Legends Of Runeterra
PC Gamer|Christmas 2019
LoL developer makes a play for the crowded card game market
Alistair Jones
Legends Of Runeterra

The lack of a second title in Riot Games’ roster has been a community in-joke for many years. The League of Legends developer has dined out on the success of its smash-hit MOBA for a decade, but for its tenth anniversary, it’s finally adding a new cardshaped arrow to its quiver.

Legends of Runeterra is a card game set within the League of Legends universe, drawing on characters found throughout that game’s expansive lore. Long-term fans will already be familiar with the setting; Runeterra is the continent on which LoL and the political machinations that underpin it take place.

While League of Legends’ 140-strong roster of characters hail from every corner of its world, Legends of Runeterra’s first card set will feature only 24 of them – four from each of six factions – whose strengths and weaknesses are shaped by the nations that they call home.

Noxus, a warmongering state that values strength above all, is represented by characters such as Darius and Draven, whose brute force makes them terrifying to face one-on-one, but which are often unable to cope with a unified assault.

By contrast, peaceful Ionia opts for harmony, drawing on the combined strength of multiple units, while the inhabitants of the Freljord’s icy wastes use their own resilience – or strength-sapping ice magic – to survive.

While the world and characters of League of Legends underpin the game, CCG veterans should recognise many of the ideas which have helped shape it.

The influence of both Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone is immediately apparent, but Riot’s not relying solely on League of Legends’s personality to set Legends of Runeterra apart.

THE BEST OFFENCE…

Denne historien er fra Christmas 2019-utgaven av PC Gamer.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Christmas 2019-utgaven av PC Gamer.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.