Riftbound Unleashed Review – Three For Three
Riot Games aren’t resting on their laurels with Unleashed, the third wave of Riftbound launching today. A strong IP has never been enough to solely sustain a trading card game, something the development team seems well aware of with newly introduced mechanics and strong pre-con offerings that continue to impress me.
Player2 received a veritable treasure trove of product from Riot to allow us to cover the Unleashed release, including the Vi and Vex pre-con decks, an Unleashed Vault, a full booster box, a set of Poppy themed sleeved and a Leblanc neoprene playmat.
For anyone diving into Riftbound through this release, the Vi and Vex pre-cons are a perfect on-boarding point with a few improvements over previous decks. The included QR link in each instruction booklet to the adjusted ‘How to Play’ document, now divorced from OOP Proving Grounds box, was something I’d somehow missed in the Spiritforged set. This is the first stop for anyone learning the game who isn’t crazy about videos, but does still remain unclear in some interactions and situations, especially given it doesn’t include every new mechanic introduced just yet. I’d love to see a full glossary of general game terms included at the rear of the booklet, as the 50+ page Core Rules aren’t exactly user-friendly mid-game.
The pre-cons are a little more robust and complex, Vi and Vex continuing the improvements made in the Spiritforged wave which ensure players not only have a Signature Spell card but also a good range of Champion Units to play around with. Outside of two ‘Serrated Dirk’ Spiritforged cards for Vi, both pre-cons are composed of only Unleashed cards which is great to see. Continuing to keep a Booster in Pre-cons is a consumer-friendly choice that encourages further engagement with deck construction. While other TCG’s are tweaking their pre-con product lineups, the beauty of Riftbound is the rich array of characters still to be drawn upon and I certainly hope we don’t see these disappear anytime soon, though I suspect the game’s unique deckbuilding requirements will continue to make them an attractive proposition for beginners and advanced players alike.
Digging into each deck, Vi is one of the more aggressive pre-cons, maybe the most aggressive pre-con deck I’ve used thus far and feels more straightforward to execute well compared to the Vex deck. A Fury/Order blend, Vi wants to deal excess damage, can ramp up Might on a whim and focuses on Assaulting and Ganking to move from Battlefield to Battlefield – once Vi gets her more powerful Units out, it can be tricky to get rid of them without throwing multiple units into suicide missions. Upstage Comedy can ready multiple units and Champions like Vi – Peacekeeper can knock the socks off an unsuspecting opponent while also Stunning their units thanks to Ambush, one of Unleashed’s new mechanics that lets Units be played directly to Battlefields where other owned units are present. This is a bruiser of a deck that should come out swinging, although it may take until round 3-4 to flex its muscles. Vi is a great pre-con to hand to someone you’re teaching the game to as the core strategy is both easy to understand and execute, while the Vex deck requires a touch more finesse.
Undoubtedly an answer to the Vi pre-con, Vex is a Calm/Chaos deck built around disabling enemy units and defending, but with a few subtle twists that can seriously hamper an aggressive opponent provided you’re pulling the right cards at the right time. To be honest, a defensive playstyle isn’t one I gravitate towards so have struggled to find regular success with this deck, but it sure does have some exciting things in it, starting with Vex – Apathetic. Even at my lowly skill level, the devastating effect of this card is obvious. Firstly, Deflect makes it more expensive to target, secondly while it’s at a Battlefield, an opposing unit played is Stunned, meaning they can’t move or deal combat damage that turn which completely negates the Accelerate effect (pay a cost to have a unit enter Ready) as well as the Ambush ability of the Vi pre-con. Combined with Vex – Mocking which can move to a Battlefield where you’ve Stunned an enemy unit and holy heck, we get some juicy synergy going on. The Chaos die of Vex will push units around the field, stunning them to boot, while the Calm leverages the new XP mechanic to power up card effects. One example is the Combat Experience card, which gives a +1 Might buff for a turn, unless Vex has accumulated 6XP, at which point it jumps to +3 Might. XP is generallt a side effect of some cards, like Herald of Spring that gains 2XP when played, or Mister Root who gains the same when moved to a Battlefield. It’s a slight piece of engine/tableau building which will appeal to some players more than others, but fits in tonally with the game and gave me pause a few times during play.
Both Vi and Vex will be tossing out Tokens left and right, while XP requires some way to track the numbers gained. Not everyone has bags of d6’s and spindown d20’s lying around to stay on top of XP, Might, Buffs and other adjustments made over the course of a game of Riftbound. I mean, I do, but I don’t want to assume everyone does. I’d love to see Riot put out an easy product akin to the Bulk Runes box to expand my collection of Token cards, as well as some official markers or dice to track Points and the newly introduced XP right out of the box, but there’s barely space to breathe in the pre-cons boxes as is. This may also be the last wave we see single Champion pre-con decks anyway, as the upcoming Vendetta moves to the two-deck ‘Showdown’ product range, the first of which has Zed and Shen battle it out.
Moving away from the pre-con offerings, the Poppy art sleeves remain the same quality as those we received in the Origins wave, with a good thickness and space around the edges of the card for double sleeving if desired. There can be some slight glare under certain lighting, but this is something universal for any sleeve without a matte finish. The Leblanc playmat is an interesting piece of kit, as it’s the first official Riftbound mat I’ve laid hands on. While I prefer my mats to include playzones where possible, the chosen are here does a good job of allowing the player to focus on the cards without distraction – some playmat art is a little too ‘high key’ for my tastes. Coming in at a standard size, the stitched edging and rubber backing are nice touches but the thickness, or lack thereof, is one thing I appreciate. Trim without feeling cheap, these playmats aren’t as bulky and as a result roll out and up much easier than third-party mats I’ve used. Here’s hoping Riot can take a page out of SWU and Null Signal’s book to deliver a larger two-player mat of this quality.
From my games with Vi and Vex, Riftbound is in a good place gameplay wise and I’m excited to keep playing, especially once I dig into the Vault. A new product in the line-up, the Vault is a combination quarter-booster-box, micro Bulk Runes set and storage solution all-in-one. Once compacted, the form factor ensures it can sit nicely on any shelf, especially those that lack the depth for lengthier storage boxes. Retailing at $89.95, it’s a little pricier compared to a full Booster Box, but a good way to expand your collection compared to purchasing single Booster packs. Is it too much to ask for matching Origins and Spiritforged Vault products to round out my shelf?
Unleashed is a great entry point to Riftbound, with two pre-cons that are quite well matched in terms of focus and showing how this waves newly introduced mechanics can interact. I imagine with some of the cards across both the Vi and Vex decks, they’ll be desirable products for experienced players alike. I’ll be digging in further with pack and booster box openings over on the Player2 Instagram channel, excited to see what new possibilities there are to buff my existing Champions and maybe even create some new decks.
All of the products mentioned here can be found at your Friendly Local Game Store, online or otherwise from today, with a number of events in-store to help support and grow the Riftbound community at locations like Vault Games, Gameology, Behold Games and more. In further Riftbound news, the Regional Qualifier is being held at the Sydney Showground across May 15-17, with a $25,000 prize pool up for grabs along with Poppy promo cards and playmats for the Top 8. Those unable to attend in person will be able to watch the action live from 10:00AM AEST on the Riftbound Twitch and YouTube channels. As the very first organised event to showcase the shifting meta from Unleashed, no doubt players from around the globe will be paying attention.
Riftbound Unleashed products used in this review were kindly provided by the publisher.
