We have two exclusive Riftbound Unleashed card previews, and they include the return of a fan-favorite Legend of Runeterra nihilist

It is preview-season for Riftbound’s upcoming Unleashed set — which launches in China on April 10 and in English on May 8 — and I have not one but two exclusive new cards to showcase for you today.

This pair looks set to cement themselves as solid limited environment picks — such as the excellent Pre-Rift events I’d strongly recommend you attend — though I could see both, especially our first card Blast Cone, being solid utility pieces in the right constructed deck.

There's a lot of strong text on Blast Cone. Forcibly moving an enemy unit is a potent defensive and offensive ability, and that latter option is amplified by this card’s secondary effect to also stun what it moves if you exhaust Blast Cone — as a stunned unit can’t deal damage in combat.

Crucially, Blast Cone’s stun effect happens whenever you move an enemy — not simply when you move it with Blast Cone — so it can seriously amplify the likes of Blitzcrank Impassive, Charm, and Temptation.

The cost seems somewhat reasonable for this card too — four plus recycling a Chaos rune — though like other enemy move effects, a major drawback this card has is you can’t play Blast Cone as an Action or Reaction — meaning you’d have to telegraph your combat plans by playing this before a Showdown rather than during one.

There’s not yet a Champion and Legend pairing — ideally in Calm and Chaos flavors — to form the basis of a synergistic deck around moving your foes to disrupt their plans and push your own strategy, but I feel it won’t be long before we see one with cards like this being printed. When we do, I can see Blast Cone being a staple in that deck.

I could also see it working with a card that lets you bring in Gear as an Action or Reaction; there’s possible synergy with effects like Factory Recall, and also synergy with Malzahar or Jayce, who want you to have friendly gear around to sacrifice.

That’s all to say there’s potential for Blast Cone, but for now, I worry it's homeless.

A nihilistic adventurer returns

Next, we have a cute little common with Mister Root. The nihilistic character returns from the Legends of Runterra, but instead of card draw, this little guy helps with the new XP mechanic.

This resource, being introduced in Unleashed, can be accrued through various card effects and then spent to perform effects or held to level up certain cards. For my fellow Magic: The Gathering players, it's a bit like Energy with some Riftbound twists to make it feel fresh.

Given Mister Root’s Chaos identity, its home is in Kha’Zix decks — a new Champion and Legend who cares about XP, and the only one with Chaos flavoring so far. When Mister Root moves to a battlefield, you’ll get 2XP, and you can then spend that in the showdown you’re entering (provided you have a little extra XP in your bank) to use Kha’Zix Evolving Hunter’s ability — which lets you spend 3XP to deal damage equal to Kha'Zix's might to an enemy unit at its location.

Or you could rely on Kha’Zix’s Legend to use 1XP to buff Mister Root or another Unit.

In a limited environment like Pre-Rift, Mister Root will be a useful Common for any XP decks I expect. Its rarity will make it a reliable pick up, and its low cost coupled with its Accelerate effect, could help you accrue XP at just the right moment to inch out a victory.

In constructed formats, Mister Root seems like a solid Kha’Zix, as I’ve mentioned, but with so few XP cards revealed at the time of writing, it’s tough to tell how potent this new strategy will be – and how well Mister Root will fit in. I’m rooting for the little guy, but we’ll need to wait and see what more Riot has in store for us.

Speaking of, if you want to check out all of the new Unleashed cards, you can head over to the official Card Gallery, as it updates with the latest sets’ goodies.

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