Riot’s mysterious Project K is actually league of legends card game known as lift boundIn the words of game designer Jonathan Moorman, I approached this work with “some trepidation.” I’ve been pretty open about my complicated relationship with LoL. LoL is the game I’ve spent the most time playing, and it’s definitely the game I love the most. But from around mid-2024 to 2025, LoL feels unrecognizable in many ways. The characters and gameplay are the same, but it doesn’t quite elicit the same emotion as it did before, as it blitzed through a few games after Worlds. In many ways, we have become estranged (that’s me, not you). I was hoping that Riftbound would reignite that spark.
For those who haven’t played it yet, Riftbound reminds me of TCGs like Magic: The Gathering. You choose a champion legend (or commander), a chosen champion (a second card that must be the same character as the champion legend, but grants different buffs), and a battlefield with unique characteristics. So, for example, if you have a Proving Grounds Master Yi deck, you have Wuju Bladesman, Master Yi, as your champion legend, and then you have either Master Yi, Meditative, or Master Yi, Honed as your champion of choice. Earn points by conquering and holding the battlefield. This is accomplished by placing units on the battlefield and winning skirmishes (known as “showdowns”). The first 8 people win. Easy, right?
Don’t worry, I snorted too. Riftbound is advertised as “easy to learn,” but after playing Magic for many years, I don’t like to use the word “easy.” Riot has managed to keep it simpler than League of Legends’ CCG sibling, Legends of Runeterra, but there’s still a lot to figure out. Proving Grounds includes four decks: Annie, Garen, Lux, and Master Yi, each embodying a different and more complex deck type. Annie and Lux are great for someone completely new to card games, but Garen and Master Yi felt pretty intimidating, even for someone who’s played a lot of TCGs.
But what I can say is that Riot has really nailed the unique emotions of each champion. Lux relies on burst spells (Demacciaaaa!), which fits perfectly with her in-game identity, but Garen is a tank – I don’t think I need to explain any more about that. Annie wants to deal damage quickly while remaining mobile, while Master Yi buffs solo defenders and attackers as he glides across the battlefield (we all know Master Yi players ride solo).
The demo decks I played (Jinx, Victor, Volibear, Yasuo) were similar. Jinx plays hard, fast, and recklessly, while Victor crafts and builds an army of robots. Volibear starts out slow, but becomes a monster by the late game. On the other hand, Yasuo’s gliding and sliding from base to battlefield and back reminds us of the character’s reliance on mobility, and will likely lead to some 0/10 power spikes.
All of this gives Riftbound decks a unique feel. Magic decks are often built around a specific mechanic, but they can sometimes feel more like a collection of disparate parts with set minimums and maximums than an entity in and of itself. I’m sure we’ll see more deck variations as Riftbound evolves, but I’m impressed with how well the early sets embody its character.
However, it’s worth noting that some decks feel much more powerful than others. In the Proving Grounds kit, Lux’s ability to casually drop extra runes (think MTG lands) into spell-based abilities means that you can fire off top-level power very quickly, often at very low recycling costs. Using the demo deck, Jinx feels very strong at first, but later in the game he gass up hard and becomes an easy trample for Volibear and Viktor. Moorman said the demo deck was designed to give players “a sense of what Riftbound is like,” and that the team “tuned the Jinx (demo) deck to be faster without having too much of an impact on the late game” for showcase purposes. We expect the full deck to have a little more staying power, but we don’t yet know how achievable that is.
Also, games can get quite long, especially when you add more players. One game with my partner took about 30 minutes, while another game with three additional friends took nearly an hour (another mate’s game took nearly 2 minutes). Of course, this is great if you have a late-game deck, but if you’re a fast, aggressive player, you’ll quickly get tired of it. “We’re never going to last that long,” laughed Moorman, noting the eight-point cap would help them stay relatively clean. I have yet to play as a 4 stack again, but I felt sorry for the people who had booked the table we were playing at.
Overall, Riftbound achieves its goals. This is a fun League of Legends themed TCG with impressive complexity (almost overkill) and unique feel. But we’re entering a saturated market where Magic: The Gathering reigns supreme. I don’t think this will be an “MTG” killer at all, and I think it’ll probably spread along with more niche card games like One Piece, Star Wars: Unlimited, and Square Enix’s Final Fantasy TCG. Of course, that leads to longevity issues. Decks are selling fast right now, but what will happen in a year, especially if there are complaints about product shortages and lack of rare cards? Perhaps I would have been a little more hopeful if Riftbound’s launch had been relatively smooth, but for now, I’m still going into it with “anxiety.”
Riftbound Set 1, Origins is available now, but is currently sold out both online and at most local game stores. There are a variety of cards available on the used market, but I recommend waiting a while before dropping all your cash. One day we’ll get Kai’Sa.
