might for the turn, but also inflicts it with Temporary: the unit will be destroyed at the beginning of the following turn. This has potential synergy with Rune Prison, where stunning an enemy and doubling a friendly unit’s Might may ensure it survives until the following turn.
The Taric - Protector Champion Card
Lastly, there’sTaric - Protector.League of Legendsfans ought torecognize Taric as a tanking champion, and he reprises his role inRiftbound. Taric has the Shield keyword, which increases his might by +1 when he’s defending, and, of course, he has the Tank keyword that forces combat damage to focus on him first in a showdown. Taric also generously grants all other friendly units on his battlefield Shield. Taric can synergize with the earlier-mentioned Last Stand card by doubling his might, tanking up to 9 damage, and potentially saving other friendly units from destruction during defense.
