Rise of the Underworlds: Everything You Need to Know About Runeterra Expansion

Legends of Runeterra's newest expansion, Rise of the Underworlds, released on June 30.

Rise of the Underworlds is the third mini-expansion of the Empires of the Ascended set and contains over 40 new collectible cards, as well as what is perhaps the biggest balance patch in Legends of Runeterra's history. Let's dive into what you need to know!

Rise of the Underworlds: Everything You Need to Know About Runeterra Expansion

New champions, cards, and keyword

Rise of the Underworlds introduces three new champions: Rek'sai, Pyke, and Ekko. Each champion comes with a bundle of their own support cards, and Rek'sai and Pyke bring a new keyword to the game: Lurk.

Lurk is a keyword found on both units and spells. Its text reads: "When you attack while I'm on top of your deck, I Lurk, granting Lurker allies everywhere +1|+0. Max once per round."

Champions Pyke and Rek'sai share the Lurk keyword, and their support cards revolve around the Lurk mechanic. Ekko, on the other hand, is all about Predicting, which synergizes with Lurk and gives some strength to the Predict archetype that previously only included Zilean.

Aside from the new champions and their followers, Riot also introduced plenty of support cards for existing strategies. Why not try polishing your poro deck with the new Fabled Poro, or granting Scout to Teemo with Field Promotion?

You can find a full list of new cards on Mobalytics.

Balance changes

Riot has once again surpassed player expectations with a huge balance patch, containing a whopping 47 balance changes.

After a disappointing balance patch in Patch 2.9.0, Riot responded to players' backlash with a Reddit post promising lots of changes to come in Patch 2.11.0. They've certainly delivered - Patch 2.11.0's balance changes contain a ton of buffs to underplayed cards and nerfs to top meta decks.

Below are a few of the highlights, but you can find a full list of balance changes in the patch notes:

• Azir/Irelia received four nerfs, including harder level-up conditions for both champions, Dunekeeper's stats becoming 1|2, and Attune removed from Dancing Droplet.
• Thresh/Nasus received three nerfs, including Fearsome removed from Level 1 Nasus, Escaped Abomination losing 1 Health, and the aforementioned Dunekeeper nerf.
• The Watcher received two nerfs: it now requires you to summon 5+ allies that cost 8+ to be free, and now leaves 3 non-champion cards when it obliterates the enemy deck.
• Several buffs for Bilgewater cards, including Miss Fortune and Make it Rain
• Buffs for key Ionia cards, including Twin Disciplines and Will of Ionia
• Nerfs for several Targon Invoke cards.

The patch "aims to completely shake up the metagame and empower champions and archetypes from previous expansions," said Riot. There's no doubt that, for better or worse, the game will be in a completely different state after this patch.

New Cosmetics

The Rise of the Underworlds expansion brings a new Pyke-themed board, along with Pyke and Rek'sai card backs, Pyke and Ekko emotes, and Sandstorm skins for Pyke and Ekko.

You can buy all of Pyke's cosmetics in a bundle that comes with an exclusive icon. There's also a premade Ekko/Zilean deck bundle for sale, which comes with all of Ekko's cosmetics.

Miscellaneous

Lab of Legends received an update, with Ekko, Pyke, Rek’sai, Swain, and Shyvana added as selectable champions.

The patch also comes with an update to the Prologue, the first part of a new player's journey. Because of the abundance of content now in Runeterra, the Prologue was adjusted to unlock game modes one by one, and reward players with more premade starter decks.

Finally, new archetypes including Ekko, Pyke, and Rek'sai have been added to Expeditions.

Riot did not disappoint with the amount of content in the Rise of the Underworlds expansion. Whether you're crafting new cards, revisiting old archetypes, or trying your hand at Labs, this is one of the most exciting expansions in Legends of Runeterra history.