Meta-Analysis: Riftbound Unleashed

Vendetta will be out soon, and Riftbound is thriving! With this upcoming set, the meta has settled in and we can see what some of our players are most keen to play. With our first ever in-house competitive Riftbound tournament coming up on 18 June 2026, let’s take a deep dive into the two most played decks at Classroom Uptown!

The first deck we will be looking at is Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman. Although Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman is only found in Origins - Proving Grounds, its rarity is not an excuse for its popularity. A huge part of the deck requires you to hold battlefields alone as this helps to not only to increase your score, but also to benefit from Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman’s ability to give units that are defending alone +2 Might. 

The deck plays in Calm and Body and brings the best of the two Domains by pushing out a tempo and mid-range strategy. Body gives the deck its ability to buff defending units and maintain their status as a defending unit by fighting units not attacking it, while Calm allows the deck to protect its units and maintain its defending nature by moving around your enemy’s units instead.  

Due to this unique strategy of defending alone, the deck utilises units such as Lonely Poro and Fiora, Peerless that already have an advantage when used alone. Another Unit that gains advantage from Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman’s ability is Rengar, Trophy Hunter. This Unit allows you to ambush an open battlefield that your opponent is attempting to conquer, which in turns makes him a unit that is defending alone.

Spells like Charm helps the deck to keep itself on the defense while still “attacking” the opponent’s unit, while spells like Challenge does this in a more direct manner as a removal. This way, the deck can maintain its status quo of defending alone, while still actively attacking and blocking the opponent’s plan. 

The deck also plays plenty of ways to buff defending units such as En Garde, Punch First, Discipline and Primal Strength. These cards are also all Actions or Reactions, giving the deck options to either protect itself or “attack” its opponents. Outside of buffing units, the deck also has other ways to protect its defenders such as with Zhonya's Hourglass or Defy. Other units such as Pit Rookie can also Buff units while First Mate can give the deck much needed aggressiveness. 

Another huge factor for the deck’s strategy is card advantage. Other than the obvious card advantage such as with Discipline, Lonely Poro and Scuttle Crab with their draw card ability, the deck also allows its player to glean information about their opponent’s strategy. Both Scuttle Crab and Sabotage allow the player to see their opponent’s hand, while Scuttle Crab has the added advantage of seeing any Hidden cards while Sabotage gives the ability to remove any key cards in their opponent’s hand.

A new ruling from the Hartford Regional Qualifiers has also given this deck added strength. The new ruling has deemed that Emperor’s Dais’s ability to return a unit you control as a cost, meaning that you are now able return any unit you own after conquering the battlefield even before reactions as well as without paying the 1 Energy cost. With this new ruling, this deck is now able to easily return their Rengar, Trophy Hunter from a battlefield after defending with his Ambush so that it can trigger the Ambush again, or use it to return their Scuttle Crab so that they can re-play it and trigger the draw ability again.