Riftbound: Unleashed Levels Up The Game – Preview

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Riftbound: Unleashed is the third major instalment of the Riot Games’ League of Legends Trading Card Game, and with its release on May 8 comes all new mechanics, cards, iconic champions and new product line ups. Thanks to the Riftbound team and Riot Games we got our hands on some Riftbound: Unleashed goodies early, so let’s drop into Runeterra and see what Unleashed has in store for Riftbound fanatics.

Riftbound players will be able to rip into a solid product line up this time around. With familiar bundles and accessories players have come to know and love from Origins and Spiritforged like Booster Boxes, Champion Decks, Playmats, Deck Sleeves, as well as brand new products like The Vault. We were able to take a closer look at each of these during our unboxing, especially the new Vault…and they did not disappoint.

For starters, Unleashed sets a really great tone and balance with this product line up for both veterans of the game as well as newcomers. There’s not only something for everyone, but also plenty of packs, pieces and guides to get anyone interested in Riftbound loaded up and ready to ascend into combat. The highlights for this are the Champion Decks (RRP $39.99 AUD) and new Vault (RRP $89.95 AUD). The Champion Decks offer two ways to play – a Vi centred deck harnessing the Fury and Order Runes, and a Calm and Chaos Runes focused deck with Vex at its helm. Both Champion Decks come with 56 cards including 40 main deck cards, 1 leader card, 12 runes and 3 battlefields, as well as a paper playmat, how to play guide, cardboard deck box and a booster pack. They are the perfect way for newcomers to get everything they need to venture to their local game store and join in the fun of a Nexus Night (aka weekly Riftbound League fun). Where the Champion Decks are setting players up for competitive depth and table top domination, the new Vault bundle sits in a pocket that Riftbound had slightly been missing up until now – a product with specific focus on collection/creation, play and organisation.

The Unleashed Vault is a great place to start for both newcomers and veterans of the game. For newcomers, the Vault offers so much in one bundle to kickstart their Riftbound journey and compliments what they’ll find in the Champion Decks really well. For Riftbound Veterans, it offers more excitement and dopamine hits as well as plenty of runes and cards for varying deck builds – not to mention storage storage storage! Inside a Vault there’s 6 booster packs, 36 basic runes, three full-art tokens, two card dividers and the box itself – everything players will need to create decks, play the game and store their cards. It’s quite a lot of value in one deckbox-sized bundle, and from our unboxing experience, definitely seems to be a key product for players to pre-order and grab come launches.

The Unleashed Playmat (RRP $49.99 AUD) and Card Sleeves (RRP $29.99 AUD) we unboxed was a LeBlanc playmat and Poppy Card Sleeves, both featuring the oh-so-good-looking overnumbered card art showcased in Unleashed and are two of four different designs featured on Unleased accessories this time around – the others include Vi – Piltover Enforcer and Master Yi – Wuju Master. The Booster Box didn’t disappoint either – sporting 24 booster packs with 14 cards per pack, we managed to pull 44 rare cards (including 11 rare legends), 7 Epics (Baron Nashor, Thrill of the Hunt, Lillia – Protector of Dreams, Vi – Hotheaded, Poppy – Defender of the Meek, and two Death From Below signature spells) and 4 Alternative Art Cards (Vilemaw, Fury Rune, Kha’Zix – Evolving Hunter and Master Yi – Tempered). All in all, we had a great time rip packs and checking out everything Unleashed had to offer – check out the fun below!

Riftbound: Unleashed is centred around one theme, becoming. With cards, characters and battlefields all showcasing the Jungle environment and region this set is based around, it’s the perfect backdrop to embody the idea that Champions don’t arrive fully formed – they grow, evolve and strike only when it matters. The Jungle is the arena where legends are made, and where new found abilities and mechanics are forged. Unleashed introduces three new mechanics to the Riftbound TCG:

• XP –  XP is a resource players build up and spend for unique advantages. For example, some cards may gain 1 XP when a player wins a combat. Players can also ‘spend’ XP as well to activate certain abilities. For each XP players accrue, they gain a level – with many cards gaining new abilities as they level up. Meaning the more XP you gain, the more unique benefits you can utilise.
• Hunt – Hunt is a new mechanic that helps you build up XP. When a unit with Hunt conquers or holds a battlefield, the player gains the amount of XP on the card.
• Ambush – In League of Legends, one of the core skills of a jungler is the ability to attack from concealment at just the right moment. In Riftbound, the new Ambush mechanic lets you do that too. Specifically, Ambush lets you play a unit as a Reaction to a battlefield where you have units.

There’s also a ton of other fresh new ways to play thanks to Unleashed. New Champions enter the showdown with players being able to utilise greats like Kha’Zix, Lillia, Diana and Ivern in their competitive builds, as well as new tokens like Bird (armed with Deflect), Baron Pit (A Baron Nashor centred Battlefield Token), Reflections (becomes a copy of another card already in play) and Sprites (a Temporary token). There’s also the new ‘Ultimate’ rarity introduced into Riftbound with Unleashed – with the first Ultimate Rare going to unique overnumbered card of Baron Nashor. This card can be found in less than 1% of packs – so if you pull one of these cards…SCREAM, RUNAROUND, JUMP UP AND DOWN!…but sleeve first please.

Riftbound: Unleashed releases May 8, 2026 in local game stores. Be sure to visit your LGS  for all information on Learn To Plays and when their Nexus Nights are held to join in the fun of the Riftbound TCG every single week.