The best Radiance singles buy right now costs about a quarter. Reckless Innovator, a Piltover unit, showed up in 154 Sacramento decklists and 8 of that event's Top 16, according to ShonenTCG's October 31 recount. The message for players is simple, buy the singles, not the boxes.
ShonenTCG first counted the online Showdown 5 event, then rechecked every pick against the Sacramento Showdown, where 721 of the 755 players have public lists. The cards that held up at both events are cheap and plain, and the hyped preview picks mostly stayed home. That is good news for anyone building a deck instead of chasing a box.
The quarter that did the work
Reckless Innovator, card RAD-105, made 5 of the 16 Top 16 lists at Showdown 5. At Sacramento it made 8 of the Top 16. Its Sacramento lists finished with 654 wins against 476 losses. Draws added 48 more lines to the record.
Radiance cards Bandle Scouts' Academy, Reckless Innovator, and Bedeviling Stranger. Card images via Riot Games, via ShonenTCG.
At Sacramento the card appeared in all 96 Riven lists and 30 Kennen lists. Any Chaos deck that attacks wants it, and ShonenTCG's advice is blunt, buy three. Three copies cost about 72 cents in the plain printing. That is the whole singles story in one line, a card that wins games for less than a dollar.
Bilgewater Tracker belongs on the same list. At 14 cents, it showed up in every Kai'Sa list at both events. If you play Kai'Sa, there is no reason not to own three.
The one expensive exception
The exception is the Riven Signature gear, Blade of the Exile, card RAD-150. It runs about $38 a copy, and it only comes in foil. Three copies run about $114, so it is not a casual pickup, it is a decision.
That gear is the price of playing the deck that won both events. Riven won Showdown 5 and Sacramento, and the full Riven package is the Legend, the Broken Blade champion, and the Blade itself. If you want that deck, buy the three Blades as singles, because opening boxes to find them is the expensive way to get there.
Most played Radiance cards at Online Showdown 5. Chart by ShonenTCG, from riftbound.gg decklists.
Bandle Scouts' Academy is the warning on the other side. It made 6 Top 16 lists at Showdown 5. At Sacramento it appeared in 55 lists and made none of the Top 16. At 11 cents, it is a Yasuo pickup, not a staple, and buying it for any other deck is paying for a preview-season reputation the results did not keep.
What Sacramento's Top 16 actually looked like
Sacramento's Top 16 tells the same story as the singles prices. Riven took 7 of the Top 16 spots. Kennen took 3, and Kai'Sa took 2. Akali, Rengar, LeBlanc, and Viktor took one each.
The set changed what the old decks play more than it changed which decks people play, with Riven as the one exception. That is why the buy list is so short, and why it is so cheap. Tuesday Nexus Night at Drum Island runs at 7 PM, and this is the week to bring either side of the Riven argument to the tables, the mirror or the answer. The next Summoner Skirmish window lands November 9, with Graves as the participation promo.
Taylor joins Car on today's Trade Post to break down the quarter buy list, the $38 exception, and what Tuesday night should build.
