Card game by Riot based on the League of Legends world and cast. Since everyone is welcome to participate in the beta, it will be helpful for you to examine these beginner’s tips if this is your first venture into this addictive idea.
These are some of the things I wish I had known before beginning to play Legends of Runeterra after playing through its beta and spending the entire night getting to know its cards, fiddling with decks, and trying its various modes.
Turns in Legends of Runeterra
The way the turns and their related stages are handled in Legends of Runeterra is one of its greatest characteristics. While it is up to each turn to decide who attacks and who defends, there are various phases within each turn that let us play units, cast spells, deploy those units to attack or block, and finish investing mana if we so choose.
The end result is a “yours, mine” that leaves some room for surprise but does not completely convince you. It compels you to consider both your current move and potential follow-up moves, much like a game of chess.
Remember the phase after the attack
After you’ve attacked or blocked, the final phase of each round resolves, giving you some time to play a new unit before the mana refills again, save that mana for the magic pool of the following turn, or cast a spell that reacts to what just happened. Playing a spell that goes into effect after a number of opponents have been defeated is a nice illustration of this.
The key takeaway from this is that you need to play your attacks and blocks with an additional turn in mind and be prepared to react accordingly. Don’t take that final stage lightly because it can make or break the following turn.
how magic works
In Legends of Runeterra there are three types of magic and each of them acts according to the phases of each turn:
Slow: they are the ones that require the most preparation, so you cannot use them in the middle of a fight or to counter other types of spells. They can be countered or responded to by other spells.
Fast: You can cast them at any time, but like the slow spell we also give the opponent a phase to respond.
Burst: the instants. Spells that activate once cast and do not phase the enemy in order to act.
Know the keywords
In addition to knowing those related to spells, knowing what each type of card ability does is essential to understanding what the hell is going on. If you don’t know a card – in fact you should start there, looking at the set and playing all the tutorial games – you can right-click to open it, and hovering over the text will show you what each action does.
In any case, here is a glossary with each of the keywords included:
- Overpower: The extra damage dealt to the blocker is received by the enemy Nexus.
- Stamina: Take 1 less damage from units or spells.
- Alliance: Affects a unit with which you maintain an alliance
- Support: When attacking with a support unit, the unit to its right is boosted.
- Challenger: Can choose the enemy unit to block.
- Attack: make an attack (a block does not work).
- Quick attack: when attacking, it hits before its blocker (it can kill it without taking damage).
- Stuns: The stunned unit cannot attack or block during the round.
- Barrier: Prevents the next amount of damage you take this round.
- Drain: Heals the Nexus for the same amount of damage it deals.
- Dodge: Can only be blocked by a unit with Dodge.
- Flimsy: dies when attacking or ending the round.
- Frost: Reduces a unit’s power to 0 during this round.
- Fleeting: cards that are discarded from the hand at the end of the round.
- Nexus Strike: Triggers when the unit hits the enemy Nexus.
- Shield icon crossed out: Cannot block.
- Play: move a card from the hand to the board.
- Regeneration: Recovers health at the start of each round.
- Life Steal: Heals the Nexus for the same amount of damage it deals.
- Fearsome: Can only be blocked by enemies with 3 or more power.
- Deathrattle: Does something when you die.
- How to get more cards
A good way to get prizes and cards in Legends of Runeterra are expeditions. Here the idea is to create a deck based on the options that the game offers you -three groups of three or fewer cards for each choice- and accumulate victories with it.