Pre-Rift Prep: Essential Deckbuilding Tips for Riftbound Radiance
Riftbound: Radiance just released and the local meta is about to shift in a major way. Featuring heavy hitter musical crossovers from groups like K/DA, True Damage, and Heartsteel, Radiance is bringing entirely new mechanics to the table, led by flashy champions like Seraphine and Evelynn.
Having played 5 pre-rifts just this set alone, I have seen firsthand what wins matches and what falls apart under pressure. Whether you are heading into a Pre-Rift sealed event or trying to optimize your deckbuilding ahead of launch day, walking in unprepared is a quick way to drop games and miss out on some extra packs that might be containing that signature we all know you want. Here are my top 3 absolute best tips that you need to follow if you are trying to take home a win.
Tip 1: Keep It Consistent
Your main list should stay as close to 25 cards as humanly possible. While the rules technically allow you to build over that floor, 25 cards is the absolute minimum, and every single extra card you add past that mark will only water down your overall deck quality and ruin your draw consistency.
Tip 2: Units Galore
You should aim to run around 15 to 17 units total, including your chosen champion. You can always flex that number up or down depending on the specific set you are playing, especially if a release leans heavily toward units or is packed with gear and trick cards. From what we have seen so far in Radiance, the meta is shaping up to feature more gear with deploy effects alongside a ton of trick-heavy cards, so landing right around 15 units give or take is your best bet.
Tip 3: Don't Be a Hoarder (Keep Your Unit Curve Low)
You want to load up on your 3 and 4 energy units while just making sure you have a few 2-drops so you have time to play them, backed by only a few 5 to 7 energy units to close the game out. This format is super fast, so if you fill your deck with high-cost units, it is more likely than not you are going to lose before you even get a chance to play them out on the board.
Bonus Tip: Play to Conquer, Not to Hold
Make sure you are focusing on playing to conquer rather than trying to hold battlefields. Personally, I think it is a lot harder to successfully hold ground in a limited format like Pre-Rifts, so you want to build your deck to aggressively take those battlefields rather than playing something passive to hold them down and just praying it works out.
This was all mostly written for Radiance Pre-Rift, but the same concepts can be applied to any future set as well. Good luck with your pulls, and let us take home some wins!
- Christian