What are the four Proving Grounds decks like?

Proving Grounds, the starter box of Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game, holds four ready-made decks led by Annie, Garen, Lux and Master Yi. Riot built the four decks for balanced matchups, but they do not play alike. The Garen deck floods the battlefields with units, the Master Yi deck holds them with one strong defender, the Lux deck clears the way with expensive spells, and the Annie deck burns units with cheap spells, many of which also work on the opponent's turn.

The four decks share one frame: a Legend, a Main Deck of 40 units and spells with no gear, 12 runes split six and six between two domains, and one battlefield. Together they cover all six domains. Each deck holds 15 different cards, most of them three times, so it plays in a similar way from one game to the next.

How do the four Proving Grounds decks compare?

The Garen deck has the most units, the Lux deck has the most expensive cards, and the Annie and Master Yi decks lean on cheap spells.

Each deck holds two different champion units of its champion, two copies of each. The parts below use the champion unit that the How to Play booklet in the box recommends as the chosen champion of each deck.

How does the Annie deck play?

The Annie deck kills enemy units with damage spells and then takes the battlefields they leave behind. Its Legend, Dark Child, readies up to two runes at the end of your turn, so the Annie player can spend every rune on their own turn and still hold two for the opponent's.

The two runes that Dark Child readies pay for Gust, a Reaction at 1 Energy that returns a unit with 3 Might or less from a battlefield to its owner's hand, or for Incinerate, an Action at 2 Energy that deals 2 to a unit at a battlefield during a fight. The recommended chosen champion, Annie, Fiery, makes your spells and abilities deal 1 Bonus Damage. The deck's battlefield, Void Gate, makes spells and abilities deal 1 Bonus Damage to units there, and the two add up (Core Rules, rule 714), so with Annie, Fiery in play Incinerate deals 4 to a unit at Void Gate. Firestorm deals 3 to every enemy unit at one battlefield. The signature unit Tibbers costs 8 Energy and 2 Power, has 7 Might and deals 3 to every unit at the battlefields when it is played. That includes your own units, so Tibbers works best when the opponent has more units at the battlefields than you do.

How does the Garen deck play?

The Garen deck wins by sending more units to a battlefield than the opponent can deal with. Its Legend, Might of Demacia, draws you two cards when you conquer a battlefield with four or more of your units there.

Recruit tokens of 1 Might help the deck reach the four units that Might of Demacia asks for: Faithful Manufactor brings one, and Recruit the Vanguard, an Action that also works in the middle of a fight, brings four. The recommended chosen champion, Garen, Commander, gives your other units +1 Might where he stands, and the signature spell Decisive Strike gives all of your units +2 Might for the turn. Units enter play exhausted and usually wait a turn before they can move, but Confront makes the units you play that turn enter ready, and First Mate and Vanguard Attendant get units moving at once as well. A wide board fears damage that hits every unit at once: the 3 damage of Firestorm from the Annie deck is more than a Recruit token can usually take.

How does the Lux deck play?

The Lux deck plays the long game and wins it with expensive spells. Its Legend, Lady of Luminosity, draws a card whenever you play a spell that costs 5 or more, and eleven of the deck's spells do. The Core Rules look at the printed cost (rule 206), so the Legend still draws when Eager Apprentice makes such a spell 1 Energy cheaper.

The early game is the hard part, since only nine cards cost 2 Energy or less. The Lux player fights for battlefields with small units until the big spells arrive, and the deck's battlefield, Startipped Peak, lets you channel one extra rune, exhausted, when you hold it.

The booklet recommends Lux, Crownguard as the chosen champion and advises keeping her safe in your base. From there she can be exhausted to add 2 Energy that only pays for spells, so six runes are enough for Final Spark, which costs 8 and deals 8 to a unit. Two of the other removal spells need their target at a battlefield: Falling Comet deals 6 to a unit there and Blast of Power kills one. Final Spark and Singularity, which deals 6 to each of up to two units, can reach a unit anywhere, even in its owner's base. Each of these four spells costs 5 or more, so each one also draws a card through Lady of Luminosity.

How does the Master Yi deck play?

The Master Yi deck defends: it puts a single unit on a battlefield and makes that unit very hard to beat. Its Legend, Wuju Bladesman, gives a friendly unit +2 Might while it defends alone. Wielder of Water has +2 Might of its own while it attacks or defends alone, and the deck's battlefield, Fortified Position, gives a defender Shield 2 for the combat. A Wielder of Water with 2 printed Might, defending alone at Fortified Position, fights with 8.

Riot has banned Wuju Bladesman in 2v2 Constructed, the team format of organized play, since 24 July 2026, because a teammate's units count as friendly and its bonus helps both players of a team. In one-on-one play the Legend stays legal.

Eleven of the deck's cards are Reactions, which can be played during the opponent's turn. Cannon Barrage deals 2 to every enemy unit in the combat, and the signature spell Highlander sends a friendly unit that would die back to base instead, which can rescue the lone defender that Wuju Bladesman strengthens. The late game belongs to big units. Mobilize and Stormclaw Ursine each channel an extra rune, which helps pay for Mountain Drake, a unit with 10 Might at 9 Energy. The extra runes also help the recommended chosen champion, Master Yi, Meditative, who has +4 Might while you have eight or more runes.

Which Proving Grounds deck should a new player take?

The Garen deck is the easiest one to learn with. Its plan is to play units and move them together, and most of its choices are about where to attack. The Master Yi deck suits a patient player: it asks for few decisions on its own turn, and its many Reactions teach the timing of the game. The Lux deck suits a player who enjoys a long game and does not mind falling behind on points early. The Annie deck asks the most of its player, who has to keep runes back for the opponent's turn, pick the right target for each spell and find the right moment for Tibbers.

A player who wants one deck of their own rather than a box of four can pick a Champion Deck instead, and which starter deck a new player should pick weighs the Champion Decks, the Showdown Decks and these four against each other.

Can you play the Proving Grounds decks outside the box?

Yes. The 24 cards of Proving Grounds, set code OGS, are part of the current Standard format under the Tournament Rules (rule 601.3.c), and the other cards in the decks come from Origins. A deck for a Duel by the full rules needs three battlefields with different names (Core Rules 487.4.a and 103.5.c), so each deck needs two more, which are best chosen to match the deck's plan.

Each deck also holds two copies of its signature card where three are allowed, so a third copy is an easy first step when you upgrade a ready-made deck. Single cards come from a local game store or from a marketplace: Cardmarket in Europe, TCGplayer in the United States and CardTrader on both sides. A third Tibbers, the signature unit of the Annie deck, sells for $0.54 today.

Each deck is on the site card for card: the Annie deck, the Garen deck, the Lux deck and the Master Yi deck. Besides the four decks, the box holds four acrylic champion figures, four game boards and the booklet, all shown on the Proving Grounds page of the products guide.