When League of Legends celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, they surprised the community by announcing a lot of prototype games that they are developing. Making Riot Games legitimate with the "Games" part. One of the said games was Legends of Runeterra, a new card game based on League of Legends by Riot Games. League players who are into card games like myself are so hyped when it was announced and while SEA received the short end of the stick in the beta and release, there is an announcement today that will definitely lighten up the spirits of those who have been waiting for months now.
Release Date
LoR will be releasing in April 30, 2020! Yes, the long wait is over. SEA players will be able to play the game soon when it officially launches that day. It means that the game will be polished since it has underwent beta tests months before its release. As someone who had waited so long, this is good news, especially for those who have been staying at home since the quarantine started. Legends of Runeterra has a lot of lore and characters that will fill my need to learn more about the game.
The Game
And for those who are not much initiated to the game, let's talk about it! Legends of Runeterra is a Collectible Card Game or CCG that lets you earn cards via progression more than purchasing them in real cash. CCGs have been in the rise in the last decade until today, popular ones in physical forms are usually Magic the Gathering, Yu Gi Oh and Weiss Schwartz, while in the online market, there are examples as well such as Hearthstone, Shadowverse, Magic! The Gathering: Arena, Gwent and much more! In a CCG, you collect cards and build decks to compete with other players or AI.
In Legends of Runeterra, you will build a 40 card deck with two regions basing on their location, such as Demacia, Noxus, Piltover & Zaun, Freljord, Ionia and the Shadow Isles. Aside from this, you will be limited into six champions per deck to balance out card types in the deck. Each region will have a specific specialty that they have in their cards. Some are used to have a proper combo in their usage while there's a specific build to simply rush your opponent before you have a chance. The developers are proud to announce that you can mix and match the regions and see which specialty fits in your play style.
The Reason and some Details to know
Legends of Runeterra was made by the developers in Riot Games since they have remembered the days that they will get cards with their paychecks and enjoy the games where they would win by either lucking it out or having the perfect strategy to beat their opponents. They saw the potential of that game setup in the League universe, so they tried it, which gave birth to Legends of Runeterra.
The developers reiterated that LoR is made for League players who have an affinity in playing card games and those who enjoy inputting strategy in their games. They promised that the game will be filled with strategy but will always be able to balance the game and be accessible for everyone that would like to try the game.
Another reason to play the game is that if you are a lore enthusiast then this is a game for you. Since League of Legends' lore is expansive, Legends of Runeterra adds depth to it by adding new characters that you might not see in League except for cameos, comics and lore stories. They added different characters which are interesting to characters such as Yasuo's brother, Yone and Zed's disciples which are featured in the new Zed comic released.
Progression
As stated earlier, the game is very free-to-play as in you do not need to spend premium currency or real money in order to progress in the game. You just need time and your dedication to be able to compete with the best among the game. How? By playing of course, each time you play, you will be able to finish up some quests and each time a quest has been done, you will be able to get experience and card packs that you can unlock. These card packs are based on a specific region that you can select without being forced into one. So you just need to get the region you think you will excel at and finish quests to get card packs on that region.
Here's more, each week, you can unlock chests from the Vault. The Vault contains cards that will help you progress in the game. How do you unlock these chest, still by playing.ofcourse. You will upgrade your chest and the cards you get by grinding the game and playing every time. The longer you play, the better cards you may get. Also by level 10, you are guaranteed a champion every time. So the real issue is, how much grind will you be able to dedicate?
Finally, there are wildcards to be obtained in the game. There's a lot of ways to get wild cards, but the important thing to know about this is that, you can pick ANY card you wish with a wild card, so let's say you need certain cards to complete your new deck, you can get said cards easily with the wild cards. This is a very accessible system that will definitely help free-to-play players such as myself.
Rest assured, they promised that there will be no randomized pack in the game. This is a great news as RNG and money is not a good combo. It might be nice for whales and companies, but it hurts the F2P market.
Specifications and Platforms
If you are interested in the game, you need to be able to play in either PC or Mobile(either iOS or Android). For PC, the specifications are following: You need to have an operating system that is a 64-bit type of Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. The newest PC specs usually have 64 bit operating systems, still, it's better to check it out before trying out the game. Next up, you will need a 3 GHz processor and a 4 GB RAM, pretty standard specs, finally, having a GPU that has a VRAM of 512MB or higher would be necessary as well. These are pretty standards in your modern day PC, you may not have much problems...
For Mac OS users though, sorry, the game does not support Mac, maybe for now, but let us wait for future announcements. Finally, for Mobile users please wait when the game launches in mobile to know the specs of the game.
Other things to know
Legends of Runeterra will have a ranked gameplay, who doesn't love a competition, right? Get your rage-induced sweats ready when it comes up, and may RNGesus bless you with good luck since card games usually are in the mercy of luck if not together with strategy, but if you do know your deck, then strategy sometimes can overcome the madness of unluckiness (trust me, I have been there).
With enough players and interest, LoR will have an esports but Riot Games are not focusing on that aspect for now, it seems that they are more concerned in fostering player trust and investing in the happiness of their player base which is a better option. In line with that, they are planning to make sure that players gain their trust by having implemented an anti-cheat system in the game to avoid cheaters from exploiting the game. Letting them rampant is bad news to the players since who wants to play in a game filled with cheaters, right?
Finally, playing a game will usually contain 10 to 15 minutes. Standard times for card games but depending on the luck, strategy and moves of a player it can go for longer than or shorter than the expected time explained by Riot.
Conclusion
With a game focused on fostering trust and support for the free-to-play community, if Riot Games can pull this one off, they might be able to challenge and topple giants in the industry of CCG. A lot of players have been dying to see something new in the scene, if they make Legends of Runeterra a classic with balanced gameplay, strong meta with less powercreep together with the already established lore and history of characters. LoR is going to be great for the industry and the players. Are you ready to take over LoR soon? I know I do. Let's wait in anticipation and tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Release Date
LoR will be releasing in April 30, 2020! Yes, the long wait is over. SEA players will be able to play the game soon when it officially launches that day. It means that the game will be polished since it has underwent beta tests months before its release. As someone who had waited so long, this is good news, especially for those who have been staying at home since the quarantine started. Legends of Runeterra has a lot of lore and characters that will fill my need to learn more about the game.
The Game
And for those who are not much initiated to the game, let's talk about it! Legends of Runeterra is a Collectible Card Game or CCG that lets you earn cards via progression more than purchasing them in real cash. CCGs have been in the rise in the last decade until today, popular ones in physical forms are usually Magic the Gathering, Yu Gi Oh and Weiss Schwartz, while in the online market, there are examples as well such as Hearthstone, Shadowverse, Magic! The Gathering: Arena, Gwent and much more! In a CCG, you collect cards and build decks to compete with other players or AI.
In Legends of Runeterra, you will build a 40 card deck with two regions basing on their location, such as Demacia, Noxus, Piltover & Zaun, Freljord, Ionia and the Shadow Isles. Aside from this, you will be limited into six champions per deck to balance out card types in the deck. Each region will have a specific specialty that they have in their cards. Some are used to have a proper combo in their usage while there's a specific build to simply rush your opponent before you have a chance. The developers are proud to announce that you can mix and match the regions and see which specialty fits in your play style.
The Reason and some Details to know
Legends of Runeterra was made by the developers in Riot Games since they have remembered the days that they will get cards with their paychecks and enjoy the games where they would win by either lucking it out or having the perfect strategy to beat their opponents. They saw the potential of that game setup in the League universe, so they tried it, which gave birth to Legends of Runeterra.
The developers reiterated that LoR is made for League players who have an affinity in playing card games and those who enjoy inputting strategy in their games. They promised that the game will be filled with strategy but will always be able to balance the game and be accessible for everyone that would like to try the game.
Another reason to play the game is that if you are a lore enthusiast then this is a game for you. Since League of Legends' lore is expansive, Legends of Runeterra adds depth to it by adding new characters that you might not see in League except for cameos, comics and lore stories. They added different characters which are interesting to characters such as Yasuo's brother, Yone and Zed's disciples which are featured in the new Zed comic released.
Progression
As stated earlier, the game is very free-to-play as in you do not need to spend premium currency or real money in order to progress in the game. You just need time and your dedication to be able to compete with the best among the game. How? By playing of course, each time you play, you will be able to finish up some quests and each time a quest has been done, you will be able to get experience and card packs that you can unlock. These card packs are based on a specific region that you can select without being forced into one. So you just need to get the region you think you will excel at and finish quests to get card packs on that region.
Here's more, each week, you can unlock chests from the Vault. The Vault contains cards that will help you progress in the game. How do you unlock these chest, still by playing.ofcourse. You will upgrade your chest and the cards you get by grinding the game and playing every time. The longer you play, the better cards you may get. Also by level 10, you are guaranteed a champion every time. So the real issue is, how much grind will you be able to dedicate?
Finally, there are wildcards to be obtained in the game. There's a lot of ways to get wild cards, but the important thing to know about this is that, you can pick ANY card you wish with a wild card, so let's say you need certain cards to complete your new deck, you can get said cards easily with the wild cards. This is a very accessible system that will definitely help free-to-play players such as myself.
Rest assured, they promised that there will be no randomized pack in the game. This is a great news as RNG and money is not a good combo. It might be nice for whales and companies, but it hurts the F2P market.
Specifications and Platforms
If you are interested in the game, you need to be able to play in either PC or Mobile(either iOS or Android). For PC, the specifications are following: You need to have an operating system that is a 64-bit type of Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. The newest PC specs usually have 64 bit operating systems, still, it's better to check it out before trying out the game. Next up, you will need a 3 GHz processor and a 4 GB RAM, pretty standard specs, finally, having a GPU that has a VRAM of 512MB or higher would be necessary as well. These are pretty standards in your modern day PC, you may not have much problems...
For Mac OS users though, sorry, the game does not support Mac, maybe for now, but let us wait for future announcements. Finally, for Mobile users please wait when the game launches in mobile to know the specs of the game.
Other things to know
Legends of Runeterra will have a ranked gameplay, who doesn't love a competition, right? Get your rage-induced sweats ready when it comes up, and may RNGesus bless you with good luck since card games usually are in the mercy of luck if not together with strategy, but if you do know your deck, then strategy sometimes can overcome the madness of unluckiness (trust me, I have been there).
With enough players and interest, LoR will have an esports but Riot Games are not focusing on that aspect for now, it seems that they are more concerned in fostering player trust and investing in the happiness of their player base which is a better option. In line with that, they are planning to make sure that players gain their trust by having implemented an anti-cheat system in the game to avoid cheaters from exploiting the game. Letting them rampant is bad news to the players since who wants to play in a game filled with cheaters, right?
Finally, playing a game will usually contain 10 to 15 minutes. Standard times for card games but depending on the luck, strategy and moves of a player it can go for longer than or shorter than the expected time explained by Riot.
Conclusion
With a game focused on fostering trust and support for the free-to-play community, if Riot Games can pull this one off, they might be able to challenge and topple giants in the industry of CCG. A lot of players have been dying to see something new in the scene, if they make Legends of Runeterra a classic with balanced gameplay, strong meta with less powercreep together with the already established lore and history of characters. LoR is going to be great for the industry and the players. Are you ready to take over LoR soon? I know I do. Let's wait in anticipation and tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
