When playing card games, your strategy, wit, and luck are all you have in your arsenal. It’s the perfect combination of these three in mind while building your decks.
This is because, unlike traditional card games like Poker, deck building is essential in collectible card games like Legends of Runeterra.
If you are interested in trying out this card game by Riot Games, then you are at the right place. In this Legends of Runeterra beginner’s guide with tips and tricks, you will learn the fundamentals of playing this game.
After that, you will learn the best beginner tips and tricks to help you climb up the leaderboard faster. So start reading now!
What Is Legends Of Runeterra?
Legends of Runeterra is a CCG (collectible card game) based on the world of League of Legends by Riot Games. It was released for PC and smartphones in March 2020. It’s also available for mobile phones, just like League Of Legends Wild Rift.
The gameplay of this game takes the best elements of other popular card games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone. However, unlike those games, this game has ironed out its core problems and refined the gameplay to perfection.
How To Play Legends Of Runeterra?
Legends of Runeterra is, in my opinion, one of the best android games because of its complex yet interesting gameplay. It has various types of cards and abilities, which you can mix and match to pull off strategic combos to finish off your enemies.
Both you and your opponent have a 40-card deck. You have a Nexus with 20 health, a mana bar with ten mana, and three extra spell mana. You use mana to play your cards.
Types Of Cards In Your Deck
According to the Legends of Runeterra Reddit, you play with a 40-card deck, which consists of four types of cards. These cards all belong from ten different regions of Runeterra, each having different playstyles.
When you create your Legends of Runeterra decks, you can only have cards from two different regions. Similar to characters from Genshin Impact, some champions are from dual regions, which can be used in decks around any region. These regions are:
- Ionia
- Demacia
- Freljord
- Shadow Isles
- Bilgewater
- Piltover & Zaun
- Noxus
- Shurima
- Targon
- Bandle City
The four types of cards each region has are:
- Champions: These are the most powerful cards in your deck. These are creatures that have great stats and powerful abilities, unlike other cards. Each of these champions has a level-up condition, the completion of which “evolves” the card and makes it more powerful with higher stats and better abilities. You can have no more than 6 champions in your deck at all times. To play a Champion, you need to pay its mana cost and put it in the field.
- Followers: They are creatures like Champions, but without lesser stats and less powerful abilities. All followers and champions have two stats – health and power. Power is the damage you deal to enemies and the nexus, which gets destroyed when its health reaches zero.
- Spells: Unlike Followers and Champions, spells are cast from the hand and not played on the field. You simply pay their mana cost to use its effect and then place it in your grave. Spells can be subdivided into three types – slow, fast, and burst. you cannot play slow spells during the battle phase and in response to enemy spells. Both fast and burst spells do not have this limitation. However, burst spells have the advantage of not being countered by an opposing spell.
- Landmarks: These are like spells, but you play them on the field. These cards have unique passive abilities that will be active as long as it’s in the field.
While these are the basic card types, you cannot keep an infinite number of them on your deck. Therefore, you are limited to keeping a maximum of three copies of each card in your deck.
Every follower and champion can have keywords in them, which dictates a type of passive ability that they have. There are various kinds of keywords, with new ones added every update and new cards every two months. You can find info about Legends of Runeterra updates on the official Legends of Runeterra Twitter page.
How does Each Match Plays Out?
When the game starts, both players draw four cards from their deck – called their starting hand. After that, the game begins, where each turn, one player gets to be the attacker and the other the defender. Both players can play cards from their hands each turn.
At the start of the game, both players start with one mana. Each round, each player gains one mana (maxing out at ten on the 10th turn). If you have any unspent mana at the end of the round, it gets transferred to your spell mana, which gets used first to cast spells (max 3). Your mana refills at the start of each round.
When the round begins, the attacker gets to go first. Then, after playing a card, it’s the turn of the opponent to do so. This goes back and forth until the round ends. In the next turn, the attacker and defender sides are switched, which happens at the start of every round.
The objective of this game is to whittle down the health of the enemy nexus to zero. Another win condition of this game is to deck out the opponent, where your enemy runs out of cards to draw from their deck.
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Legends Of Runeterra Beginners Tips And Tricks
Now that you know the basic fundamentals of playing this game, here are some Legends of Runeterra Beginners tips and tricks that you must know:
Know The Meta Decks By Heart
The Legends of Runeterra meta refers to the decks that are the most dominant in the ranked mode each season. As you go higher up in the ranks, you will find that most players use meta decks. Therefore, your first objective would be to collect enough cards to build a meta deck.
Try to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the meta decks. This will help you to play around them and think strategically if the opponent has a meta deck (which they will do 90% of the time).
Build Your Deck Around A Specific Win Condition
No matter your deck, it must be built around a . First, you must set a win condition in mind when creating a deck. Then, when you play a game, you must make moves that add up the accomplishment of your win condition.
For example, my favorite deck is the Shen (Ionia)/Fiora(Demacia) deck. Here, you automatically win the game if you can slay four enemy followers or champions with Fiora (its level 2 skill). However, Fiora has very low stats (2 power/3 health). So, to protect it and ensure it survives longer, you have barrier spells from Ionia and the ability of Shen to give barriers and buff a supported ally (preferably Fiora) while attacking.
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Analyze The Board And Your Options In Hand
During the game, you can use your followers and champions to attack the enemy nexus. However, the enemy can block these attacks with champions and followers of their own. Unblocked attacks will pass through and hit the nexus.
Therefore, removing units from the board is a priority. You can do this by using removal spells, or attacking enemies using significantly powerful units. Therefore, use your spells and abilities in combos to gain the upper hand on each attacking and defensive phase.
A very powerful combo here is the Azir (Shurima)/Irelia (Ionia) deck. Whenever you attack, Azir summons an extra follower to attack enemies. Also, Irelia creates a spell each turn that can summon two extra followers. Therefore, keep on attacking with these extra units to whittle down the enemy nexus. And yes – the stats of Azir increase each time you summon a follower.
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Complete Challenges To Open Weekly Chests
Despite these in-game tips, the best tip is to complete challenges. Every day, you get one challenge to complete. Therefore, complete these challenges and rank up your treasure chest. Your chest opens every Thursday, giving you new cards and shards to build new decks from.
Why Legends of Runeterra Has Gained Popularity
Legends of Runeterra, a strategic card game developed by Riot Games, has captivated gaming enthusiasts worldwide. In this article, I will delve into the reasons behind its soaring popularity. So, let’s get started!
Engaging Gameplay
One key factor in Legends of Runeterra’s popularity is its engaging gameplay. It offers a unique blend of strategy, card collection, and skill-based combat. Players build decks using champions and spells from the League of Legends universe, leading to a dynamic and ever-evolving gaming experience. The game’s tactical depth and constant updates keep players hooked, fostering a dedicated community.
Accessibility and Fairness
Legends of Runeterra distinguishes itself with a generous free-to-play model. Players can earn cards and resources through gameplay, reducing the pay-to-win element prevalent in many card games. This commitment to fairness has endeared the game to a wide audience, as players can compete on an even playing field without feeling pressured to spend money.
Strategic Depth
The game’s strategic depth is another driving force behind its popularity. Legends of Runeterra requires players to carefully plan their moves, anticipate opponents’ strategies, and adapt on the fly. This complexity keeps players engaged, as they constantly refine their skills and deck compositions to outsmart their adversaries.
League of Legends Universe
Legends of Runeterra benefits from its connection to the immensely popular League of Legends franchise. Fans of the MOBA can explore the lore of their favorite champions in a new context, deepening their attachment to the game. This crossover appeal draws both longtime League players and newcomers into the Runeterra universe.
Regular Updates
Riot Games’ commitment to maintaining and improving the game is evident through frequent updates and expansions. New cards, champions, and balance changes keep the metagame fresh and exciting. This continuous evolution prevents stagnation and ensures that players always have something new to explore.
Competitive Scene
The emergence of a competitive scene has added another layer of appeal. Tournaments and esports events attract skilled players, fostering a sense of community and aspiration among players. This encourages gamers to hone their skills and aim for the top, further solidifying the game’s popularity.
In summary, Legends of Runeterra’s popularity can be attributed to its engaging gameplay, accessibility, strategic depth, ties to the League of Legends universe, regular updates, and the growth of its competitive scene. This combination of factors has created a thriving gaming ecosystem that continues to attract both casual players and esports enthusiasts, ensuring the game’s enduring popularity in the world of digital card games.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Ans: Runeterra is heavily inspired from Hearthstone. The main reason why gamers prefer LoR over Hearthstone is the fact that gameplay wise LoR isn better. But the main factor lies in the free to play mechanics of LoR, where you simply need to play everyday to earn new cards. Hearthstone has been referred to as a pay to win the game where you have to pay real money to get cards of higher rarity.
Ans: One of the biggest draws of Legends of Runeterra is its free-to-play mechanics. You simply need to complete challenges every day and win three PvP matches to earn points that runk up your treasure chest. Ranking it above 10 gives you a champion wildcard and lots of free cards and shards, making it easier for new players to build meta decks.
Ans: Typically, a game of Runeterra lasts for 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes, they can be over in under five minutes, while intense games might even go upwards of 30 mins.
Ans: No, Legends of Runeterra is not an easy game to play. With each new expansion comes new gameplay mechanics and cards, which you need to learn. Therefore, it can be overwhelming for new players to get used to all the gameplay mechanics of this game.
Conclusion
Playing collectibles or trading card games can be quite difficult because you have to use your brain more than your physical body. You have to constantly strategize and think three steps ahead of the enemy. This is the reason why I created this Legends Of Runeterra beginner’s guide tips and tricks to help new players make their first step in the fantastic world of Runeterra.
If this guide helped you learn something, feel free to share your experiences with us in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to check out guides on other Android games here at Tech Trends Pro!
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