Riftbound is the League of Legends trading card game, where you send your units to take control of battlefields. You build a deck around a Legend, pay for cards with runes, and score points by conquering and holding battlefields. Reach 8 points and you win. This guide walks you through it one step at a time, with no experience needed.
Download the free printable quick guide (PDF)
Two pages you can print and keep next to the table while you learn.
Want the full official rules? Visit Riot's official Riftbound Rules Hub.
Prefer to watch? Official how-to-play video
Riot Games, the company behind Riftbound, has an official video that teaches you how to play. It's about 43 minutes and plays a whole game from start to finish. It uses cards from the Proving Grounds set, and Riot has updated the rules with later sets, so if the video and the current Core Rules ever differ, go with the Core Rules.
Video: Riftbound: League of Legends TCG Learn To Play ft. Good Time Society. Official Riftbound YouTube channel.
What do you need to play?
- 1 Champion Legend. This is your main card. It stays in play the whole game and decides which colors your deck can use.
- A main deck of at least 40 cards. Units, gear and spells, including your Chosen Champion.
- A rune deck of exactly 12 runes. Runes are how you pay for your cards.
- 3 battlefields. One is picked at the start of each game.
Easiest way to start: buy a preconstructed deck. The Riftbound Vendetta Showdown Decks (Zed vs Shen) come with two ready-to-play decks, two playmats, two deck boxes, two booster packs and a rulebook, so two people can sit down and play right away. Stock changes, so check our Riftbound collection or ask us at the counter.
How do you build a deck?
Your Legend has one or more domains, which are the colors printed on it. Your deck can only use cards and runes from those domains. There are six: Fury (red), Calm (green), Mind (blue), Body (orange), Chaos (purple) and Order (yellow). A card with two domains needs both of them on your Legend.
Deck rules
- 1 Champion Legend.
- A main deck of at least 40 cards, with no more than 3 copies of any card name.
- Your Chosen Champion is one champion unit that shares your Legend's champion name. A Jinx Legend goes with a Jinx champion unit, for example.
- Exactly 12 runes, all from your Legend's domains.
- 3 battlefields, each with a different name.
Playing in a store tournament? Main decks are exactly 40 cards there, and Riftbound has a banned card list. Ask us at the counter, or check the official Rules Hub.
What do the cards do?
| Card | What it is | What to look at |
|---|---|---|
| Legend | Your main card. It stays in the Legend Zone all game and sets your domains. | Its domains and its abilities. |
| Chosen Champion | A champion unit that starts in your Champion Zone. You play it like any other unit. | Cost, Might and abilities. |
| Unit | Your fighters. You play them to your Base, then move them to battlefields. | Cost (top left), Might (its combat strength) and abilities. |
| Gear | Stays in your Base. Equipment is gear that attaches to a unit and adds Might. | Cost and what it does. |
| Spell | A one-time effect. Do what it says, then it goes to your Trash. | Cost, and whether it says Action or Reaction. |
| Rune | Your resource cards, kept in a separate rune deck. | Its domain (color). |
| Battlefield | Where units fight. It stays in the middle of the table all game. | Its text. Some battlefields have abilities. |
Might is the number that shows how strong a unit is in a fight. A unit dies when the damage on it equals or is more than its Might.
Where do the cards go?
| Area | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Base | Your own space for your units, gear and runes that are in play. |
| Battlefields | In the middle of the table, shared by both players. Units fight here. |
| Legend Zone | Your Legend. It stays here all game. |
| Champion Zone | Your Chosen Champion, ready to be played. |
| Main Deck | Your draw pile, face down. |
| Rune Deck | Your 12 runes, face down, kept separate from your main deck. |
| Hand | The cards you're holding. Keep them secret. |
| Trash | Your discard pile: cards that died or were used. |
How do you set up a game?
- Put your Legend in the Legend Zone and your Chosen Champion in the Champion Zone.
- Each player picks 1 of their 3 battlefields (at random in a single game). Both battlefields go in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle your main deck and your rune deck. Keep them separate.
- Decide who goes first with any fair method, like a coin flip.
- Draw 4 cards. Don't like your hand? Set aside up to 2 cards, draw that many new ones, then put the set-aside cards on the bottom of your deck.
- The first player takes the first turn. The player going second channels 1 extra rune on their first turn.
What happens on your turn?
- Awaken: stand all your sideways cards back up. This is called readying them.
- Beginning: for each battlefield you still control, you Hold it and score 1 point.
- Channel: take the top 2 runes from your rune deck and put them into play.
- Draw: draw 1 card.
- Main: do any of these, in any order, as many times as you can: play units, gear and spells, move your units, and fight.
- End: all damage heals, effects that only last this turn wear off and any unspent Energy or Power disappears. Then it's your opponent's turn.
A, B, C, D helps you remember the start of your turn: Awaken, Beginning, Channel, Draw.
How do runes work?
Runes are your resource cards. You channel 2 every turn, and each rune can be used in one of two ways.
- Turn it sideways to get 1 Energy. Energy pays the number in the top left corner of a card.
- Send it back to your rune deck to get 1 Power of that rune's color. Power pays the colored symbols on a card. The rune goes to the bottom of your rune deck and comes around again later.
Example: a card costs 3 and has one blue symbol. Turn 3 runes sideways for 3 Energy, and send 1 blue rune back for the blue Power. That's 4 runes in all. Some cards have no colored symbol, so they only need Energy.
Use your runes each turn. Whatever you don't spend disappears at the end of your turn.
How do units move and fight?
- Move. New units come into play sideways, so they can't move until your next turn. After that, turn a unit sideways to move it from your Base to a battlefield, or back to your Base.
- Fight. If you and your opponent both have units at a battlefield, they fight. Add up the Might of each side. Both sides deal that much damage at the same time, filling one unit with damage before moving on to the next.
- Conquer. If only one side has units left, that side takes control of the battlefield. Taking control of a battlefield you haven't scored yet this turn is a Conquer, and it scores 1 point.
Empty battlefield? Move a unit in, and if nobody stops you, it's yours.
Example: you move a 3 Might unit and a 2 Might unit to a battlefield with one enemy 4 Might unit. You deal 5 damage, which is enough to kill it. They deal 4 damage back, so they can kill your 3 Might unit and put the last 1 on your other unit. After the fight, damage heals. Your 2 Might unit is the only one left, so you take control of the battlefield and score a point.
If both sides still have units after the fight, the attackers go back to their Base and the defender's units stay put.
How do you score points and win?
The first player to reach 8 points wins. You score in two main ways.
- Conquer: take control of a battlefield you haven't scored yet this turn. That's 1 point.
- Hold: keep control of a battlefield until the start of your next turn. You score 1 point for each one in your Beginning Phase.
Each battlefield can only score once per turn, and some cards give you points too.
The final point
To win by Conquer, you must have scored every battlefield that turn. If you haven't, you draw a card instead of scoring. A Hold at the start of your turn can still give you the last point.
Running out of cards
If you need to draw and your main deck is empty, you shuffle your trash back into your deck, and your opponent gains 1 point. Keep an eye on your deck size in long games.
What do the common keywords mean?
| Keyword | In plain English |
|---|---|
| Accelerate | Pay a little extra as you play this unit, and it comes into play ready instead of sideways. |
| Action | You can play this during a showdown, even on your opponent's turn. |
| Reaction | Like Action, and you can also play it in response to another card. |
| Assault X | This unit gets +X Might while it's attacking. |
| Shield X | This unit gets +X Might while it's defending. |
| Tank | This unit has to be assigned lethal damage before your other units. |
| Ganking | This unit can move from one battlefield straight to another. |
| Hidden | You can hide this card face down at a battlefield you control, then play it later. |
| Legion | You get a bonus if you played another card this turn. |
| Deathknell | Something happens when this unit dies. |
A showdown starts when units meet at a battlefield. For a moment, both players can play cards with Action or Reaction before the fight happens.
Are there other ways to play?
This guide covers the standard 1v1 game, which is the best place to start. Riftbound also has 3-player and 4-player free-for-all games, and 2v2 team games that play to 11 points. Tournament matches are usually best of 3.
What are the best tips for your first game?
- Use your runes every turn. Unspent Energy and Power disappear.
- Play units early. A new unit can't move the turn it arrives, so get them out before you need them.
- Take empty battlefields. Moving into one can score a point right away.
- Hold what you win. Every battlefield you keep at the start of your turn is another point.
- Check the final point rule before you count on winning.
- Card text always wins. If a card says something different from this guide, do what the card says. Ask us if it's unclear.
Quick reference
| Deck | 1 Legend, 40+ card main deck, 12 runes, 3 battlefields |
| Start | Draw 4 (mulligan up to 2), second player channels an extra rune |
| Your turn | Awaken, Beginning (Hold), Channel 2 runes, Draw 1, Main, End |
| Runes | Sideways is 1 Energy. Sent back is 1 Power of its color. |
| Fight | Add up Might, deal damage at the same time, last side standing wins |
| Score | Conquer +1, Hold +1, once per battlefield per turn |
| Win | Reach 8 points (11 in team games) |
Printable quick guide
Everything above fits on two printable pages. Print it double-sided and keep it at the table.
Download the printable guide (PDF)
Official Riftbound rules and resources (free)
Riot Games posts the official rules for free.
- Rules Hub: the Core Rules and Tournament Rules PDFs, plus the banned card lists.
- Quick Start Guide: Riot's short introduction to the game.
- Official Riftbound YouTube channel: the Learn to Play video and more.
Riot updates the rules and card wording with new sets. The newest versions are always on the Rules Hub.
Where can you learn and play Riftbound near Newport, TN?
Landfall Outpost carries Riftbound booster packs, booster boxes and Showdown Decks in our Riftbound collection. Stock changes, so ask us in-store if you don't see what you want. New players are welcome, and we're happy to teach you your first game. Any card game is welcome for open play when we're open: Friday and Saturday 12–8, Sunday 12–6, at 138 North St, Newport, TN 37821. Free on-site parking. See our events page for what's on.