Is Neeko Only Good in Green Decks? ProjectEddy's Take, Card by Card
ProjectEddy, an American creator who talks Riftbound every day, put it bluntly in his latest video: "Neeko is only going to be good in green decks. That's it." He's talking about Neeko, Blending In, the card that closes Radiance and brings an extra Legend into the game. His point is simple: Neeko is worth a lot, but a single 2 or 3 Energy card can make you lose all of it, so you should only play her where you can protect her. I went through every card he mentions, one by one: here's why he's mostly right, and where I think there's some room.
In short. Neeko costs 6 and puts one of your prepared Legends into your Legend Zone, but only while she stays on the board. If your opponent bounces her back to your hand with Star-Crossed or Rebuke, you lose her and the Legend. For Eddy the answer is green's counters (Defy, Not So Fast, Crumbling Sands); purple can work with Abandon and Hard Bargain. He says Gangplank had the same problem last set.
The wordsA two-minute glossary
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Legend Zone | The area of the table where your Legend sits, the champion card that leads your deck. Usually you only have one for the whole game. |
| Neutral | A card with no Domain: it fits in any deck, of any color. |
| Domains | Riftbound's colors. Two matter here: Calm, green, and Chaos, purple. |
| Reaction | A card you can play at any time, even in response to your opponent's card before it takes effect. |
| Counter | Cancel your opponent's card: nothing happens, and they still paid the cost. |
| Bounce | Return a unit to its owner's hand. It isn't destroyed, but everything it did when it entered is lost. |
| Empower | An ability you activate by paying runes that upgrades the card for the rest of the game. |
The cardWhat Neeko, Blending In does
Neeko, Blending In is card number 167/167 of Radiance: a neutral Champion Unit with 6 Energy and 4 Might. Here's how she works:
- when you build your deck, if Neeko is in it you choose up to three extra Legends on top of your starting one. The printed card says "three", but Riot fixed it with an errata: now it's up to three;
- when you play her, you take one of those Legends and put it into your Legend Zone, while Neeko stays on the board.
Two Legends at once is a huge advantage. The price is all in those last words, though: if Neeko leaves the board, the extra Legend leaves with her.
The problemOne bounce and you paid 6 for nothing
Eddy names two cards. Both return a unit to hand and both cost much less than Neeko:
The math is brutal. You spend 6 Energy on Neeko, your opponent spends 2 or 3 and bounces her. The extra Legend is gone, Neeko has to be played again from scratch, and meanwhile your starting Legend has just been sitting there. As Eddy puts it: "At that point, you played her for no reason."
A curious detail: both of these cards are purple. I'll come back to that below.
The fixProtect her: green's counters
Eddy's answer is to defend Neeko at the moment your opponent tries to remove her. The three cards he names are all Calm, all Reactions, all cheap:
Defy
Counters a spell that costs no more than 4 Energy and 1 power rune. It covers both Rebuke and Star-Crossed.
Not So Fast
Counters an enemy spell or ability that chooses one of your units or gear. It's the most targeted protection: any card aimed at Neeko stops here.
Crumbling Sands
Counters a spell, but only if your opponent has already played another spell this turn. More situational, but very cheap.
Purple, Eddy says, "could even work" if the deck has Abandon or Hard Bargain:
That's why I flagged it earlier: purple has both the cards that threaten Neeko and the ones that protect her. A purple deck with Neeko carries the same weapons your opponent would use against her.
The precedentGangplank, the same story last set
Eddy draws a comparison that anyone who played Vendetta will remember. Gangplank, Naval has Empower: you pay 2 Body runes and from then on, if a card tries to stun him, reduce his Might or return him to hand, he gets +3 Might instead. When the set came out he looked incredible. Then, Eddy says, people realized you could just answer with Star-Crossed before the Empower took effect: Gangplank went back to hand and the two runes were wasted. For him, Neeko "feels the same": a lot of value in a single card, which is exactly what makes her the perfect target.
My takeIs he right? Mostly, yes
Where he's right
- The cost trade is all in favor of the player answering: 2 or 3 Energy against 6, and your Legend disappears too.
- Green has three 1-2 Energy Reactions that cover exactly the cards that bounce Neeko. Not So Fast in particular looks made for this.
- The Gangplank comparison holds: cards that do a lot on their own attract every answer your opponent has.
Where I'd leave a door open
- According to Riot's notes, the extra Legend enters ready: if it has an ability you can use right away, you get some value even if Neeko gets bounced later.
- With the errata you don't have to pick three: you can prepare only the Legends you really need.
- Neeko is neutral. She can be played outside green too, but on the right turn: when your opponent has already spent their Energy and can't answer.
My conclusion: for competitive decks Eddy is right, in green Neeko is a different card. In other colors I'd only try her knowing that the best turn to play her isn't the one where you have 6 Energy, but the one where your opponent has none left to respond. We'll see it at the table soon: Radiance Pre-Rift events start on 16 October and the set releases on the 23rd.
In short
- Neeko, Blending In (6 Energy, neutral) brings an extra Legend into the game, but only while she stays on the board.
- Star-Crossed and Rebuke bounce her for 2-3 Energy: you lose her and the Legend.
- ProjectEddy says she should only be played in green, with Defy, Not So Fast and Crumbling Sands; in purple with Abandon or Hard Bargain.
- It's the same fate Gangplank, Naval had last set.
- I think he's right for competitive play; outside green, play Neeko when your opponent can't respond.
Sources: ProjectEddy's video, 8 October 2026; card texts from the official Riftbound card gallery; Neeko, Blending In errata and Riot's rules notes (see our errata article).
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