The weekend is here, and among the Valentine’s Day celebrations, I’ll be looking for one thing in my local shops: Spiritforged, the latest set in Rift bound trading card game (TCG) that features the cast and world of League of Legends and Exciting, the hit game and the Netflix show.
With the addition of new equipment gear – which your units can use for powerful buffs – along with gold tokens, a new resource option to play your most powerful cards, plus some excellent new Champions and Legends to build around, this set adds a lot of exciting game pieces for players to experiment with. I’m currently constructing an Azir deck after some lucky draws in my box and because I love the design of his cards.
But forget all that for a moment because I want to celebrate the actual best addition to Rift bound that dropped with this new set: Pre-Rift, Riftbound’s Limited format.
I am also a major Magic: The Gathering player and outside of Commander, my favorite way to experience the game is through Limited – either Draft or Sealed environments. Essentially, instead of arriving with a pre-made deck, you show up, open packs, and build a deck. You then play a tournament on the spot with the other players.
Draft uses fewer packs, which you take one or two cards from at a time before passing it on to the next player in your group. Sealed, meanwhile, you’ve opened six packs that are all yours – this was the format for Spiritforged’s Pre-Rift.
However, to make this format work, Riot’s designers had to make a few tweaks Rift bounds rules and how the Sealed experience works. After experiencing it myself last weekend, they did a great job.
Firstly, rather than Rift bound‘s usual two Rune domain limit per deck, you can play up to three variants in your deck. Second, while you normally have to play a Legend and Champion pair of the same character, this format allows you to mix and match.
Not only does this make it a little easier to build a deck with the random selection of cards you open, it also opens up the possibility of inventive strategies.
I played a fairly basic (though admittedly difficult to control) aggressive game led by a Draven Legend and Rengar Champion who as a duo rewarded me and helped me win matches. But others I played against were much more interesting – my round two opponent, for example, paired Irelia with Orin in an Equipment-heavy deck to turn their Champion into a powerhouse that could decimate one battlefield before setting up and decimating the other.
This Mind, Calm and Chaos build wouldn’t be possible in a regular match and I’m sure that’s exactly what Riot is Rift bound the team wants to see from tires made at the event.
A few other changes were the smaller deck size – which is common for Limited formats – as well as the option to choose not to play a Legend or Champion at all (you just get an extra card at the start of the game). You can also play empty Battlefields if your opened arena wouldn’t benefit you (or could actively hurt your strategy), and also have one of your six packs seeded – meaning you’ll get a Champion and Legend pair of the same character, as well as a selection of cards that would work well in a deck led by them.
I had such a great time with Pre-Rift that it made me hungry to play something similar soon, but it’s going to be hard because you can’t find any stocks.
At the same time, we see TCGs as Magic: The Gathering creating more Limited-friendly products like its Draft Night boxes, which give players packs and a prize to run their own mini-event with friends, and the continued Jump Start releases, where you open two packs that you mash together and start playing with – a super accessible entry point for new players.
Hopefully Riot can crack Riftbound’s accessibility issues this year as I’m sure so many people like me have wanted to experience this game world since binging Excitingbut found League of Legends for not being their cup of tea.
Until then, I’ll just have to count down the days until Unleashed (the game’s next set) drops and the next Pre-Rift starts.
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