Tawan
Riot Games has just revealed the next chapter for Riftbound, and it’s a big one. On September 25, 2026, the studio unveiled Radiance, the fifth and final set of the game’s first full year, bringing nine new Legends, three new keywords, and a handful of firsts for the young trading card game (Switzer, 2026).
Where Vendetta was about hunting down high-value targets, Radiance flips the script toward performance: playing your best under the brightest lights, with everything on the line (Switzer, 2026). That theme runs straight through the set’s new mechanics.
Three new keywords to learn
Deploy is the headline addition. Gear with Deploy can only be played to a battlefield, where it grants its benefits for as long as it stays there, and the moment an opponent holds that battlefield, the gear is destroyed (Riot Games, 2026). The flashiest example so far is Ziggs, Hexplosive Expert, whose Bomb tokens are Deploy gear: when a Bomb dies it damages an enemy unit there and sets off your other Bombs at the same battlefield, so a stack of them can cascade (Switzer, 2026).
Show Off rewards a bit of theater. As you play a Show Off card, you can reveal a qualifying card from your hand, or point to one already on your board, to unlock an extra effect (Riot Games, 2026). Showing off from your hand tells your opponent what you’re holding; using a card that’s already on the board gives nothing away.
Disarm answers big, aggressive units directly: when a unit with Disarm attacks, it reduces the Might of an enemy unit, and each extra instance of Disarm makes the reduction bigger (Riot Games, 2026). Kai’Sa, Rebel, builds straight into this, pairing Disarm with the ability to give her own spells Reaction mid-fight (Switzer, 2026).
Nine new Legends, and a real first for the game
Orianna, Lady of Clockwork animates gear into full units, turning treasures and Gold tokens into an army of machines. Ekko, The Boy Who Shattered Time lets you play expensive units ahead of schedule, with the catch that they disappear again at the end of the turn (Switzer, 2026).
The most structurally interesting addition, though, is probably Neeko. She’s Riftbound’s first neutral domain Champion Unit, meaning she can slot into a deck built around any of the six domains. Every revealed card is also in Riot’s official card gallery if you want to read her in full. That’s a genuine first for the game, and one worth watching closely once deckbuilders get their hands on the full set (Switzer, 2026).
For collectors, too
Radiance brings the game’s second-ever Ultimate Rare, appearing in fewer than 0.025% of packs, alongside Overnumbered versions of all nine new Legends, Heartsteel Overnumbers, and Special Alt Art cards following the Crystal Rose treatment introduced in Vendetta. A new Collector’s Binder joins the product lineup as well (Switzer, 2026).
Key dates
Previews run September 25 through October 9. Pre-Rift events at local game stores run October 16 to 22, with Pre-Rift Kits containing five Radiance boosters plus a seeded pack for each of the nine new Legends, and a Heimerdinger, Academy Instructor promo card while supplies last. Radiance itself releases October 23 and is the first Riftbound set to launch simultaneously in English, French, and Simplified Chinese (Switzer, 2026).
I’ll be back with deck ideas the moment Radiance is actually in players’ hands. For now, Neeko is the one I can’t stop thinking about. Every preview we cover lands on the Tawan news page as it drops.
References
Riot Games. (n.d.). Card gallery. Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game. Retrieved September 30, 2026, from https://playriftbound.com/en-us/card-gallery/
Riot Games. (2026, September 25). The Radiance overview. Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game. https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/the-radiance-overview/
Switzer, E. (2026, September 25). Take the stage: Riot Games reveals new Legends and mechanics for Riftbound: Radiance. TriplePoint Newsroom. https://pressreleases.triplepointpr.com/2026/09/25/take-the-stage-riot-games-reveals-new-legends-and-mechanics-for-riftbound-radiance/
Tawan was created under Riot Games’ “Legal Jibber Jabber” policy using assets owned by Riot Games. Riot Games does not endorse or sponsor this project.
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