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Riot Games has made strides in the Collectible Card Games (CCGs) genre with the release of Legends of Runeterra in April, 2020. As the game grows in the coming years, its esports scene will be sure to rival those like Hearthstone. Go all in on Runeterra with our comprehensive guide!
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Riot Games has built its success off the backs of those that came before them and that remains the same for Legends of Runeterra. If you have ever played Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, then you would have a good idea of how the game works already.
Legends of Runeterra, shortened to LoR, is a game of strategy where you go head-to-head against an opponent and whittle down the opponent's hit points. Each player starts with a deck of exactly forty (40) cards and 20 hit points represented by the Nexus. If you’re familiar with League of Legends, then you’d know that the goal here is to defeat the enemy Nexus before they destroy your own!
At the start of every match, players have the Mulligan phase where they start with four (4) cards and can choose to keep or replace them. Then, the fun can truly begin as players will alternate between starting a round beginning at Round 1. In every round, players take turns to summon units, play spells, and attack or defend. However, take note that only players who have the Attack Token can attack in the given turn!
As is standard, players start with one (1) mana gem at the beginning of the game. But, what makes LoR stand out is its Mana Banking system where you can store mana unused from previous rounds (up to a total of 3). This banked mana, however, can only be used for casting spells. Of which, there are three kinds of spell speeds: Fast, Burst, and Slow spells.
In LoR, there are three main card types: Followers, Champions, and Spells. Followers are units that can deal damage and block. Champions are the commanders of your board and once leveled up, can change the tide of the match. Meanwhile, spells can be game-changing when played at the right time!
All these cards come from a region. Each of which carries a distinct playstyle much like the classes of Hearthstone. As an example, Noxus uses the brute force of its empire’s forces to capture victory. There are eight regions in play as of now (with Bandle City coming in a future patch):
Lastly, as a game of strategy, LoR makes use of keywords to give cards unique effects to gain advantages on the board. Familiar terms such as Lifesteal and Stun first come to mind when thinking of keywords, but the game has added a host of unique abilities such as Deep and Scout for players to mess around with on Runeterra.
If you want to learn more about how Legends of Runeterra works, Riot Games created a video playlist explaining how the game is played on YouTube.
Despite being in its early days, LoR already has grassroot tournaments being held across all their regions that will be sure to grow as time passes. That’s why as early as now, it can be worthwhile to be ahead of the curve and see the game for its potential to overtake Hearthstone as the leading esport across CCGs.
As a game based on the lore of Runeterra, that means that the game is only set to grow and expand as time comes — adding cards from the already-vast League of Legends universe. Take their latest expansion Beyond the Bandlewood in Patch 2.14 which features an all-new region, never-before-seen keywords, and nine (9) champions altogether. This would drastically change the meta (otherwise known as most effective tactics available). The coming set also introduces multi-region cards which could potentially be game-changing since only two regions are allowed per deck in the constructed format.
Case in point, the cards that are good right now, for example: Akshan, Sivir, Irelia and Azir can be irrelevant in the coming months. That’s why it can be good to follow tier lists made by platforms such as Mobalytics and Decks of Runeterra. What’s good about Riot’s CCG is that it is completely free-to-play friendly with all the in-game progression they offer to get the cards you want every patch. This means that competition isn’t limited by who has the moolah to get the deck of the month; which will inevitably increase the number of players that can truly be competitive.
As of this writing, there are four regional shards in play for LoR esports: the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Since Riot hosts their tournaments in-game, it can be helpful to go over the top ranked players in the region you want to bet on in the future. Follow the scene’s brightest stars and upcoming talent and see how they adapt as time passes.
In LoR, players compete with a total of three different deck combinations with no duplicated champions and region combinations. Before the start of the match, each player bans one of their opponent’s decks from use. Furthermore, once a deck wins a game, it cannot be used again in a best-of-three match (although this might change in a best-of-five series). As such, you have to trust that your player can pull off wins with any of the decks he chooses!
The game’s best of the best are players in the Master Tier where if they earn enough League Points (LP) and place in the Top 700, they get to participate in the Seasonal Tournament at the end of the season. You can follow all the latest announcements, schedules, and winners every season at Legends of Runeterra.
In the meantime, you can learn how to play the all-new CCG from streamers and pros that play the game at the highest level!
Sean “Swimstrim” Huguenard
Known for his deckbuilding, Swimstrim is a veteran of CCGs way before he jumped on to Legends of Runeterra in the past year. You can catch him on Twitch and YouTube raving about meta decks and teaching players how to improve their game. In fact, he even has his own website where he lists down all the meta decks of the current patch, provides matchup tips, and a hypergeometric calculator that helps with deckbuilding. He truly is a veteran of the trade.
GrappLr
GrappLr is a CCG and fitness enthusiast who will be sure to entertain as you learn the ropes of the game. He has been consistently putting out content in the past year with daily streams and uploads as a Master-tier player. Despite his demeanor, GrappLr has shown mastery in LoR and shows his viewers how to have a good time. Follow him on Twitch and YouTube for fun high-level gameplay!
Calhoun “BruisedByGod” Mathis
If you’re looking for game analyses and the developing state of the card game, BruisedByGod is your man. This tactician is a true competitor within LoR esports having played in numerous tournaments such as Riot Grand Prix in the past year. As such, he has the know-how to guide you on how the game’s been shaping up in the past year. Follow him for his analytical content on Twitch and YouTube.
Legends of Runeterra was released last April 29, 2020. Inspired by its predecessors, Riot Games created the free-to-play title where everyone could try their hand to be a master tactician. The game’s generous progression system has allowed players to stay competitive as patches have come and go.
Thus far, Riot hosts Seasonal Tournaments as the “apex of competition” in Legends of Runeterra esports. Here, 1024 qualifying players compete for the honour to stand at the top as their region’s best. The Seasonal Champion brings home $10,000 as part of their winnings as well.
As we near the World Championship, here are the following tournaments hosted so far:
Coming into the end of 2021, the Legends of Runeterra World Championship awaits with $200,000 and the honour of taking home the title’s first-ever trophy up for the taking. The year-long qualifiers end on September 4 to 5, 2021 with the Top 256 players from Asia, SEA, Europe, and the Americas competing for the final sixteen (16) slots at Worlds. To qualify for the World Championship, players from each shard can qualify through placement in Ranked play, as Top 4 in the seasonal tournaments, or through seasonal tournament points.
We're excited to announce the pinnacle of competitive play in Legends of Runeterra: The Legends of Runeterra World Championship. 🏆 256 players will battle it out for the title of World Champion, with a $200k prize pool at stake. 📝 More details: https://t.co/IXW77FjcOZ pic.twitter.com/fgwkfbmC1o — Legends of Runeterra (@PlayRuneterra) April 20, 2021
We're excited to announce the pinnacle of competitive play in Legends of Runeterra: The Legends of Runeterra World Championship. 🏆
256 players will battle it out for the title of World Champion, with a $200k prize pool at stake.
📝 More details: https://t.co/IXW77FjcOZ pic.twitter.com/fgwkfbmC1o
— Legends of Runeterra (@PlayRuneterra) April 20, 2021
Thus far, the Seasonal Tournaments hosted have had two stages: the Open Rounds and the Playoffs. To be crowned Season Champion, you must go through the Open Rounds which consists of 5 Swiss Rounds of best-of-threes. These top 32 players then advance to playoffs to compete in a single-elimination bracket. Seasons start and end every two (2) months of play.
After the year-long qualifiers, we will see the Top 16 players compete from September 16-18 starting at 8:00 AM PT in groups. The Group Stage will feature four players per group with a round robin format. Here, the Top 2 in each group advances to the Playoffs. The Playoffs will then be a single-elimination stage to determine the first-ever LoR World Champion.
Since the game still has room for growth, betting platforms have yet to add the CCG to their supported titles. But looking at Hearthstone, we can make an educated guess on what’s on the horizon for Legends of Runeterra betting.
Moneyline betting is as simple as it gets for anyone getting into CCGs. Since LoR is played one-on-one, simply predict which side of the match you’re favouring and place your odds. Remember, in a best-of-three, a player must win with two out of three of their chosen decks. Meanwhile, they have to win with all of their chosen decks in a best-of-five. With moneyline bets, make sure that you’re putting your eggs in the right basket and winning becomes as easy as 1, 2, 3.
Leave it to the pros to handle propositional betting because it takes a ton of game knowledge and knowhow to be able to predict what will happen in a game of LoR. Perhaps when Legends of Runeterra betting starts to kick off we’ll see Champions or Regions used by players as wagers to be placed on. There could also be certain in-game events specific to LoR such as first to level-up a Champion or triggering a certain Keyword. Though there is much risk involved in this field of betting, it can pay off for those who do the much-needed homework to predict the odds correctly.
Lastly, there’s total betting which in CCGs such as LoR could be the number of turns it takes before someone wins. This would mean that bettors should know the average number of turns it takes for players to win games in the current meta given the decks being used. Compared to prop betting, we would say that the risks they share are rather similar due to the variability they possess in any given game.
Legends of Runeterra is a digital CCG made by Riot Games that takes elements from their own title League of Legends and combines it with traditional card games such as Magic: The Gathering.
Look out for the Legends of Runeterra World Championship 2021 starting September 16 on H4: platforms such as Rivalry, GGbet, and Arcanebet.
Much like fellow esports titles like League of Legends and VALORANT, there are no laws that restrict betting on Legends of Runeterra.
You can follow all the Seasonal Tournaments and the World Championship on Twitch and their vods on YouTube!
The Legends of Runeterra World Championship 2021 begins on September 5, 2021 for its initial qualifiers with the Top 16 players going head-to-head from September 16-18, 2021.