Little known fun fact about me: I used to play League of Legends. While I’ve been out of the game for a while, I played enough to be pretty excited about what I’m seeing coming out of Riot with their newly announced game, Riftbound: League of Legends TCG.

After something of a shaky start, Riot is back at full speed showing off card artworks and concepts that are much better and more welcome from fans than their original attempt that was met with some pretty adverse reactions.

Now, the League of Legends TCG seems to be shaping up to something very exciting.

Here’s what we know so far.

Riftbound gets an October 2025 Release Date

After a ton of anticipation for the new game, we can cool our heels just a little bit knowing that Riftbound will be getting released in English speaking countries in October of 2025. However, it will be getting its release in China ahead of time, meaning you can bet the entire set of 300 cards will likely be spoiled before we get the game in stores in North America.

Riftbound products have been revealed

We’ve also been granted our first look at the products we’ll be getting when Riftbound hits the shelves. Take a look at them below.

Riftbound booster box

Honestly, I don’t need to look any further than this booster box than to get fairly freaking excited for Riftbound. Going after the classic champions that were ruling things when I was playing the game was certainly a great way to kick this “Origins” set off. I love the artwork here for Miss Fortune and Ahri (with Ahri being one of my mains back in the day). Of course, including the infamous Teemo was a good marketing choice as well.

Each booster box contains 24 packs and retails at $120 MSRP.

Riftbound Booster Packs

The booster box price point may sound a little high for the number of booster packs included. However, the booster packs themselves contain a surprising number of cards, (14 in each pack) which helps make up the value.

Riftbound starter decks

As with any good TCG, we’ll be getting starter decks with Riftbound’s debut set. Three have been revealed and they are themed around three champions: Jinx, Victor, and Lee Sin. These decks will come with 56 cards. My guess is from this number that deck size will be around 50 cards, so you might have some wiggle room for customization with the 56 number. Riftbound starter decks (called Champion Decks) will retail at $20 which is pretty standard.

Booster pack rarities explained

Before moving on from Booster Packs, let’s look at the rarities included in them. There seems to have been some confusion around this particular bit of information as game creator Dave Guskin had to chime in some corrections via his X account.

“When it comes to booster packs, there are actually 2 foil Rares or better, 1 foil of any rarity, and 1 token slot in each deck” says Dave. “When it comes to the alt art cards, on average, there are more than 2 special alt art cards appearing in every box, instead of once per case.”

Two special art cards per box sounds pretty generous to me, so thanks for clearing that up, Dave!

Proving Grounds Box Set

Last but not least, Riftbound “Origins” will include an intro-level product aimed at helping total TCG newbies into the game. That’s a pretty solid business choice on Riot’s part as fan-driven games like this one often have first time TCG players drawn in by the IP more than the fact it’s another TCG they can get their hands on.

Riftbound is prebuilt for multiple formats

One interesting tidbit shared via the video put out by Riot themselves is that Riftbound appears to be purpose-built for multiple formats. This could be an interesting differentiator amongst a field of TCGs primarily aimed at 1v1 action.

The focus on multiplayer gameplay makes sense, however, given the nature of League of Legends – a game which is itself inherently multiplayer. Indeed, much of the fun of playing League stems from teaming up with friends and taking on opposing teams and hoping you aren’t the weak link in the chain.

However, Riftbound creators do mention that they are looking to build a game that is fun to play with friends while also being challenging and strategy-intensive enough to play at high levels of competitive play.

Does this mean that multiplyaer will be reserved for more casual play at local game nights and 1v1 for tournament play? Or will there be competitive multiplayer formats?

It’s too early to know for sure but the comment makes me think competitive play will largely be 1v1.

Riftbound card spoilers so far

Finally, while it’s still very early days for Riftbound, we do have an opening look at some of the cards coming out in this set. Check them out below!

My initial thoughts on whether Riftbound will be fun

I’m feeling very positively about Riftbound. Choosing to build the game around different playable champions and supporting cards duking it out in an arena is a very manageable game strategy. At the same time, the game feels like it has legs. Not only is it based on an incredible IP, the fact that each set seems to focus on specific champions means there should be plenty of new decks and combos always on the horizon, helping keep the game new and fresh.

I can’t wait to try the game out myself and you can bet I’ll be running Ahri (assuming that’s an option).

An Early Look at Riftbound: League of Legends TCG