As the first, and most successful, TCG of all time, Magic: The Gathering has had no shortage of challengers over the years. Countless games have risen and fallen, all attempting to claim their share of the market from Magic’s far-reaching clutches. Some have done well, like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon, while others have faded into obscurity, remembered only in reminisces like this.
Last week, Riot Games announced a new contender was stepping into the ring. Project K, a full-on physical League of Legends card game, will be launching worldwide next year. Interestingly, it has multiplayer rather than traditional Magic in its sights.
Project K: A New League Of Legends Card Game
Project K was officially announced in a tweet by Riot Games last Friday. This is a brand-new physical TCG and not a paper adaptation of the existing League of Legends card game Legends of Runeterra. That said, Game Director Dave Guskin did note in the reveal video that Project K will “inherit some of the rich Champion design principles” from that game.
Other than its tangible nature, what sets Project K apart from LoR is its focus on social play. As Guskin puts it, this game is intended to “serve the needs of a different kind of audience: players who want to connect across the table.” He also notes that they “designed it from the ground up to support multiplayer,” which clearly sets it apart from most other popular TCGs. As big as Commander is now, it very much isn’t the experience Magic was originally built around.
The reveal video was light on gameplay details, but Guskin and Executive Producer Chengran Chai did reveal some of the Project K game modes. Four-player free-for-all, Team 2v2, and even 1v1 modes were mentioned in the video. The latter is somewhat surprising given the hard multiplayer focus elsewhere. That said, it clearly isn’t a big focus. The reveal video showed four players enjoying a free-for-all match, after all.
Said players were each running a deck built around a different League of Legends Champion. These ranged from go-wide Viktor Aggro to a chaotic Jinx list. Given the clear parallels between Commander and Project K, I’d wager these Champions act like Commanders in the game. This is pure speculation at this stage, of course.
A Contender For The Crown?
These basic details aside, the reveal video also went into Riot’s plans for an organized Project K play scene. According to Chai, they “want to have competitive play that reaches from the store level all the way up to national level tournaments, and maybe even global events.” This is an ambitious statement right out of the gate. That said, Riot does have the resources to back it up.
There’s a lot of interesting stuff to break down in this reveal. It’s easy to scoff at any game that claims to be a “Magic Killer,” and tries to topple a 30+ year legacy from the word go. In this case, however, I think it warrants some serious consideration. There are a number of factors at play here that could make Project K a legitimate contender in the physical TCG space.
For starters, the League of Legends IP is incredibly strong and will be a huge draw for many. With Arcane’s second season hitting this year, buzz around these characters has never been higher. Universes Beyond has proven the value of recognizable IP time and time again. I expect it’ll work in Project K’s favor come launch, too.
On top of that, it also has the chance to do something Magic never could: be a multiplayer game from the get-go. Going after the now-colossal Commander audience is a smart move, and may well result in a game better optimized for four-player sessions than Magic. With the added benefit of organized play at launch, Riot’s claim that it’s “created the best social TCG out there” may not be too far off the mark. Only the game’s release next year will tell for sure.
