Riftbound Beginner's Guide: Learn to Play in 9 Steps

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Riftbound in One Minute The Guide, Step by Step What to Start With Tips for Your First Games Words You'll Hear

Riftbound in one minute

Two players each bring a Champion Legend, a main deck of at least 40 cards, a deck of 12 runes and 3 battlefields. One battlefield from each player goes in the middle of the table. Each turn you channel 2 runes, which pay for your cards, draw a card, then play units and move them onto battlefields.

When your units arrive where your opponent's units are, they fight, and the side left standing controls the battlefield. Taking a battlefield scores 1 point and still controlling it at the start of your next turn scores another. The first player to 8 points wins, though the 8th point comes with a rule of its own.

A live Riftbound 2v2 game in TurnZero HQ on a phone: Daniel and Maya on 7 at the top, Jordan and Tessa on 9 with Your turn at the bottom, each side showing XP, Runes, Energy and Power, and a band in the middle with Back-Alley Bar, Zaun Warrens and Grove of the God-Willow, a Pass turn button and Turn 9 · 18:59 — A 2v2 game nearing the end, tracked in TurnZero HQ: three battlefields in the middle, each team's points, and the turn and round clock. View full size

The guide, step by step

1 How to Play What you bring, how a game starts, and a first pass at turns, combat and scoring.
2 Reading a Card Energy and Power costs, Might, domains, card types and the line along the bottom.
3 Turn Structure Every phase of a turn in order, what runes add, and when you can play what.
4 Runes The 12-card rune deck, Energy and Power, splitting runes between domains, and rune printings.
5 Combat Showdowns, attacker and defender, how damage is assigned, and who takes the battlefield.
6 How to Win Where your 8 points come from, why the last one is harder, and how to plan for it.
7 Keywords Every keyword on a released card, what it means, and the set that brought it.
8 Colors (Domains) The six domains, what each one is good and bad at, and how a Legend picks two.
9 Build a Deck The Legend, 40-card main deck, 12 runes and 3 battlefields, built step by step.

Steps 1 to 6 are enough to play a game. Keywords and domains make more sense once you've seen a few cards in action, and deckbuilding is the last step because the starter decks are built for you. Riot's own Core Rules PDF, which every part of this guide is checked against, is on the Riftbound Rules Hub.

What to start with

Proving Grounds, Riot's starter box, is the easiest start. It has four prebuilt decks led by Annie (Fury and Chaos), Master Yi (Calm and Body), Lux (Mind and Order) and Garen (Body and Order), so between them they cover all six domains, and it plays two to four people. The Proving Grounds guide lists what is in the box.

To learn with other people, look for a Nexus Night at a local game store. It is Riot's weekly casual event, and where to play Riftbound explains how to find one. If you came from League of Legends, Riftbound and League of Legends shows where the champions and items turn up.

Tips for your first games

TipWhy

Score your holds before you channelHolds are scored in the Beginning Phase, and they are the points new players forget most.

Remember new units are exhaustedA unit you play this turn can't move until next turn unless it has Accelerate.

Leave a unit on each battlefield you want to keepYou only control a battlefield while you have units there.

Add up Might before you attackIf the defender survives, your units go home and you score nothing.

Keep an Action or Reaction card for showdownsMost close fights are decided by a card played mid-combat.

Plan the 8th point a turn aheadA conquer only gives the last point if you've scored every battlefield that turn.

Keep score somewhere you both can seePoints change fast in a close game, and a missed hold is easy to argue about.

Words you'll hear

TermMeaning

LegendYour Champion Legend. It sets your two domains and has an ability you can use during the game.

Chosen ChampionA champion unit matching your Legend that starts the game set aside, ready to be played.

BattlefieldOne of the cards in the middle of the table that units fight over and score from.

RuneA card from your separate 12-card rune deck. Exhaust it for Energy or recycle it for Power.

Energy and PowerThe two parts of a cost: Energy is the number, Power is the domain symbols.

DomainOne of the six colors: Fury, Calm, Mind, Body, Chaos and Order.

ShowdownThe window where players take turns playing Action and Reaction cards, including at the start of every combat.

Conquer and holdTaking control of a battlefield, and still controlling it at the start of your turn. Each scores 1 point.

MightA unit's combat strength and how much damage kills it.

Burn outDrawing from an empty deck: reshuffle your trash, and an opponent gains 1 point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Riftbound hard to learn?

The core is quick to pick up: move units to battlefields, win fights there, and score points until someone has 8. The parts that take a few games are combat damage assignment, the final point rule and when Action and Reaction cards can be played. This guide covers each one on its own page.

What should a beginner buy first for Riftbound?

Proving Grounds, Riot's starter box. It has four ready-to-play decks led by Annie, Master Yi, Lux and Garen, which together cover all six domains, and it plays two to four people.

Do you need to know League of Legends to play Riftbound?

No. The champions, regions and items come from League of Legends, but the rules stand on their own. Knowing League helps you recognize names like Ganking or Baron Nashor, nothing more.

Where can I learn to play Riftbound in person?

At a local game store's Nexus Night, Riot's weekly casual event. Riot's event search on playriftbound.com lists them, and casual events are a good place to ask for a teaching game.

How many points do you need to win Riftbound?

8 in 1v1 and free-for-all games, 11 in 2v2. A conquer only gives you the last point if you have scored every battlefield that turn.

Track your first games

TurnZero HQ keeps each player's Riftbound points by battlefield, reminds you of the final point rule, and saves every game so you can see how your decks do. Free to start.

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TurnZero was created under Riot Games' "Legal Jibber Jabber" policy using assets owned by Riot Games. Riot Games does not endorse or sponsor this project. Card data comes from Riot Games' official Riftbound card gallery, and prices from TCGplayer via TCGCSV.