How does a one-on-one Duel work?

Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game can be played by two, three or four players, and the Duel is its standard game for two. The Core Rules list it first among the sanctioned modes of play, under the heading 1v1 (Duel) in rule 487, and the How to Play booklet in the Proving Grounds box calls it the default that its rules describe. Two players face each other with a deck each, two battlefields lie between them, and a single game decides the winner.

What are the rules of a Duel?

The rules of a Duel are the Core Rules with five settings, all given in rule 487.

• Players. A Duel has two players, each with one opponent and no teammates.
• Victory Score. The score a player needs to win the game is 8 points.
• Battlefields. Two battlefields are in play. Each player brings three to the game, and one of each player's three is picked at random during setup.
• Format. The format is best of one. The Duel is a single game, and the first player to reach the Victory Score wins.
• First turn. The player who goes second channels one extra rune in their first Channel Phase.

The Duel adds no special rules beyond these settings, so everything else works as the rest of the Core Rules describe it.

How are the two battlefields picked?

Each player picks one of their own three battlefields at random, and the other two stay out of that game. Both picked battlefields go into the middle of the table at the same time, so a Duel is always fought over one battlefield from each player.

Because you cannot count on any one of your three battlefields, each of them should suit your deck. The Fiora Champion Deck of Spiritforged, led by the Legend Grand Duelist, plays ten gear cards and wants Mighty units. Its battlefields fit that plan: Ornn's Forge makes the first non-token gear you play each turn cost 1 Energy less while you control it, Veiled Temple lets you ready one of your gear when you conquer it, and Sunken Temple lets you pay 1 Energy to draw a card when you conquer it with a Mighty unit.

A battlefield's ability works for whoever controls it, so the one you bring is a prize your opponent can take as well, and the three should be chosen for the deck as a whole.

The four decks in the Proving Grounds box bring one battlefield each, so with those decks each player simply puts down the one they have. In a Match, the best-of-three form of the one-on-one game, each player chooses a battlefield instead of picking one at random.

How does the player who goes second catch up?

The player who goes second channels three runes instead of two in their first Channel Phase. Like every rune, that extra rune stays on the board until it is recycled. Both players draw a card in their first Draw Phase as usual: unlike the modes for three or four players, a Duel does not make the first player skip their first draw.

The first player is chosen by any fair random method that all players agree on, under rule 115, and the extra rune does not settle whether going first is an advantage.

How do you win a Duel?

You win a Duel by reaching 8 points with more points than your opponent, or when your opponent concedes. Nearly every point comes from the two battlefields: one when you conquer a battlefield, and one when you still hold it at the start of your turn. Each player can score each battlefield only once per turn, under rule 472, so the battlefields give a player at most two points in a turn, and a player who scores only from battlefields needs at least four turns to win.

The last point follows the final point rule. With 7 points, a conquer gives you the winning point only if you have scored both battlefields that turn, and otherwise you draw a card instead. In a Duel you therefore finish by holding either battlefield at the start of your turn, or by scoring both battlefields in the same turn.

A battlefield can move the target. While Aspirant's Climb from Origins is in play, the points needed to win go up by 1, so a Duel with it on the table is played to 9.

Which cards play differently in a Duel?

Cards that count opponents or battlefields do less in a Duel, because a Duel has one opponent and only one other battlefield.

• Blind Fury, a Fury spell from Origins, makes each opponent reveal their top card, and you play one of those cards, ignoring its cost. In a Duel there is no choice: you play the top card of your opponent's Main Deck.
• Right of Conquest, a Fury spell from Unleashed, draws a card and then one more for each battlefield you control, so in a Duel it draws three cards at most.
• Seat of Power, a battlefield from Spiritforged, draws a card for each other battlefield you control when you conquer it, so in a Duel it draws one card at most.

The rules written for bigger games never come up either. Every combat is between you and your opponent, and a player who burns out gives their point to the only opponent there is.

Is a Duel played at tournaments?

Most tournament games are not Duels. The Tournament Rules of 9 October 2026 say in rule 404.2 that most matches of Riftbound are the best of three games, and the Summoner Skirmish events of the Radiance season are played one on one in best-of-three matches. A tournament round is therefore usually a Match.

For events run as best of one, rule 406.1.h lets the head judge change the setup: the battlefields are picked and the first player is settled before the players swap cards with their sideboard and set out their chosen champion. At a casual event such as a Nexus Night the store sets the format, so the store can tell you whether its rounds are single games or matches.

What do you need for a first Duel?

A first Duel needs two complete decks, and for two new players the easiest start is a box made for two. The Showdown Decks are such boxes: the Vendetta Showdown Decks hold a Zed deck and a Shen deck built to face each other, each with three battlefields, and the Radiance Showdown Decks, with a release date of 23 October 2026, put Seraphine against Evelynn. Each box has a launch price of $34.99. Two Champion Decks, such as the Fiora deck, work as well, since each holds a Legend, a Main Deck of 40 cards, 12 runes and three battlefields.

The products guide lists every ready-made deck, and the deck builder checks that a deck of your own has all its parts. Before the first turn, the players go through the eight steps of setting up a game, from placing the Legend to the first turn of the first player. The game modes of Riftbound for three and four players build on the same rules with three battlefields in play and a changed first turn.