The collectible card game genre has grown massively in recent years, as gameplay mechanics and competitive communities constantly evolve. While it may be late to the party, Legends of Runeterra, the card game based on Riot Games’ acclaimed League of Legends (aka LoL), proves to be a mighty challenger.

Not content to rely on LoL’s popularity, Legends of Runeterra delivers numerous brilliant tweaks on the genre, cards that are lovingly crafted and ooze personality, all the while ensuring fairness and balance for competitive play.

Here are some tips that will help you on your way to becoming a legend.

Don’t rush into competitive matches after finishing the initial tutorial. Instead, finish the whole Prologue series of tutorials as well. 

These matches will teach you the more advanced gameplay concepts as well as help you understand the differences between the game’s six factions: Demacia, Freljord, Ionia, Noxus, Piltover & Zaun, and Shadow Isles. You’ll also win some serious rewards to expand your card inventory and build up your decks for future matches.

Be sure to study the keywords on the cards, as the effects that they trigger can turn the match upside down. Elusive, Overwhelm, Challenger, Quick Attack and Fearsome cards offer different creative ways to neutralise enemy defences. 

In converse, Barrier, Regeneration, Stun and Tough cards help you thwart enemy attacks while protecting your units. Meanwhile, clever combinations of Ephemeral and Last Breath cards can deal lethal self-destructive attacks while also making you stronger.

Experiment with building your decks to fit your play style. Be mindful of each faction’s strengths and weaknesses, and don’t be afraid to mix them up to cover each other. Noxus and Freljord cards can buff up Demacia’s cheap but weak units, allowing you to quickly fill the board with increasingly stronger units. 

Piltover & Zaun cards are versatile enough to support a Noxus rush or Shadow Isles’ slow build-up. Once you know what factions you like, remember to focus on these in the Rewards section as well.

Just like their equivalents in LoL, champions of LoR are the stars of the game and dictate the pacing of the match. In addition to their powerful and unique skills, they can level up to become even stronger, so be mindful to fulfil the conditions to trigger this. 

Tryndamere, who can only upgrade after he dies once, suits aggressive plays, while Braum, who upgrades by tanking damage, rewards defensive build-ups. Meanwhile, Lux goes hand in hand with spell cards, and Jinx loves discarding abilities or low-cost cards.

Many a seemingly unstoppable army has been destroyed by clever uses of spell cards, so it’s worth your time to understand LoR’s intricate spell system. While Burst and Fast spell cards can be used anytime during the round, remember that Fast spells might still get countered by enemy spells.

Slow spells cannot be used once the attacking or blocking phase has started, and also cannot react to enemy spells. To further understand spell sequences, make sure to consult the little blue Oracle’s Eye to the left of the board.

We can’t stress this enough: what you don’t do matters as much as what you do. Don’t simply rush to attack or block the enemy; instead make sure your valuable units can live to fight another round.

Unspent mana can be saved for the next round to unleash more powerful spells; on top of that, some champions level up while being held in your hand, so it might be better to deploy them later than sooner. Think through your moves and you’ll get much further in the game.