If you have been trying to get your hands on Riftbound: Proving Grounds and kept running into sold-out listings and inflated resale prices, you are not alone. The original print of Proving Grounds sold out almost everywhere shortly after launch, leaving a lot of new players without the easiest entry point into the game. The good news is that a reprint is officially confirmed and already in production. The not-so-great news is that there is no firm release date yet.
This page covers everything you need to know: what changed with the reprint, what stayed the same, and whether you should wait or pick up something else in the meantime.
Page last updated: 8 March 2026. A Proving Grounds reprint has been confirmed via GAMA Expo. No release date announced yet.
What Is the Proving Grounds Reprint?
Proving Grounds is Riftbound’s two-to-four player starter set. It comes with four pre-built decks (Annie, Master Yi, Lux, and Garen), custom acrylic champion figures, and everything you need to learn the game from scratch. Riot designed it specifically as a beginner product, which made it the natural first purchase for a huge number of players when the game launched in October 2025.
The problem was that Proving Grounds also contained 24 cards that were exclusive to that product, and several of those cards turned out to be genuinely competitive. That combination of “easiest way to learn” and “contains cards you actually want” meant demand completely outstripped supply. Original copies started selling for well above the $29.99 MSRP almost immediately.
Riot responded by announcing a reprint. As of the February 2026 State of the Game, Chengran confirmed the reprint process has already started, and GAMA Expo coverage reported by ICv2 in March 2026 has since confirmed this further. The product is coming back to local game stores and the Riot Merch Store. No release date has been announced yet.
How the Reprint Differs from the Original
There are three meaningful differences between the first print and the reprint. Let’s go through each one honestly.
Price: $40 instead of $29.99
The reprint carries a new MSRP of $40, up from the original $29.99. Riot attributed this to working with a different printing facility in order to get the reprint into production as quickly as possible. It is a noticeable jump, though still reasonable for a four-player starter set with acrylic figures included. The product code for the reprint is UVSRB01PG02.
Printing facility: different, but sleeved you cannot tell
Riot was upfront about this: the reprint comes from a different printing partner than the original run. Unsleeved, some players may notice a slight difference in the feel or finish of the cards. However, Riot tested the reprint against existing English printings for tournament fairness, and their own developers could not reliably identify which version was which in blind testing once sleeved. For anyone who plays with sleeves (which is most people), this is essentially a non-issue.
The 24 exclusive cards: still in the original only
This is the part that matters most if you are a collector or a competitive player. The 24 cards that are exclusive to Proving Grounds, including certain Legends, champions, and signature cards, are exclusive to the original first print. The reprint contains the same cards. What Riot changed was their policy going forward: they have confirmed that future starter products will not include mechanically unique cards. That means the 24 exclusive cards in the original run are permanently unique to that printing and will not appear in any future starter set either.
In other words, both the original and the reprint contain all 24 exclusive cards. Those cards are not exclusive to the first print vs. the reprint. They are exclusive to Proving Grounds as a product line, and Riot has now locked that in permanently by committing to keep unique cards out of future starter products.
| Original Print | Reprint (UVSRB01PG02) | |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $29.99 | $40.00 |
| Printing facility | Original partner | Different partner |
| Looks the same sleeved | Yes | Yes |
| Exclusive cards included | Yes (24 cards) | Yes (24 cards) |
| Tournament legal | Yes | Yes |
| Release date | Oct 31, 2025 | TBC (no date announced) |
Should You Wait for the Reprint or Buy a Champion Deck Now?
This genuinely depends on what you are trying to do with your purchase, so here is an honest breakdown rather than a one-size-fits-all answer.
Wait for the reprint if…
You want to learn the game with friends in a two-to-four player setting. Proving Grounds is designed for exactly that, with four balanced decks and the acrylic figures included. If your main goal is a multiplayer intro night, it is worth waiting. The reprint is confirmed and in production. You are not waiting on a maybe here.
Buy a Champion Deck now if…
You want to start playing as soon as possible, or you are primarily interested in one-versus-one games. The Viktor, Jinx, and Lee Sin Champion Decks are in stock, they are more affordable, and they get you into the game today. They are competitive pre-built decks that work well for learning while also being strong enough to take to your local game store’s events. If you are mainly buying to play rather than to collect all four Proving Grounds decks together, a Champion Deck is a good option right now, not a consolation prize.
For a fuller breakdown of how Champion Decks compare to Proving Grounds as a starting point, see our Riftbound starter deck comparison guide.
Where to Buy Champion Decks Right Now
Until the Proving Grounds reprint is available, the Champion Decks are the best in-stock option for new players. TCGPlayer is our primary recommendation because pricing is transparent and stock is visible before you buy. Amazon is a solid secondary option, particularly if you already have Prime.
Champion Decks are in stock now
For a full guide to what each Champion Deck contains and which one is right for your playstyle, check out our Riftbound Proving Grounds and Origins buying guide.
Check Back When the Reprint Arrives
We will update this page as soon as a release date is confirmed and again when the reprint hits local game stores and the Riot Merch Store. Based on Riot’s January 2026 update and the February 2026 State of the Game confirmation that printing has started, “coming months” suggests a window of roughly Q2 2026, but that is our read of the language rather than a firm announcement.
The best ways to stay informed are to follow the official Riftbound social channels, bookmark this page, or sign up for our newsletter if we have one running by the time you read this. We are keeping an eye on this one.
Get Notified When the Reprint Lands
We will update this page as soon as the Proving Grounds reprint has a release date. Sign up and we will let you know the moment it is confirmed.