What is the difference between a Duel and a Match?

Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game has two modes of play for two players. The Core Rules list them side by side among the sanctioned modes, as 1v1 (Duel) in rule 487 and 1v1 (Match) in rule 488. Each game is played the same way in both, and the difference lies in how many games decide the winner and in how the battlefields reach the table.

The Duel is the game that the How to Play booklet in the Proving Grounds box teaches as its default, and it is what most players mean by a game of Riftbound. The Match is the mode of competitive play, since the Tournament Rules say that most matches at Riftbound events are the best of three games.

What do a Duel and a Match have in common?

A single game of Riftbound is the same in both modes. Each player brings a Legend, a Main Deck, a Rune Deck and three battlefields with different names, and one battlefield from each player is in play. The player who goes second channels an extra rune in their first Channel Phase, and the turn, the scoring and the final point rule do not change.

How many games does each mode last?

A Duel is one game, and the first player to reach 8 points wins it. A Match is the best of three games: each game won earns that player a game win, and the first player with two game wins takes the Match. After each game that someone won, the players reset the table, take the battlefields that were in play out of the Match, choose new ones and play again. A drawn game, such as one in which neither player leads by two points or more when a tournament round runs out of time and the extra turns are played, counts for neither player.

The Core Rules also allow a Match to be played as the best of five, where three game wins are needed. In games four and five, a player may then present a battlefield that was already used, but only once they have presented each of their three at least once, and never the same one more than twice in the Match (rules 488.6.a.1 and 488.6.a.2).

How are the battlefields picked in each mode?

In a Duel the battlefield is left to chance, and in a Match it is a choice. In a Duel each player picks one of their three battlefields at random, for example by shuffling them face down and turning one over.

In a Match each player chooses one of their three, and both chosen battlefields go into play at the same time, so neither player sees the other's choice first. Both Legends and both chosen champions are already face up by then, so each player knows which deck they are choosing against. After a game that someone won, both battlefields used in it are out for the rest of the Match. The second game leaves each player two to choose from, and in a third game each player has one battlefield left and no choice to make. After a drawn game the battlefields may be used again, and at a tournament the same two are played again.

Why does the choice of battlefield matter in a Match?

A choice lets a player save a battlefield for the opponent it hurts most. In a Duel every battlefield has to be useful in any game, because any of the three can come up, while in a Match a player can bring a battlefield that is strong only against certain decks and play it when such a deck sits across the table. Four battlefields show how a battlefield can be aimed at certain decks or made to suit your own.

• Mystic Vortex makes cards with Reaction, hidden cards among them, cost one more Power during showdowns there, which hurts a deck full of Reaction spells and Hidden cards.
• Frozen Fortress deals 1 to every unit there at the start of each player's Beginning Phase, before scoring, so a unit with 1 Might does not last there.
• Forbidding Waste gives a unit 2 less Might while it defends there alone, which punishes a deck that holds battlefields with one big unit.
• Grove of the God-Willow draws you a card when you hold it. A battlefield that pays out for any deck that can keep it is a steady pick when you know little about the opponent, though the opponent can take it as well.

Whoever wins a game, both battlefields used in it are gone for the rest of the Match, so the order in which a player spends their three is part of the plan.

What else changes between the games of a Match?

Between games, the players of a Match settle again who goes first and, at events that allow it, may change their decks. Friends at home can pick the first player at random each game, as in any setup. At a tournament the loser of the previous game chooses whether to play first or last, and after a drawn game the same player starts again.

At Constructed events with a sideboard, each player may bring up to 10 extra cards and swap them one for one with Main Deck cards between games, but never before the first game and not after a drawn game. The Legend, the runes and the battlefields stay as registered, while the chosen champion may change. A single-game Duel has no time between games, although the head judge of a best-of-one Constructed event may let each player sideboard once before the game starts.

Is every match at a tournament a best-of-three Match?

Not every one, because the Tournament Rules use the word match for a series of games played until one side has won a set number of them, and in most Riftbound matches that number is two (rules 404.1 and 404.2). An event run as best of one has matches of a single game, played like a Duel with each battlefield picked at random. The Core Rules use the word in the same wide sense for the Duel: rule 487.6 says that the first player to reach 8 points wins the Match, although a Duel is a single game.

Summoner Skirmish, the competitive store tournament, is played in best-of-three matches, and the Radiance Summoner Skirmishes have store windows from 9 November 2026 to 17 January 2027. A Nexus Night is up to the store, and stores run them both ways, so check the event or ask the store before you go.

Which mode should you play?

For learning the game and for a quick evening, the Duel is the better mode. One game is enough to try a deck, and a random battlefield teaches you to play with all three. A Match takes longer: the Tournament Rules recommend 60 minutes for each Swiss round of a competitive event, and a best-of-three match fits up to three games into it. In return, one poor opening hand or one unlucky battlefield decides less. If you plan to play in a competitive event, practice in Matches.

The battlefields page lists every battlefield in the game, the deck builder checks that a deck brings three different ones, and the event finder shows the Riftbound events near you. With more than two players the battlefields change as well: Skirmish, for three players, and War, for four, put three battlefields in play instead of two.