Riftbound Vendetta: Complete Set Guide (Updated October 2026)

Vendetta is the fourth expansion set for Riftbound, the League of Legends trading card game published by Riot Games and UVS Games. It released worldwide on July 31, 2026, and it is the first Riftbound set to launch simultaneously in English and Simplified Chinese. Radiance, the fifth set, arrived on October 23, but Vendetta remains fully legal in sanctioned play. This guide covers every Legend, every mechanic, the products, the errata and bans, and how Vendetta fits alongside Radiance.

Last updated: October 25, 2026.

Vendetta at a Glance

Release date: July 31, 2026 — worldwide simultaneous release
Set number: Set 4
Card count: 166 main-set cards, plus Overnumbers, Showcase alt-arts, Runes, and Promos
Theme: Character rivalries and personal vendettas across the League of Legends universe

The Vendetta Theme

Vendetta is built entirely around rivalries: the personal conflicts and scores to settle that run through League of Legends lore. Jinx and Vi. Jayce and Viktor. Shen and Zed. Nasus and Renekton. These aren’t just flavor connections. The Overnumbered cards form connected scenes when placed next to their rival’s cards, which rewards players who know the lore and collect for story as much as competition.

The 9 Champion Legends

Vendetta trims the Legend count from 12 down to 9 and builds the whole set around rival pairings:

Akali — The set’s poster Legend, leaning into stealth and combat-triggered value across her Deadly Weapon, Silent, and Rogue Assassin printings.

Zed — Shen’s rival. A Chaos-domain mainstay built around Shadow Clone tokens (From the Shadows, Without a Sound, Master of Shadows).

Shen — The defensive counterpart to Zed, rewarding patient, protective play (Scourge of Shadows, Leader of the Kinkou, Eye of Twilight).

Nasus — Renekton’s estranged brother, scaling with rune channeling over a long game (Ascended, Guardian of Knowledge, Curator of the Sands).

Renekton — The aggressive half of the Nasus rivalry, hitting hard and pushing tempo (Rage Fueled, Brute, Butcher of the Sands).

Mel — Making her Riftbound debut, built around the Empower mechanic (Newly Awakened, Defiant Soul, Soul’s Reflection).

Ambessa — Mel’s mother, a commanding Noxian general focused on board dominance (The Wolf, Respected and Feared, Matriarch of War).

Jayce — Split across Mind and Body domains, reflecting his dual identity as inventor and fighter (Brilliant Inventor, Hammer in Hand, Defender of Tomorrow).

Kennen — Jayce’s rival, introducing the Chaos/Order pairing and built around stuns and disruption (Storm of Shuriken, Keeper of Balance). Kennen’s results also prompted the September 18 Stacked Deck ban, covered below.

For the card-by-card breakdown of every Legend, see our Riftbound Vendetta Legends Guide.

New Mechanics in Vendetta

Flow — Play cards straight from your trash instead of your hand. Inspired by League champions who use Energy to recover and reuse abilities quickly.

Burn — Send cards from your Main Deck to the trash. Some cards burn your own deck to fuel Flow synergies; others attack your opponent’s deck directly.

Empower — Cards with Empower gain new abilities once they’re in play, often after paying an additional cost. Get a card on the board one turn, then amplify it on another.

Vendetta also introduced the Unit-Gear card type (cards that count as both a unit and gear) and Decree spells, a cycle designed to counter the opposing domain in each rivalry.

New Domain Combinations

Vendetta introduced enemy-domain Legend pairs for the first time in Riftbound:

• Fury/Calm — Renekton and Nasus
• Mind/Body — Ambessa, Mel, and Jayce
• Chaos/Order — Zed, Shen, and Kennen

These pairs opened deck archetypes that weren’t possible before Vendetta.

What’s in a Vendetta Pack

Each Vendetta booster pack contains:

• 7 Common cards
• 3 Uncommon cards
• 1 Foil slot (Common through Epic)
• 2 Rare/Epic/Alt/Special Alt/Overnumber slots
• 1 Token/Rune/Alt Rune slot

Pack contents are randomized during manufacturing, and stated appearance rates reflect print-run averages, not guarantees.

Overnumbers — All 9 Legends have Overnumbered variants featuring an artist’s signature, plus 22 Rival Overnumbers: diptych cards with connecting artwork across rivalries like Vi/Jinx and Jayce/Viktor.

Crystal Rose Alt Arts — A Showcase treatment celebrating Wild Rift’s returning skinline.

For the full list including every Overnumber, Rune, and Promo, see our Riftbound Vendetta Card List.

Vendetta Products

Showdown Deck — Zed vs Shen: Vendetta’s new product type. Two preconstructed 56-card decks featuring rivals facing off, plus two booster packs, two full-size paper playmats, and deckboxes. It was Riftbound’s first two-player precon product and remains a strong entry point for new players.

Vault: A storage box, six Vendetta boosters, and Runes.

Booster packs and displays: The standard product for collectors and competitive players.

Browse Riftbound sealed product and singles through our TCGPlayer store.

Pre-Rift and the Wild Rift Crossover

Vendetta’s Pre-Rift events ran July 24–30, giving players early Sealed access before the July 31 launch. As part of a Riot crossover with Wild Rift, Pre-Rift participants and winners of the first Vendetta Summoner Skirmish were eligible for digital rewards in the Wild Rift client. Players needed the Riot account tied to their Riftbound account to match the one they use for Wild Rift.

Vendetta Errata — July 23, 2026

Errata updates the legally correct text of a card, so the new text applies in play regardless of what is printed on the card.

Astral Heron — The cost reduction now applies to “the next card you play this turn,” limiting it to the immediately following card in the same turn.

Gangplank, Naval (both versions) — “This turn” was added to his Empowered ability. The Overnumber version is also missing his Pirate tag on the printed card; the Pirate tag is correct and should be treated as present.

Resonating Strike — The Reaction timing now reads “Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve,” replacing “Play on your turn or in showdowns.”

See Riot’s Vendetta errata article for the complete text.

Ban List History

Riot has banned cards in three waves so far, and two of the three touched Vendetta-era play:

• March 31, 2026 — First bans: Called Shot, Draven, Vanquisher, Fight or Flight, Scrapheap, The Dreaming Tree, Obelisk of Power, Reaver’s Row
• July 24, 2026 — Stealthy Pursuer, The Arena’s Greatest, Aspirant’s Climb in Standard, plus Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman in 2v2 only
• September 18, 2026 — Ekko, Recurrent and Stacked Deck in Standard and 2v2

The Stacked Deck ban was aimed squarely at Kennen. Riot said Kennen’s play and win rates warranted a targeted ban that slows his engine without ending the strategy. If you play Kennen, any list from before September 18 needs rebuilding.

Full reasoning for every entry is in our Riftbound Banned Cards guide.

Radiance (Set 5) — What Vendetta Players Should Know

Radiance held Pre-Rift events October 16–22 and launched worldwide on October 23, 2026. It is a K/DA-and-bands-flavored set with 180 cards, more than 60 Showcase cards, and nine new Legends: Ekko, Ziggs, Mordekaiser, Orianna, K’Sante, Riven, Seraphine, Evelynn, and Jarvan IV.

Three new keywords:

• Deploy — Puts Gear straight onto a Battlefield, where it provides a benefit until an opponent takes hold of that Battlefield.
• Show Off — Reveal a qualifying card from your hand or board to unlock an additional effect on the card you played.
• Disarm — Reduces an enemy Unit’s Might as you attack. It works like Assault, and each instance makes the reduction stronger.

Radiance also adds Bomb tokens and Riftbound’s second Ultimate Rare.

Radiance products: booster displays, the Seraphine vs Evelynn Showdown Decks, the returning Vault, and Pre-Rift Kits.

Vendetta stays legal. Riot’s Rules Hub says every set currently in production is legal in sanctioned play, with Standard rotation intended to begin in 2028. That means Vendetta Legends like Kennen, Zed, and Akali can pair with Radiance cards rather than being replaced by them.

Where to start: If you’re brand new, the Zed vs Shen (Vendetta) and Seraphine vs Evelynn (Radiance) Showdown Decks are the easiest on-ramps. If you collect, the Vendetta Rival Overnumbers and Crystal Rose alt arts are the set’s signature pieces.

Where to Follow Along

• Riftbound.gg — Card database, deck builder, tier lists, and metagame analysis
• Official Riftbound site — Set announcements, organized play, and product information
• UVS Games — English publisher and organized play updates
• Riftbound Rules Hub — Current rules, ban lists, and errata
• Riftbound roadmap — Riot’s schedule of sets and major events

Play Riftbound at Skillshotz Gaming

Skillshotz Gaming in Deerfield Beach is a South Florida home for Riftbound players of every level. Ask our team what’s on the shelf from Origins, Spiritforged, Unleashed, Vendetta, and Radiance, or browse singles and sealed product through our TCGPlayer store.

Skillshotz Gaming
616 SE 10th Street
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
561-532-3068

Tuesday – Thursday: 5:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Friday: 5:30 PM – Midnight
Saturday – Sunday: 2:00 PM – Midnight
Monday: Closed

Shop Riftbound at Skillshotz →
Game nights at Skillshotz →
Riftbound Vendetta Legends Guide →
Riftbound Vendetta Card List →
Riftbound Banned Cards — Complete Ban List →
What Is Riftbound? →

Sources: Riot’s Radiance Overview, September ban list update, and the Riftbound Rules Hub.