Riftbound ban list and next set: what it means for your cards

Last updated October 4, 2026, after the September 18 ban list. Next change to watch: the Radiance rules update on October 8. Facts checked on Riot's Rules Hub and news pages on October 4, 2026.

What changed in the latest Riftbound ban list?

Riot announced it in mid September, and it took effect on September 18, 2026. Two cards are now banned in Standard and 2v2 Constructed, the formats where you bring your own deck to a sanctioned tournament: Ekko, Recurrent and Stacked Deck. Nothing was unbanned and nothing was restricted.

Riot's reasons, in short: Ekko made an endless combo possible with very little chance for the other player to respond, and Stacked Deck made Chaos decks, Kennen most of all, too consistent. Read Riot's announcement.

The whole list for sanctioned Constructed play, as of September 18:

• Cards: Called Shot; Draven, Vanquisher; Ekko, Recurrent; Fight or Flight; Scrapheap; Stacked Deck; Stealthy Pursuer.
• Battlefields: Aspirant’s Climb; Dreaming Tree; Obelisk of Power; Reaver’s Row; The Arena’s Greatest.
• 2v2 only: the Legend Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman is also banned.

When is the next Riftbound ban list?

Riot has not said. It does not publish a ban calendar. In 2026 there were three ban lists: March, July, and September. Riot has said it expects more bans, as few as possible, and that it may think about unbanning cards later, with no promises (Riot's August state of the game). Riot gave between one day and about a week of notice before each ban took effect this year.

When does the next Riftbound set come out?

Radiance, the fifth set, comes out on October 23, 2026, in booster packs and displays, Showdown Decks, a Vault, and Pre-Rift Kits. Pre-Rift events (Riot's name for prereleases) run October 16 to 22 at local stores. After that, Legacy is due January 29, 2027. See Riot's Radiance overview.

Should I sell my Riftbound cards after a ban?

This part is our read as buyers and players, not Riot's. It depends on which kind of card you have:

• A banned card you played in tournaments. Player demand falls when the ban is announced, not when it takes effect. Holding on for an unban is a guess, since Riot promises nothing.
• A banned card you play casually. Bans only cover sanctioned Constructed events. If you play at home, keeping it costs you nothing.
• The cards that replace a banned one. These can get more popular. After the March bans, Riot said players wanted more copies of Flash, a card that was not banned. Check the rest of your binder after any ban.
• Foils, showcase cards, and signed overnumbers (signed cards numbered past the end of the set). These lean more on collectors than on the ban list. Riot reprints regular booster sets while they are legal, but says it will not reprint limited collector products.
• Full playsets (every copy a deck can use) of cards people use. Players buy these to build decks, so a playset of a staple is easier to sell than one loose copy.

And sometimes the best move is to keep playing. If you still love the deck, sell the cards you will not miss instead.

Is release week a good time to sell Riftbound cards?

Sometimes. It is the week decks change most. Players sell to pay for the new set, and new cards push some old ones out of decks while pulling others in. There is no rule that prices go one way, so if a card is about to matter in a new deck, waiting a week after release can tell you more than guessing before it.

Looking for a game in the meantime? Our Riftbound page lists the Hampton Roads stores that run Nexus Nights (Riot's weekly store events) and Pre-Rift events.