Look, I’m not going to pretend I’m some TCG expert who’s been following every League release since day one. But when I saw these new Riftbound packs hit shelves, I knew I had to grab some.
I’ve got thousands of hours in League of Legends. Literally thousands. I was a jungle main who ran Master Yi, Amumu, and Sejuani back when I actually had time to grind ranked. Now? I’m a 41-year-old single dad trying to squeeze in a few games when Tanner goes to bed. But the nostalgia is real, and when they drop a physical TCG based on a game I’ve invested that much time into… yeah, I’m checking it out.
So Tanner and I grabbed what we could find – and let me tell you, these packs are already flying off shelves. I hit three different stores on November 1st (release day), and every single one was basically cleaned out. GameStop had exactly 12 booster packs and two champion decks left. That’s it. We snagged them all.
What We Actually Opened
Here’s what we got our hands on:
- 2 Champion Decks (Lee Sin and Victor)
- 12 Booster Packs
- A whole lot of hope for some alternative art pulls
The champion decks run $19.99 each, and the booster packs are $4.99 a pop. Not terrible pricing, honestly – pretty standard for modern TCG releases.
Real talk though… I went into this with zero expectations. I’ve been getting increasingly frustrated with Magic: The Gathering’s collector booster bullshit where you can only pull certain cards from $30+ packs. I love that Pokemon lets you hit big from regular packs. So I was curious if League would follow that same accessible model.
Spoiler: We hit a $70 card from a regular booster. Keep reading.
First Impressions: The Champion Decks
Side note – these champion decks are actually pretty well put together for pre-constructed products.
Each deck comes with:
- 40-card ready-to-play deck
- Paper playmat featuring the champion
- Rule book (actually helpful)
- Deck box
- One bonus booster pack
The Lee Sin deck I opened had a solid mix of followers, spells, and the Lee Sin champion card itself. Tanner got the Victor deck, which is cool because he’s been watching Arcane with me. Well… we made it through five episodes before we lost Netflix access for a bit. But Victor is the guy with the cane who limps around with Jayce in the show.
Card Quality – Let’s Be Honest
The Good:
- Art style is actually pretty solid (I know a lot of people are hating on it, but I think it works)
- Slight texture on the alternative arts and full arts
- Colors are vibrant on the special cards
- The “sideways” land/location cards look fantastic
The Less Good:
- Regular cards feel a bit dark overall – might be the black borders?
- Centering is slightly off on some cards (noticed narrower borders on one side)
- The rip tabs on packs don’t work worth a damn
- All booster packs have the same Ahri artwork (wish they varied like Pokemon)
Card quality overall? Pretty decent. Not Pokemon-level polish, but better than I expected. The texture is subtle – way more subtle than modern Pokemon – but it’s there. You can feel it under the light.
Opening the Booster Packs – Here’s Where It Gets Good
Tanner and I did our usual “pack battle” format where we compare pulls round by round. It’s our thing. He takes it very seriously.
And honestly? The pull rates seem pretty generous for a new TCG.
The Champion Pulls
From the Decks:
- Lee Sin (obviously)
- Victor (Tanner’s deck)
- Udyr
- Heimerdinger (the little professor from Arcane)
From Booster Packs:
- Twisted Fate
- Caitlyn
- Fiora
- Ahri (multiple versions)
- Malzahar
- Karma (multiple)
- Kai’Sa (oh boy, did we hit Kai’Sa)
- Yasuo
- Vayne
- Volibear
- Jinx (BIG hit – we’ll get to that)
- Dr. Mundo
That’s a solid champion hit rate. I don’t know the official odds, but we were getting champions frequently enough that it felt good. Like you’re actually building toward something instead of just opening bulk.
The Alternative Art Hits – This is What Matters
Our Alternative Art Pulls
Kai’Sa (Alternative Art) – $70
Tanner pulled this bad boy, and when I looked up the value, my jaw dropped. Seventy fucking dollars for a card from a brand new TCG? That’s legit. The card is gorgeous too – full art, textured, and the composition actually captures her character from the game.
We actually pulled this card THREE TIMES total (once as alternative art, twice as regular full art). The pack gods were smiling on us.
Jinx (Alternative Art) – $25
This was the other big hit we were chasing. Tanner’s favorite character from Arcane is Vi (Jinx’s sister), but this Jinx card is absolutely sick. The alternative art shows her in this chaotic action pose that just screams “Jinx energy.”
The art on this one is actually better than some of the higher-value cards, honestly. I might be biased because I mained ADC Jinx back in the day, but whatever.
Shiny Ruins
We also pulled a couple textured “shiny” ruin cards (the energy/mana equivalent in this game). These aren’t huge money cards, but they look clean as hell. Way better presentation than the regular ruins.
The Cards That Surprised Me
The “Sideways” Land Cards
These location cards that print horizontally are legitimately beautiful. Cards like “Targon’s Peak” and the ship battlefield one just have this epic scale to them. These might be my favorite part of the set aesthetically.
Pouty Porro
Okay, this isn’t a valuable card. But it’s a Porto (the little fuzzy creatures from League) that’s literally pouting and doesn’t want to take medicine. The flavor text and art made me laugh. These little touches show they’re actually thinking about the IP, not just slapping League characters on generic cards.
Commander Ledros
Full art spell card that just goes hard. Don’t know if he’s in Arcane (I don’t think so?), but the art is legitimately good.
How This Compares to Other TCGs
I’ve been collecting Pokemon cards with Tanner for a while now. We’ve opened Magic. We’ve dabbled in others. So here’s how League stacks up:
Better Than:
- Magic’s current model (seriously, fuck collector boosters)
- Most generic licensed TCGs
- Yu-Gi-Oh for pure art quality
Not Quite As Good As:
- Pokemon’s card quality and finish
- Magic’s gameplay depth (though I haven’t played League TCG yet, just opened)
- Pokemon’s pull rate consistency
About Even With:
- Flesh and Blood for texture quality
- One Piece TCG for alternative art presentation
The big thing League has going for it? The IP is massive. If you’ve played League or watched Arcane, these cards actually mean something. That nostalgia factor is real.
The $120 Card We Didn’t Hit (But You Should Know About)
While looking up values, I found out there’s an Ahri alternative art worth $119-120.
Guys. One hundred and twenty dollars.
For a card from a TCG that launched literally yesterday.
We didn’t hit it, but knowing it exists makes me want to grab more packs. That’s exactly the kind of chase card that keeps people engaged with a TCG long-term.
Real Talk: Is This Worth Getting Into?
Here’s my actual take after opening about $130 worth of product:
You Should Buy In If:
- You actually play League of Legends or love Arcane
- You like the pull rates being fairly generous (we hit multiple valuable cards)
- You want to get in early on a TCG before prices stabilize
- You’re cool with art that’s good but not Pokemon-tier
Maybe Skip If:
- You have no connection to League’s IP (it’s just okay as a generic TCG)
- You’re expecting Pokemon-level card quality
- You want an established meta and competitive scene (give it time)
- You need perfect centering and quality control
For me? Yeah, I’m buying more. That Kai’Sa hit alone paid for half our product, and we got enough champions that I actually want to learn how to play the game with Tanner.
The Gameplay Stuff (That I Haven’t Tested Yet)
Look, I’m being honest here – we just opened cards. We didn’t play the game.
But from flipping through the rule book and looking at the card mechanics, it seems like they’re borrowing heavily from Legends of Runeterra (League’s existing digital card game). If you’ve played that, you’ll probably pick this up fast.
The champion cards level up, you have spell mana, there are “burst” and “slow” spells… it’s got depth. Whether it’s actually FUN depth or just complicated for the sake of it? I’ll let you know after we actually play some games.
Tanner wants to run the Victor deck. I’m running Lee Sin because obviously I’m going to play my jungle main.
The Supply Issue You Need to Know About
I mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth repeating: these packs are selling out FAST.
Three stores on release day. All basically cleaned out.
If you’re interested in this TCG, go grab product now. Either it’s going to stabilize and be available everywhere in a month, or we’re looking at another situation where early product becomes scarce and prices spike.
I don’t know which way it’s going to go, but I do know that $70 Kai’Sa isn’t going to get cheaper if supply stays tight.
What We’re Doing Next
After we finished filming, Tanner and I went back and watched more Arcane. We need to finish the series (only got through five episodes), and now that we’re pulling these characters, he’s way more invested in learning who they are.
That’s honestly the coolest part about this TCG – it’s giving us another way to engage with an IP we already love. The cards aren’t just cardboard; they’re pieces of a game world I’ve spent thousands of hours in.
- Learn how to actually play the game
- Grab more booster boxes when we can find them
- Build proper decks instead of just running the pre-cons
- Probably get binders specifically for League cards (Tanner wants a Jinx binder, I’m thinking Lee Sin or Master Yi)
And yeah… we need to find a Vi card. That’s Tanner’s actual favorite from Arcane, and we didn’t pull her once. The hunt continues.
Final Thoughts: The 80/20 on League TCG
Here’s what actually matters if you’re thinking about buying in:
The 20% That Drives 80% of Value:
- Alternative art cards (look for the “A” after the number)
- Champion cards from Arcane (Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Victor, Jayce)
- Early sealed product (might spike if supply stays tight)
- Building while the meta is young (if you want to play competitively)
The 80% That’s Just Noise:
- Comparing art quality to Pokemon (different styles, both valid)
- Worrying about centering on regular commons
- Trying to complete the full set immediately
- Stressing about whether this will “kill” other TCGs
Is League of Legends TCG going to replace Pokemon as my main collection? Probably not. Pokemon is Pokemon.
But am I going to keep opening League packs and building decks? Absolutely.
The nostalgia factor alone is worth it. And pulling a $70 card from a $5 pack? Yeah, that doesn’t hurt either.
Have you opened any Riftbound packs yet? What’s your biggest pull? Drop a comment and let me know what champion you main – I want to see if the League players are actually checking out this TCG or if it’s mostly collectors.
And if you pulled that $120 Ahri… I’m going to need photo evidence because that card is gorgeous.