You have found Draven, and you want to know if he actually works as a budget Riftbound deck or whether you need the expensive version to compete. The short answer is that the tournament results answer this question better than any guide can: Draven swept every semifinal at Las Vegas, placed four times at Shenzhen, and finished third at Lille after the ban list hit. The wins come from the draw engine, not the price tag.
Draven is not available as a pre-built champion deck. You are building from individual singles on TCGPlayer, which means you choose exactly what goes in, start with the cards that matter most, and add upgrades when you are ready. It is a more deliberate way to build a deck than buying a box and playing whatever is inside.
Page last updated: 8 May 2026. Prices are from TCGPlayer and may have moved since publication.
The first Riftbound ban list took effect March 31 2026. Draven, Vanquisher and Fight or Flight are now banned in constructed play and have been removed from this guide. The Draven Legend and Draven, Showboat remain legal. See the full Riftbound ban list guide for the complete list of banned cards and battlefields.
Here is the thing about budget Draven that the tournament results keep proving: the deck does not win because of its expensive cards. Draven swept every single semifinal spot at Las Vegas before the ban list. All four. His 64.3% win rate sat nearly 10 percentage points ahead of second place. The Shenzhen National top 8 in March 2026 confirmed it: Draven placed four times, making him the most represented champion at both major events. At Lille in April, he finished third overall with a 29% Day 2 conversion rate, confirming the post-ban build still has legs at the top level.
Those results were not built on Kai’Sa, Survivor at $99 a copy or Seal of Discord at $75. They were built on a draw engine that triggers every time one of your units wins a combat. That engine is cheap. The expensive cards make it more consistent at the top end, but the engine itself costs almost nothing. A budget build does not play a weaker version of Draven. It plays the same game plan, with slightly less ceiling and a lot less money spent getting there.
The ban list removed Draven, Vanquisher and Fight or Flight from the format. The guide has been updated. Every card listed below is legal as of March 31 2026.
Not sure where Draven fits in the bigger picture? Our Riftbound starter deck guide covers how the Fury/Chaos domain stacks up against other entry points.
Why Draven Is Still Worth Building
Draven, Glorious Executioner runs Fury (red) and Chaos (purple) domains. His Legend ability is simple but relentless: whenever one of your units wins a combat, you draw a card. That applies whether you are attacking or defending, on your turn or your opponent’s. Just holding two Energy puts your opponent in an awkward spot every time they consider attacking. That ability is unchanged by the ban list and still one of the strongest in the format.
Two competitive builds had emerged before the ban list. The midrange version uses Equipment cards to pump your units’ Might and dominate fights turn after turn. The Miracle version paired Ezreal, Prodigy with Rhasa the Sunderer and Battering Ram to flood the board in one explosive turn. Both took semifinal slots in Las Vegas. For a budget build, midrange is the cleaner starting point. Ezreal, Prodigy costs around $63 per copy and you would want multiple.
One card worth knowing about is Flash. This has become a popular Called Shot replacement in Draven builds. It is not available to buy: Riot is distributing it as a free promo through local game stores from late April, through events, product purchases, and community contributions. If you have an LGS running Riftbound events, that is your path to getting copies.
The Budget Core: Cards That Make the Deck Work
These are the cards the post-ban budget version runs. The core is largely unchanged from the pre-ban lists, with Showboat replacing Vanquisher and Switcheroo filling the slot vacated by Fight or Flight. Every card below costs under $15, and most cost under $1.
A full Jinx or Viktor pre-built champion deck costs around $35 to $40 and gives you one fixed list you cannot modify. The budget Draven core below comes in at a similar price, but it is the foundation of a competitive build you can upgrade one card at a time. You are not buying a starter kit. You are buying into a deck that placed at every major event before the ban list, and is still placing after it.
| Card | What It Does | Cost | Priority | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draven, Showboat | Your Chosen Champion now that Vanquisher is banned. Slots into the same role and keeps the deck’s identity intact. | ~$1-2 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Noxus Hopeful | 4-cost, 4 Might unit that drops to 2 Energy when you already have a unit on the field. | ~$1-3 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Rhasa the Sunderer | Costs 1 less for each card in your discard, becoming a near-free late-game finisher. | ~$2.34 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Stacked Deck | Lets you look at the top of your deck and filter toward the tricks you need on curve. | ~$5.89 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Mindsplitter | See your opponent’s entire hand and discard one card, giving you information and disruption in one. | ~$12.91 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Tideturner | Hidden unit that swaps positions with one of your units when played, acting as the deck’s main repositioning tool. | ~$0.80 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Battering Ram | Gets cheaper for every card you play in a turn, making it a near-free finisher in longer games. | ~$0.36 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Switcheroo | Swaps two units between locations, filling the repositioning role left by the banned Fight or Flight. | ~$0.25 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Rebuke | Reaction-speed protection that keeps your units alive and the draw engine running. | ~$0.33 | Core | TCGPlayer |
| Ride the Wind | Gives a unit extra movement to attack immediately or reposition to an open battlefield. | ~$0.50 | Core | TCGPlayer |
Fill out the rest of the deck with cheap Chaos and Fury commons: Cleave, Overzealous Fan, and Treasure Hunter all appear in competitive Draven lists and cost under $2 each. Note that pre-ban decklists including the Fuzhou Regional list on PiltoverArchive will include banned cards, so treat them as a reference for card selection rather than a direct build guide.
What You’re Cutting and What You Add as Budget Grows
Three cards separate the budget build from the Regional-winning lists. Knowing what they do tells you where to spend first.
| Card | What It Does | Cost | Priority | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinning Axe | Quick-Draw Equipment that attaches as a reaction and gives +3 Might, enough to swing most combat results. | ~$25 | Buy First | TCGPlayer |
| Seal of Discord | Generates a Power resource as a reaction, keeping Runes stable while making plays. | ~$75 | Consider | TCGPlayer |
| Kai’Sa, Survivor | 4-cost, 4 Might with Accelerate that attacks immediately and draws a card when she conquers. | ~$99 | Optional | TCGPlayer |
Two Spinning Axes (~$50) is the single most impactful upgrade you can make from the starter budget. From there, add a second Mindsplitter, then work toward Seal of Discord. Kai’Sa, Survivor is the last piece. The deck is genuinely competitive without her until you are targeting Regional play.
Total Budget Range at a Glance
For context: a preconstructed champion deck costs around $35 to $40 and gives you one fixed list. The starter budget below gets you a competitive Draven core for a similar price, with a clear upgrade path to Regional-level play. Every tier is playable. You are not waiting until Full Competitive before the deck works.
| Build Tier | Cost | What You Have | What You’re Missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Budget | $40-$70 | Full budget core: Showboat, Rhasa, Stacked Deck, Mindsplitter x1, cheap staples | Spinning Axe, Seal of Discord, Kai’Sa, Survivor |
| Mid Budget | $90-$120 | Everything above plus 2x Spinning Axe | Seal of Discord, Kai’Sa, Survivor |
| Near-Competitive | $200-$280 | Full core, 3x Spinning Axe, 2x Seal of Discord, 2x Mindsplitter | Full Kai’Sa, Survivor playset |
| Full Competitive | $350-$500+ | Regional-ready: 3x Kai’Sa, Survivor, 3x Seal of Discord, 3x Spinning Axe | Nothing. This is what topped Las Vegas before the ban list. |
Draven card prices have been moving since Las Vegas. Numbers here reflect TCGPlayer market prices as of early March 2026. Check current listings before buying, especially for Spinning Axe and Mindsplitter.
Where to Buy
Every card in this guide is available as an individual single on TCGPlayer. You are not buying packs and hoping for the right cards: you search for exactly what you need, compare seller prices, and have the core of a competitive deck delivered in a few days. For US buyers, it is the most efficient way to build a singles list.
If you want to open packs alongside building the singles list, Spiritforged sealed product is available on Amazon. At around $5 per pack at box price, it is worth it if you enjoy the experience of opening cards and are happy to supplement with singles for anything you need that does not show up.
Local game stores are also worth a look. Trade nights at LGS events are a real way to fill gaps, particularly for cheap commons and uncommons that are not worth shipping individually.
Final Verdict
If you want to play Riftbound competitively without committing to a large upfront spend, building Draven from singles is the correct approach. This is not a budget compromise. It is a deliberate choice to acquire exactly the cards that make the deck work, upgrade one piece at a time, and play a competitive list from day one. The tournament record before and after the ban list is evidence, not marketing: Draven places because the engine is strong, not because the expensive cards carry it.
Start with the core. Get your Spinning Axes next. The rest follows when you are ready.
Unleashed Dropped May 8 and Could Change This Build
New cards from the Unleashed set may open up budget options we have not seen yet. Sign up and we will let you know when anything changes that affects this guide.
More Guides for Riftbound Players
Keep an eye on our Riftbound Unleashed guide. New cards from the May 8 launch may open up options we have not covered yet.
If you are planning to buy in for Unleashed, the Riftbound Unleashed products guide covers every product available on launch day.
If you are still figuring out which deck to build first, the Jinx, Viktor, and Lee Sin champion deck comparison is the clearest breakdown of what each preconstructed starting point gives you to work with.