Riftbound Vendetta Review – Dig Two Decks
Riftbound is back with a vengeance, the Vendetta wave bringing a tighter card pool, new mechanics and a refreshed introductory product line in the two-player Showdown Sets, replacing the separate individual pre-constructed decks of Origins, Spiritforged and Unleashed until Legacy launches a whole mess of new content in early 2027.
Vendetta arrives at a point where Riftbound is synonymous with a few things; thick cardstock with a tendency to scuff at the edges, incredible artwork and a ruleset that is still struggling to on-board new players. As someone without an interest in preserving cards for speculative purposes, I’m still in love with the feel of the Riftbound cardstock, an almost imperceptible matte coating making me want to stay unsleeved, if only I were better at shuffling. While I’ve been fortunate enough to be gifted some premium art sleeves as shown, the Riftbound cardstock holds up well in as little as 60 micron sleeves – we don’t mention 40 microns ‘round here, that’s the devils work.
When it comes to visual design and artwork, Riot Games continue to utilise an incredibly talented team to produce evocative pieces drawing on a rich stable of characters. 9 new Legends have appeared this wave – Akali, Mel, Ambessa, Shen, Zed, Kennen, Jayce, Nasus and Renekton – a slight drop from the 12 joining the fray in Waves 1-3, but a sensible choice with a reduced cardpool. Of course, Zed and Shen are front and centre for much of this wave due to helming a flagship product, but Kennen and Naus are both popping up in Meta lists across the net. With 49 of 173 released so far, we haven’t even hit 1/3 of current League of Legends Champions inside Riftbound yet, something I feel will contribute to the longevity of the game given how a slower approach let’s sentiment build up. Clearly Riot are doing their best to ensure new sets make some meta-waves without upending things completely. For a look at what we managed to pull out of a full Booster Box and Vault, head over to the Player2 Instagram page.
There’s no shortage of alternate art designs and Overnumbered pieces in Vendetta to satiate Collectors, helping keep the price of some individual cards reasonable on the secondary market, although meta shifts are going to drive prices up and down in ways players might not appreciate. There’s still a perception that Legend cards are a bum draw from Booster packs, something Riot are addressing with announced upcoming changes to Booster composition with the Legacy wave in January 2027. Basically, a dedicated Common card slot will see Legend cards subbed in, avoiding double Legend pulls in a pack and ideally improving the Draft format where extra Legends are doing nothing but gumming up the works.
As for the rules onboarding? Well, Proving Grounds Second Edition is slated to hit stores February 2027 and that gives Riot plenty of time to figure out just how to ensure someone picking up their first Riftbound pre-con isn’t drowning in a sea of errata PDF’s and How to Play videos. To caveat, I fully believe Riot are making moves to further expand the community and try to get new players involved, whether that’s Learn to Play events at local game stores or exhibiting at events like PAX AUS. I might just be old school given my preferred approach to learning a game is flipping through a big illustrated rulebook, but I’m coming from a euro tabletop background where that’s the norm as opposed to TCG players who can quite often use the resources available at their FLGS to wrap their head around interactions and timing triggers. Obviously Riot also feel the best way to engage in a TCG is with others, hence the new Showdown Set product line which introduces Zed and Shen to the Riftbound universe.
The Zed vs Shen Showdown Set is a great starting point for new Riftbound players for a number of reasons. Firstly, it makes roping a friend or partner in a touch easier and shows wider scope of play than the single pre-cons of previous waves, although they aren’t a considerable saving cost wise compared to purchasing two of the older decks. They are much better constructed however, the designers coming a long way from the Origins wave pre-cons that didn’t do a good job showcasing Jinx, Viktor or Lee Sin to the fullest of their abilities. Secondly, both Zed and Shen also do a good job of showing off new mechanics, the Shen deck leaning into ‘Flow’ (cast spells directly from the ‘trash’ by paying their Flow cost, which is different to their regular cost to play) and ‘Empower’ (cards can receive an extra ability or a Might boost when a cost is paid or a situation triggered) whilst Zed pushes Flow, Empower and ‘Burn’ (Trash cards from your main deck for Might boosts or to trigger other effects), the Flow/Burn combo making for an interesting decision space and a different tempo. The change in feel across both Zed and Shen makes the Showdown Set a perfect one for swapping decks at the conclusion of each match.
As for accessories, as with previous waves there are high quality neoprene mats and four ‘Rivalry’ themed pack of sleeves which just so happen to perfectly synergise with the Showdown Set and is ideally something Riot continue to play around with in future sets launching with a Showdown Decks set, like the upcoming Evelynn v Seraphine for Radiance in late October.
Appearing at PAX AUS in early October, Vendetta will still be the latest wave on offer with Radiance pre-release kicking off the week after. Personally, I can’t wait to check out the play area there and likely get stomped, because as much as I like playing Riftbound I’m still pretty clueless at constructing good decks. Riftbound continues to be full of nuance which reveals itself the further I play and the more Riot expand and refine the game itself. The Rune deck tempo management and modest win cons ensure games are tense and don’t last too long at 1v1, perfect for a rematch or three either at the kitchen table or the convention hall – see you there!
Riftbound Vendetta was reviewed using products kindly supplied by Riot Games.
