Riftbound, the League of Legends card game, caps off the year with its latest booster set, Radiance. This marks the fifth set in the TCG, and a highly anticipated collaboration with Riot Games Music. In addition to some fan favorite iterations of Legends, we’re of course introduced to some new mechanics and new Legends, like Evelynn and the IGN-exclusively-revealed Mordekaiser. We’re also getting another two-player constructed starter kit in the form of the Evelynn and Seraphine showdown decks. As a fan of Riot Games Music and groups like K/DA, this set is looking to be an exciting drop not just for players but for a whole different segment within the Riot fanbase.
Arguably, the most exciting addition of every new set are the new mechanics to play around with. In Radiance, we have three new keywords with Deploy, Show Off, and Disarm. Deploy is another take on gear that focuses heavily on battlefield control versus activating abilities at base or equipping attachments directly onto units. For example, the Bushwhack Trap gear allows the owner or ally controlling the associated battlefield to play another hidden card there, even though the limit is usually one per battlefield. Show Off allows players to reveal a card from their hand or choose a friendly card on the field to activate its abilities to a certain degree. The spell Rousing Display may have the player reveal a card of energy cost 7 or more to gain the full effect. If the criteria is successfully met, Rousing Display plays four token units instead of two. And Disarm is probably the most straightforward addition, being the opposite of Assault where units with Disarm lower an enemy’s might on attack rather than empowering their own might. I especially like the new Deploy keyword in gear, as it makes for some inconvenient scenarios for your opponent if you can hold the battlefield. It’s another layer of risk and reward to think about when taking into account the timing of movement. It’s also a nice touch to balance this new type of gear by having the simple act of holding a battlefield to get rid of an opponent’s deployed gear, considering gear removal isn’t as readily available as removal for units. Overall, there’s a nice mix of keywords this time around that I’m enjoying so far.
As always, the two-player kit of showdown decks is a good way for new players to jump right into the game and showcase the hot new mechanics and Legends. For Radiance, we have the new Evelynn (Body and Chaos) vs Seraphine (Mind and Order) Showdown Decks. After getting a few matches piloting both, the Evelynn deck is probably my favorite of the two, focusing on hiding cards for extra benefits. For example, the Evelynn Agony’s Embrace Legend allows the player to draw a card if a hidden or facedown card is revealed for the first time that turn. This alongside the battlefield, Bandle Scouts’ Academy, which has a player gain a Gold gear token when hiding a card there adds an extra resource edge. Furthermore, the champion unit Evelynn In Control can score an additional point if she holds a battlefield with a facedown card. With the possibility of holding battlefields quickly while gaining extra resources to play hidden cards, this Evelynn deck can really get ahead without falling behind on runes too much. The Seraphine deck is still a contender, though, focusing more on going wide and playing a ton of units for optimizing the effects of their cards. For example, the Seraphine Starry-Eyed Songstress Legend has an ability to exhaust herself and three friendly units to reduce the cost of a spell by two mana or runes. Another cool card in the deck is the champion unit Seraphine Not Alone, who plays a 1 might recruit when she’s played or exhausted via moving or another different ability. In addition she gains +1 might for every other exhausted unit the player controls. So this Seraphine unit can get really buff as long as the exhausted units stay alive on the field. Similarly, the spell card High Note benefits from exhausted units the player controls. When played, the player can give a unit negative might for every exhausted unit they control. It’s great synergy if you can keep these lowly tokens around long enough. For me, the Seraphine deck was just a bit slower to set up than the Evelynn deck. Not to mention the Show Off keyword emphasis in the deck meant having more high energy cost cards in my hand that I wasn’t able to use often enough on curve since I was focusing on going wide. Either way I see the potential in both decks to be tweaked enough for a competitive scene.
Now the biggest question for many players getting into the new competitive season: which new cards should I use in my decks? First off, there are some high-performing meta decks from the last set to consider taking into the Radiance meta. Irelia Blade Dancer is one in particular that’s still a fan favorite with Calm(green) and Chaos(purple). This is a spell heavy deck that focuses on unit survivability while being nimble to gain benefits. To keep with the spells and movement trend, the Satchel Charge card is a good choice to add. In addition to moving a friendly unit, the player can play a bomb token on a battlefield. The bomb token serves as another threat if the opposing player tries to hold. Another good spell card is Hush, which counters expensive cost cards. Sometimes the opposing player just needs a big out, and Hush is a good way to kill that momentum shift. In regards to survivability, the Resplendent Rostrum gear could be a good add, giving not only a +3 might buff to a unit, but also a refresh to your hand and rune count.
Another current meta deck that could carry over into Radiance is Azir Emperor of the Sands in Calm(green) and Order(yellow). This deck focuses on equipment and Azir’s Sand Soldier tokens. It’s pretty wild to run next to no units in this deck, but it works. Azir’s ability is so unique that it’s tough to stray away from the current deck brews out there. So in terms of Radiance cards, spells would fit best since we don’t have much equipment to work with in these two colors. There are some new spells that synergize with gear, making perfect additions to this deck. The first being Battle Preparations, which gives +2 might to a unit. But if you Show Off a gear card, which is fairly easy in this deck, the player can ready up two runes, thus making this spell free in the end. The other ideal spell to consider is Command: Attack, which allows the player to look at the top 5 cards of the deck and reveal a gear to add to their hand. There’s a secondary ability for gear with the Deploy keyword, but that isn’t the best use in this Azir deck. And Raucous Anthem is another spell with potential that readies the player’s units and gives them +3 might for the turn. It may help with a game-changing big push, including any new Sand Soldier token units that were just played that turn. There are not too many new cards to consider, but the small tweaks can be a net positive.
Even though the Mordekaiser seems like a promising Legend in this set, the one that intrigues me the most is Ziggs Hexplosives Expert, who has the ability to play a bomb token to any battlefield. The idea of littering bomb tokens across both battlefields sounds like a good time. Not only do they possibly prevent the opposing players from holding consistently, they’ll most likely lose some units just to get rid of the bombs. So while you’re laying these traps, you can set up or even get ahead on conquers and holds if they don’t want to risk losing their units to contest. Explosimian is a great example of explosive pressure adding three bomb tokens to a battlefield whenever they hold. Alongside Ziggs Short-Fused, each bomb token does an extra damage. So potentially, Explosimian can set up nine damage if the opposing player decides to take the risk of occupying a battlefield. It doesn’t stop scoring via holds, but players will have to rebuild their board state if they don’t have an answer to these bombs. Speaking of answers, units with Deflect is the obvious counter here by making players pay an additional mana to target with bombs, but I’d still try the Legend out anyway. Maybe the competition will least expect it. The Fury(red) and Chaos(purple) of Ziggs also reminds me of Draven, so there might be some cards there that transfer over fairly easily like Falling Star to finish off what the bombs couldn’t or Kai-Sa Survivor with the potential open battlefields after bomb activations.
As a band geek and fan of Riot Games Music, the music-themed special and overnumbered cards of Radiance speak to me. When Riftbound first released, I had a chance to talk to Dave Guskin, the Game Director, and one of the many questions I asked was when K/DA would show up. Of course, he was very aware of their popularity among others and it was very much a possibility. Now they’re here in the Radiance set alongside the group HEARTSTEEL and some sleek-looking runes featuring instruments to boot. In another IGN interview with Riftbound executive producer Chengran Chai, he mentioned that they “…knew Riot as a whole would have a music moment towards the end of the year, so very early on, we said we would lean into that.” Now with K/DA dropping their new song FIRESTARTER alongside some new looks, Riftbound has also celebrated the new release with a Couture Collection collaboration. Overall, this “music moment” in Riftbound is one of my favorites of the game so far.
From the new mechanics and Legends to the Riot Games Music representation with K/DA and HEARTSTEEL, Radiance is an exciting set for players, collectors, and even fans of the music groups. The new keywords have potential to make a major change in how players interact with battlefields, and the music collaborations brings in a new type of fan into the Riftbound community. There’s a lot to chew on this set from a competitive and collector point of view, and I look forward to seeing how it shakes out going into the new year. For more on Riftbound, check out our hands-on impressions of the last set Vendetta, and also our interview with Riftbound executive producer Chengran Chai about the Radiance set.
Mike Mamon is a Syndication & Digital Specialist at IGN, devil fruit user, and world-renown JoJo poser. Let’s chat anime or TCGs on Bluesky @xpmnms.bsky.social