Organized Play2026-08-26T16:00:00.000Z

After a long hiatus, competitive Riftbound returned in a big way with over 2,130 competitors battling it out on Saturday, and 379 continuing the fight on Sunday. Of keen interest was to see what the Best-Of rotation would do to the field and while it definitely impacted some deck choices, others held the course with an eye to a top finish to earn a spot to one of the Regional Championships.

Pour one out for Ahri, Darius, Garen, Jinx, Lee Sin, Leona, Volibear, and Yasuo who were all missing from the main event. However, shout outs go to the Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman, Vi, Kai’Sa, Lux, Vikor, and Annie players who came to play. And a special nod to the lone pilots for Miss Fortune, Sett, and Teemo - we salute you.

The Top 8 featured five legends with the most surprising of them going on to win it all. MICE TheManLand took Ornn to victory, defeating CTCG Koko Lopez playing perhaps the deck of the event: Kennen. Kennen held three of the Top 8 slots, with Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman holding two, and the rest of the Top 8 was Ornn, our previous European RQ champion MICE Squirtle running back Azir, and Rengar being piloted by the dominant DSG Prismaticism.

The colored cells below reflect which decks were not competing for Best-Of.

	Day 1		Day 2
Legend	# Played	% of Field	# Played	% of Field
Kennen	270	12.7%	81	21.4%
Master Yi, WB	199	9.3%	47	12.4%
Irelia	164	7.7%	36	9.5%
Rek'Sai	109	5.1%	21	5.5%
Nasus	103	4.8%	14	3.7%
Rengar	96	4.5%	26	6.9%
Draven	89	4.2%	9	2.4%
Azir	79	3.7%	22	5.8%
Kha'Zix	79	3.7%	15	4.0%
Diana	78	3.7%	16	4.2%
Jayce	72	3.4%	11	2.9%
LeBlanc	70	3.3%	14	3.7%
Akali	65	3.1%	10	2.6%
Ezreal	59	2.8%	16	4.2%
Lillia	47	2.2%	4	1.1%
Fiora	45	2.1%	5	1.3%
Ornn	42	2.0%	5	1.3%
Rumble	41	1.9%	3	0.8%
Vi	40	1.9%	0	0.0%
Ambessa	34	1.6%	1	0.3%
Vex	29	1.4%	2	0.5%
Mel	28	1.3%	2	0.5%
Lucian	27	1.3%	1	0.3%
Zed	25	1.2%	1	0.3%
Master Yi, WM	25	1.2%	0	0.0%
Ivern	24	1.1%	1	0.3%
Pyke	24	1.1%	0	0.0%
Jhin	20	0.9%	1	0.3%
Jax	19	0.9%	1	0.3%
Sivir	18	0.8%	3	0.8%
Kai'Sa	18	0.8%	2	0.5%
Lux	17	0.8%	5	1.3%
Renekton	16	0.8%	1	0.3%
Renata Glasc	15	0.7%	0	0.0%
Shen	14	0.7%	0	0.0%
Viktor	12	0.6%	2	0.5%
Poppy	10	0.5%	0	0.0%
Annie	5	0.2%	1	0.3%
Miss Fortune	1	0.0%	0	0.0%
Sett	1	0.0%	0	0.0%
Teemo	1	0.0%	0	0.0%

On the Best-Of Nomenclature

Before we get to the decks, we want to clarify the naming of Best-Of cards. As Riftbound grows we’re going to find, from time to time, a need to realign on terminology. Best-Of prizing has reached one of those cases.

Up to now ‘Best-of’ has been used interchangeably as the naming of when someone is #1 with their Legend in a tournament, as well as for the prize received for doing so. When it was just Regional Qualifiers offering those prizes it wasn’t an issue. But now that Showdown Series are underway and more and more players are attending those events (703 at NRG Milwaukee this past weekend!) We need to refine the terminology as a Showdown Series Best-Of prize is not the same as a Regional Qualifier Best-Of prize (which is also not the same as what will be awarded at Regional Championships.)

So, we feel the need to divorce the term Best-Of from being both the finish and the award, and be more specific on what the prize being given is:

Best-Of - The achievement of being #1 with your Legend at a tournament.

Foil Plated Legend - The award received for being a Best-Of at a Regional Qualifier (or a Riftbound Regional next year.)

Foil Overnumber Plated Legend - The award received for being a Best-Of at the upcoming Regional Championships.

Plated Legend (or Non-Foil Plated Legend) - The prize awarded at Showdown Series events, and are also available on the Prize Wall at Regional Qualifier events.

We know that many players will continue to use the confusing ‘Best-Of’ as a shorthand for the prizes awarded, but we are asking the community, organizers, and other entities who track or list these for various purposes, to adopt this nomenclature.