Riftbound is a new TCG based on League of Legends that was released in August to Chinese players. Well now it has dropped around the rest of the world with the first set, Riftbound: Origins, and this one looks like it could be the real deal.
I checked out a release event and popped my initial thoughts of the game here, but now I have played with the first set a bit, and it was time to put my full thoughts to the keyboard. How do you review a set with nothing to compare it against? Well, let’s find out together.
The Origins!
When it comes to a new game, the biggest question is what’s it like to play? I wrote a bunch about that in my early impressions. The gist is that you play characters, and they try to move them to a battlefield. You score points by either conquering one of those battlefields or holding it until your next turn. Move units to a battlefield, and showdowns occur.
There are actions, reactions, and all kinds of other timings for cards, which is good. Straight out of the gate there are enough mechanics to get your head around to give the game depth but not be overwhelming.
One cool aspect is you have a champion, who sits in a special place and gives effects. Then with that champion in play, there are signature spells you can only use if you use that champion. You also get to use a champion unit who starts face up and you can cast at any time but also has to share that name.
It’s unique, cool, and fun.
Different ways to buy Riftbound Origins!
There are always heaps of ways to buy a TCG, but knowing what to buy can be a challenge. The good news is I have put my money where my mouth is and bought way too much already.
There are two main ways to start; the first is the Proving Grounds Box. This one is set up like a board game with four pre-built decks, four oversized Battlefield cards, four board game-style play mats, and some acrylic characters for tracking your points. As a board game, it’s fantastic. Out of the box you are ready to play the game, and it has a rules book to guide you through your first games. One minor annoyance is the plastic insert inside the box fits the cards unsleeved, but not sleeved. So many games get this wrong, but we TCG players like sleeving our cards.
The decks in Proving Grounds aren’t going to be competitive at your local LGS, but against each other they are great. The Champions in the box are unique, and it is the only way to get them right now. They are good, and some of the most competitive decks use these champions, so it’s a great starting point for building competitive decks.
Then there are Champion Decks. There are three options here: Jinx, Lee Sin, and Viktor. Each of these has a fully built deck ready to play at your LGS. Their power is higher than the Proving Grounds decks, but all will need a bit of work to be competitive. Each box comes with a booster so you may get some of the cool cards you need to upgrade straight away. Release events used these decks, and they all felt similarly powered out of the box. I beat each champion with Lee Sin, and I got smashed by each champion with Lee Sin. These are silly good values for $35.
Then of course you can crack booster packs and buy singles from stores/other players. The challenge with Riftbound is the requirement to have a champion and champion unit that match. So getting both of these with the random nature of boosters isn’t easy. That’s where the Proving Grounds and Champion decks give a great starting point, with boosters being a fun supplement.
Card quality
Card quality is a bit of a mixed bag. The cards are surprisingly thick, which makes them feel much better than other TCGs I have played. I am much less concerned that they will bend in the box than I have accidentally done with Lorcana cards.
The art on the cards is fantastic, with some super rare extra cool art. All of the rares are foil, which is a nice touch, and alt arts have a selection of ridiculously cool textured foils on them. Every time I open one up I get excited, even if it’s only worth a couple of bucks.
The issue is the edges on some cards have been cut poorly. So many of mine have rough edges and dings on them. I was pretty unimpressed with this, but being totally honest, once they are sleeved, it’s fine.
This has been addressed, as the issue was apparently the slightly thicker card stock used, but it’s still a bit disappointing.
The other weird issue is that the pack collation in booster packs has been a bit off. You are supposed to get two rares or higher in every pack, with the foil slot having a foil card of any rarity (so potentially three). I have opened many packs with only one rare and three of them with no rares. Riot has addressed this and said it won’t be fixed in set two but will be by set three.
One super minor annoyance is that the colour identities are weirdly chosen. This is especially the case with yellow, orange, and red. Plenty of red cards have looked orange, and plenty of yellow cards have looked orange. They have symbols and stuff, so it isn’t the end of the world, but it does get mildly annoying when you crack packs or look at decks full of cards that look like they are running three colours when the max you’re allowed is two.
Should you check out Riftbound: Origins?
Given this game is new, absolutely. The super competitive decks are bouncing around a bit, and getting the pieces in place to see how set three shakes things up is super fun. It’s a fun game, with heaps of different champions to build and heaps of different ways to build them. I hope Riftbound hangs around for the long term, as it’s a super fun game!
Some card quality issues aside, Riftbound is a damn fun game to play. Get in on it now, as I can;t wait to see what set 2 does to knock Kai'sa off the top of her tower!
