Riot Games is reopening its Catch Up Drawing from Monday, May 18, 2026 (9 AM PT) to Wednesday, May 20, 2026 (9 AM PT) to give Riftbound players who couldn't buy their Origins, Spiritforged, or Unleashed Booster Displays during the initial sales a second chance. The drawing introduces two major changes to the eligibility rules and the cart contents, and also covers the Proving Grounds Box Sets.
May 2026 Catch Up Drawing: what's changing
The Catch Up Drawing is a raffle organized by the Riot Merch Store to clear remaining Riftbound product stock among players who weren't able to complete their purchase during flash sales. The principle remains the same as in previous editions: online registration during a 48-hour window, random drawing, and a selection email sent to winners with a non-transferable purchase link.
Two new features are worth noting. First, eligibility criteria have been relaxed: only entries placed on Spiritforged and Unleashed Booster Displays during the April 13-15, 2026 sale are now evaluated. In practice, a player who already received a Lunar Revel Bundle, a Champion Deck, or a Vault in previous sales is no longer excluded from the Catch Up Pool. This is a welcome fix to the anti-stacking logic that penalized regular buyers.
The second, more operational change: a player drawn in the raffle can now remove items from their pre-filled cart before finalizing the purchase. The action is final — the removed item immediately returns to the general pool and benefits another player — but it avoids the all-or-nothing dilemma, a recurring criticism of previous Catch Ups.
Schedule and rules: key dates to remember
The window is short and the rules are strict. Here's what you need to anticipate if you're following the operation closely:
- Monday, May 18, 2026, 9 AM PT: registration opens on the Riot Merch Store.
- Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 9 AM PT: registration closes. No late entries are accepted.
- Tuesday, May 26, 2026: selection emails start going out to winners.
- Early to mid-June 2026: shipping of finalized orders.
The constraints: one entry per Riot ID, and a maximum of one selection per person across the two combined pools. The purchase link sent to winners is non-transferable and expires after 24 hours — a tight window to watch out for, especially for European buyers due to the time difference.
An important warning for French readers: the Riot Merch Store only ships to US addresses and a few eligible countries. The drawing is not accessible from a French shipping address, unless you go through a freight forwarder — which adds fees, delays, and customs duties.
Origins, Spiritforged, Unleashed: which Booster Displays are in play
The drawing covers the three main sets released to date, as well as the Proving Grounds Box Sets used to get started with the format.
Riftbound: Origins is the TCG's launch set, released on October 31, 2025. It introduces the game's core mechanics (Rifts, Champions, energy) and remains the recommended entry point for new players.
Riftbound: Spiritforged arrived on February 14, 2026 and expanded the pool of playable champions, notably Rumble and Fiora, who received their own preconstructed Champion Decks. These decks are also available individually in France:
Riftbound: Unleashed is the third main set, released in English on May 8, 2026 (the set had launched in China as early as April 10, 2026). It is the set at the heart of this news: its Booster Display is the most recent and therefore the one with the tightest stock. For context on Unleashed rules and new features, see our FAQ on Unleashed rule clarifications.
Protecting your Riftbound cards: standard sleeves and compatible playmats
If you get your hands on a Riftbound Booster Display — via the drawing, a freight forwarder, or by waiting for a wider European distribution — the sleeving question comes up immediately. Good news: Riftbound uses the standard 66x91mm format (2.5" x 3.5"), identical to Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, or Lorcana. No need for TCG-specific sleeves.
Any Standard-size sleeves on the market will do. For tournament durability, the Dragon Shield Matte lines remain a benchmark — total back opacity, consistent shuffling, and a matte finish that reduces glare on stream:
Dragon Shield Standard 66x91mm
To go further on choosing a sleeve suited to your use case (competitive, casual, double-sleeving), our ultimate TCG sleeves guide details the trade-offs between matte, eclipse, dual matte, and art sleeve finishes. For players who want to durably protect their rarest Champion cards, double-sleeving remains the safest method.
On the playmat side, official Riftbound models measure 24x14 inches (600x350x2mm), a standard TCG format. Nearly all playmats sold for Magic or Pokémon comply with these dimensions and can therefore accommodate a Riftbound game without issue.
The bottom line
The May 2026 Catch Up Drawing fixes two pain points in the process (broader eligibility, ability to remove items from the cart) without changing the random nature of the draw. For French players, the operation remains largely inaccessible without a freight forwarder — but it signals a ramp-up in the Riftbound calendar, with an Unleashed set now in circulation and a European logistics chain that will need to keep up. It remains to be seen whether Riot will open up wider distribution by the end of 2026.
Sources: May Merch Store Updates – Riftbound (Riot Games), 2026 Roadmap – Riftbound (Riot Games), Spiritforged Booster Display – Riot Games Store
