Early Vendetta Decks to Play – Riftbound TCG
Heya everyone! The Vendetta release for the Riftbound TCG is finally here, bringing 9 new Legends and a ton of new cards to explore. This set aims to shake up the meta in a big way while also introducing fresh playstyles to keep things exciting. On top of that, we’re getting new color combinations, which opens the door for all kinds of new strategies to be cooked up.
Right now, everyone’s in that experimental phase, figuring out which Legends are actually strong and what builds feel best. And it’s not just about the new stuff either. Vendetta also gives a boost to older archetypes, whether they’re already meta staples or underrated decks that were just missing that one or two cards to finally click.
The next few weeks are going to be really interesting as players keep refining their lists and adapting to the evolving meta. In today’s article, I’ll be sharing a deck for each of the new Legends that the community has been cooking. I’ll go over the general game plan for each one, so you’ve got a solid starting point if you’re looking to pick up any of the new Legends.
Nasus, Curator of the Sands
Nasus, Curator of the Sands
1
0
Calm Rune
6
0
Mind Rune
6
0
Sunken Temple
1
0
The Papertree
1
0
Altar of Blood
1
0
Nasus, Ascended
1
8
Bellows Breath
1
1
Charm
1
1
Crumbling Sands
1
1
Defy
3
1
Retreat
2
1
Steel Paws
3
1
Stupefy
3
1
Clockwork Keeper
2
2
Discipline
3
2
Emperor's Divide
2
2
Premonition
2
2
Scuttle Crab
3
2
Zhonya's Hourglass
2
2
Disarming Rake
1
3
Find Your Center
3
3
Siphoning Strike
1
4
Astral Heron
2
7
Tasty Faefolk
2
7
Thousand-Tailed Watcher
2
7
Disarming Rake
2
3
Helm of Suppression
2
4
Charm
1
1
Zhonya's Hourglass
1
2
Not So Fast
1
2
Bellows Breath
1
1
Decree of Insight
1
1
Siphoning Strike
1
4
The Nasus deck heavily relies on ramping early game to get to its late game heavy units. Units like Astral Heron, Tasty Faefolk, Nasus, and Thousand-Tailed Watcher will act as your win conditions, putting big bodies on the board that can be a tad tough for the opposing player to deal with. When you play a 7-cost unit, gear, or an activated ability, your Legend lets you ready 2 of your runes, allowing you to make more plays during your turn or bank the additional Energy for the opponent’s turn if you need to react to any of their plays.
Empowering Nasus, Ascended can be a bit costly, but remember, your Legend ability lets you ready 2 runes, so it somewhat mitigates the cost you’re paying while also getting access to your champion’s Empowered ability. When you conquer with Nasus, Ascended, you get to score an additional point. This can speed up your finishing turn, and if you’re at 6 or 7 points, conquering one battlefield with Nasus means you get to win the game on the spot. It can also set up a winning turn when you’re at 5 points, so opponents can’t give you any room to go for your winning play if you’re already at 5 points.
Steel Paws can be an early play that’s left in base until you can empower. For 7 Energy, you’re activating your Legend’s ability and gaining 2 Energy back while getting access to 7 Might on Steel Paws, making it a threat on the field for the opponent. Astral Heron gives us a massive discount on the first card we play each turn, making it much easier for us to drop a heavy unit and follow it up with another unit to take over the board state.
Kennen, Heart of the Tempest
Kennen, Heart of the Tempest
1
0
Chaos Rune
9
0
Order Rune
3
0
Zaun Warrens
1
0
Minefield
1
0
Sandswept Tomb
1
0
Kennen, Storm of Shuriken
1
3
Seal of Discord
3
0
Gust
2
1
Lightning Rush
3
1
Stacked Deck
3
1
Rebuke
1
2
Ride the Wind
3
2
Shadow Order Disciple
1
2
Switcheroo
2
2
Traveling Merchant
3
2
Treasure Hunter
3
2
Fizz, Trickster
3
3
Invert Timelines
1
3
Last Rites
2
3
Shadows of the Past
1
3
Star-Crossed
2
3
Nocturne, Horrifying
3
4
Rhasa the Sunderer
3
10
Abandon
2
2
Downwell
2
8
Ravenbloom Prefect
3
3
Salvage
3
2
There’s been a lot of discussion around Kennen lately. Part of the community is calling the archetype “busted,” while others aren’t seeing it as much of a threat in the current Vendetta meta. This build brings back the classic Seal of Discord + discard + Rhasa strategy, a game plan that once dominated Riftbound before Riot had to step in and ban key cards like Fight or Flight, Scrapheap, and Called Shot.
Kennen’s game plan revolves around discarding cards and leveraging the Flow keyword to replay spells and squeeze extra value out of them. With Burn on Kennen and multiple discard tools in the deck—most notably Lightning Rush—it’s pretty easy to load your trash up to 10 cards. Once you do, you can start dropping Rhasa for 0 Energy, flooding the board with high-Might units that are essentially “free.”
If you need more board presence, Last Rites comes in clutch. It lets you replay fallen Rhasas for 0 Energy as long as you conquer or hold a battlefield. You can also bring back Fizz through Last Rites, giving you access to a spell from your trash and keeping the value engine going.
A lot of players are also running Ravenbloom Prefect in the main deck. She synergizes really well with Fizz, letting you replay him from the trash and reuse his ability, which can generate insane value and quickly swing the game in your favor.
Zed, Master of Shadows
Zed, Master of Shadows
1
0
Fury Rune
7
0
Chaos Rune
5
0
Zaun Warrens
1
0
Minefield
1
0
Seat of Power
1
0
Zed, From the Shadows
1
4
Seal of Rage
3
0
Cleave
1
1
Stacked Deck
3
1
Death Mark
3
2
Falling Star
2
2
Hard Bargain
1
2
Ride the Wind
2
2
Shadow Order Disciple
3
2
Switcheroo
3
2
Traveling Merchant
3
2
Perfect Execution
3
3
Pyke, Dockside Butcher
3
3
Rengar, Pouncing
2
3
Up from the Deep
3
3
Blighted Battleaxe
2
4
Kai'Sa, Survivor
2
4
Star-Crossed
2
3
Brittle Steel
2
2
Decree of Rage
2
1
Thermo Beam
1
5
Falling Star
1
2
Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror
1
4
Wind and Ghosts
1
3
The Zed deck can play aggressively thanks to the Shadow Clone it can create. When a Shadow Clone attacks, you may banish a unit from your trash to give it Assault 4, becoming a 4 Might attacker capable of conquering a battlefield and killing units. Since we heavily rely on banishing units to get access to the Assault 4, the Legend’s discard ability comes in handy here, letting us discard a card of our choosing from our hand and drawing a card in its place. We’re essentially filtering our hand for better cards while also setting up our offensive game plan.
With Ride the Wind, we can set up even more aggression to conquer two battlefields or even attempt to conquer a battlefield during the opponent’s turn, which would be a huge blow for them if it goes through.
Shen, Eye of Twilight
Shen, Eye of Twilight
1
0
Calm Rune
6
0
Order Rune
6
0
Grove of the God-Willow
1
0
Startipped Peak
1
0
Kinkou Temple
1
0
Shen, Kinkou
1
3
Charm
3
1
Defy
3
1
En Garde
1
1
Disciple of Shen
3
2
Discipline
3
2
Hand Hammer
3
2
Hidden Blade
3
2
Lonely Poro
3
2
Noxian Emissary
3
2
Shadow Dash
3
2
Affectionate Poro
3
3
Soulspinner
1
3
Xin Zhao, Vigilant
2
3
Fiora, Victorious
3
4
Vi, Peacekeeper
2
5
Ashe, Focused
3
5
Decree of Focus
1
1
Decree of Unity
2
2
Disarming Rake
3
3
Vilemaw
1
8
Shen thrives on the hold strategy, wanting to conquer a battlefield and keep hold of it for as long as possible. The battlefields you put in your deck will play an important role in your game plan, generating value for you the longer you stay on them.
Your Legend Shen can give the Tank keyword to one of your units at Action speed; this can make it harder for the opposing player to conquer a battlefield or even get a kill on certain units. Thanks to the Calm domain, the list has multiple defensive cards to keep your units alive and keep your win condition going. With Charm and Shadow Dash, you can force the opposing player into a combat they’re not ready for, picking off one of their units and weakening any attempt for them to take over your battlefield.
Akali, Rogue Assassin
Akali, Rogue Assassin
1
0
Fury Rune
6
0
Calm Rune
6
0
Back-Alley Bar
1
0
Targon's Peak
1
0
Zaun Warrens
1
0
Akali, Silent
1
4
Charm
2
1
Cleave
2
1
Defy
3
1
En Garde
3
1
Shuriken Flip
3
1
Twilight Shroud
2
1
Discipline
3
2
Inferna
2
2
Lonely Poro
3
2
Mask of Foresight
2
2
Mournful Witness
3
2
Zhonya's Hourglass
2
2
Back Off
1
3
Kai'Sa, Survivor
3
4
Stellacorn Herder
3
4
Irelia, Fervent
2
5
Akali, Deadly Weapon
1
3
Brittle Steel
1
2
Emperor's Divide
2
2
Falling Star
2
2
Ferrous Forerunner
2
6
Not So Fast
1
2
Thermo Beam
1
5
During your turn, if you’re in a showdown, Legend Akali, Rogue Assassin lets you move one of your units back to your base. This is great when you can’t quite conquer a battlefield and want to preserve a key unit, but it also opens up combo potential with Champion Akali, Silent, Irelia, Fervent, and even Stellacorn Herder.
If your Legend is Empowered, you also get to Ready the unit you just moved, which means it can attack again. That empowered ability goes a long way, especially with Akali and Irelia, letting you stack more Might and take a second shot at the same battlefield. This gives you a much stronger chance of clearing opposing units and securing the conquest.
Mel, Soul’s Reflection
Mel, Soul's Reflection
1
0
Mind Rune
6
0
Chaos Rune
6
0
Zaun Warrens
1
0
Ravenbloom Conservatory
1
0
Rockfall Path
1
0
Mel, Defiant Soul
1
5
Acceptable Losses
1
1
Bellows Breath
1
1
Gust
2
1
Rebuttal
3
1
Stacked Deck
3
1
Stupefy
3
1
Abandon
1
2
Dredge Up
3
2
Flash
2
2
Frigid Touch
1
2
Ravenbloom Student
3
2
Temporal Breach
2
2
Fizz, Trickster
2
3
Shock Blast
3
3
Star-Crossed
2
3
Applied Researchers
3
4
Tail-Cloaked Matriarch
1
4
Vex, Apathetic
1
4
Thousand-Tailed Watcher
2
7
Abandon
1
2
Bellows Breath
1
1
Frigid Touch
1
2
Gust Monk
2
2
Mel, Newly Awakened
1
4
Ravenbloom Prefect
2
3
Shadows of the Past
1
3
Turn to Dust
1
2
Blue-Purple Mel comes with a built-in Might reduction effect, but you only unlock it by Empowering a unit first. On top of that, the effect can only be used during your turn and outside of a showdown, so you have to commit to it before attacking or playing a spell or ability.
This does put some restrictions on Mel—especially during your opponent’s turn—but it still opens up a lot of possibilities. The Might reduction makes it much easier to conquer battlefields while keeping your units alive, and it can even enable cards that normally struggle against high-Might targets.
Cards like Gust and Shock Blast benefit a lot from this. With Mel’s ability lowering enemy Might, these spells can now hit bigger targets, making them much more impactful and sometimes even game-defining in Blue-Purple builds.
Ambessa, Matriarch of War
Ambessa, Matriarch of War
1
0
Body Rune
7
0
Order Rune
5
0
Seat of Power
1
0
The Papertree
1
0
Risen Altar
1
0
Ambessa, Respected and Feared
1
5
Repulse
2
1
Sabotage
3
1
Challenge
3
2
Grim Resolve
3
2
Guttural Roar
3
2
Lacerate
2
2
Legion Marauder
3
2
Pit Rookie
3
2
Public Execution
3
2
Tactical Retreat
2
2
Kayle, Justified
2
3
Kinkou Initiate
3
3
Solari Sunhawk
2
3
Profiteer
3
4
Vi, Peacekeeper
2
5
Decree of Strength
3
1
Decree of Unity
3
2
Salvage
2
2
Akshan, Mischievous
2
4
Ambessa is a mid-range deck that thrives in combat, wanting to engage the opponent and force them into fights where she’ll dominate. When you empower something, you get to empower your Legend, and later on, you can disempower your Legend and pay 1 Power to ready one of your units. This allows you to attack with a unit you just played, setting up an aggressive turn, especially when your opponent is low on Energy and will struggle to defend their unit.
Your champion, Ambessa, Respected and Feared, is the wom of the show. You get to Empower her for 1 Energy and 2 Order Power, giving her Assault 2 that turns her into a 7 Might attacker. Additionally, when Ambessa attacks, she can kill one of the opponent’s units on that battlefield that has less Might than her. So any unit with 6 Might or less will get killed by Ambessa when she attacks before the combat phase starts, making it much easier for you to conquer a battlefield with Ambessa.
Public Execution also works with similar logic, letting you choose one of your units and then killing an opponent’s unit that has less Might than your chosen unit. You have multiple ways of boosting the Might of your units, so in theory, you can remove high Might threats that can be problematic later in the game.
Kayle, Justified can act as a win condition in the later game, capable of Empowering up to 3 times, and gaining +2 Might for each Empower you do. So Kayle can end up a 9 Might unit, and on the third Empower, she’ll gain Deflect 3 and Ganking, punching opponents that target her with a spell or ability and threatening to fly from one battlefield to the other.
Jayce, Defender of Tomorrow
Jayce, Defender of Tomorrow
1
0
Mind Rune
6
0
Body Rune
6
0
Forgotten Monument
1
0
The Papertree
1
0
Dragon Roost
1
0
Jayce, Brilliant Inventor
1
6
Bellows Breath
2
1
Sabotage
3
1
Stupefy
3
1
Dredge Up
3
2
Garbage Grabber
3
2
Mobilize
3
2
Acceleration Gate
3
3
Platewyrm Egg
2
3
Questionable Tome
2
3
Catalyst of Aeons
3
4
Hextech Disc
1
4
Promising Future
3
5
Sprite Burst
2
5
Dazzling Aurora
3
9
Elder Dragon
3
12
Turn to Dust
3
2
Clairvoyance
2
7
Hextech Disc
2
4
Sprite Burst
1
5
Questionable Tome
1
3
Platewyrm Egg
1
3
Most Jayce builds have been leaning toward the Aurora win condition, which players are very familiar with by now. With Jayce’s release, though, Aurora decks gain access to Mind Domain with Body, opening the door to new tools and variations on the archetype.
One of the most important blue cards here is Promising Future. It lets you cheat out an Aurora if it’s within the top five cards of your deck, which can be a huge tempo swing. You can land Aurora earlier than usual or play it later for less total Energy, leaving you with extra resources to make additional plays in the same turn.
The deck also runs multiple Gears to take full advantage of your Legend’s ability. Being able to Ready a Gear is especially powerful; it lets you immediately activate cards like Hextech Disc and play a Mech on the same turn, squeezing instant value out of your setup instead of waiting a turn.
Renekton, Butcher of the Sands
Renekton, Butcher of the Sands
1
0
Fury Rune
5
0
Body Rune
7
0
Windswept Hillock
1
0
Amateur Recital
1
0
Star Spring
1
0
Renekton, Rage Fueled
1
6
Punch First
3
1
Repulse
2
1
Challenge
2
2
Falling Star
2
2
Forsaken Baccai
3
2
Inferna
2
2
Pouty Poro
3
2
Baccai Reaper
3
3
Dominus
3
4
Kai'Sa, Survivor
3
4
Noxus Hopeful
3
4
Oasis Raider
3
4
Rengar, Trophy Hunter
3
5
Baccai Sandspinner
2
6
Eclipse Dragon
2
8
