Riot Games's League of Legends trading card game, Riftbound, is set to launch its fifth major expansion, Radiance, on October 23. As the one-year anniversary of the game's Western release approaches on October 31, new card reveals are offering a closer look at the upcoming content. Among these is an exclusive reveal of the Overnumbered variant for Ekko, Boy Who Shattered Time.
The new variant showcases fresh art for the legendary Ekko card, which is associated with the Fury/Mind (Red/Blue) colors. Its abilities revolve around manipulating runes and units, reflecting Ekko's signature time-bending and clone-creating mechanics from League of Legends. The card's Empower ability allows for an action that exhausts a rune and Ekko. Conversely, a Disempower action exhausts Ekko to reduce the cost of the next unit played by two, while also granting that unit the effect "Kill me at end of turn" after the expenditure of a recycled rune of any color.
This mechanic allows players to effectively grant other units a temporary, impactful presence on the board, similar to Ekko's in-game abilities. Building a deck around this legendary card would likely benefit from units with the Accelerate keyword, which allows them to enter play ready to attack immediately. Given that Accelerate units typically cost one exhausted and one recycled rune, Ekko's cost reduction could enable faster deployment of these impactful units.
Radiance will be available in local game stores and major retailers starting October 23. Pre-release events, known as 'Pre-Rifts,' are scheduled to begin at local game stores on October 16.