Posted in: Card Games, Games, League of Legends, Riot Games, Tabletop | Tagged: Riftbound, UVS Games

Previewing Cards & Tournaments For Riftbound: League Of Legends TCG

We have over 130 cards from Riftbound: League Of Legends Trading Card Game to shwo off, as we discuss them and eventual tournaments

As previously mentioned in our last post, we were invited by Riot Games to check out Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game, as we got to sample the gameplay and build our own decks. In this post we're going to do three things: Show off a ton of cards, talk about the kinds of cards they're coming out with, and the plans they have in mind for tournaments once all this stuff is finally out. We're going tot alk about the latter two points as we spread out over 130 cards they shared with us as part of their build-up to the release. More will be on the way, but we'll get to that in a moment.

So let's get to the meat of it all. Riftbound: Origins, the inaugural set of this new TCG, will contain 298 cards as part of the launch. Those cards will include the array of Legends, Runes, Battlefiurleds, and all of the spells and units you can have. Every character is represented by two Rune colors, so yes, you'll be building dual-color decks no matter what. They will start with twelve Legends you should already be familiar with in the game, as they chose to go with Kaisa, Sett, Miss Fortune, Jinx, Volibear, Darius, Lee Sin, Teemo, Leona, Yasuo, Ahri, and Viktor for you to choose from. The bulk of this set is designed to give you what you need for your main deck, along with some options to swap out for, and the rule that you can't have more than three of a kind of any individual card that aren't Runes. So its very much a set in its infancy that, while it has rules in place, it's still figuring out what it can and will be at the start, which gives players time to learn and figure out the best strategies.

Now, as you may have guessed, they're going to do many of the same promotions you might expect from a TCG, because the trading card aspect of that for both primary players and the eventual seller's market that's going to show up will be focused on the collecting bit. Beyond your Starter Set materials, the Booster packs will have 15 cards per pack. That comes out to 7 Commons, 3 Uncommons, 1 Foil (which could be a parallel of a Com or UnCom) 2 Flex slots (give you 2 Rares or better), 1 Additional Play card, and 1 Marketing Card. Everythign "Rare" and above is foiled, so the minute you see it, you'll know. What's more, while there are 298 cards, there are 337 card images, which means many of the card slots will have alternative art or will be a part of a special run called the Overnumbered Cards.

The Overnumbered cards will show something to the effect of 299/298 on the text, just in case the radically different image doesn't tip you off. Plus, they're super rare, and you'll only see one for every three boxes. Yes, BOXES! So if you manage to snag just one from a pack, you know you'll have a special card. (Just so you know, none of those cards will be shown before launch. The only way to see what they look like will be to either buy Boosters or wait for them to be revealed to the world. (As a side note, you may have noticed most of the art on the cards is from the game's promotional work over the years, as they are still working on an artist system in place to have original artwork for future sets, rather than just pulling from their own pool of content.)

When Riftbound launches globally in October 2025 (final date pending), they will have in-store events and support for the launch. While the details were not released, we do know those who participate will get two card packs, a Release Promo pack, and a Nexus Night pack. After the launch, they will be working with shops to set up organized play nights, with a plan to launch tournaments globally sometime in December 2025. If you've done TCG tournaments, you'll know what's up as they'll all be buy-in events where you get your packs at the store to build a deck on the spot and compete. Players who win their events will get a random special card with an icon on it showing you won a tournament (yet another hard-to-get collectible), as well as a Bye for the next event you play. (If you play multiple events and win first place, you cannot stack Bye wins and just coast through a Regional. It's one Bye per competition.)

The eventual goal of the team is to have a Riftbound Regional in several markets, which will lead to their own version of Worlds, much like the main League of Legends title does every year. There's still a lot to be worked out between now and whenever that happens, so plans are not set in stone. But they are looking ahead for pro-TCG players who are already eyeing this game and want to play professionally for cash and prizes. Obviously, we can't predict the future, and we know for a fact that it's hit-or-miss with the TCG market whether or not a game becomes successful and has a strong ecosystem in place to handle running a major event system. But it does seem like with the combination of the IP, working with UVS Games (who have handled this before), and having a plan in place before Riftbound has even dropped, it seems like there's a great chance of success if the playerbase is there to support it.

After Riftbound: Origins is over, Expansion sets will be coming out once every three months. Which may sound like a lot, but that's on par with many other TCG titles, and it sounds like the scope of expansions may be limited, so you're not buying what feels like an entirely new set of cards just to add to the already big set you just got into. Expansion events will have players getting a box to play with for the event or tournament, but nothing else. Some of the play formats they will have for the game include Constructed, Teams, Sealed, Draft, and Multiplayer.

Yes, you read that correctly! Multiplayer will be an option, as you can do 2v2 with three Battlegrounds. I played one round of this during the demo event, but not enough to really get a sense of how crazy and chaotic it could get. For example, the game I played in had everyone tied at seven points (you need eight to win), and it was becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to lock down the last two of the three fields to win. The gameplay was fast and frantic for both sides, and honestly, it feels like it could be expanded to be 4v4 with five Battlegrounds in the middle if you really wanted to push it and make it about as close to League of Legends gameplay as you possibly could. (A thought that the devs even admitted had crossed their minds!)

There will be more to share in the months ahead, including some exclusive card reveals, as Bleeding Cool will be one of your sources for some exclusive news.

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