Legends of Runeterra

"LoR" redirects here. For other uses, see LOR.

Legends of Runeterra
Developer(s)	Riot Games
Publisher(s)	Riot Games
Series	League of Legends
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Android iOS
Release	January 24, 2020 (beta)
Genre(s)	Digital collectible card game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Legends of Runeterra (abbreviated LoR) is a free-to-play digital collectible card game developed and published by Riot Games. Runeterra was released in open beta for Microsoft Windows on January 24, 2020. The game exists in the same universe as League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena game by Riot.

Gameplay

The game is played one against one. Each player begins the match with a hand of four playing cards randomly selected from their card deck, a 20 health point nexus, and zero mana. Before the match begins, each player also has the option to trade out any of the first four cards they drew for random different ones from their deck.

After this pre-game phase concludes, both players receive a mana gem, one player receives the attack token, and the other receives the defense token. Only the player with the attack token may attack during this round. After each round the tokens switch between players, and each player draws a random card from their deck. As the number of rounds increase, so to does the number of mana gems each player receives, up to a maximum of 10. At the end of each round any unused mana becomes spell mana, up to a maximum of three. This mana can only be used to cast spell cards.

In order to play cards, players must spend mana gems. There are three types of cards, Champions, Followers, and spells. Champions are the most powerful cards in the game, and each have a criterion that once met will level-up the card to a more powerful version. Followers consist of all other normal playable cards and spells cause effects when played.

Once played, cards may be placed forward once more, to either attack or defend with. When attacking, if no opposing card blocks, the card will hit the enemy player's nexus, dealing damage equal to its power stat. If the attacking card is defended against with a blocking card, the two cards will clash, dealing their respective damage amounts to one another. Each card also has a defense stat. If the damage received is greater than or equal to the defense stat of the card, it is destroyed. Striking an enemy nexus with a card deals no damage to the attacking card. The objective of the game is to bring the opponent's nexus to zero health points.

Cards

Legends of Runeterra offers a variety of cards to allow each player to play games in their own unique way. A deck of cards must consist of no more than 6 champion cards (allowing for 3 different champions to be present), 2 regions, and 40 cards total.

The following are details that are present on each card.

Mana

All cards in the game come with a mana cost. The player must spend the amount of mana listed on the card in order to play the card. The maximum amount of mana a player can start the round with is thirteen (including spell mana).

Regions

The following are possible card regions. A card only contains a single region. When creating a deck, cards can only be added from a maximum of two regions.

• Demacia
• Ionia
• Piltover & Zaun
• Freljord
• Noxus
• Shadow Isles

Types

The following are possible card types. A card only contains a single type.

• Unit
• Spell
• Ability

Rarities

The following are possible card rarities. A card only contains a single rarity. The higher the rarity, the more value a card has.

• Champion
• Epic
• Rare
• Common

For example, the card Absorb Soul is from the region Shadow Isles, is a Spell card, is of Common rarity, and costs 1 Mana to play.

Development

Legends of Runeterra was announced by Riot Games, and entered its first preview, on October 15, 2019, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of League of Legends. The preview lasted until October 20 and was only available to a small pool of players.

A second preview gave some players a look at "Expeditions," a draft game mode in which players start from scratch and build a deck from a random assortment of cards in their collection. Players are able to continue to evolve their deck as they progress between games while playing in the Expeditions mode. The Expeditions preview lasted from November 14 to 19, 2019.

On January 12, 2020, Riot Games announced that the Legends of Runeterra open beta would begin on January 24, 2020. Accounts that had access to the game during its preview patches would be wiped, but Riot stated that there would be no further account resets after the open beta launch.

External links

• Official website
• Runeterra community website