Making a name for yourself in the world of card games is difficult, mainly because it's difficult to come up with new and exciting mechanics and playstyles that haven't already been covered by Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon. This is the place Riftbound it has a surprising edge because its combat system is genuinely interesting and its nuanced gameplay means it has a lot of potential to grow further.
Whether you're a League of Legends fan excited for new ways to play your favorite champions, or a TCG enthusiast looking for something new, Riftbound has something for everyone.
Anatomy of Riftbound Cards
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Energy costs (top left) |
This is the cost needed to cast the card. |
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Maybe (top right) |
This number indicates the base strength of the card. |
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Card types and labels (above title) |
This section lists the card type (Legend, Unit, Gear, etc.) and labels, which are the characters and areas the card is associated with. |
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Keywords and actions (under title) |
All important information about what the card does is written here. This includes keywords, mechanics, actions and effects. |
The only other characteristic of the card that may be noteworthy, more to collectors than anyone else, is the rarity of the card. This is indicated by a small symbol located in the center at the bottom of the card. Riftbound cards can be one of five rarities.
- Common
- Less common
- Rare
- Epic
- Renumbered and alternative art
Riftbound: How to play online
Although there is no official way yet, there are still ways to play this League of Legends TCG online if you can't find the games on your LGS.
Glossary of keywords in Riftbound
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Keyword |
Importance |
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Accelerate |
It allows you to play a unit and it comes into play ready (for a cost) rather than depleted. |
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Action |
This means you can play a card during showdowns, even during your opponent's turn. |
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Attack |
Presented as X, increases unit power only when attacking. |
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Deathknell |
This is an effect that occurs when a unit or card is sent to the trash. |
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Divert |
Deflect cards indicate additional cost to target a card, think ward from MTG. |
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Ganking |
This ability says that the card can move between battlefields. |
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Hidden |
This allows you to play a card face down, which can result in a lower cost to activate or activate an ability later. |
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Legion |
This keyword takes effect if you played a card on your turn before legion card. |
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Mighty |
A card enters a powerful state when it has five or more powers; this can cause other effects. |
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Reaction |
A reaction card can be played during closed states and on either player's turn. |
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Shield |
When a card acts as a defender, it gains X shield value. |
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Tank |
Damage must be assigned to tank cards before any other units. |
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Temporary |
At the beginning of your initial phase, before scoring, cards are killed. |
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Vision |
This ability allows you to look at the top card of your deck and discard it if needed. |
How to play
Winning conditions
To win a game of Riftbound, you have to be one first player to score eight points. This increases to 11 points for multiplayer games.
You earn points in Riftbound by conquering and holding battlefieldsbut the conditions for scoring the eighth point are added.
If you get an eighth point for a conquest, you must also get a point from the second battleground in the game. If you get the eighth point from the hold, you win immediately.
Turns And Stages Of The Game
There are seven stages to the game in each turn, but if that seems intimidating, it's far from it, and the turns can be resolved quite quickly, even with so many stages to go through.
- Wake up: Prepare all cards where legal.
- Beginning: Resolve all effects with triggers at the start of your turn, including holds, passives, and ongoing abilities.
- Channel: Place two runes from your individual rune deck into your base. These are used to pay for your other cards and enter the game ready to go.
- Draw: You can now draw one card from your deck.
- Action: This is where you start playing cards and activating abilities to conquer battlefields.
- Billing: A battle can occur here if enemy units occupy the same battlefield. Combat is a simple case of taking on the strength of enemy units, with the winner remaining on the battlefield and the loser being placed in the bin.
- End of turn: This is where you resolve any lingering or time-sensitive effects and empty your rune pool.
If you're ever stuck, most players use the ABCD method to track their moves until the action phase.
Showdowns in detail
Settlement can be both combat or non-combatdepending on whether the battlefield is occupied by units of both players or not.
In non-combat showdowns, only one player has a unit on the battlefield and then passes a turn to their opponent to react. From there, spells can be cast back and forth, creating a chain of effects to resolve. Once both players are done, the cards are evaluated one at a time, and at the end of it, the battlefield will still be occupied by a unit, or it will remain empty.
An easy way to solve the chain of events in a TCG is to remember that it's first in, last out. Card effects are resolved from the top of the chain back to the first cards that were discarded.
For combat showdowns, they play quite similarly, but are more likely to involve gear that increases the power level of units. Depending on how much each player has invested in capturing or holding the battlefield determines how crazy the stack of actions can be, but make sure you resolve each one carefully so you don't miss any triggers or abilities on either side.
Practice makes perfect
Now that you know the basics of how a round of Riftbound should go, it's the best thing you can do start playing and learning more nuanced aspects of the game on the fly.
You will begin to understand more about how the individual mechanics work and what combinations are possible. Just make sure read each card to avoid any careless mistakes.
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