Regional Championships: Competitive Integrity & Prizing

Adjustments to Regional Championship prizing and policy.
Organized Play

We are less than one month away from the European Regional Championship, taking place in Stuttgart, Germany, and we want to update competitors with:

  • Changes to prizing plans for Regional Championship events, including how Overnumber Foil Plated Legends are being awarded.
  • Updates to the Competitive Integrity Policy for Regional Championship events.
  • A brief look at the 2026 Riftbound World Championship Showcase event.

Best-Of & Overnumber Foil Plated Legends

When we introduced Best-Of prizing in Houston, it quickly became an exciting part of competitive Riftbound. As players moved from Regional Qualifiers to Regional Championships, we wanted the rewards to grow alongside the level of competition, leading us to introduce Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends as Regional Championship Best-Of prizes.

Since then, we’ve been tracking how these rewards influence competitive decisions beyond simply encouraging players to represent their favorite Legends. After discussing the role we want these prizes to play in Riftbound, we’re making the following adjustments to Regional Championship prizing:

  • Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends will now reward overall tournament performance.
    • The top 58 finishers will draft from the available Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends in finishing order, beginning with 1st place and continuing until all 58 Legends have been selected.
  • Foil Plated Legends from Unleashed, Vendetta, and Radiance will become the new Best-Of rewards. These will be awarded to the highest finishing eligible player on their respective Legend.
    • Origins, Proving Grounds, and Spiritforged Legends will not be eligible for Foil Plated Legend Best-Of prizing at Regional Championships.
    • Players must still advance to Day 2 on their Legend to qualify for a Best-Of Foil Plated Legend.

These Best-Of Foil Plated Legends are the same versions offered through Regional Qualifiers. Due to the timing of this adjustment, Radiance Foil Plated Legends will not be available for distribution at these events. We are currently determining the best way to deliver them to their recipients and expect them to become available in January 2027.

We believe these changes ultimately better reward competitors and incentivize the type of competition we want to see as part of Regional Championship Tournaments.

Policy Updates

In addition to the above changes to prizing, we are taking some more steps to further the competitive integrity of Regional Championships. Here are the rules updates:

  • No Throwing Matches: Players may not ask for or offer match concessions at any point before or during these tournaments except in the cases outlined below.
  • No Deciding Matches After Time: If a match naturally ends in a draw due to time limits, players cannot attempt to randomly or arbitrarily determine a winner.
  • Open Decklists: Regional Championships will be played with open decklists. 

Tournament Rule 401.5.b. states that tournaments with a professional OPL can be run with open decklists. We will be requiring this for these tournaments and want players to know this ahead of the events, and more importantly, ahead of when they need to lock their decklists.

Permitted Actions & Exceptions

We understand that certain situations require flexibility in the above. The following situations remain permitted:

  • Tactical Game Concessions: Players may concede individual games within a match for strategic reasons (such as preserving time for Game 3). But they may not tactically concede a match-determining game.
  • Legitimate Extenuating Circumstances: Players facing genuine external circumstances, such as medical emergencies, may yield a match.
  • Intentional Draws (IDs): Intentional Draws prior to time expiring remain legal and permitted under standard tournament policy.

Enforcement and Penalties

We will be reiterating these rules before each event, including in email to competitors and through tournament floor announcements.

Players are expected to play each match to the best of their ability with the intention of winning the match. Any player found asking for, offering, or executing illegal match concessions or collusion agreements will face immediate disqualification from the event and potential suspension from competitive Riftbound play.

2026 Riftbound World Championship Showcase Event

Lastly, we know that Overnumbered Foil Plated Legend cards have been the main motivation for many competitors at Regional Championships. With the 2026 Riftbound World Championship Showcase Event, the highest-level players will have something new to set their sights on, and Regional events are a crucial stepping stone to crowning our first World Champion. 

The Top 8 of each Regional Championship (Europe, North America, and China) will be invited to compete in Riftbound’s first World Championship Showcase event, taking place at the end of January in China. If someone manages the impressive feat of making Top 8 at multiple Regional Championships, any invitations earned beyond their first will be passed down to the next eligible finisher of the relevant tournament. 

We will share more about the World Showcase and what players will be competing for in future updates!