Whether you’re a beginner or a pro: In card games like Legends of Runeterra, you need a complete card collection if you want to be prepared for everything. We will show you how to unlock cards the fastest.
Why do I need cards? With cards, you build the decks in Legends of Runeterra that you compete against each other with. Decks consist of 40 cards, including up to six champions.
Different decks open up different possibilities for defeating the opponent and vary in playstyle. We have already introduced three exciting beginner decks with various play styles.
However, if you want to build your own decks, have seen great decks from other players, or are looking for a good counter option, you first need the right cards. While you can partially buy them, you can also simply unlock them.
Unlocking cards – Tips and tricks in the video
The YouTuber and streamer Cirouss has created a YouTube video on this topic, which focuses on how to best and fastest unlock cards. Our guide explains it to you in detail, and in the video, you can see how it all works in the game itself. We have embedded the video here for you:
Getting cards quickly – Here’s how
How do I get cards? In Legends of Runeterra, there are three ways to get cards:
- As a reward from chests and capsules
- Crafted from shards or wildcards
- Purchased through wildcards (weekly limited)
Since we want to show you how to progress without purchases, we will primarily focus on the first two options. However, we will briefly explain the purchase option at the end.
Note: You receive daily quests that you can complete and once a week a vault. You should try to play it at level 13 (maximum) to get the highest reward. This requires quite a bit of EXP.
Tip: Properly utilize the regions
What are regions? You will unlock a large or even the largest part of the cards through the regions. These are individual “journeys” through the areas that play a role in Legends of Runeterra.
Under the menu item “Rewards”, you can view and switch the regions available to you:
- Demacia
- Freljord
- Noxus
- Ionia
- Piltover & Zaun
- Shadow Isles
Each region grants you 20 rewards, and each reward level requires more experience points. In the individual regions, you primarily unlock cards from the respective region, but you also have chances for wildcards and shards.
This is how you play correctly with the regions: It is important that you constantly switch between the regions. As a rule of thumb: Switch every four levels. This means:
- First, level one region to 4. Then all other regions.
- Then reach level 8 with one region. Then with all others.
- Keep going like this in steps of four.
The thought behind this is that you roughly receive a wildcard capsule or a champion capsule every four levels. In these, you get wildcards with which you can buy any cards or champions for new decks.
Tip: Even if you do not want to play a certain region, still unlock its rewards. You always have a chance for an upgrade in the capsules. An employee from Riot stated the chances of an upgrade as follows:
- Chest → Chest +1 Rank: 20%
- Capsule → Wildcard Capsule: 5%
- Capsule → Epic Capsule: 10%
- Epic Capsule → Champion Capsule: 10%
- Random Card → Wildcard of the same rarity: 10%
- Random Champion → Champion Wildcard: 5%
- Random Card → Rarity +1: 10%
- Wildcard → Rarity +1: 10%
According to the employee, these have even the chance to chain. However, this information is from November 2019, and they said the chances “could decrease in the future.” However, these are the most current values known to us.
Farming experience points (EXP)
Here’s how to level up most efficiently: If you want to level the regions correctly, there is a trick. In our beginner guide for Legends of Runeterra, we have already briefly explained how experience points work.
These decrease with the time you play each day. However, reddit user AHK22222222222 calculated how to reach a level 13 vault on Tuesday (reset day) with 40 minutes of play:
- Achieve three PvP wins for 1300 EXP – About 30 minutes
- Repeatedly concede in AI and PvP games for 1125 EXP – About 10 minutes
- Complete the daily quest for 1000-1500 EXP
- This results in an average of 3675 EXP per day in 40 minutes
- Thus, you receive 25,725 EXP per week
In this way, you should be able to unlock many cards in a short time. Some users on reddit estimate that you should complete the entire collection in about seven weeks.
Crafting cards
Here’s how to craft cards: Once you have accumulated enough wildcards or shards, you can finally craft cards. Visit your collection and click on “Cards”. Then click on “Show Cards Not Owned” in the top left.
You should now see grayed out which cards you are missing. The number in the top right of the card indicates how many copies you own. Up to three copies of a card are possible. To the left of the card, you will now see two buttons that allow you to craft the cards. The costs are:
- One wildcard of the corresponding rarity
- 100 shards for a common card
- 300 shards for a rare card
- 1200 shards for an epic card
- 3000 shards for a champion
You receive shards from chests and as a reward for expedition or from the weekly vault. If you receive cards of which you already own three copies, they are automatically converted into shards upon receipt. You cannot disenchant cards like in Hearthstone.
Buying Cards
This option is also available: If you don’t want to invest so much time, you can also buy some wildcards in the shop each week. However, these are limited, and the offer resets every Tuesday. There are:
- 3 Champion Wildcards for 300 coins each
- 3 Epic Wildcards for 120 coins each
- 6 Rare Wildcards for 30 coins each
- 6 Common Wildcards for 10 coins each
This results in 1500 coins per week or €21.99 (the cheapest coin bundle that grants at least 1500 coins). With the bundle, you will even have 650 coins left over, allowing you to skip a purchase every three weeks if you buy all wildcards every time.
Many players already like this principle better than the expansions from Hearthstone. Our editor Alex is also having a lot of fun with Legends of Runeterra:
