Riftbound, Riot’s trading card game (TCG), has launched its new set of cards in China. This is the second-ever set for the card game, and its first update since the release of the League of Legends-themed card game. Spiritforged will come out in English for the rest of the world on February 13, 2026. Here’s everything that Riftbound’s new set brings!
Riftbound is an interesting shift for Riot, mainly because it’s a fully offline experience which has more in common with the likes of Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon cards than video games. The launch of the TCG received positive responses, but it is still too early to draw any solid conclusions.
The focus of the news and of the spoiler season: champion legends! Acting as Magic: The Gathering’s commanders, Champion Legend cards are the centrepiece around which a deck must be built. It’s no surprise that they are at the center of attention when a new set comes out.
Here are the 12 new Champion Legends in Spiritforged!
| Champion Legend | Domains | Ability |
|---|---|---|
| Azir | Calm, Order | Sand Soldiers you play have Weaponmaster. (When they’re played, you may Equip one of your Equipment to them for [A] less.) [1], Exhaust: Play a 2 Might Sand Soldier unit token to your base. Use only if you’ve played an Equipment this turn. |
| Draven | Fury, Chaos | When you win a combat, draw 1. (You win if only your units remain after combat.) |
| Ezreal | Mind, Chaos | Exhaust: Reaction — Draw 1. Use only if you’ve chosen enemy units and/or gear twice this turn with spells or unit abilities. |
| Fiora | Body, Order | When one of your units becomes Mighty, you may exhaust me to channel 1 rune exhausted. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ Might) |
| Irelia | Calm, Chaos | When you choose a friendly unit, you may exhaust me and pay [A] to ready it.
When you conquer, you may pay [1] to ready me. |
| Jax | Calm, Body | [1], Exhaust: Attach a detached Equipment you control to a unit you control. Exhaust: Attach an attached Equipment you control to a unit you control. |
| Lucian | Fury, Body | Your Equipment each give Assault. (+1 Might while equipped unit is an attacker.) |
| Ornn | Calm, Mind | Exhaust: Reaction – Add [A]. Use only to play gear or use gear abilities. (Abilities that add resources can’t be reacted to.) |
| Rek’Sai | Fury, Order | When you conquer, you may exhaust me to reveal the top 2 cards of your Main Deck. You may play one. Then recycle the rest. |
| Renata Glasc | Mind, Order | When you or an ally hold, you may exhaust me to play a Gold gear token exhausted. While your score is within 3 points of the Victory Score, your Gold ADD an additional [1]. |
| Rumble | Fury, Mind | Your Mechs have Shield. (+1 Might while they’re defenders.) |
| Sivir | Body, Chaos | When you recycle a rune, you may exhaust me to play a Gold gear token exhausted. When one or more enemy units die, ready me. |
Each Legend card comes with two champion unit cards for the corresponding character. Naturally, they also all have an Overnumbered version. Overnumbered cards are very rare alternate arts for the character, with a skin on. Added to another 12 champion units, that gives us 36 new champion cards in Spiritforged.
| Champion | Domain | Tags | Gameplay focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akshan, Mischievous | Body | Akshan, Shurima, Sentinel | Equipments and equipment theft |
| Aphelios, Exalted | Calm | Aphelios, Mount Targon | Equipments |
| Azir, Ascendant | Calm | Azir, Shurima, Bird | Tokens and equipments |
| Azir, Sovereign | Order | Azir, Shurima, Bird | Tokens |
| Bard, Mercurial | Mind | Bard | Movement |
| Draven, Audacious | Chaos | Draven, Noxus | Aggression and snowball |
| Draven, Vanquisher | Fury | Draven, Noxus | Gold tokens and snowball |
| Ezreal, Dashing | Mind | Ezreal, Piltover | Movement and tempo |
| Ezareal, Prodigy | Chaos | Ezreal, Piltover | Tempo |
| Fiora, Peerless | Body | Fiora, Demacia | Dueling |
| Fiora, Worthy | Order | Fiora, Demacia | Mighty |
| Fizz, Trickster | Chaos | Fizz, Bilgewater, Yordle | Spells and discard |
| Irelia, Fervent | Calm | Irelia, Ionia | Equipments and single-target buffs |
| Irelia, Graceful | Chaos | Irelia, Ionia | Equipments and single-target buffs |
| Janna, Savior | Calm | Janna, Zaun | Control |
| Jax, Unmatched | Calm | Jax, Icathia | Equipments |
| Jax, Unrelenting | Body | Jax, Icathia | Equipments |
| Jayce, Man of Progress | Mind | Jayce, Piltover | Gears |
| Lucian, Gunslinger | Fury | Lucian, Demacia, Sentinel | Aggression |
| Lucian, Merciless | Body | Lucian, Demacia, Sentinel | Aggression and equipments |
| Ornn, Blacksmith | Calm | Ornn, Freljord | Gears |
| Ornn, Forge God | Mind | Ornn, Freljord | Gears and equipments |
| Rek’Sai, Breacher | Fury | Rek’Sai, The Void | Aggression |
| Rek’Sai, Swarm Queen | Order | Rek’Sai, The Void | Aggression |
| Rell, Magnetic | Fury | Rell, Noxus | Equipments |
| Renata Glasc, Industrialist | Order | Renata Glasc, Zaun | Tokens and ramp |
| Renata Glasc, Mastermind | Mind | Renata Glasc, Zaun | Ramp payoffs |
| Rengar, Pouncing | Fury | Rengar, Ixtal, Cat | Aggression |
| Rumble, Hotheaded | Fury | Rumble, Bandle City, Yordle, Mech | Mechs, discard, and aggression |
| Rumble, Scrapper | Mind | Rumble, Bandle City, Yordle, Mech | Mechs and aggression |
| Sivir, Ambitious | Body | Sivir, Shurima | Ramp payoffs |
| Sivir, Mercenary | Chaos | Sivir, Shurima | Ramp payoffs |
| Soraka, Wanderer | Order | Soraka, Mount Targon | Defense |
| Vex, Cheerless | Chaos | Vex, Shadow Isles, Yordle | Spells |
| Xin Zhao, Vigilant | Order | Xin Zhao, Demacia | Mid-range |
| Yone, Blademaster | Body | Yone, Ionia, Demon | Equipments |
Spirit Blossom Ahri, an overnumbered Spiritforged card. Image Source: Riot Games
The Spirit Blossom Overnumbered skins in Spiritforged will be given to:
The centerpiece of Spiritforged is the addition of Equipment cards. Equipments are gear cards that have no effect while they’re sitting on the board. However, the Equipment can be attached to a unit for a cost. While attached, it gives bonuses to said unit.
The Long Sword equipment card. Image Source: Riot Games
Alongside Equipments, two new keywords join Riftbound to support them:
Weaponmaster (unit keyword): “When you play me, you may equip one of your Equipments to me for [A] less, even if it’s already attached.”
Quick-draw (equipment keyword): “This has Reaction. When you play it, attach it to a unit you control.”
Equipments are typically risky buffs. These cards make a unit particularly hard to deal with. On the other hand, the unit can usually be killed with a spell just as easily. Once it dies, the player must pay the equip cost again for the card to have any effect. This means that equipment cards are great against units, but will cost tempo against removal-heavy decks.
However, these keywords allow them to double down as combat tricks. An equipment that can be immediately attached from hand in the middle of a fight is much more versatile.
To continue with Gear cards, Gold tokens make their appearance. Gold is a Gear token that reads: “Kill this, Exhaust: Reaction – Add [A]”. In other words, these tokens act like Runes that can only be recycled and that can push beyond the limit of 12 runes.
Riftbound’s Gold tokens. Image Source: Riot Games
Gold tokens function exactly like Treasure tokens in Magic the Gathering, and loosely like Coins in Legends of Runeterra. Numerous cards in Spiritforged have ways of creating Gold. These tokens are then meant to be used to flood the board with cheap units, play a series of buff spells, or spend it all on one big card.
Repeat, the third and last new keyword added in Spiritforged, pairs up nicely with Gold.
Repeat (Cost) (spell keyword): “You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell’s effect.”
Spells with Repeat are useful in their cheaper, default version, but they also give a way to make use of an excess of resources.
Lastly, Spiritforged brings 15 new battlefields to give any deck new options. Be it to empower strategies or negate others, they’re sure to shake up the meta.
| Battlefield | Ability |
|---|---|
| Emperor’s Dais | When you conquer here, you may pay [1] and return a unit you control here to its owner’s hand. If you do, play a 2 Might Sand Soldier unit token here. |
| Forge of the Fluft | While you control this battlefield, friendly legends have “Exhaust: Attach an Equipment you control to a unit you control.” |
| Forgotten Monument | Players can’t score here until their third turn. |
| Hall of Legends | When you conquer here, you may pay [1] to ready your legend. |
| Marai Spire | While you control this battlefield, friendly Repeat costs cost [1] less. |
| Minefield | When you conquer here, put the top 2 cards of your Main Deck into your trash. |
| Ornn’s Forge | While you control this battlefield, the first friendly non-token gear played each turn costs [1] less. |
| Power Nexus | When you hold here, you may pay [A][A][A][A] to score 1 point. |
| Ravenbloom Conservatory | When you defend here, reveal the top card of your Main Deck. If it’s a spell, put it in your hand. Otherwise, recycle it. |
| Rockfall Path | Units can’t be played here. |
| Seat of Power | When you conquer here, draw 1 for each other battlefield you or allies control. |
| Sunken Temple | When you conquer here with one or more Mighty units, you may pay [1] to draw 1. |
| The Papertree | When you hold here, each player channels 1 rune exhausted. |
| Treasure Hoard | When you conquer here, you may pay [1] to play a Gold gear token exhausted. |
| Veiled Temple | When you conquer here, you may ready a friendly gear. If it’s an Equipment, you may detach it. |
The new Riftbound set is also bringing a set of changes to the game’s core rules, as well as errata to 31 cards from Origins.
Featured Image Source: Riot Games
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