How to Play Riftbound

What you need to play Riftbound

A Riftbound deck is really four things that travel together. That catches a lot of people out, so here's the full list for one player:

On top of that you'll want dice or counters for points (0 to 8) and for damage during a fight. A playmat is nice but optional. The rules define the zones, not a mat, so a kitchen table works fine.

The easiest way in is a ready-made deck. Riot's starter box, Origins: Proving Grounds, is built for 2 to 4 players and has four decks (Annie, Master Yi, Lux and Garen). If your opponent already owns a deck, a single Champion Deck such as Lee Sin gets them started for a lot less. Honestly, for a family or two friends learning together, Proving Grounds is the one we'd point you at.

How you win: first to 8 points

Riftbound is a game of king of the hill. Two battlefields sit between the players, one picked from each side, and every point you score comes from them.

• Conquer: take control of a battlefield and you score 1 point.
• Hold: at the start of your turn, you score 1 point for each battlefield you still control.

Each battlefield can only score for you once per turn, by either method. So if you held a battlefield at the start of your turn, you can't then lose it and win it back for a second point that same turn.

The first player to reach 8 points, with more points than anyone else, wins. In 2v2 team games the target is 11, and the team shares its points.

You also need units on a battlefield to keep it. If all your units there die or leave, you lose control at the next cleanup, which means you can't hold an empty battlefield for points.

Riftbound card types

Three kinds of card go in your Main Deck: units, spells and gear. The other three (Legend, rune and battlefield) live outside it, and you never play them from your hand.

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A champion unit is a unit with the Champion label, like Jinx or Teemo. One of them is your Chosen Champion. A Signature card is tied to one champion and only goes in that champion's deck. Tokens, like the little 1-Might Recruits, are made by card effects and never go in your deck.

Reading a Riftbound card

Here's Jinx, Demolitionist from the first set, Origins. She shows nearly every part a card can have.

1. Energy cost: the number you pay with any runes.
2. Power cost: the coloured symbol under it, paid with a rune of that domain.
3. Might: attack and toughness in one number.
4. Type and tags: Champion Unit, plus tags like Jinx and Zaun that other cards refer to.
5. Name and title: champions read as name then title, so this is Jinx, Demolitionist.
6. Rules text: keywords sit in coloured boxes, with a reminder of what they do.
7. Flavour text: just for fun, no game effect.
8. Set and number: OGN is Origins, 030 is her collector number.
9. Domain: the symbol in the corner tells you which of the six domains the card belongs to.

There are six domains, each with its own colour: Fury (red), Calm (green), Mind (blue), Body (orange), Chaos (purple) and Order (yellow). Most cards belong to one.

The play area: base, battlefields and runes

Battlefields

The two cards everyone fights over. Each is its own location, and units move there to score. Each battlefield also has room for one face-down Hidden card (more on that below).

Base

Your home. Units and gear are usually played here. When a unit is "recalled", it comes back here.

Runes

Your channelled runes sit on the table next to your base. They aren't units and can't be attacked.

Legend Zone

Where your Champion Legend lives all game.

Champion Zone

Your Chosen Champion starts here, face up. You can play it from here as if it were in your hand.

Main Deck and Rune Deck

Two separate face-down piles. Runes you recycle go back under the Rune Deck, never into the Main Deck.

Trash

The discard pile. Dead units, discarded cards and finished spells go here, face up.

Runes, Energy and Power

This is the bit that feels new, so it's worth five minutes. Every turn you channel two runes from your Rune Deck onto the table. Each rune can pay in two ways:

• Exhaust it (turn it sideways) for 1 Energy. Energy has no colour and pays the number in a card's cost.
• Recycle it (put it on the bottom of your Rune Deck) for 1 Power of that rune's domain. Power pays the coloured symbols.

The same rune can do both in one turn: exhaust it for Energy, then recycle it for Power. Say you have four runes out and want Jinx, Demolitionist (3 Energy plus 1 Fury Power). Exhaust three runes for the Energy, then recycle a Fury rune for the Power. She's on the table and you've still got three runes. Recycling does shrink your board for now, which is the trade-off, but the rune goes back in your Rune Deck and you'll channel it again later.

How to set up a game of Riftbound

1. Place your Legend Put your Champion Legend in your Legend Zone.
2. Place your champion Put your Chosen Champion face up in your Champion Zone.
3. Pick battlefields In a casual game each player picks one of their three battlefields at random and puts the other two away. The two chosen battlefields go in the middle.
4. Shuffle Shuffle your Main Deck and Rune Deck separately and put them in their zones.
5. Decide who goes first Any fair random method: a dice roll, a coin, whatever you both agree on.
6. Draw 4 Both players draw four cards.
7. Mulligan if you want Set aside up to 2 cards, draw that many replacements, then put the set-aside cards on the bottom of your deck.
8. Play The first player takes their turn. To make up for going second, the second player channels 3 runes on their first turn instead of 2.

In a best-of-three match, players choose their battlefield each game instead of picking at random, and a battlefield used in a game someone won can't be picked again that match. That's why you bring three.

How a turn works

Each player takes a full turn, one after the other. Players often remember the start of the turn as A, B, C, D:

1. AwakenReady (straighten) everything you control.
2. Beginning"Start of turn" effects happen, then you score 1 point for each battlefield you hold.
3. ChannelPut the top 2 runes of your Rune Deck onto the table.
4. DrawDraw 1 card.
5. MainPlay cards, use abilities and move units. Fights happen here.
6. Ending"End of turn" effects happen, then all damage is healed and the turn passes.

What you can do in your Main Phase

This is where the game happens. Do as much of this as you like, in any order.

• Play units to your base or to a battlefield you already control. They arrive exhausted, so a unit you've just played can't move this turn unless it enters ready (that's what Accelerate does).
• Play gear, which sits in your base ready to use, and spells, which resolve and go to the Trash.
• Move units by exhausting them, between your base and a battlefield. Several can go together if they're heading to the same place. Going straight from one battlefield to another needs Ganking.
• Use abilities, your Legend's included, and hide cards that have Hidden.

When you've done everything you want, say so and your turn moves into the Ending Phase.

When your opponent can act on your turn

Not often. Your opponent can't just play cards whenever they like. They get a window during showdowns (below), where cards with Action or Reaction can be played, and Reaction cards can also answer something you're in the middle of playing. Everything else waits for their own turn.

Showdowns and combat in Riftbound

Moving units onto a battlefield you don't control starts a showdown. It's a short back-and-forth for tricks. The player who moved in goes first, then players take turns playing an Action or Reaction card, or passing. When everyone passes in a row, the showdown ends.

If the battlefield was empty, that's all it is: if your units are still there when it closes, you take control, and that's a conquer and a point. Your opponent does get a chance to answer first, though, so an empty battlefield isn't completely free.

If enemy units are there, the showdown becomes the first step of a combat. You're the attacker, they're the defender.

1. Showdown. As above, with the attacker going first. Assault and Shield bonuses switch on now.
2. Damage. Each side adds up the Might of all its units there. The attacker splits their total among the enemy units first, then the defender does the same. You must put lethal damage (equal to its Might) on one unit before you can put damage on the next. Units with Tank must take lethal damage first; units with Backline get damage last. Then all damage lands at once.
3. Cleanup. Units with lethal damage die and go to the Trash. Every survivor is healed straight away. If any defenders are still standing, the attackers are sent back to base.

So a fight can end four ways. Only your units left: you conquer. Only theirs left: they keep it. Both sides have survivors: your attackers go home and the defender keeps the battlefield. Nobody left at all: the battlefield ends up controlled by no one.

Riftbound keywords explained

These are the ones you'll see in your first few decks. The card usually prints a reminder in brackets, so you won't need to learn them all at once.

• AcceleratePay 1 Energy and 1 Power of the card's domain when you play it, and the unit comes in ready.
• ActionCan be played during showdowns, even on your opponent's turn.
• ReactionEverything Action can do, and it can also be played in response to other cards on any turn.
• AssaultGets extra Might while attacking. Assault 2 means +2.
• ShieldGets extra Might while defending.
• TankMust be given lethal damage before your other units.
• BacklineGets damage only after your other units have taken lethal.
• GankingCan move straight between battlefields.
• DeathknellDoes something when it dies.
• DeflectYour opponent's spells and abilities that target it cost extra Power.
• LegionGets a bonus if you've already played another card this turn.
• VisionWhen played, look at the top card of your deck and you may put it on the bottom.
• TemporaryDies at the start of your next Beginning Phase, before you score.
• EquipPay the cost to attach this gear to one of your units. It moves with that unit.

How Hidden works

Later sets add more, such as Hunt and Level (Unleashed), which use XP, and Empower and Flow (Vendetta). Read the card and the reminder text will get you through.

Riftbound deck building rules

Start with a Legend. Everything else follows from it.

• Domains: every card in your Main Deck and Rune Deck must match your Legend's domains. Jinx's Legend, Loose Cannon, is Fury and Chaos, so a Jinx deck is built from Fury and Chaos cards.
• Chosen Champion: one champion unit with the same champion tag as your Legend. It counts as one of your 40.
• Main Deck: at least 40 cards, exactly 40 for tournaments.
• Copies: up to 3 of any card by name. Your Chosen Champion counts towards that 3. Cards with Unique are limited to 1.
• Signature cards: up to 3 in total, all matching your Legend's champion.
• Rune Deck: exactly 12 runes in your Legend's domains. You choose the split.
• Battlefields: 3, each with a different name.

Booster packs have 14 cards, including one foil and one token or rune. A booster display holds 24 packs.

Mistakes everyone makes once

1. Playing a unit and moving it the same turn. Units arrive exhausted, and moving costs an exhaust. You need Accelerate (or another ready effect) for that.
2. Going for the win with one conquer on 7 points. It only counts if you've scored every battlefield this turn. Otherwise you draw a card.
3. Trying to score the same battlefield twice in one turn. Once per battlefield per turn, however you did it.
4. Tracking damage across turns. Survivors heal straight after every combat and again at the end of each turn.
5. Looking for blockers. There aren't any. Damage is shared out by whoever's dealing it, lethal first.
6. Leaving a battlefield empty and expecting to hold it. No units there means you lose it at the next cleanup.
7. Treating your Legend like a unit. It never fights, can't be killed and can't move.
8. Thinking your champion comes back when it dies. Once played it's a normal unit, and it goes to the Trash like any other.
9. Playing a Hidden card the turn you hid it. You have to wait for the next turn.
10. Ignoring an almost-empty deck. If you need to draw with no cards left, your Trash goes back in, in random order, as your new deck, and your opponent gets a point. That's called Burn Out.

Your first couple of games will be slower than you expect while you check how showdowns work. That's normal. By game three most people have the rhythm.

Formats and what's legal

Standard is the main constructed format: a 40-card deck, 1v1, usually best of three. At events you can bring a sideboard of up to 10 cards, but not for game one. Sealed gives each player 6 boosters to build a deck of at least 25 cards. Draft uses 3 boosters each, passed round the table. 2v2 plays to 11 points. There are casual three-player and four-player free-for-all modes too, where the first player skips their first draw and the last player gets an extra rune.

Right now every English set is legal in Standard: Origins, Proving Grounds, Spiritforged, Unleashed and Vendetta. Riot says it intends to start rotating older sets out of Standard in 2028, so there's no rotation to worry about yet. Previews for the fifth set, Radiance, run from 25 September to 10 October 2026, and it joins the list once it's released.

There's also a short ban list. It last changed on 18 September 2026 and Riot updates it from time to time, so check the Rules Hub before an event. At casual store-level events, an unmodified preconstructed deck can still use its banned cards, so a Champion Deck straight from the box is fine. For the fine print on anything here, the official Riftbound Core Rules (PDF) is the final word.

Questions people ask

How many cards are in a Riftbound deck?

Your Main Deck is at least 40 cards, and exactly 40 if you're playing in a tournament. Your Chosen Champion counts as one of those 40. Separately you need a Champion Legend, a 12-card Rune Deck and 3 battlefields.

How do you get the 8th point in Riftbound?

The easiest way is to hold a battlefield at the start of your turn. A conquer can only give you the final point if you've also scored every other battlefield that same turn. If you haven't, the conquer draws you a card instead of the point.

Is Riftbound the same as Legends of Runeterra?

No. Both are made by Riot and set in the League of Legends world, but Riftbound is a physical card game with its own rules. You race to 8 points on battlefields and pay with runes. There's no Nexus, no mana gems and no spell mana.

How does Hidden work in Riftbound?

On your turn, pay 1 Power of any domain to place a Hidden card face down at a battlefield you control, one per battlefield. From the next turn onwards (your opponent's, in a two-player game) you can play it as a Reaction without paying its normal cost. If you lose that battlefield, the hidden card is trashed.

What happens if you run out of cards in Riftbound?

That's a Burn Out. Your Trash goes back in as a new Main Deck in random order, you choose an opponent to gain 1 point, and then you finish drawing. It's a real cost, so watch your deck size in long games.

Does damage stay on units in Riftbound?

No. Every unit that survives a combat is healed as soon as that combat ends, and all damage is removed at the end of every turn as well.

Who goes first in Riftbound, and is it fair?

Use any fair random method you both agree on, like a dice roll or a coin toss. In a two-player game the player going second channels 3 runes on their first turn instead of 2, which helps even it out.

Can you play Riftbound with 3 or 4 players?

Yes. The Core Rules include three-player and four-player free-for-all games, both played to 8 points, and a 2v2 team mode played to 11. In the free-for-all modes the first player skips their first draw and the last player channels an extra rune.

How many packs are in a Riftbound booster box?

A booster display has 24 packs. Each pack has 14 cards: 7 commons, 3 uncommons, 2 rare or better, 1 foil and 1 token or rune.

Where to start

The easiest ways in. Prices and stock on this list are live.

• Riftbound: League of Legends TCG - Set 1 - Origins Proving Grounds £44.95
• Riftbound: League of Legends TCG - Set 1 - Origins Champion Deck - Lee Sin £15.99
• Riftbound: League of Legends TCG - Set 3 - Unleashed Champion Deck - Vi £18.99
• Riftbound: League of Legends TCG - Set 3 - Unleashed Champion Deck - Vex £18.99

See everything for Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game

Where these rules come from

Checked against Riot's Riftbound Core Rules and Tournament Rules (both last updated 16 July 2026) and the Rules Hub legality list (updated 18 September 2026).

• Riftbound Rules Hub: Core Rules, Tournament Rules, legality and ban list (Riot Games)
• Riftbound Core Rules PDF, last updated 16 July 2026 (Riot Games)
• Riftbound Tournament Rules PDF, last updated 16 July 2026 (Riot Games)
• Learn to Play Riftbound (Riot Games)
• September Ban List Updates, effective 18 September 2026 (Riot Games)
• Riftbound Card Gallery (Riot Games)