What does the Showcase gem mean?

Every card of Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game has a small gem at the foot of its frame, and the shape of that gem gives the rarity of the card. Four shapes give the four rarities: round for Common, triangular for Uncommon, square for Rare and pentagonal for Epic. A fifth gem, a gold hexagon, is the Showcase gem. It says nothing about how strong a card is. It tells you that you hold a special printing of a card, made for collectors.

Riot's card gallery lists most of these printings with the rarity Showcase, which is why they are called showcase cards. Every showcase card is another printing of a card that also exists with one of the four other gems.

Is Showcase a rarity like the others?

Not quite. In its article on collectability, Riot calls Common, Uncommon, Rare and Epic the four functional rarities, and describes them as the rarity of every card that is not a special treatment. The Showcase gem stands apart from them: it marks a treatment of a card, such as new artwork, a richer foil, a collector number of its own or the signature of the artist.

That is why the hexagon replaces whatever gem the card had before. Pouty Poro is a Common in Origins with the round gem, and it came back in Unleashed as an overnumbered card, Pouty Poro at 220/219, with the hexagon. Loose Cannon, the Legend of Jinx, has the square gem of a Rare, and its overnumbered printing, Loose Cannon at 301/298, has the hexagon. Ahri, Inquisitive is an Epic with the pentagonal gem, and its alternate art printing, Ahri, Inquisitive at 119a/298, carries the hexagon too.

Which cards carry the Showcase gem?

Every special printing that comes in booster packs carries it. The collector number at the bottom of the card tells you which kind you hold.

• Alternate art keeps the number of the card it reprints and adds an a, like Vi, Hotheaded at 030a/219 in Unleashed. For Origins, Riot described these cards as showing the champion in a League of Legends skin, with a more intricate foil.
• Overnumbered cards have a number above the size of their set, like Zed, From the Shadows at 169/166 in Vendetta, with artwork made for Riftbound.
• Signed cards are overnumbered cards with the signature of the artist in foil and a star after the number, like Wuju Master at 231*/219.
• Special cards are numbered SP, apart from the rest of the set, such as the K/DA Ahri, Confident at SP1/005 in Radiance, the fifth set, with its release on 23 October 2026.
• Ultimate Rares, the rarest card of a set, carry the same hexagon. Baron Nashor at 238/219 in Unleashed was the first.
• Alternate art runes carry it as well, such as the Fury Rune of Radiance at R01a.

Most showcase printings go to champion units and Legends, the cards players build their decks around. Origins shows the pattern: its 54 showcase cards are 24 alternate art champion units, six alternate art runes, 12 overnumbered Legends and a signed version of each of those Legends.

The Nexus Night promos with new art, which have a b after the number, show the hexagon as well, under a small PROMO banner. Teemo, Scout at 197b/298 is one. A promo with the same art as the standard card keeps the gem of its rarity. The letters and marks in a number, such as the a of alternate art, the b of a promo with new art, the SP of special cards and the star of signed cards, are all part of the collector number.

How rare are showcase cards?

Showcase cards are the hardest cards of a set to find, and some are far rarer than others. Riot's figures for Origins are about two alternate art cards per booster display of 24 packs, about one overnumbered card per three displays, and a signature on about one overnumbered card in ten. Riot says special cards turn up about as often as alternate art. Baron Nashor is in fewer than one Unleashed pack in 1,000, and Riot puts the Ultimate Rare of Radiance, the battlefield Packed Amphitheater, in about one pack in 4,000.

A showcase card takes the place of a Rare or an Epic in one of the two slots for Rare or better cards, and an alternate art rune turns up in the slot for a rune or a token. The foil slot never holds one. In Radiance packs only one of the two rare slots can hold a showcase card, and the other always holds a Rare or an Epic. Worked out per pack, the pull rates of Origins are about one alternate art card in 12 packs and one overnumbered card in 72.

Does a showcase card play differently?

No. A showcase card has the same name, cost, Might and abilities as the standard card, and only its look is different. The Core Rules say that a card's name identifies it (rule 132.1) and that its illustration conveys no gameplay information (rule 139.1). A showcase card also counts toward the limit of three copies of a card with the same name in a deck (rule 103.3.b): two standard copies of Ahri, Inquisitive and one copy of the alternate art Ahri, Inquisitive make three.

At tournaments a showcase card is legal wherever its standard card is, since the Tournament Rules allow a card that has the same name as a card from a legal set (rule 601.2.a).

Why do collectors chase showcase cards?

Showcase cards are scarce, their artwork or finish is one the standard card lacks, and some will never come back in the same form: Riot has said that it will never reprint an overnumbered card with the same art and frame. In a game the standard card does exactly the same, so a player who only wants to play needs none of them.

What a printing is worth is decided by collectors, and every printing of a card has a price of its own. The standard Loose Cannon sells for $0.32 today and the overnumbered Loose Cannon for $150.70. The standard Ahri, Inquisitive sells for $5.81 and the alternate art Ahri, Inquisitive for $12.62. The page of each card shows its current price beside its other printings.

Showcase cards are also sold one by one, so a collector who wants a particular one does better to get the single card than to open packs for it. Single cards come from local game stores, from Cardmarket in Europe, from TCGplayer in the United States and from CardTrader on both sides.

Where can you see every showcase card?

The card list filtered to Showcase shows every card with the hexagon, and the rarity guide sets it beside the four other gems with an example of each printing. Each kind has a page of its own: alternate art, overnumbered, signed, special cards and Ultimate Rares. The four gems you play with are covered in which rarities Riftbound cards come in, and the rarest showcase cards of all have an article of their own, what Ultimate Rares are.