Cards
These articles explain the cards of Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game. They cover how to read a card, the card types from Legends to tokens, the six domains, the rarities and every special printing, from alternate art to the Ultimate Rares.
- 6 parts
- 38 articles
Reading a card
What every number, symbol and line on a Riftbound card means.
- What does each part of a Riftbound card mean?Every Riftbound card keeps each piece of information in a fixed place. The top corners show the cost and the Might, the band across the middle gives the card type, tags and name, the text box says what the card does, and the bottom edge holds the set, number, rarity gem, artist and domain.7 min
- What is a card's Energy cost?A card's Energy cost is the number in the top left corner of a Riftbound unit, spell or gear. It is the amount of Energy you pay to play the card, and since each rune you exhaust adds 1 Energy, it also tells you how many runes the card needs.7 min
- What is a card's Power cost?A card's Power cost in Riftbound is the column of domain symbols under the Energy number in its top left corner. Each symbol asks for one Power of that domain, which you usually get by recycling a rune of the same domain. Many cards have no Power cost at all.6 min
- What is Might in Riftbound?Might is the number in the top right corner of a Riftbound unit, beside a sword and shield. It is both the damage the unit deals in combat and the damage it takes to kill it, and buffs, spells, Equipment and abilities can raise or lower it during a game.6 min
- What are the tags on a card?Tags are the words after the card type on a Riftbound card, such as Jinx, Noxus, Poro or Equipment. They say which champion, region, group or kind of creature a card belongs to. A tag has no rules of its own, but the deck rules and other cards refer to it.6 min
- What does the number at the bottom of a card mean?The code at the bottom left of a Riftbound card, such as OGN · 030/298, is its collector number: the set code, the card's place in that set and the size of the set. A letter, a star or a number past the set marks a special printing, but the number never changes how a card plays.7 min
Card types
The kinds of card in the game, what each one does and where it goes.
- What is a Legend in Riftbound?A Legend is the card a Riftbound deck is built around. It is a champion of League of Legends that starts the game in play, gives the deck its two domains and has an ability that works from the first turn to the last.5 min
- What is a unit in Riftbound?A unit is a Riftbound card that stays on the board after you play it and fights for the battlefields. Its Might is both the damage it deals in combat and the damage that kills it, and only units can conquer and hold the battlefields that score points.6 min
- What is a champion unit?A champion unit is a Riftbound unit that shows a League of Legends champion, such as Jinx, Rebel. Champion stands before Unit on its type line, and a deck may set one aside as its chosen champion when its champion tag matches the tag of the deck's Legend.5 min
- What is a rune card?A rune is the Riftbound card that pays for all the others. Every deck brings 12 runes in a Rune Deck of their own, in the domains of its Legend. You channel two onto the board each turn, then exhaust a rune for 1 Energy or recycle it for 1 Power of its domain.7 min
- What is a spell?A spell in Riftbound is a main deck card you play for its effect. It waits on the Chain, does what its text says once and then goes to your trash, so unlike a unit or a gear it never stays on the board.6 min
- What is gear in Riftbound?Gear is a card type of Riftbound that stays on the board after you play it. A gear enters your base ready, has no Might and stays out of combat. It helps your units with an ability you exhaust, an effect that works by itself or, as Equipment, by attaching to a unit.7 min
- What is a battlefield card?A battlefield card is the Riftbound card type that stands for a place. It is printed sideways, has no cost, Might or domain and never goes in the main deck: each deck brings three, and both players fight over them in the middle of the table.6 min
- What are signature cards?A signature card is a spell, gear or unit that belongs to one champion. Only a Riftbound deck whose Legend carries that champion's name may play it, and a deck holds at most three signature cards in all, whatever their names.6 min
- What are tokens?Tokens are game pieces that Riftbound cards create during play, such as the 1 Might Recruit unit or the Gold gear. A token plays like a card of its type, but it is not a card: it is in no deck, has no cost or domain and stops existing when it leaves the board.7 min
Domains
The six colors of Riftbound and the way each one plays.
- What are the six domains?Riftbound sorts its cards into six domains: Fury, Calm, Mind, Body, Chaos and Order. Each has its own color, symbol and style of play, and a deck may only use the domains of its Legend, plus cards that have no domain.7 min
- How does the Fury domain play?Fury is the red domain of Riftbound, built for aggression. Fury decks play units that are ready to attack at once, damage spells that clear the way and cards that reward conquering battlefields, and they give up card draw and reach into the opponent's base.6 min
- How does the Calm domain play?Calm is the green domain of Riftbound, and it plays a patient, defensive game. A Calm deck takes a battlefield and keeps it with Shield, Tank, stuns, counterspells and spells that move enemy units away, and it aims to win by holding battlefields.7 min
- How does the Mind domain play?Mind is the blue domain of Riftbound, built to outthink the opponent. Mind decks draw extra cards, shrink enemy units with Might penalties, keep Reaction and Hidden cards for the right moment and build on gear, and they pay for it with smaller units and few ways to move them.7 min
- How does the Body domain play?Body is the orange domain of Riftbound, built around big units and winning fights. Body decks channel extra runes to reach their largest units sooner, make their units stronger with buffs and bonuses, and remove enemies by making units fight, but they find card draw harder.6 min
- How does the Chaos domain play?Chaos is the purple domain of Riftbound, built on tricks rather than strength. Chaos decks move units, send them back to hand, hide cards facedown at battlefields and replay cards from the trash, but they struggle to remove a threat for good.7 min
- How does the Order domain play?Order is the yellow domain of Riftbound, built on unity and sacrifice. An Order deck fills the battlefields with small units and tokens, kills enemy units outright instead of damaging them, and spends its own units whenever their deaths give it something back.7 min
- What are colorless or neutral cards?A colorless card in Riftbound is a card that belongs to none of the six domains, which Riot also calls a neutral card. It fits a deck of any domain. Every battlefield and every token is colorless, and Neeko, Blending In from Radiance is the first colorless card for the main deck.6 min
Rarities
The gems at the foot of a card and what they say about how often it turns up.
- Which rarities do Riftbound cards come in?Riftbound cards come in four rarities, Common, Uncommon, Rare and Epic, and the shape of the gem at the foot of each card tells you which. A gold hexagonal Showcase gem marks the collector printings of a card, and the rarest of those are the Ultimate Rares.7 min
- What does the Showcase gem mean?The Showcase gem is the gold hexagon at the foot of a Riftbound card. It marks a collector's printing, such as an alternate art, overnumbered, signed or special card, of a card that also exists with a normal rarity gem, and it plays exactly like that card.6 min
- Which Riftbound cards are foil?In Riftbound every Rare and Epic from a booster pack is foil, and so is every alternate art, overnumbered, signed and Ultimate Rare printing. Commons and Uncommons are usually plain. The foil slot of each pack holds one more foil card, of any rarity.6 min
Special printings
The cards that come again with new art, a higher number, a signature or a finish of their own.
- What are alternate art cards?An alternate art card is a second printing of a Riftbound card with a new picture, numbered with an a after the number of the card it reprints, such as 030a/298. It carries the gold hexagonal Showcase gem and a richer foil, turns up about twice per booster display and plays exactly like the standard card.7 min
- What are overnumbered cards?An overnumbered card is a collector's printing of a Riftbound card with a number above the size of its set, such as 301/298. It has new artwork made for Riftbound, a foil and textured finish and the hexagonal Showcase gem, and it plays exactly like the standard card.6 min
- What are signed cards?A signed card is an overnumbered Riftbound card printed a second time with its artist's signature in foil across the art and a star after the number, such as 301*/298. Riot calls them Signature Overnumbers. They play exactly like the standard card and are among the rarest cards of a set.7 min
- What is the difference between signed cards and signature cards?A signature card is a kind of Riftbound card that belongs to one champion and may only go in a deck led by that champion's Legend, three at most. A signed card is a collector's printing: an overnumbered card with its artist's signature in foil and a star after the number.6 min
- What are special cards?Special cards are alternate art printings of Riftbound champion units numbered SP, apart from the cards of their set. Vendetta has six in the Crystal Rose skins of Wild Rift and Radiance, with its release on 23 October 2026, five in the outfits of K/DA. Each plays exactly like the card it reprints.6 min
- What are Ultimate Rares?An Ultimate Rare is the rarest kind of printing in Riftbound: a collector card with new artwork and a number past the end of its set, found in fewer than one booster pack in 1,000. Two have been shown so far, Baron Nashor of Unleashed and Packed Amphitheater of Radiance, and both play like the standard card.6 min
- What are Nexus Night promo cards?Nexus Night promo cards are the foil cards in the promo packs that players get at Nexus Night, the weekly Riftbound store event. Most reprint cards of the newest set with a PROMO banner, joined by alternate art runes and, in most seasons, one chase card with new art.6 min
- Which other promo cards are there?Beyond the Nexus Night packs, Riftbound hands out promo cards at Pre-Rift events, Summoner Skirmishes, Regional Qualifiers and Regional Championships, to judges and at store demos, and a few come in bundles sold at events. Each promo reprints an existing card and plays exactly like it.8 min
- Which cards come only in boxed products?Almost every Riftbound card can be pulled from a booster pack, and the ready-made decks hold the same cards. The exceptions are the 24 cards of the Proving Grounds starter box and the collector printings in a few bundles and box sets, such as the Arcane Box Set and the Secret Garden Bundle.7 min
Champions
The League of Legends champions behind the cards.
- Which champions are in Riftbound?Counting Radiance, 104 League of Legends champions have cards in Riftbound, from Ahri and Jinx to Zed and Ziggs. Of those, 57 have a Legend that a deck can be built around, and the other 47 appear only as champion units so far.6 min
- How do a champion's Legend, units and signature cards fit together?In Riftbound, a champion's Legend, champion units and signature cards are linked by the champion's name, printed on each of them as a tag. The Legend leads the deck and sets its domains, one champion unit with the same tag waits in the Champion Zone, and up to three signature cards back the same plan.6 min
- Which regions of Runeterra appear in Riftbound?Riftbound cards come from fourteen regions of Runeterra: the thirteen regions of League of Legends, from Demacia and Noxus to Ionia, Zaun and the Void, and Icathia. A unit shows its region as a tag on its type line, but the region does not decide which deck the card can go in.6 min