The rift keeps getting bigger as Riftbound: Unleashed enters with a swagger
Riot Games’ Riftbound, a trading card game created using the popular League of Legends franchise, has been a hit since it first launched. We loved its lofty ambitions, even if it was a little rough around the edges, but the biggest problem was finding the cards! With early prints sold out in many markets, second-hand prices were not wallet friendly.
As this third set launches, those issues have stabilised. More than that, there’s a newfound confidence that accompanies this release that can only come from having millions of people play your game and tell you what they like – and what they don’t. With Riftbound: Unleashed, it feels as if the game is maturing.
Decks in Riftbound are built around a single champion, giving each one a distinct personality. We tried out both the Vi and Vex Champion Decks and the great news is that neither feels like a beginner product. The only debate you’ll have is which playstyle you personally prefer.
As you might expect (have you see those gigantic, metallic fists?), Vi’s deck is more aggressive, opting to attack constantly to keep the pressure up. It’s the safer recommendation for new players, being more straightforward to pilot and offering a more beginner-friendly core plan. The deck functions immediately without needing any large upgrades and uses explosive combat tricks for fast gameplay. The only downside is that if you can’t finish your opponent off, you might run out of gas once they stabilise. But it’s a solid choice if you’re new to the game.
Vex, on the other hand, heads up a deck that offers more depth and decision-making than Vi’s aggro style. If you like drawing more cards than your opponent, controlling the battlefield and reacting to events to disrupt them, this one’s for you. Its core mechanic revolves around holding battlefields to generate value and draw cards through Vex’s ability. While Vex can be harder to pilot (more difficult sequencing decisions make it easier to misplay), the potential for slower, more satisfying matches is much higher. We pitted the decks against each other and there wasn’t much in it, with Vi’s quick-off-the-blocks style edging it slightly.
Riftbound: Unleashed also has one new trick up its sleeve – adding a product called Vault. By set three of any trading card game, the issue of storage arises. And you’re going to want that storage to be as strong and robust as possible, given that trading cards can go for a lot of money these days (check out Logan Paul’s $16.5m Pokémon Illustrator card on page 42). Essentially a reusable card-storage box, inside Vault you’ll find six booster packs, 36 basic runes (six of each type) to power your decks, three double-sided full-art tokens and two dividers to keep your cards organised. Unleashed is the first set to get a Vault but Riot Games says it will release the same product as standard with future sets.
Unleashed is the first set where Riftbound truly looks comfortable in its own skin. The design philosophy feels sharper, as if Riot now understands what makes Riftbound specifically compelling. The game finally feels as though it trusts its audience to handle complexity and strategic depth without sacrificing accessibility.
Whereas earlier Riftbound products might have played cautiously around ideas like control and value-oriented strategies, Unleashed instead leans directly into them. The Vex Champion Deck sets a higher skill ceiling, asking players to think several turns ahead and rewarding patience and battlefield control. Meanwhile, the Vi Champion Deck succeeds because it fully commits to aggression and battlefield pressure. Rather than awkwardly splitting its identity between tempo and value generation, it understands exactly what it wants to do. Every turn feels purposeful and every attack matters. The Vex and Vi Champion Decks are proof of evolution and we can’t wait to see what comes next.
LANCE FREEMAN
With this release, Riftbound feels as if it’s levelled up, living up to the name Unleashed.
If you’ve played Riftbound, you’ll immediately understand the feel of Legends of Runeterra, a digital League of Legends TCG also from Riot.
Category: Card Games
Designer: Nikolaus Davidson
Publisher: Riot Games
Time to Play: 50m
Players: 2-4 Players
Age: 14+
RRP: £19.99-£149.99
Riftbound: Unleashed Champion Decks
40-Card deck
Riftbound: Unleashed booster pack
Character-themed box
Playmat
Instructions booklet
Riftbound: Unleashed Vault
Reusable storage box
2 Dividers
6 Riftbound: Unleashed booster packs
36 Runes
3 Tokens
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