Legends of Runeterra expansion adds new cards, region, and champions

Legends of Runeterra, Riot Games' League of Legends spin-off that's taking a crack at the Hearthstone-dominated collectible card game format, is getting a major expansion that explore a new region of the world called Targon, and it all begins with an expansion titled Call of the Mountain, out Wednesday. Here's a look at everything new coming to the game.

Call of the Mountain will be released on August 26, and Riot Games celebrated Tuesday by releasing a new launch trailer for the expansion.

Players can expect 89 brand new cards, 7 of which are recognizable champions from League of Legends. Riot Games is also teasing that Call of the Mountain is the start of Legends of Runeterra's new bi-monthly card release cycle. It's the first of three expansions that will be set in Targon, the fourth overall region represented in the game.

Everything that's new in Call of the Mountain

The new cards — 89 new cards will be in play in Legends of Runeterra after Call of the Mountain launches. While Riot Games didn't detail every specific card, it confirmed that 51 are from the new Targon region while the other 38 cards from existing regions.

Players will be able to choose from 6 preconstructed Targon decks to get a better feeling for the new strategies these cards allow. These cards also feature some new abilities like Spellshield, which "negates the next enemy spell or skill that would affect me," as well as 5 others called Fury, Daybreak, Nightfall, Behold, and Evoke.

The new Champions — With new cards come new Champions that League of Legends players will recognize. Five of these are part of the Targon Region: Leona, Diana, Aurelion Sol, and Taric.

Players who want to stay focused on another region will also get new Champions, as Shadow Isles gets Nocturne, Freljord gets Trundle, and Ionia gets Lulu.

The new region — Regions are critically important to Legends of Runeterra as entire sets of cards revolve around them, and this expansion introduces Targon into the fray. "On this towering mountain, cosmic beings lend their might to mortals," Riot's official description reads. "Astral dragons soar beyond the sky. Tribes of the faithful devote themselves to the sun and moon."

Cards from this region focus on raw power, with a new "special pool of created cards representing the constellations" called Celestials at the center of it. Following Call of the Mountain's release, Targon will have its own region road, giving players a lot to play around with.

Other updates — Call of the Mountain will also introduce some more generalized updates to the game. As is the case with any new expansion, a new Ranked Season will kick off, which means that there are new Ranked Reward icons, challenges, and updated quests in Legends of Runeterra.

The region roads for Shadow Isles, Freljord, and Ionia have been extended, and players can earn extra XP on these non-Targon roads. When it comes to cosmetics, the Cosmo Guardian, the Targon-themed Celestial Summit Board, Sunrise and Moonfa card backs, and emotes for Diana, Lulu, Nocturne, and Taric have all been added.

What does the future of Legends of Runeterra look like?

While Call of the Mountain is the focus today, Riot Games is teasing the road ahead for Legends of Runeterra. From here on out, the game will receive major card release expansions on a bi-monthly basis. Call of the Mountain is also the first of three new expansions set in the region of Targon. That means you can expect new Legends of Runeterra expansions in late October and December.

The next two expansions for Legends of Runeterra will be a bit smaller than Call of the Mountain and introduce only 40 new cards, 3 of which will be champions from League of Legends. While the number of cards between regions isn't balanced right now, Riot Games also promises that all regions will have "an equal share of champions and near-equal share of other cards" after December's expansion is released.

For fans of Legends of Runeterra, there's plenty to look forward to for the rest of the year and beyond.

Legends of Runeterra is available now for PC, iOS, and Android.