We’re coming up to Riftbound‘s first anniversary and, honestly, I’m pinching myself a little. Riot’s League of Legends TCG has gone from strength to strength in the past 12 months, recovering from some rather ugly launch woes to cement itself as an LGS staple. We’re already on Set 5, Radiance, which features Seraphine and Ekko as its poster children, and three new mechanics. Today, we’re excited to reveal (pun intended) Bandle Scouts’ Academy, a new Battlefield that will potentially bring Teemo back into the meta.
The core theme of Bandle Scouts’ Academy is increasing tempo, but it does come with a slight catch. The keyword you’ll need to keep in mind is ‘Hidden,’ which allows you to play a card face-down at its full cost, and activate it later for free. Think Sprite Call from Origins, and, of course, all of the Teemo variants: Strategist, Scout, and Swift Scout. You can see where I’m going with this.
Bandle Scouts’ Academy reads: “When you hide a card here, play a Gold gear token exhausted. (It has reaction: exhaust to kill this, add power).” What that means is that, if you hide a card, you’ll get a Gold gear token. Exhaust the gold token to kill it, and you’ll get a rune of any color. Relatively straightforward, no fancy new keywords here.
At first glance, this is a pretty situational Battlefield – unless you’re playing a hide-focused deck like Teemo or Pyke, you’re not going to get a lot of use out of this one. If you are playing a hide-focused deck, however, Bandle Scouts’ Academy is an easy ramp tool, giving you consistent free runes. This works great for Pyke, who wants to play hard and fast, and will help Teemo players speed up the grind towards casting higher-cost spells.
There aren’t tons of Hidden keyword cards in Riftbound (there are only 44 in the game at the moment, alongside the Bandle Tree Battlefield), but we’ve seen some nasty Teemo decks in the past. Pyke is, perhaps, a more reliable play – Riftbound pro ‘RoyY’ saw success with it at both the Vancouver and LA qualifiers. But let’s be real, you all love that furry little menace, and this Battlefield gives him a bit more oomph.
Riftbound Set 5, Radiance, launches globally on Friday, October 23. It comes with its own booster packs and Vault, alongside the Seraphine vs. Evelynn showdown decks. You can pre-order the set via Riot’s official merch store, where you’ll be entered into a draw system. This is to cut down on scalping and botting.
Riot has also confirmed that, for Riftbound’s first anniversary, it will be launching The Gift of the Rift bundle, which includes a unique Akali: Rogue Assassin promo card (it’s adorable), accessories, and cards from all five pre-existing sets. That’s set to ship on Friday, December 4.