Riftbound
In Riftbound, Riot Games' League of Legends card game, you send units to battlefields in the middle of the table and score a point each time you take one or start your turn holding one. The first player to 8 points wins. This guide follows a 1v1 game from setup to the last point, as of Riot's September 2026 rules.
You win by reaching 8 points first in a 1v1 game. Nearly all of those points come from battlefields, the sideways cards in the middle of the table. You score 1 when you take control of a battlefield and 1 at the start of each of your turns that you still control it. Your units are how you take and keep them.
Each player brings four separate parts:
To set up a casual 1v1 game, each player picks 1 of their 3 battlefields at random and both go in the middle, so there are 2 battlefields in play. Shuffle your main deck and rune deck separately, decide who goes first at random, and draw 4. Then, in turn order, each player may mulligan: set aside up to two cards from your hand, draw that many, and put the set-aside cards on the bottom of your deck. In a best-of-three match you choose your battlefield instead of picking at random, and after a game that someone wins, both battlefields used in it are out for the rest of the match.
A main deck holds three types of card: units, spells and gear. Champion units are units with an extra rule.
The costs, Might and domains printed on a card are covered in How to Read a Riftbound Card.
Every turn runs through the same six phases. The names are Riot's, and new players often remember the first four as ABCD.
Runes pay for everything. Exhaust a rune to add 1 Energy, which pays the number in the circle on a card. Recycle a rune, putting it on the bottom of your rune deck, to add 1 Power of its domain, which pays the domain symbols under that number. Runes have their own deck, so you never draw one in place of a spell, which is how a Magic player can end up holding lands when they need something to cast.
Units enter play exhausted, so a unit you play this turn usually can't move until your next turn (the Accelerate keyword is the exception). Moving is also paid for by exhausting: a ready unit can move from your base to a battlefield or back, and then it stays exhausted until your next Awaken.
A combat starts when units of two players are at the same battlefield, usually because you moved yours onto a battlefield where an opponent's units stand. The player who moved in is the attacker. Before any damage, both players get a window, called a showdown, to play spells and abilities that have Action or Reaction, starting with the attacker.
Then each side adds up the Might of its units there and assigns that much damage among the other side's units, attacker first. You have to assign a unit enough damage to kill it before you move on to the next one. Damage is dealt at the same time, and any unit with damage equal to or greater than its Might dies. Surviving units then heal.
If only one side has units left, that side wins the combat and takes control of the battlefield. If the defender still has units there, the attacker's survivors go back to their base. Taking control of a battlefield you haven't scored this turn is a conquer, which scores 1 point. Moving onto an empty battlefield skips the damage but still opens a showdown first, and if you still have units there when it ends, you take control.
You score 1 point when you conquer a battlefield and 1 point for each battlefield you hold at the start of your turn. Each battlefield can score for you only once per turn, either way. Some cards give points too.
The last point is harder to get. If you are one point from winning, a conquer only gives you that point if you have scored every battlefield this turn, and otherwise you draw a card instead. Points from holding or from a card aren't restricted this way.
Running out of cards doesn't make you lose. If you have to draw from an empty main deck, you burn out: shuffle your trash into a new main deck, choose an opponent to gain 1 point, then finish drawing. That point can win them the game.
The Riftbound score tracker guide covers scoring in more detail, with the victory score for each mode, and TurnZero HQ can keep the count for you.
Riot's rules define five sanctioned modes. 1v1 comes as a single game or a best-of-three match. Free-for-all works for three or four players, and 2v2 team play has teammates taking turns in alternation with the other team. Every mode is won at 8 points except team play, which is won at 11. Organized events add Riot's Tournament Rules, and which cards are legal can change between releases, so check the current rules for your event.
Play a game with a friend and keep the Core Rules open for the first few turns, especially for combat. To build your own deck, start with the guide to building a Riftbound deck. To learn what your cards are worth, see how much your Riftbound cards are worth. The whole set of tools is on the Riftbound hub, and you can browse published Riftbound decks to see how others build.
Reach the victory score first: 8 points in a 1v1 game or a free-for-all, 11 in 2v2 team play. Most points come from conquering and holding battlefields. A conquer can only give you your last point if you have scored every battlefield that turn.
The main deck is at least 40 cards, and your Chosen Champion counts toward those 40. You also bring a Champion Legend, a separate rune deck of exactly 12 and 3 battlefields. The deck-building guide covers the full construction rules.
Runes pay for your cards. You channel 2 from your rune deck onto the board each turn. Exhausting a rune adds 1 Energy, and recycling it to the bottom of the rune deck adds 1 Power of its domain. Runes never go in your main deck, so you never draw one in place of a spell.
Two, three or four. Riot's rules define 1v1, a three-player and a four-player free-for-all, and 2v2 team play. This guide describes 1v1, which is where most players start.
Yes. TurnZero HQ's score tracker keeps one score per player and records the result, free with an account. It counts to 8, so it does not track team play.
Riot Games publishes the Riftbound Core Rules and the Tournament Rules as PDFs on its Riftbound Rules Hub, and updates them at least once per set. This page is a summary for new players, and where it differs from Riot's current rules, Riot's rules win.
TurnZero HQ keeps each player's points, calls the winner at 8, and saves the game with the gathering. Free to start.
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