Riftbound: Vendetta officially releases today, July 31, bringing the fourth set of the Riftbound Trading Card Game to players around the world.

I was lucky enough to get an early box of Vendetta and, more importantly, plenty of time to actually play with the new cards before release. After building, rebuilding, and trying them across several decks, Vendetta has quickly become one of my favorite Riftbound sets so far.

Part of that comes from the new cards and mechanics, but I think the bigger reason is that Vendetta has such a strong identity of its own.

This set is all about rivalries.

Vendetta Has Plenty of History to Work With

Zed and Shen. Nasus and Renekton. Mel and Ambessa. Jayce and Viktor. Vi and Jinx.

Riftbound may be its own game, but it also has an enormous world and cast of characters to pull from, and Vendetta takes advantage of that without letting it take over the game itself.

The rivalries give the set a theme that runs throughout it. Zed and Shen headline Riftbound’s first two-player Showdown Deck, while more than 50 Showcase cards include rival pairings such as Vi and Jinx and Jayce and Viktor.

It gives Vendetta a personality beyond simply being “the fourth set.”

And after spending time with it, I think that’s one of the things I enjoy most about it.

Your Old Decks Aren’t Being Left Behind

One of my biggest concerns whenever a TCG gets a new set is how quickly the game starts pushing you toward whatever just released.

Vendetta doesn’t feel like that.

There are nine new Champion Legends to build around, including Akali, Kennen, Zed, Shen, Mel, Jayce, Ambessa, Nasus, and Renekton. There are also new domain combinations, with Akali pairing Fury and Calm, Jayce combining Mind and Body, and Kennen bringing Chaos and Order together for the first time.

But some of my favorite Vendetta cards aren’t necessarily going into completely new decks.

They’re making my existing ones better.

I’ve already found plenty of cards that made me pull out older decks and start reconsidering individual slots. Sometimes it’s an obvious upgrade. Other times it’s another option that changes how I want the deck to play.

That’s exactly what I want from a new Riftbound set.

Give me new Champions and entirely new decks to experiment with, absolutely. But also give me a reason to revisit the cards and decks I already own.

Vendetta does both.

More Ways to Play Riftbound

Vendetta also introduces three new mechanics with Flow, Burn, and Empower, continuing to expand what Riftbound can do without dramatically changing the foundation of the game.

Flow allows certain cards to be played from the trash, Burn puts cards from a Main Deck into the trash, and Empower allows cards already in play to gain additional abilities.

Combined with the new domain pairings, there’s quite a bit here for deckbuilders to experiment with.

The new Showdown Deck is another addition I’m particularly interested in. Riftbound has had Champion Decks from the beginning, but putting two playable decks together in one box makes considerably more sense as an introduction for two people who simply want to sit down and learn the game together.

And naturally, Riot chose Zed and Shen.

Apparently even the introductory product isn’t allowed to resolve its differences peacefully.

Vendetta Is Out Now

Vendetta arrives with more than 160 cards and becomes legal for competitive play immediately, including upcoming Riftbound Regional Qualifiers in Barcelona, Singapore, and Los Angeles.

It’s also an important release for Riftbound internationally. One year after the game’s original debut in China, Vendetta is the first set to launch simultaneously worldwide in English and Simplified Chinese.

I’ve had a lot of fun with the set already, and I’m nowhere near finished experimenting with it.

More importantly, Vendetta feels like a healthy expansion of Riftbound rather than something trying to replace what came before it. There are new Champions to build around, new mechanics to learn, and new domain combinations to explore, but there’s also a surprising amount here for the decks we’ve already spent the last few sets building.

The rivalries give Vendetta its personality.

The cards give us a reason to keep playing with it.

And now that everyone else can finally get their hands on the set, I’m looking forward to seeing what players manage to build with it.