7 Things We Loved (& Hated) About Riftbound Spiritforged

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Riot Games recently launched its own trading card game, Riftbound, building on the popular world of League of Legends. While the first set of cards was difficult to find, players who got their hands on it were excited about the game. Now, with the release of the second set, Spiritforged, we’re sharing the seven things we liked and disliked the most about it.

7. Love: Equipment Shakes Up The Game


A major new feature in Riftbound is the introduction of Equipment cards. These cards add exciting new options to the game’s already strong system, offering weapons, shields, and armor that you can attach to your units. Several special abilities let you choose when to equip these items, and they can have a significant impact on gameplay.

Items like Guardian Angel offer a +1 bonus to Might, but their biggest benefit is that dying destroys the item, healing and tiring you out before sending you back to base. Serrated Dirk boosts your Might by +2 when attacking, and Cloth Armor does the same (+2) while defending. Special items, such as Trinity Force, provide a +2 Might bonus and also let you earn a point by controlling the battlefield.

Legends also have unique Signature Gear, which can be even stronger. For instance, Shurelya’s Requiem instantly prepares your units and then gives them the ability to quickly move between battles (called Ganking) along with a +2 power boost. This equipment adds a deeper level of strategy to the game, and we expect that to grow as more options become available.

6. Love: Rumble Is Everything


I’m really excited about the Spiritforged Rumble deck! It’s totally built around Mechs, and a lot of the cards have that keyword, which is awesome. It makes it super easy to pull off combos – you play a few smaller units, and then Rumble’s Legend and Champion cards quickly boost them up. Before you know it, you’ve got this army that’s just getting stronger and stronger, working together as a real powerhouse. And honestly, when it all clicks, it’s amazing – it just dominates!

The Rumble Legend card boosts the defense of your Mechs (+1 Shield). Champion Rumble (Hotheaded) then gives each Mech an attack bonus (+1 Might). If you win with this card, you can also bring a friendly unit back into play as a Mech from your discard pile, and it will cost less to deploy. Other cards let you add Mech tokens to battlefields you control, and the other Champion Rumble unit, Scrapper, lets you continuously produce Mech tokens if you can hold a battlefield with him for multiple turns.

Rumble is incredibly enjoyable to play. He’s easy to pick up, but also has a surprising amount of strategic depth, making him a really powerful champion.

5. Hated: Not So Mighty Fiora


Besides Rumble, Spiritforged also includes a pre-built Fiora deck, but I didn’t enjoy playing it as much. While Fiora’s core cards and Champions are fine individually, the deck as a whole isn’t as engaging as Rumble’s, and it’s harder to create powerful combinations during gameplay.

Fiora’s strategy revolves around the ‘Mighty’ keyword – when a unit reaches 5 or more Might, it becomes ‘nightly’. Her ‘Grand Duelist’ card lets you use a rune when one of your units becomes Mighty. The goal is to generate runes faster than your opponent, letting you play stronger units earlier. However, in practice, I found this strategy didn’t consistently work as planned.

This deck has cards that give you powerful boosts when you meet specific conditions, and you’ll want to activate those ‘Mighty’ abilities when you can. You also get benefits from simply having Mighty units on the board. However, I often found my units almost strong enough to trigger those abilities, even with buffs. When I did manage to get a few Mighty units going, the deck was enjoyable, but it didn’t feel as strong or interesting to play as some other Leaders, like Rumble, so I probably won’t be playing it much in the future.

4. Love: I Love Gold!

The biggest new feature in Riftbound was Equipment, but Spiritforged also brought some improvements, including a new use for Gold. Certain Legends and Champions now create Gold Tokens, which let you spend 1 Gold to destroy a card and gain 1 Power in any domain you choose.

Even a single Gold Token can be really helpful when you need a little extra energy, but the benefit grows quickly as you collect more over time. This creates a powerful reserve you can use in the late game to play expensive units or equip gear, giving you more options during crucial moments. While Spiritforged introduces upgrades to Riftbound, don’t underestimate the value of collecting Gold.

3. Hated: Battlefields Are A Mixed Bag

Although Gold is impressive, you’ll spend more time fighting on battlefields. In a two-player game, each player will have one battlefield in play, and changing battlefields between games can significantly impact how the game feels. Unfortunately, the battlefields in Spiritforged are a bit inconsistent in quality.

Spiritforged features some really interesting battlefields that can significantly change each round. For instance, Power Nexus lets you spend 4 power to earn a point, but Forgotten Monument doesn’t allow scoring until turn three. Marai Spire and Emperor’s Dais are also notable – though to get the most out of Emperor’s Dais, you’ll want a deck built around Sand Soldiers.

As a big fan of Spiritforged, I’ve noticed something that bothers me. A lot of the bases just don’t feel very exciting or really change how battles play. Like, the Sunken Temple has this effect tied to the ‘Mighty’ keyword, which is okay, but honestly, the ‘Mighty’ keyword itself isn’t that impactful in this set. It feels like a missed opportunity to make these bases really stand out!

Some locations, like Veiled Temple and Hall of Legends, sound good on paper, but I rarely found them helpful during gameplay. Others, including Forge of the Fluft, The Papertree, and Seat of Power, occasionally had an impact, but generally, you could replace them with different locations without noticing much difference in how the game played.

2. Love: Repeat Is A Powerhouse


Besides equipment, a key new feature in Riftbound is the ‘Repeat’ ability, which appears on spells and some other cards. When you see ‘Repeat,’ you can pay an extra cost to use the card’s effect again, and this can significantly change the outcome of a situation.

Piercing Light, for example, deals 2 damage to one unit, and then up to 2 more damage to another. You can repeat this effect by paying an extra 2 cost, and with cheaper units on the field, you could potentially clear the entire battlefield with just that card. Alternatively, Hard Bargain lets you counter a spell unless the opponent pays 2 cost, and you can continue countering for only 2 cost each time.

Some abilities are more expensive to use repeatedly, but can be very effective. For example, ‘Marching Orders’ lets you target a friendly and enemy unit anywhere on the battlefield, dealing damage to both equal to their strength, and you can repeat this for a cost of 3. This can eliminate key enemy units or significantly weaken their forces. ‘Rocket Barrage’ offers two options: deal 4 damage to a unit in their base, or destroy a piece of their equipment. Repeating this for a cost of 4 lets you eliminate threats before they reach the battlefield.

1. Love: Shining Leaders


Finally, let’s highlight the new Legends in Spiritforged. This set introduces 12 Legends, and they’re all interesting to play with the right strategy. However, a handful are particularly strong.

I especially like two characters. Chem-Baroness has a great look and a unique ability: you can ‘exhaust’ her to play a Gold gear token. When you’re close to winning—within 3 points of 8—those Gold tokens give you extra energy. Then there’s Emperor of the Sands, who strengthens all Sand Soldier cards with the Weapon Master ability. You can also use him to deploy a powerful 2 Might Sand Soldier unit to your base by paying energy, but you need to have played an Equipment card that turn.

The update also features Battle Mistress, who lets you get more value from unwanted runes by converting them into Gold gear, and she activates whenever a unit falls in battle. Lucian empowers your gear to grant an Attack bonus while a unit is attacking, and Draven gives you an extra card draw after winning a fight – a big advantage as the game goes on.

Overall, Riftbound Spiritforged is a fantastic addition to an already great game. It adds more depth and strategy without sacrificing the core fun that made the game so enjoyable. If you haven’t tried the game yet, I highly recommend it!

Riftbound Spiritforged is in stores now.

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2026-03-02 03:42