Legends Of Runeterra - What We Know So Far

After ten years, Riot Games' juggernaut League of Legends franchise is finally spinning off a new game: Legends of Runeterra. Joining the ranks of Hearthstone and Magic the Gathering, and taking place in the same universe as League of Legends, this new card game will be extremely free-to-play friendly, rewarding players who spend a lot of time playing, rather than those who are able to buy upgrades. Items in the shop will even be limited weekly to make sure no one player is able to buy the perfect deck right off the bat. This game instead encourages exploration and gameplay time, focusing on the journey rather than the destination.

Legends of Runeterra will expand on the already interesting lore of League of Legends, giving players information piece by piece. And as excited as fans are to see their favorite champions in this new game, the new champions being introduced have also got people talking. With six different regions to explore, games to play, and champions to unlock, there's a lot to cover for Legends of Runeterra. So here is everything we know about the release date, cards, story, and platforms.

Riot Games has, so far, been tight-lipped about the exact release date for Legends of Runeterra, though we can expect Legends of Runeterra to be released in late 2020. Because the game has been in development for so long and is still in beta, it's possible Riot wants to make sure all of the kinks are ironed out before assigning it a solid release date. Right now, players can pre-register for the special beta period on PC, with those selected being notified via email somewhere down the road. Riot Games has also stated that there will be a closed beta in early 2020.

There will be 318 cards in the base version of Legends of Runeterra alone. These 318 cards come from the six different regions present in Runeterra, and from these six regions, there will be 24 different champions to acquire. And Riot Games has promised that new packs, regions, and champions will continue to be added after the initial launch of the game. Obviously, there will be a lot of strategy involved in assembling your deck, and combining regions to maximize the strengths of each area will be your best bet. However, players will only be able to combine two regions at once, so you'll need to choose wisely and make every move count. 

The available regions in Legends of Runeterra are Noxus, Piltover & Zaun, Ionia, Freljord, Demacia, and Shadow Isles. And from these regions we have the following champions: Lucian, Fiora, Lux, Garen, Braum, Ashe, Anivia, Tryndamere, Zed, Shen, Yasuo, Karma, Draven, Katarina, Vladimir, Darius, Teemo, Ezreal, Jinx, Heimerdinger, Elise, Kalista, Thresh, and Hecarim. These champions can be combined into complementary duos to ensure your victory, or you can simply choose the strongest champions you have to do massive damage to your opponent. Players will also be able to use shards (currency earned in the game) to purchase wildcards that will allow them to fill out their deck. But only so many wildcards will be available each week to make sure players aren't easily attaining the perfect deck.

Details concerning the actual storyline of Legends of Runeterra have been scarce, though we do know that many of the champions from LoL will be in the Legends of Runeterra, and each champion has brand new art created just for this game. It's also been revealed that, as characters level up, their art will change. And as you learn more about your champions, their art will expand to reveal a bigger and more complete picture.

When speaking about Legends of Runeterra, developers said that their plan was to start with the most restrictive platform and then build from there. Because of this, they began their development for Legends of Runeterra with a mobile version. As they overcame obstacles and limitations surrounding the mobile platform, they were able to expand the game out to the PC version. At the moment, PC and mobile are the only platforms announced for the launch of this new title, but we'll let you know if that changes in any way.