My first impressions of League of Legends: Riftbound were with the second release, Spiritforged, and it left me wildly impressed. Riot Games brought their iconic, well-designed characters from LoL, Arcane, and Legends of Runeterra (the digital-only card game) to the real-life tabletops of TCGs. Fleshed-out mechanics, excellent card design and artwork, and a well-focused win condition made this collaboration between Riot Games and UVS Games a strong contender in the TCG space. I called it “a must-try for TCG fans.”
With the release of Riftbound: Unleashed, I’m happy to report this collaboration remains iron-clad. Unleashed brings more iconic Runeterra characters to the tabletops of Riftbound, with a slew of new mechanics to trounce opponents with, and it looks good doing it. Riftbound: Unleashed is the next ambitious step forward for this fledgling card game, and with the new fun-to-play mechanics, it’s never been a better time to jump in.
First things first, Riftbound’s onboarding time is still as low as it will ever be (now there are three sets), and it only takes around 20 minutes to get started. This puts the learning curve firmly on Riftbound’s court, as I was able to introduce a fresh player (who has never played Riftbound or any TCG before) to the battlegrounds of the Rift without difficulty.
“With the release of Riftbound: Unleashed, I’m happy to report this collaboration remains iron-clad.”
I believed (before release) that the addition of the new keywords and mechanics in Riftbound: Unleashed would make the learning curve worse, but it remained easy-as-ever to learn, and easier to teach. Returning players can start without training wheels. If this is your first time looking at anything Riftbound, I strongly recommend you get up to speed here with Spiritforged, as this article assumes you know the ropes.
Like in Spiritforged, Unleashed borrows the iconic art (and artists) employed by Riot Games to stamp each card with a sense of authenticity, keeping the art style consistent between League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra and now, Riftbound. This collaboration between Riot Games and UVS Games continues to deliver the same identity with the Unleashed expansion, and Riftbound stays just as strong and identity-focused due to this deliberate choice. Unleashed brings more of the League of Legends identity, and although I was not a fan (and a bad player) of the MOBA, Riftbound: Unleashed is stronger than ever for these choices.
Like every other trading card game in existence, Riftbound: Unleashed introduces a slew of new keywords to the equation, adding a new layer of complexity to matches. Ambush, Backline, Hunt, Level, and Predict are brought to the tabletop (making the total keyword count 16), and they work well in tandem with the existing Legends and cards already present in Riftbound.
My favourite Legend in Riftbound is Rumble, Mechanized Menace, and he buffs your mechs (gives them the keyword Shield) while they’re defending a battlefield from opponents. Unleashed drops Chakram Dancer, which has the new Ambush ability, allowing my defenders to surprise my opponents with a double dose of Shield when I have the Runes ready to do so on defence. On the contrary, another Mind coloured card, Deadly Flourish, operates as a wicked spot removal, dealing three damage to an enemy unit, and giving you an exhausted Gold token in turn.
This synergy proves Riftbound: Unleashed isn’t just attempting to over-juice their new cards; Riot Games is dragging their previous releases along with the game’s evolution, and it works excellently in practice. This spot removal two-hitter is a boon for my existing (and other favourite) Renata Glasc, Chem-Baroness-led deck, and her Champion cards, Mastermind and Industrialist.
I was able to drop the Deadly Flourish in play by exhausting four Mind runes, kill an opposing (unbuffed) Crowd Favorite (another stellar tech-heavy card), obtain the extra gold readied due to my board state, and recycle the four spent Mind runes used for Deadly Flourish and use Gold to use the Champion Industrialist’s ability to net an extra point in an overly aggressive push for the win. This works with Chem-Baroness’s secondary ability, which lets Gold add an additional Energy Cost when you’re within three scores of victory, and with the two readied gold I now had, I was able to pay for two extra Energy Cost to get a score off with a big combo.
Aside from powering up my former favourites (there is a ton of synergy with the existing Legends), Riftbound has unleashed new Legends to drop into matches with, headlined by Vi, Piltover Enforcer, pulled straight from League of Legends and Arcane, respectively. Other Legends include Ivern, Greenfather (who removes battlefield advantage from opponents, a powerful ability), LeBlanc, Deceiver, and more, equating to a total of 12 new Legends added to Riftbound with Riftbound: Unleashed.
These Legends deploy the new keywords added to Riftbound in droves. Many of the Legends use the XP mechanic, and in Poppy, Keeper of the Hammer’s case, she nets players extra card draws when using XP. Hunt proficient cards like Arachnoid Horror synergize incredibly well with Poppy, netting two extra XP if the Horror is played on a battlefield it can readily conquer. This gives a Poppy player a potential full extra card draw per turn. If Poppy fanatics dig through the Spiritforged card list, they can find the Body spell, Here to Help, which can help sneak Arachnoid Horror onto a battlefield for cheap (and during a showdown, no less).
On the flip side, Riftbound: Unleashed offers a myriad of new playstyles to tinker with and strategies to own the tabletop. Using Vi, Piltover Enforcer, I was able to work some serious maneuvers on my enemy with her overtly aggressive playstyle, instead of opting for the control-based strategy with card draw that Poppy, Keeper of the Hammer, prefers. With the Riftbound: Origins battlefield, Windswept Hillock, Vi becomes a force of nature.
In practice, I was able to deploy Vi, Hotheaded and conquer a Windswept Hillock defended by an opposing Vex, Gloomist-controlled Mutated Mouser. I then exhausted my Legend (Vi, Piltover Enforcer) for a second readied-state on Vi, Hotheaded. After that, I Ganked (using Windswept Hillock) an undefended Amateur Recital battlefield. On the next turn, I was able to return Vi, Hotheaded to my base unharmed, two scores richer, and without any losses.
Riftbound: Unleashed brings a whole new layer of strategy to the equation, and it’s almost as if the developers are goading you into finding these combos. In turn, pulling these big-hitting combos off feels rewarding and offers huge payoffs. Riftbound: Unleashed didn’t skimp on the power either. The Ultimate pull of the set, Baron Nashor, can feel a touch unbalanced in the grand scheme of things, considering it has a whopping 12 might and opens its own battlefield.
“Riftbound: Unleashed offers a myriad of new playstyles to tinker with and strategies to own the tabletop.”
But, Unleashed has towed a few other monstrosities to contend with the Chaos-coloured game changer. The Order-coloured demon, Atakhan, bypasses Baron Nashor’s “can’t be chosen” ability, and asks the player to kill it for you (he’s not being chosen by his enemy after all). The Body-coloured Elder Dragon can also contend with the Baron, and the Fury-coloured Inviolus Vox can power a Vi, Hotheaded to the point of it punching and killing virtually anything in the game with its massive 22 might. The point is, although Baron Nashor is expensive (he’s rare) and powerful, Riftbound: Unleashed brought other equally as powerful toys to play with in each colour to level the playing field.
All in all, Riftbound: Unleashed offers the perfect spot to dive into the tabletops of Riftbound with, especially considering how many new strategies players can blast each other with. Riot Games and UVS Games continue to sweeten the pot by adding new synergy to existing set cards, Spiritforged and Origins have not been forgotten, and bolster the existing game with incredible cards, artwork, and keywords that synergize well with everything out already. All of the skeptics can let out a breath of fresh air, Riftbound: Unleashed has proven it’s here to stay.
