Riot Games’ physical trading card game Riftbound is quickly expanding, and its third set, Riftbound Unleashed, features new Champion Legends, mechanics, and tokens. With over 200 cards in the set, there is a lot to reveal leading up to release.
Riot Games kicked off the Riftbound Unleashed preview season. Sydeon, Disguised Toast, Scarra, and Yvonne battled in a Riftbound showcase match that debuted several Legends, units, spells, and keywords coming with Unleashed. To stay up to date with Preview Season, head to the card gallery here.
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To keep with the preview season, we can exclusively reveal a new Champion Unit card, which features one of my League of Legends favorites in all of his sad boy glory: Hwei, Brooding Painter.
Exclusive Preview: Hwei, Brooding Painter | 5 Rune Cost
Card Text:
Champion Unit | Hwei Ionia
When I move, draw 1, then discard 1. Then do the following based on the discarded card’s type:
- Spell – Draw 1
- Gear – Ready up to 2 runes
- Unit.- Give me +3 Rune this turn
If you’re unfamiliar with Hwei in League of Legends, he boasts the largest number of abilities from any champion in LoL. As for lore, Hwei is a “brooding painter” who creates brilliant art in order to confront Ionia’s criminals and comfort their victims.
What is new in the Riftbound Unleashed set?
Riftbound Unleashed includes over 220 cards and over 30 alternate art cards, expanding Riftbound with new Champion Legends (cards you build your deck around), mechanics, and plays that reward those who bide their time, speaking to folks not against pillowforting.
New Champion Legends:
- Kha’Zix
- Lillia
- Diana
- Ivern
New Riftbound Mechanics:
- Cards with Ambush can be played as a reaction to a battlefield where you have units. This allows you to surprise your opponent with reinforcements mid-showdown and keep them guessing.
- Cards with the Hunt keyword will earn XP for you when they’re used to conquer or hold a battlefield.
- XP is a resource you build up and spend for unique advantages. XP also translates into Levels, and cards with Level benefit from how much XP you’ve earned.
New Tokens:
- Baron Pit (joins the battlefield when Baron Nashor is played)
- Birds (armed with Deflect)
- Reflections (becomes a copy of another card already in play)
- Sprites (temporary, killed at the start of your Beginning phase)
- XP Tracker (Helps track XP)
What’s new for Collectors?
In addition to focusing on updating Riftbound mechanically in this set, Riot Games also announced “Ultimate Rarity,” This new rarity is a unique Overnumbered card appearing in less than one percent of packs in Riftbound. And for this et, your chase card is the one Ultimate Rare: Baron Nashor (featured above).
Booster Pack Rarity Distribution:
- 7 Common cards
- 3 Uncommon cards
- 1 Foil slot that can be a Common, Uncommon, Rare or Epic card
- 2 Rare, Epic, Alt, Overnumber, or Ultimate cards
- 1 Token, Rune, or Alt Rune slot
- 1 informational insert
Riftbound Unleashed Schedule
- Preeview Season: March 16 – March 26, 2026.
- Merch Store Drawing: Not currently finalized (as of March 16, 2026)
- Pre-Rfit Events: English Language events begin May 1, 2026 (Chinese Language begins April 3, 2026).
- Release Date: English Language version releases May 8, 2026 (Chinese lanhguage releases April 10, 2026).
- Summoner Skirmish Windows (Competitive Play): There are two periods in which Summoner Skirmishes may occur. Window 1 begins on May 25, 2026 and Window 2 begins on June 22, 2026.
New to Riftbound? Here’s What it is.
Riftbound: The League of Legends Trading Card Game is Riot Games’ physical TCG that aims to bring the deep lore and champions of Runeterra into a strategic, competitive format. Designed for TCG players of all familiarity levels, Riftbound attempts to blend approachable mechanics with rich deck-building complexity, offering fresh ways to engage with the League of Legends universe.
In our review of the TCG, we said, “Riftbound seems to have everything one could hope for when it comes to a new trading card game, whether you are a League of Legends fan or not.”
With systems similar to what we see in Magic: The Gathering, Riftbound is a bit easier to pick up and worth playing for anyone looking for a new TCG to add to their rotation. If you’re looking to learn, Riot Games has a great explainer page to head to here.
Riftbound Unleashed releases in the United States on May 8, 2026.
