What the Stacked Deck and Ekko bans mean for Riftbound /

By Ron Cruz · Published September 15, 2026

Stacked Deck and Ekko, Recurrent have been banned in Standard and 2v2 Constructed since September 18. The Ekko ban applies to the Origins champion unit, not every card with Ekko’s name.

What made Stacked Deck worth banning?

Stacked Deck costs one energy and no power. It looks at three cards, puts one into hand and recycles the rest. Played from hand, it replaces itself. The advantage is choosing which card replaces it.

Nocturne adds another reason to care about the word “look.” Under its corrected text, seeing it through a top-deck look or reveal allows its controller to banish it and then play it for one any-domain power. Simply drawing Nocturne does not grant that discounted play. Stacked Deck could therefore find a card for hand while also enabling a cheap unit.

Riot’s concern is that this much selection costs too little, especially alongside cheap-spell rewards and Kennen’s existing access to Lightning Rush. Its stated aim is to reduce Kennen’s strength without dismantling the strategy.

Kennen and Stacked Deck

At Singapore, Kennen accounted for 11.5% of Day 1, 19.3% of Day 2 and four Top 8 seats. Finalist DSG AwesumRosum’s list ran three each of Stacked Deck, Lightning Rush, Nocturne and Rhasa, plus two Last Rites. Those shares show why Kennen commanded attention.

Lightning Rush still looks three cards deep, sends its unchosen cards to the trash and can be played again through Flow for two energy and one any-domain power, then banished. That supports the Rhasa and Last Rites plan. Stacked Deck recycles its unchosen cards instead; describing both spells as “mill two” gets the interaction wrong.

Card comparison

Two spells, different destinations

Official English card gallery

There is also a timing loss. Stacked Deck has Action; Lightning Rush does not. A Kennen player could use Stacked Deck during an open showdown window to look for a playable answer. Action is still not Reaction: Stacked Deck could not be inserted into an active chain to search for a counterspell.

Diana, Ezreal and Irelia lists ran it too

Singapore’s published Diana and Ezreal lists each contained three Stacked Deck; the Irelia list contained two.

Why Riot banned Ekko, Recurrent

Riot says the Ekko-based Lux deck had low representation. The objection was its infinite sequences, restricted opportunities for interaction and long stretches of one-sided play. This ban addresses the experience of playing against the deck, rather than widespread tournament dominance. At Singapore, Lux was 0.6% of the Day 1 field.

Ekko’s Deathknell recycles him to ready his controller’s runes. With enough runes developed, that refresh funds more spells, which can help the deck keep finding and processing cards. Readying runes does not grant another turn’s draw, channel or scoring, and it cannot restore runes already recycled to pay for power.

Stacked Deck’s market price

Stacked Deck’s daily market price fell sharply around the ban announcement. Standard and 2v2 Constructed players had until September 18 to remove it from their tournament decks.

TCGplayer’s one-month daily history, checked September 15 for English / Normal / Near Mint copies (SKU 8926977), shows:

TCGplayer also reported a $9 listed median for the product, separate from the filtered daily history.

What happened in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, September 25 to 27, was the first Regional Qualifier after the bans. Irelia was the most played Legend there, ahead of Kennen. Kennen put the most players into Day 2 but none into the Top 8, and DSG Prismaticism won with Rengar. Here’s what happened in Los Angeles.