Riftbound in Dublin: how to start playing

Riftbound is the League of Legends trading card game, and it has been on our Wednesday nights since May. If you know League, you will recognise the champions. If you do not, it does not matter, it stands up as a card game on its own. Here is what it is, what you need to start, and what a Wednesday in Dún Laoghaire looks like.

What Riftbound is

Riftbound is Riot's own card game, built around the champions from League of Legends. You pick a Legend, your champion, and build a deck around them. In the middle of the table are battlefields, and the game is a fight for them. Take a battlefield, hold it, and you score. First to the target score wins.

Two things make it different from the card games people usually know. It is built for more than two players, so a free-for-all with three or four at the table is a normal way to play, not an afterthought. And it is quick to learn. A new player can be taught in one game, because the rules are tidy.

The fifth set, Radiance, lands on 23 October 2026, and each set adds new Legends to build around.

What you need to start

You need one deck. That is it. You do not need a collection, a playmat or a binder on day one.

The right first buy is a Champion Deck: a ready-to-play deck built around one champion, with a playmat and a booster pack in the box. Pick the champion you like the look of, there is no wrong answer at the start. Boosters are for later, when you know which cards you are missing. Opening packs is fun, but a pile of random cards is not a deck.

Riftbound also has Proving Grounds, a beginner box with four small decks for two to four players, which is the one to get if you want to teach a few friends at once. It has been hard to find since launch, so ask before you set your heart on it.

The Radiance set is on pre-order with us until the night before it lands on 23 October: booster displays of 24 packs at €135 and the Radiance Vault at €39.99. For starter decks and single packs, ask us what is on the shelf, it changes week to week. Riftbound stock has been tight everywhere, so if you see a Champion Deck, that is the moment.

Nexus Nights: Wednesdays here

Every Wednesday from 7pm to 10pm we run Riftbound Nexus Nights. It is €8, bring your own deck, and all levels are welcome. The format alternates week to week between one-on-one Standard and free-for-all, so one Wednesday you are across the table from one person and the next you are fighting three. Check the events page or our listing on the Riftbound events page to see which it is this week.

If you are new, say so at the counter and we will put you at a table with someone who will talk you through your first game. Nobody at Nexus Nights is there to crush a beginner. Most of them were the beginner not long ago.

What a first Wednesday looks like

You arrive around 7 with your deck, pay €8 at the counter, and someone points you at a table. If it is a free-for-all week, you will be in a game of three or four, which is the easiest way to learn, because you can watch two other people play before your turn comes around. If it is a Standard week, you play one-on-one, and the games are shorter and sharper.

Between games there is coffee, pizza and whatever else you want from the counter. By ten it wraps up. Most people leave with a list of cards they now want, which is how it goes.

Why Riftbound, if you already play something else

If you already play Magic, Pokémon or Lorcana, the draw is that Riftbound is new enough that nobody is ten years ahead of you, the multiplayer is built in rather than bolted on, and the games do not run long. If you want a second game that does not need a second collection, this is the one people are picking.

We are at 75 York Road, Dún Laoghaire, a few minutes from the DART. Wednesdays at 7. If Friday is more your night, our Magic in Dublin post covers the draft, and the full week of card nights is on the events page.