Riftbound Top Tournament Performers – Week July 27
Heya everyone! The Riftbound meta is starting to shape up as more players join community tournaments and explore one of the newest TCGs in the market. Riot recently released all the cards for the Origin format, so the community is still in the early stages of testing and refining deck lists to find the strongest competitive builds.
We also have to remember that players are still new to the game, so sharpening their skills is part of the journey. It’ll take some time before we start seeing consistently high-level competitive play.
Today, we’re highlighting a few decks that made deep runs in last week’s Riftbound Meta Tournament to get a better sense of what’s currently performing well!
Fury Mind Kai’Sa
Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void
1
0
Fury Rune
7
0
Mind Rune
5
0
Reaver's Row
1
0
Void Gate
1
0
Windswept Hillock
1
0
Cleave
2
1
Hextech Ray
3
1
Orb of Regret
2
1
Stupefy
3
1
Falling Star
3
2
Ravenbloom Student
3
2
Shakedown
2
2
Smoke Screen
3
2
Watchful Sentry
3
2
Lecturing Yordle
2
3
Void Seeker
3
3
Kai'Sa, Survivor
3
4
Sprite Mother
3
4
Darius, Trifarian
3
5
Thousand-Tailed Watcher
2
7
Retreat
2
1
Vi, Destructive
2
2
Thermo Beam
2
5
Icathian Rain
2
7
Red Blue Kai’Sa had the best performance this weekend, managing to go 6-0 and win first place in the Riftbound Meta tournament. Kai’Sa’s ability allows you to gain a Rune to be used to play spells. This means spells are a center piece in this deck to get the most out of your Legend’s abilitiy.
A lot of the spells in this deck revolve around damaging the opponent’s unit and trying to kill it. Cards like Hextech Ray, Falling Star, and Void Skeer are there to help kill units and weaken the opponent’s side of the field.
Kai’Sa Survivor can join in Ready, meaning we can immediatly move her to conquer a battlefield and draw us a card through her ability. This adds more resources to out hand, ensuring we don’t struggle to make plays in the late game.
Daruis Trifarian is another powerhouse in this list, which you’ll want to play alongside any card to trigger his effect. When you play your second card, Daruis gains +2 Might and you can Ready him, becoming a 7 Might unit to move to a battlefield and conquer it.
Fury Chaos Jinx
Jinx, Loose Cannon
1
0
Fury Rune
12
0
Reaver's Row
1
0
The Arena's Greatest
1
0
Zaun Warrens
1
0
Seal of Rage
3
0
Cleave
2
1
Stacked Deck
3
1
Chemtech Enforcer
3
2
Falling Star
3
2
Legion Rearguard
3
2
Traveling Merchant
3
2
Vi, Destructive
3
2
Flame Chompers
3
3
Immortal Phoenix
3
3
Jinx, Demolitionist
2
3
Noxus Hopeful
3
4
Super Mega Death Rocket!
3
4
Draven, Showboat
2
5
Brazen Buccaneer
1
6
Acceptable Losses
3
1
Gust
3
1
Sneaky Deckhand
2
3
Jinx also had a great weekend and has been consistently a force not to be reckoned with. Red Purple Jinx draws you a card if you have one or fewer cards than your opponent, this means we want to drop low on hand size to get value from Jinx.
This is where the discard package comes into play, letting us play cards with strong effect, but have to pay the cost of discarding a card or more from your hand. Discarding cards to activate strong effects put you ahead in the early to mid-game, but as the game progresses, you’ll fall behind in value. With Jinx’s draw effect, we’ll mitigate the drawback of discarding cards, ensuring we can still make strong plays even if the game stretches out.
This list has multiple aggressive units, Legion Rearguard and Jinx Demolitionist for their Accelerate keyword and Immortal Phoenix and Chemtech Enforcer for the Assalt keyword. We have access to damage cards to backup our units. Spells like Falling Star and Super Mega Death Rocket! can get you a kill or damage a unit enough to remove it from play with your attacker.
Calm Mind Ahri
Ahri, Nine-Tailed Fox
1
0
Calm Rune
7
0
Mind Rune
5
0
Grove of the God-Willow
1
0
Hallowed Tomb
1
0
The Arena's Greatest
1
0
Charm
3
1
Defy
3
1
En Garde
3
1
Clockwork Keeper
3
2
Discipline
3
2
Ravenbloom Student
3
2
Smoke Screen
2
2
Stalwart Poro
3
2
Ahri, Inquisitive
1
3
Fox-Fire
2
3
Sunlit Guardian
3
3
Consult the Past
3
4
Sprite Mother
3
4
Blitzcrank, Impassive
3
5
Riptide Rex
2
6
Rune Prison
2
2
Wind Wall
3
3
Adaptatron
3
4
Green Blue Ahri aids you in defending you battlefield, giving -1 Might to the opponent’s unit when it attacks. This makes it harder for the opposing player to conquer a field, especially with the many defensive cards this deck runs.
Defy, Discipline, En Garde, Smoke Screen are spells to protect your units, making sure you don’t lose a battle that easily. Charm can be extremely strong to force opponents into a combat they’re not ready for, getting a kill and further weakening their board.
The Might reduction helps us win battles but it can also be used alongside Fox-Fire to kill higher Might units.
Body Order Sett
Sett, The Boss
1
0
Body Rune
8
0
Order Rune
4
0
Monastery of Hirana
1
0
Reckoner's Arena
1
0
Vilemaw's Lair
1
0
Sabotage
3
1
Showstopper
3
1
Challenge
3
2
Cithria of Cloudfield
3
2
Daring Poro
3
2
Pit Rookie
3
2
Trifarian Gloryseeker
3
2
Arena Bar
1
3
Call to Glory
3
3
First Mate
3
3
Fiora, Victorious
3
4
Kinkou Monk
3
4
Qiyana, Victorious
3
4
Sett, Brawler
3
5
Salvage
2
2
Cannon Barrage
2
2
Carnivorous Snapvine
2
5
Harnessed Dragon
2
8
Yellow Organe Sett has been one of the popular choices among players in these tournaments. He heavily relies on your units being buffed to prevent them from dying, keeping them in play and refusing to allow your opponent to win the board presence.
For Legend Sett to protect a unit from getting killed, it has to be buffed, which is why we run units like Cithria of Cloudfield, Trifarian Gloryseeker, and Pit Rookie capable of gaining or giving buffs. The Might we gain will help us win or protect a battlefield, making it difficult for the opposing player to conquer a battlefield once we’ve set out eyes on it.
Sett Brawler is perfect in this list as he buffs himself without relying on other cards. You can then spend that buff to gain a temporary +4 Might, making him an even more difficult target to remove.
Call to Glory pushes this deck to the next level, providing players with a spell to give +3 Might to one of the units in play, pumping their Might to win a trade and survive an attack.
Mind Order Viktor
Viktor, Herald of the Arcane
1
0
Mind Rune
6
0
Order Rune
6
0
Obelisk of Power
1
0
Targon's Peak
1
0
The Arena's Greatest
1
0
Stupefy
3
1
Cull the Weak
3
2
Daring Poro
3
2
Hidden Blade
3
2
Ravenbloom Student
3
2
Smoke Screen
3
2
Trifarian Gloryseeker
3
2
Sprite Call
3
3
Cruel Patron
3
4
Sprite Mother
3
4
Vengeance
3
4
Viktor, Leader
1
4
Singularity
3
6
Thousand-Tailed Watcher
3
7
Sideboard Cards:
Legend Viktor Herald of the Arcane along with Viktor Leader are tryning to play as many Recruits as possible on the field, allowing you to pressure the opposing player with added units, making it harder for them to protect or conquer a battlefield.
Cull the Weak is perfect in this list as you’re fine sacrifcing one of your Recruits to force your opponent to kill a valuable unit on their side of the board.
We have access to control cards like Smoke Screen, Vengeance, and Singularity, helping us control the opponent’s side of the board and even fail their attempts to conquer or defend a battlefield.
Fury Order Darius
Darius, Hand of Noxus
1
0
Fury Rune
8
0
Order Rune
4
0
Obelisk of Power
1
0
The Arena's Greatest
1
0
Vilemaw's Lair
1
0
Cleave
3
1
Hextech Ray
2
1
Daring Poro
3
2
Falling Star
2
2
Hidden Blade
3
2
Legion Rearguard
3
2
Pouty Poro
3
2
Dangerous Duo
3
3
Void Seeker
2
3
Kai'Sa, Survivor
3
4
Noxian Guillotine
3
4
Noxus Hopeful
3
4
Vayne, Hunter
2
4
Vengeance
2
4
Darius, Trifarian
3
5
Sideboard Cards:
Legend Darius Hand of Noxus gives as an additional Rune to work with, allowing us to make stronger plays, especially in the mid-game to get ahead of the opposing player.
Legion and Assault are popular keywords in this list, allowing us to set up stronger attacks to conquer a battlefield. This makes it easier for us to score points in the early to mid-game, but our units will be weaker when it comes to defending.
To control the board, we have damage cards like Hextech Ray, Falling Star, and Void Seeker to prevent opponents from winning a battlefield. We also have tools to straight up kill a unit with Vengeance or Noxian Guillotine.
If we need a unit to immediatly move to the battlefield, Kai’Sa Survivor and Daruis Trifarian are perfect for the job, capable of conquering a battlefield on the turn they’re played to win us the game or get us close enough to secure the win on the upcoming turn.
Fury Chaos Annie
Annie, Dark Child
1
0
Fury Rune
7
0
Chaos Rune
5
0
The Arena's Greatest
1
0
The Candlelit Sanctum
1
0
Windswept Hillock
1
0
Cleave
3
1
Gust
3
1
Stacked Deck
3
1
Fight or Flight
3
2
Flash
2
2
Legion Rearguard
2
2
Pouty Poro
3
2
Ride the Wind
3
2
Shakedown
3
2
Traveling Merchant
3
2
Vi, Destructive
3
2
Void Seeker
3
3
Annie, Stubborn
1
4
Kai'Sa, Survivor
3
4
Darius, Trifarian
2
5
Sideboard Cards:
We’re seeing more of Red Purple Annie Dark Child in tournaments, a Legend capable of readying 2 of your runes at the end of your turn. This means we get to make more counter plays to keep control of the board. To get the most out of Annie’s effect, we run a lot of low-cost spells that we can play during our opponents turn to defend a battlefield or protect our units.
The main goal for this deck is to put early pressure with the help of the 2 Runes from Legend Annie, trying to secure 6 Points as early as possible. From there, we’ll rely on Vi Destructive + Ride the Wind to try and close out the game.
