•Riot Game’ League of Legends trading card game, Riftbound, is launching its fifth set of the year, Radiance, featuring musically-inspired designs and new mechanics that could shake up the competitive meta. The set introduces three keywords: Disarm, Show Off, and Deploy.
The announcement comes alongside a hands-on preview from a Pre-Rift tournament ahead of the official launch. According to a report by Casey DeFreitas for IGN, the writer tested both seeded Pre-Rift decks and two “Sealed” builds during early play sessions.
New Mechanics in Radiance
Disarm is described as the simplest of the new mechanics. When a unit with Disarm attacks, it reduces the Might of an enemy unit on that battlefield, usually by one. The green (Calm) Ahri card “Confident” features Disarm and gains a +1 Might buff when reducing an enemy’s Might. Meanwhile, the blue (Mind) Kai’sa “Rebel” carries both Disarm and grants spells Reaction speed during showdowns.
Show Off lets cards gain additional effects if a player reveals a qualifying card to their opponent while playing it. Four Radiance cards feature this mechanic so far—two units and two spells—with each granting different effects. The 5-cost yellow (Order) spell “Rousing Display,” part of Legend Seraphine’s kit, plays four 1-Might Recruit Tokens instead of one if a card with Energy cost 7 or more is shown.
Riftbound executive producer Chengran Chai described Show Off as an information trade-off. “Show Off basically opens up another dimension to the kind of like, 3D, 4D chess—that’s 5D,” Chai explained during a joint interview with Temple of Geek’s Myles Obenza.
Deploy is a keyword specific to Gear cards, allowing players to place that Gear directly onto a Battlefield. While there, it provides an effect but will be removed if the opponent controls that battlefield. Chai believes this mechanic may disrupt defensive strategies most significantly.
“I think Deploy is probably the one that will disrupt [the meta], because historically, you don’t think of just going straight to a battlefield,” Chai said. He compared it to Jarvan IV’s E-Q combo and Ziggs throwing bombs in League of Legends.
Hands-On Gameplay
The writer received an orange (Body) and yellow (Order) Jarvan IV “Exemplar of Demacia” Legend in their Pre-Rift Kit. Van’s Legend ability uses Deploy: when playing a Gear with Deploy, players may exhaust him and pay 1 Power to move a friendly unit to that battlefield.
A standout card proved to be Portable Portal, a 2-cost orange (Body) Gear featuring Teemo. When played, it allows paying one Body power to ready a Unit, while nearby friendly units gain Ganking. Combined with Jarvan IV’s Legend ability, this enables double conquering in a single turn.
The writer noted that Radiance adds significant complexity to the game but remains accessible for existing players seeking more deck-building variety. “We want the base set to have a rich enough playing set,” Chai said. “Such that Sealed events are fun… all by itself.”
Rare Cards and Music Crossovers
Beyond the playing set, Riftbound layers collectibility through Alt Art, Overnumbered, and SP cards. Notable rare pulls include Riot Game Music crossovers such as the Overnumbered Heartsteel cards, SP K/DA cards, and Overnumbered Ekko “Revolutionary,” featuring Ekko’s original True Damage skin.
“We knew Riot as a whole would have a music moment towards the end of the year, so very early on, we said we would lean into that,” Chai said. He explained why K/DA and Heartsteel cards use their earlier versions: “the 2.0 versions just weren’t quite ready” when card details needed finalizing.
The plan to tease Heartsteel’s Riftbound cards in the “Live My Life” music video originated with the Riot Music Team, who asked if they wanted the cards featured. A similar easter egg appears in Valorant’s Aeris Flex cosmetic.
The Heartsteel Overnumbered cards feature K-pop photo card-inspired designs with bright motifs, stickers, and Y2K elements. The Signature versions are “signed” by the characters themselves rather than artists. Riot Game’ senior Manager of creative development Michelle Mauk discussed the design process during the Radiance panel at the Riftbound Regional Qualifier (RQ) in Los Angeles.
The set’s Ultimate Rare is a Battlefield called “Packed Amphitheater,” making it the rarest card across all of Riftbound’s main sets. It appears in approximately 0.025% of booster packs, down from Baron Nasher from Unleashed at 0.1%. Players can see creators’ reactions to the cards in this official PlayRiftbound reel..
Other collectible options include non-musical cards like the Overnumbererd Mordekaiser Legend IGN exclusively revealed last week.
Availability
Radiance Pre-Rifts begin at local game stores on Oct. 16, with booster boxes, packs, and vaults available for purchase on Oct. 23.
The writer noted that while Radiance’s complexity may not suit newcomers, the Riftbound community remains welcoming to new players. Casey DeFreitas is the deputy editor of guides at IGN @ShinyCaseyD.
1 comment