How does Constructed work?

Constructed is the way most events of Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game are played. Every player brings a deck they built at home from their own cards and plays every round with it. The Tournament Rules define a Constructed competition as one where players use decks they prepare beforehand (rule 202.1.b).

The other family of formats is Limited, where the event hands out every card, as in Sealed and Draft. Constructed rewards preparation instead, since nothing depends on the packs opened on the day.

Which Riftbound events are played as Constructed?

Most store events and the largest open tournaments are Constructed. UVS Games, the publisher that supplies the stores, lets a store pick the format of its weekly Nexus Night in its dates and details document: Constructed, Sealed or a Modified Champion Deck format. Most Nexus Nights are Constructed. A Summoner Skirmish is one-on-one Constructed in best-of-three matches. The Regional Qualifiers, which take the name Riftbound Regionals in 2027, have been Constructed too: Riot's plans for the first English one, in Houston in December 2025, set it up as nine Swiss rounds of best-of-three matches with sideboards.

Pre-Rift events, which are played Sealed, are the main exception among store events. There is also a team version, 2v2 Constructed, in which two teammates play side by side and win or lose together (Core Rules 491.6.a).

What deck do you bring to a Constructed event?

You bring a Champion Legend, a Main Deck of exactly 40 cards with the chosen champion among them, a Rune Deck of 12 runes and 3 battlefields with different names (Tournament Rules 402.1). The Core Rules allow more than 40 cards for games at home, but a Constructed event asks for exactly 40. Every card has to fit the two domains of the Legend, with at most three copies of a name and at most three signature cards (Core Rules 103).

The Rengar deck that won the Regional Qualifier in Los Angeles in September 2026, which Riot's report on the event lists in full, shows the shape. Its Legend is Pridestalker, which is Fury and Body, its chosen champion is Rengar, Trophy Hunter, and its Rune Deck holds 8 Body Runes and 4 Fury Runes. Its battlefields are Emperor's Dais, Seat of Power and Star Spring.

Every card has to be a real Riftbound card. Cards in any official language are fine, but proxies are not allowed at any level (rules 419.2 and 420.1). The only exception is an official proxy that the head judge issues to replace a card that has become unusable (rule 419.2.a). A ready-made Champion Deck already has the right shape, since it follows the same deck rules as a tournament deck.

Which cards are legal in Constructed?

The main Constructed format is Standard. The Tournament Rules of 9 October 2026 list its sets: the Origins cards of Proving Grounds, Origins, Spiritforged, Unleashed and Vendetta, and Radiance, which joins Standard on its release date of 23 October 2026 (rule 601.3.c). Legality goes by the name of a card, so a promo printing counts as the card it reprints (601.2.a).

A banned card cannot be in the deck or the sideboard (601.1.c.2 and 601.2.d). Riot keeps the banned list on its Rules Hub, and the update of 18 September 2026 names seven cards and five battlefields, among them Stealthy Pursuer and Reaver's Row. At casual events a ready-made deck played exactly as boxed may keep its banned cards (601.2.d.2). Older sets stay legal for now, but Riot intends to start rotating them out of Standard in 2028.

How does a Constructed match work?

A Constructed match is usually the best of three games, and the first player to win two games wins the match (Tournament Rules 404.2).

Before each game, each player chooses one of their three battlefields, and both go on the table at the same time. Once a game has been won, the two battlefields used in it are removed for the rest of the match (Core Rules 488.5). In a match that goes to three games, every battlefield in your deck gets one game, so a battlefield that suits only one kind of opponent is a risk. At an event played best of one, the battlefield is picked at random instead (Core Rules 487.5).

In the first game a random method usually decides who chooses to go first or last, and after that the loser of each game chooses (Tournament Rules 407). The Tournament Rules recommend 60 minutes for each Swiss round of a competitive event (rule 604.1). When the time runs out, the player whose turn it is finishes it and three more turns are played (rule 408.2).

What can you change between games?

At an event with sideboards, you can change part of your Main Deck between games. A sideboard holds up to 10 cards, and the limit of three copies of a name counts it together with the Main Deck (rules 601.1.c.1 and 601.1.c.3). You swap cards one for one, so the Main Deck stays at 40 (rule 403.4), and you may switch your chosen champion to another one that matches your Legend (601.1.c.4). The Legend, the runes and the battlefields never change after registration (403.4.b). The first game of each match is played without sideboard cards (403.5).

The Rengar deck from Los Angeles had a full sideboard of 10 cards, like every deck in its top 8. Among them were a third Rampage to go with the two in the Main Deck, two more Ferrous Forerunner and two Brittle Steel. Brittle Steel is a spell that kills a gear, so it is worth a slot only against decks that rely on gear.

Do you have to register your deck?

At Competitive and Professional events, such as a Summoner Skirmish, every player hands in a decklist before the first round, sideboard included, and it cannot change afterwards (rules 401.1 to 401.4). Choices a card asks for while you build go on the list too, such as the extra Legends chosen for Neeko, Blending In, a card of Radiance (401.2.a). A list with a card that is not legal in the format costs a game (703.3.a.2). At casual events the head judge may ask for a list, and you are expected to keep the same deck all event unless the organizer allows a change (401.1.a and 401.1.b).

How do you get ready for a Constructed event?

Start with a deck you know. A ready-made Champion Deck is a fair choice for a first Nexus Night, and a deck of your own serves you better once you know the game. A Champion Deck had a launch price of $19.99, and the Unleashed Champion Deck: Vi sells for $15.60 today. Single cards for a deck of your own come from local game stores, from Cardmarket in Europe, from TCGplayer in the United States and from CardTrader on both sides of the Atlantic.

The deck builder checks the size, the domains, the chosen champion, the copies, the signature cards and the banned list while you build. The shared decks show what other players bring, and the event finder lists the Constructed events near you.

A player with few cards does not have to start with Constructed. At a Sealed event, such as a Pre-Rift event, every card is handed out and nobody brings a deck, and the article on the formats played at Riftbound events sets Constructed beside Sealed, Draft and 2v2.