Tournament Overview

The physical card game Riftbound, based on the League of Legends IP, held its first large-scale tournament after release in Guangzhou on August 23rd and 24th, which has now concluded successfully. Over 3,000 players registered for the event. Sara arrived early but was unfortunately unable to complete the late registration process. Ultimately, 506 players secured qualification for the main event. Additionally, two off-site City Challenger tournaments, each with 128 participants, also attracted numerous players to sign up.

Competition Format

The first competition day featured 7 rounds of best-of-three (BO3) Swiss pairings, allowing players to modify their sideboards between games. The top 64 ranked players from this stage advanced to the single-elimination bracket on the second day, where they competed until the eventual champion was crowned.

Meta Analysis

Just as I predicted before the tournament, the three most popular decks were Master Yi, Kai'Sa, and Viktor. The first two defined the meta for the first set, while Viktor is relatively cheaper to build. In the Top 64, there were 27 Master Yi players, 18 Kai'Sa players, and 8 Viktor players. Additionally, Lux & Miss Fortune (aka "Gun Mage") and Darius also had decent representation, with 3 players each in the Top 64.

The biggest surprises were Teemo and Annie. There were 3 Teemo players and 1 Annie player in the Top 64, with one Teemo player even making it to the Top 8, while the Annie player was eliminated in the Top 32. There was also one Ahri player in the Top 64, though Ahri is currently struggling to find her footing in this meta. Unfortunately, both Lee Sin and Sett were eliminated earlier.

Tournament Results

The deck archetypes in the Top 8 consisted of 4 Kai'Sa, 2 Viktor, 1 Teemo, and 1 Master Yi. This narrowed down to 3 Kai'Sa and 1 Master Yi in the Top 4, culminating in a finals match between Kai'Sa and Master Yi, with Kai'Sa ultimately claiming the championship title.

Looking Ahead

There's no doubt that for the upcoming regional opens in Beijing, Chongqing, and Hangzhou over the next three weeks, Master Yi and Kai'Sa will be the default choices for most players due to their incredible consistency. The key question is whether anyone can develop effective counter strategies to emerge as a dark horse in these tournaments. However, as FoxSad, the Guangzhou champion, pointed out, Kai'Sa's strength lies in her ability to cast powerful spells without having to recycle her own runes, giving her a favorable matchup against most decks.