Riftbound Exclusive Champion Unit Reveal And What’s Next For The Hit League Of Legends Spin-Off

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Riftbound, the new trading card game based on League of Legends, had a very successful launch in late October. Initial products like card packs and pre-constructed decks sold out quickly, as did the tutorial game, Proving Grounds. Competitive play is also gaining momentum, with tournaments now happening across the country.

The game’s second expansion, Spiritforged, was revealed at PAX Unplugged and is scheduled to release in early 2026. During a one-hour presentation led by Riftbound’s lead designer, Dave Guskin, new cards, gameplay features, and playable characters were showcased. Since then, more previews of the new cards have appeared online.

At PAX Unplugged, we spoke with Dave Guskin about how people responded to the release of Riftbound and what the team is working on for Spiritforged and future projects. We’re also excited to share a first look at a new card from Spiritforged, and Guskin explains how to use this Champion effectively in gameplay.

Lessons Learned

It’s been a month since Riftbound’s first set, Origins, launched, and the team at Guskin says things are going well, despite a few challenges. Both players and the developers agree that the biggest issue has been getting the cards into the hands of those who want them. Guskin confirmed they’re working hard to fulfill orders, but admits demand has been very high.

Okay, so when we were figuring out how many copies of Origins to make at first, it was a real headache. We were stuck between making too many – which could end up with games gathering dust on shelves and people thinking it wasn’t popular – or not enough, and disappointing fans who couldn’t find a copy anywhere. Honestly, it was tough, but we had a plan to try and get it right.

We aimed to produce just enough of the product, but we anticipated we wouldn’t quite meet demand, says Guskin. Our priority was getting cards to players without making decisions that could harm the game’s future, either for those who play it or the overall market. We ultimately erred on the side of caution.

Some players who opened the initial set of packs experienced an issue where they only received one rare card instead of the expected two. The team was upset to hear about this, especially how it affected the excitement of opening the first packs, and they are working to resolve the problem for those affected customers.

As a fan, I was really glad to hear Guskin talk about what happened with those packs. They’ve been looking into it to figure out how it went wrong and, more importantly, how to stop it from happening again. Apparently, seeing feedback from players – especially when people showed them the packs they received – was super helpful in pinpointing the problem and improving things. They’ve even launched a program where affected players can sign up for a ‘rare replacement pack’ – basically a random rare card to make things right. It’s awesome to see them taking player concerns seriously and actively working on a solution!

With the game now available, the first competitive tournaments are starting, and players like Annie and Sett are proving to be strong contenders. The developers expected certain champions – including Kai’sa, Ahri, and Teemo – to perform well, but they weren’t sure exactly how the competitive landscape would evolve.

Predicting the most effective strategies is difficult. Millions of players collectively discover powerful techniques and explore the game in ways our design team can’t anticipate. We had a general idea of what would be strong, but we couldn’t know the specific winning combinations – those usually emerge as players experiment and share their discoveries.

We’re very pleased with the positive response to the decks and the enthusiasm for Nexus Nights at local game stores,” said Guskin. “We were thrilled with the initial launch, and now we’re focused on what comes next.

On to Spiritforged

At PAX Unplugged, the team revealed Spiritforged, the second expansion for Riftbound, and discussed how it will change gameplay. The set includes 12 new Legend cards that open up fresh deck-building possibilities. Players can look forward to seeing familiar Champions like Ahri return, and new Champions like Azir and Ezreal joining the Riftbound universe.

A major new feature is Equipment cards. These cards attach to your units, making them stronger and giving them special abilities. While players familiar with trading card games will likely understand the basic idea, Riftbound’s version has some unique twists.

Guskin explains that once an Equipment card is attached to a unit, it stays there permanently – even after the unit uses it. This creates a strategic choice: players must decide whether to equip an item right away for immediate benefits or save it for a more powerful unit later on. He also confirmed that spells and effects will be included to allow players to move Equipment between units, potentially leading to new and creative deck strategies.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Equipment cards in Riftbound, and it’s cool to learn they were actually considered way back when the game was first being made! Apparently, the team tested them out early on, but decided to hold off including them in the original ‘Origins’ set. Guskin explained that they felt adding Equipment on top of everything else new players had to learn would have been overwhelming. So, they wisely saved it for ‘Spiritforged’ when players were already familiar with the basics – a really smart move, I think!

Spiritforged is adding a couple of new features. First, the ‘Repeat’ mechanic lets you cast a spell twice for double the effect – you simply pay the spell’s cost again. Second, ‘Gold’ tokens act like an extra source of energy, letting you add one energy of any color to your pool, functioning similarly to Treasure tokens in Magic: The Gathering.

Guskin believes three new Champions – Ornn, Lucien, and Ezreal – show promise. Ornn can help you acquire resources for Gear and abilities, potentially leading to a unique deck focused on Gear that hasn’t been prominent in competitive play. Lucien, on the other hand, allows for a mobile, mid-range strategy that, combined with Equipment, can be very aggressive.

Ezreal is Guskin’s favorite champion in League of Legends, and he’s excited about how Ezreal plays in Riftbound. “He’s just as mischievous as he is in League,” Guskin jokes. “His special ability lets you draw a card whenever you target an enemy twice in a turn. It doesn’t even have to be by defeating them – moving them, weakening them, anything counts! Plus, his ability recharges quickly, which is a huge advantage.”

Spiritforged is introducing Azir, the Emperor of the Sands, as a new Champion. He’s a green and yellow Legend who fights by summoning Sand Soldier tokens. We’re also now revealing his companion Champion card, which hadn’t been shown before.

Meet Azir, Sovereign

We’re excited to announce Azir, Sovereign, a new yellow Champion card representing the Emperor of the Sands! This card costs four power and has an attack strength of four. Azir has the ‘Accelerate’ ability, letting you pay one extra power and discard a yellow rune to immediately activate him. His special ability allows you to move any number of token units onto the battlefield whenever he attacks.

Azir works exceptionally well in decks that focus on summoning tokens, as he can quickly transform a small attack into a large force. According to Guskin, this new Azir card will fit nicely with existing Viktor-based strategies, and a unique aspect of his ability offers even more strategic options.

Guskin explains that Viktor really focuses on collecting Recruit tokens – when you’re playing him, those tokens are key. Azir is different; he just needs any kind of token. Also, putting a Champion with the Accelerate ability on the board creates pressure because your opponent has to worry not only about where you’ll place Azir, but also how tokens might change the outcome of a fight.

The future of Riftbound

Riftbound is a very new game, currently featuring only one set of cards. However, the game’s creator, Guskin, is already planning ahead. He receives a lot of requests and ideas for future characters, so thinking about what’s next is a constant part of his work.

As a fan, I’ve definitely noticed a lot of people asking for specific Champions! The developers have said they get requests all the time. It doesn’t seem like one Champion is way more popular than others, but everyone has their favorite they’re really hoping to see added. It’s funny, because when people ask when their main will be available, the developers jokingly respond that they know the future but can’t say anything, so it’s either coming soon or it isn’t!

Even if that initial response seemed uncertain, the Riftbound team actually has plenty of future plans. They announced at PAX Unplugged that they’re aiming to release four sets in 2026, and they plan to continue releasing that many sets each year going forward.

Guskin shared that they have a rough plan for Riftbound covering the next five years, anticipating around 20 sets in total. They’ve made significant progress on the first five to ten sets – some are already in production, others are finalized, and the rest are either in development or about to begin.

Considering all the new cards being added, the competitive card game could become difficult to manage with such a large selection. However, Guskin has a solution: he proposes the first card rotation – removing older cards from competitive play – will happen at the start of 2028.

Okay, so here’s the deal with the game’s evolving world. By early 2028, after we’ve had two full years of releasing four sets a year, plus the ‘Origins’ set coming out in 2025, and that tenth set hits, we’re planning to retire the very first four or five sets. That way, the core experience – what we’re calling ‘standard’ – will always be built around five to eight sets. Honestly, that feels like a much more reasonable amount to keep track of and enjoy!

The new Spiritforged set will be available starting February 13th at local game stores and major retailers.

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2025-11-28 17:11