How do you protect your Riftbound cards?

The cards of Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game are printed on card stock, and like any paper they scuff, scratch, bend and fade. Most of that damage happens during shuffling and play, in loose piles at home, and in damp or sunny rooms. A few cheap habits keep a card the way it came out of the pack, which matters both to a collector and to a player who brings the card to an event.

The habits matter most for the rarest cards of each set, the foil printings with the gold Showcase gem: alternate art cards, overnumbered and signed cards and the Ultimate Rares.

Should you put Riftbound cards in sleeves?

Yes, every deck you play with is better off in sleeves. A sleeve is a thin plastic pocket that takes the wear of shuffling, of sliding across the table and of hands that are not quite clean. The Core Rules ask for no sleeves, and a game at home works without them, but a sleeved deck lasts far longer. The Tournament Rules of 9 October 2026, which Riot publishes on its Rules Hub, do ask for them at Competitive and Professional events, where the Main Deck, the Rune Deck and the battlefields have to be sleeved (rule 422.6).

A deck for a Constructed event has a Legend, a Main Deck of exactly 40 cards, 12 runes and 3 battlefields (Tournament Rules 402.1), which makes 56 cards, and a sideboard adds up to 10 more (rule 601.1.c.1). One pack of 100 sleeves covers all 66 cards with spares. Riot's art sleeves come 100 to a pack, with a launch price of $16.99 for the Unleashed designs. Sleeves from other makers work as well, and with a new brand it pays to try one card before sleeving a whole deck.

Double sleeving means putting each card in a tight inner sleeve and then in a normal sleeve from the other end, which keeps dust and spills out from both sides. The Tournament Rules allow it, as long as every card in the deck has the same number of layers and sits in its sleeves the same way (rule 422.2). Sleeve backs must always be opaque (rule 422.3), and at Competitive and Professional events they may not be highly reflective or carry holographic patterns (rule 422.7).

How do you keep cards safe while you play?

A playmat keeps the cards off the bare table, where crumbs, grit and spilled drinks do the most harm. Champion Decks and Showdown Decks come with paper playmats, and a neoprene playmat, such as the official Unleashed ones that measure 24 by 14 inches (61 by 35.6 centimeters), is softer on the cards than a hard table.

Shuffling is where unsleeved cards suffer most. Bending a deck to riffle it puts a curve in the cards, and a bent card stands out from the rest of the deck. A gentle overhand shuffle, or a riffle of sleeved cards kept flat on the table, is much kinder. The Tournament Rules ask players not to damage or mark cards or sleeves when they shuffle (rule 421.7), and at events your opponent may shuffle your deck too (rule 421.6). Between games, a deck box keeps the corners straight: the foldable paper boxes in the Champion Decks and Showdown Decks are fine on a shelf, while a hard box holds up better in a bag.

How do you protect your most valuable cards?

A valuable card goes into a soft sleeve first and then into a rigid holder. A toploader is a stiff plastic sleeve that keeps a card flat and protects its corners, and a magnetic holder is a thicker case that closes around the card. The soft sleeve stops the card from scratching on the way in, and the holders keep best upright in a box.

The showcase printings are the cards that most deserve this care. The four below come from four sets: the alternate art Jinx, Rebel from Origins, the signed overnumbered Ahri, Inquisitive from Spiritforged with the artist's signature in foil, and the two Ultimate Rares, Baron Nashor from Unleashed and the battlefield Packed Amphitheater from Radiance, the fifth set, with its release on 23 October 2026.

A showcase printing plays exactly like the standard card, so many players keep the showcase copy in a toploader and put the standard printing in their deck. A valuable card that does go into a deck needs a sleeve at the very least, and a second sleeve is better.

Today the alternate art Jinx, Rebel sells for $3.53 as a single card, the signed Ahri, Inquisitive for $3,334.49 and Baron Nashor for $1,828.46. Riot's odds, set out in the article on the pull rates of a booster pack, put an alternate art card of Origins at about one pack in 12 and the Ultimate Rare of Unleashed at fewer than one pack in 1,000.

What should you do with the cards from a new pack?

Sleeve the best cards before you sort the rest. Every booster pack holds two cards of Rare or better, and both are foil, so those two and any showcase printing belong in sleeves straight away rather than on the table while you look through the Commons. Opening the wrapper along its top edge avoids pulling at the cards inside, and holding cards by their edges keeps fingerprints off the faces.

Where should you keep cards you are not playing?

Cards keep best in closed boxes or in binders, in a dry room at normal temperature and out of the sun. Sunlight fades the ink, and damp air warps the card stock, so attics, cellars and window sills are poor places for a collection. Foil cards are the most sensitive, because the foil layer takes up moisture differently from the paper behind it and the card can curl when the air turns damp or dry. Rubber bands dent the edges of the cards they hold, so a stack is better off in a box.

Binder pages that load from the side stop cards from slipping out at the top, and a ring binder can press dents into the cards nearest the rings. Every Vault announced so far comes in a card storage box, and the Gift of the Rift Bundle, with its release on 4 December 2026, holds a storage box for 2,000 cards. Once a collection outgrows a binder or two, it helps to split it into the valuable cards, the cards you play and the spares, as the article on how to store a large collection explains.

Why does a damaged card matter at an event?

A damaged card can count as a marked card at a Riftbound event. The Tournament Rules call a card marked when it can be identified without seeing its face, and they name scratches, discoloration and bends as examples (rules 423.2 and 703.6.a). Sleeved cards are checked in their sleeves (rule 423.3), so a bent foil can give itself away even when sleeved, and so can one scuffed sleeve.

Each player is responsible for keeping their own cards and sleeves unmarked (rule 423.1). Marked cards carry a warning, and a judge can ask for new sleeves or cards at once or before the next round (rule 703.6.d.1). The third warning of the same kind in one event becomes a game loss (rule 703.1.b.1). Judges may also refuse worn sleeves (rule 422.5), so fresh sleeves before a bigger event are a good habit. For a card that has become unusable, the head judge may hand out an official proxy, the only proxy the Tournament Rules allow (rule 419.2.a).

Condition decides much of what a card is worth to a collector. Marketplaces such as TCGplayer in the United States and Cardmarket in Europe give every copy they list a condition, and sleeves and a toploader are what keep a card at Near Mint, the best condition that matters for Riftbound. A rare printing that sells for a high price may be worth grading to keep it safe for good. The overnumbered cards and Ultimate Rares pages list the printings that most deserve a toploader, and the collection on this site keeps count of what you own, foil and plain copies apart.