Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Legends of Runeterra to challenge Hearthstone by removing random booster packs

Aaron Mamiit
By

Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, is entering the collectible card game space with Legends of Runeterra, which uses characters and lore from the massively popular MOBA.

Legends of Runeterra shares certain similarities with titles such as Blizzard’s Hearthstone and Valve’s Artifact, in that players use mana each turn to summon allies and cast spells. The available mana per turn is limited, but it increases over time. In Riot Games’ CCG, the goal is to reduce the opponents’ 20 health points to zero.

Recommended Videos

The biggest difference in the gameplay of Legends of Runeterra is that in each round, players take on the role of either attacker or defender. Each time a player makes an action, the other player is given a chance to respond. In comparison, Hearthstone players are mostly unopposed in whatever they do during their turn, barring the few Secrets that are available for certain classes.

Related

Meanwhile, in combat, attackers choose the allies to send into battle, and defenders chooses the allies to meet each enemy. The outcome of each fight is determined by the bevy of keywords in the game, as well as the abilities that each card carries.

There are many other deep mechanics to the title’s gameplay, including spells with different speeds and Champion cards that are based on League of Legends characters. However, in an interview with Eurogamer, former Magic the Gathering professional player and currently the balancing lead on Legends of Runeterra, Steve Rubin, revealed the mechanic that will make the game stand out the most against Hearthstone and Artifact.

“I think the biggest thing is definitely accessibility,” Rubin said, as Legends of Runeterra eliminates the random booster packs that primarily function as loot boxes in the CCG genre. Instead, the game will feature an Evolve system that gives players a definite set of cards based on how much they play over a week.

Rubin said that Riot Games tried to eliminate booster packs entirely, but testers kept looking to open them, even if they are in digital form. This created the Evolve system, which will allow players to open booster packs but without having to pay for randomness.

Legends of Runeterra, set to launch next year after a series of private betas, is part of Riot Games’ announcements for its 10th anniversary, which also included first-person shooter Project A and League of Legends: Wild Rift, which will bring the MOBA to mobile and consoles.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
Watch a full match of League of Legends fighting game Project L
League of Legends fighting game Project L match intro featuring Ekko and Ahri.

Project L, Riot Games' upcoming free-to-play League of Legends fighting game, features a "duo play" system that lets two players be on the same team during a 2v2 tag-team match.

Project L: Introducing Duo Play - /dev diary

Read more
League of Legends’ new Arena mode emphasizes bite-sized, intense action
A screenshot of League of Legends Arena

League of Legends’ 5v5 MOBA mode is one of the most iconic multiplayer setups in gaming. It attracts millions of players every day, and millions of dollars are spent throwing and giving rewards for tournaments based on that formula. That’s why it’s exciting when Riot Games occasionally experiments with new modes that modify the core concept of League of Legends in unique ways. The latest mode to do this is the 2v2v2v2 Arena, which is coming to the game as part of this summer’s Soul Fighter event.

Channeling the energy of modes like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Gunfight (a personal favorite of mine), Arena is a mode that distills that classics formula into quicker, more intense matches in smaller arenas. As someone who likes the world and lore of League of Legends but is hesitant to put in the hours required to learn and master the 5v5 competitive esport part of League of Legends, I was particularly intrigued when I got to check out what Riot Games has in store with Arena mode ahead of its release.
How Arena works
Arena matches consist of four teams of two players. Those teams will be able to blind ban certain Champions for all players in their match, but players on two different teams can still pick the same Champion. Before they fight, though, there’s a Shop Phase reminiscent of games like Teamfight Tactics or Valorant. Over 45 seconds, players will have the time to purchase Augments that can enhance their Champion and Juices that give round-specific boosts. After every player has bought what they want (or that timer runs out), the Combat Phase begins.

Read more
The Mageseeker blends League of Legends lore with Hades’ action
Sylas attacking with chains surrounded by purple magic

When I sat down to try a demo of The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story at PAX East, I was dropped straight into an escape mission. At first, I fumbled with switching between casting spells and dodging attacks from enemy mages. By the end, I juggled between at least four magical abilities while dashing around to survive. It was a hectic experience, but one that perfectly complemented its storytelling.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story | Official Gameplay Trailer

Read more