There are many cards in Legends of Runeterra, and each have their own stats and effects to make them unique. It can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the card game genre, to learn all these effects. That’s why we’re dissecting all the keywords in a series of guides. In this one we’re taking a look at Capture.

Capturing a unit may sound a bit strange, but the effect is not very difficult to understand. When a unit captures another unit, the captured unit is removed from the game, but it doesn't die. The hostage is released once its abductor leaves play in any way, be it by being killed, recalled or any other effect achieving the same. Basically, the captured unit is basically Little Red Riding Hood, and it only escapes once you’ve taken care of the Big Bad Wolf.

Capture is a very powerful mechanic, and can be hard to counter. If an enemy captures a unit, but never puts the hostage-holding unit in play again, your unit may be gone forever. The best counters to Capture are cards with Challenger, Recall mechanics or direct damage dealing spells.

There is only one card in Legends of Runeterra with the Capture mechanic: Detain, a spell from Demacia. It’s pretty costly at five mana, but remember that it has the potential to take a unit out of the game forever. It is a Fast spell, giving your opponent a chance to respond to it before the effect is triggered.

Images via Riot Games.