Riftbound, the League of Legends Trading Card Game, is a two-player head-to-head game. Each player brings a Legend (their champion), a Chosen Champion Unit tied to that Legend, a main deck of Units, Spells, Gear, and three Battlefields, plus a separate rune deck that powers the resource side of each turn. In 1v1, only one Battlefield from each player's three actually comes into play, and the goal is to be the first to reach the Victory Score of 8 points by Conquering and Holding those Battlefields.
Deck construction
A standard Riftbound deck has four parts:
- Legend: one champion card that stays in play from the start of the game. The Legend determines which Domains your main deck can draw from.
- Signature Spell: one champion-specific spell paired to the Legend. Unique to each Legend printing.
- Main deck: a fixed count of Units, Spells, Gear, and Battlefield cards built from one or two of the six Domains. Many cards are dual-domain (e.g. Fury/Mind) and count toward both.
- Rune deck: a separate deck of Rune cards that supplies Energy and Power each turn. Runes are revealed face-up at a fixed cadence and do not draw from your main deck.
The six Domains
Riftbound's color identity uses six Domains: Body, Calm, Chaos, Fury, Mind, and Order. Each Legend belongs to one Domain, and your main deck can include cards from that Domain plus any dual-domain cards that share it. Dual-domain cards (Fury;Body, Calm;Order, and so on) widen the design space considerably, and most competitive decks lean on at least a few of them.
Resources: Energy vs Power
Two resource lines run in parallel:
- Energy is the recurring per-turn resource. Most cards have an Energy Cost from 0 to 12. Runes provide Energy.
- Power is a separate accumulating resource that gates more potent effects, particularly on Champion Units and Legends. Some cards list a Power Cost alongside their Energy Cost.
Combat and Might
Units carry a Might value that doubles as offense and defense. When two Units clash, the higher-Might side wins; equal-Might Units can trade. There is no separate hit-points pool; survival and damage both key off Might.
Battlefields and the win condition
Each deck includes three Battlefields with unique names; in 1v1 setup, each player randomly selects one of their three, so two Battlefields actually sit face-up between players during the game. Each Battlefield offers a passive or triggered effect, and you score points by Conquering them (winning combat there) or Holding them at end-of-turn. First to 8 points wins. Most matches resolve in fewer than ten turns.
Card types reference
Riftbound currently uses nine card types, all filterable on the card database:
- Legend:your champion, in play from turn one
- Signature Spell:Legend-paired spell
- Champion Unit:alternate champion form, plays from hand
- Unit:the standard fighter
- Spell:one-shot effect
- Gear:equipped to a Unit for ongoing buffs
- Battlefield:contested location
- Rune:fuels the rune deck
- Token:spawned by other cards, not deckable
Where to read the official rules
Riot publishes the Riftbound core rules on the official Riftbound site, plus a learn-to-play video series with the design team. This database doesn't reproduce the rules, but every keyword is searchable on the card list: filter by Accelerate, Burst, Counterattack, Invade, Landmark, Recruit, Scout, Shatter, Summon, and the rest.
Next steps
If you've read this far and want to actually play, the cleanest on-ramp is one of the Origins: Proving Grounds starter bundles. They include a pre-built Legend deck, a rune deck, and a starter playmat, enough for two players to learn the rules at the table.