Get ready for Rift Rivals

Riot·May 23, 2017·5 votes·150,230 views

How will your region stack up against its fiercest adversaries? It’s time to settle the score at our brand new cross-regional event: Rift Rivals.

What is Rift Rivals?

Rift Rivals will be held across the world during July 3-9. The event will pit regional rivals against each other in grudge matches for glory and bragging rights.

Five tournaments will pit teams from all 13 regions with their closest rivals and re-open old wounds as they face their nemesis on the Rift. Each tournament will vary in numbers of invited teams, venues, and format - but every event will pair one region against each other, so you won’t see any games between teams from the same region (no Telecom Wars or the Battle of European mascots).

Teams were selected for Rift Rivals based on the most recently completed split (Spring or Split 1) rankings and will be seeded accordingly for the start of the event. For example, Europe’s G2 Esports will be seeded as EU #1 at the start of Rift Rivals: NA vs. EU. Read on for more details about format at each of the tournaments.

What are the rivalries? Formats?

Click on the icons below to visit the appropriate section!

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Updated - North America vs. Europe

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City: Berlin, Germany

Venue: EU LCS Studio

Dates: July 5-8

Teams:

North America (NA LCS)

TSM
Cloud9
Phoenix1

Europe (EU LCS)

G2 Esports
Unicorns of Love
Fnatic

Latin America North vs. Brazil vs. Latin America South

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City: Santiago, Chile

Venue: CLS Studio

Dates: July 5-8

Teams:

Latin America North (LLN)

Lyon Gaming
Just Toys Havoks

Brazil (CBLOL)

Keyd Stars
RED Canids

Latin America South (CLS)

Isurus Gaming
Furious Gaming

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) vs. Turkey

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City: Moscow, Russian Federation

Venue: LCL Studio

Dates: July 6-9

Teams:

CIS (LCL)

Virtus.pro
Vaevictis Esports
M19
Vega Squadron

Turkey (TCL)

SuperMassive eSports
Oyunfor.CREW
1907 Fenerbahçe Espor
Team AURORA

Southeast Asia vs. Oceania vs. Japan

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City: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Dates: July 3-6

Teams:

Southeast Asia (GPL)

GIGABYTE Marines
Ascension Gaming
Mineski

Oceania (OPL)

Dire Wolves
Legacy
Sin Gaming

Japan (LJL)

Detonation Gaming
Rampage
Unsold Stuff Gaming

Korea vs. LMS vs. China

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City: Kaohsiung

Venue: Kaohsiung Exhibition Center

Dates: July 6-9

Teams:

Korea (LCK)

SK Telecom T1
Samsung Galaxy
KT Rolster
MVP

LMS (LMS)

Flash Wolves
ahq e-Sports Club
J Team
Machi

China (LPL)

Team WE
Royal Never Give Up
Edward Gaming
OMG

How do I watch?

Below are the languages that the broadcast will be available in for each of the events. All of the Rift Rivals events will be available on Lolesports.

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Latin America North vs. Brazil vs. Latin America South

Portuguese
Spanish

North America vs. Europe

English
Polish
Spanish
Hungarian
Serbian
French
German
Italian

We’re working with European broadcast partners to get the EU vs. NA event in more languages, we’ll confirm the languages and how to tune-in on EU Lolesports closer to the event.

CIS vs. Turkey

Russian
Turkish

Southeast Asia vs. Oceania vs. Japan

English
Japanese
Vietnamese
Thai
Indonesian

Korea vs. LMS vs. China

Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Korean
English
Vietnamese
Thai
Indonesian

Where can I learn more about Rift Rivals?

Stay tuned to Lolesports for more the information about the event including the full match schedule and ticket information.

87 Comments

Internal ErrorMay 23, 201731 votes

NA>EU

Yordle XayahMay 23, 201724 votes

Geez... you're gonna BURN OUT these guys. I'm all up for more FNATIC but... G2, WE, FW, SKT, GAM and TSM just played a full season plus MSI and you're telling me they gotta hop into this thing without any rest for Summer?

SciFi ScrivenerMay 23, 20175 votes

This was my first thought when I read this. Also, don't the dates fall during Summer Split?

Yordle XayahMay 23, 20177 votes

Being an SKT/KT, G2 or TSM/C9 player (they always make finals) means you go from Spring Split to possibly MSI, to Rift Rivals, to Summer Split, to Worlds, to All Stars, to Spring Split.

EcchibooMay 23, 20175 votes

Yep. Unless they finish summer split within a month that is. But since spring split was two month, they probably gonna pause the split from the end of June until mid-July.

TurquoiseYoshiMay 23, 201711 votes

It's probably just going to be one week off, like IEM Katowice had.

jheilman74May 23, 20177 votes

Well it seems like a lot of pro players have expressed interest in more international tournaments.

Yordle XayahMay 23, 20174 votes

More international tournaments don't have to mean a fully restless year. Burned out players = lower level of play. All professionals need some time off.

CöbMay 23, 20174 votes

Tell that to any CSGO or Dota pro and they'll burst out laughing

EmlnenceMay 23, 201711 votes

Yeah I'm sure those Korean players that play 12+ hours a day for 7 days a week have lower level of play. [zombie-brand-facepalm]

CöbMay 23, 20174 votes

I'm just saying that I doubt LoL pros burn out that easily, they already scrim 12 hours a day, and I doubt they would have much negativity towards the new events

SteefnessMay 24, 20174 votes

That's a BS statement, you obviously don't watch athletic sports, those guys really bust their humps for 6 months straight with very few off days. MLB players play 5-7 games a week, with the other days spent traveling, for 6 months straight plus a month for playoffs if they make it. Basketball players have days off between their games, but they are still in the gym, or at the practice facility. If you are a pro in esports, you have to be constantly tested, because there's plenty of players chomping at the bit to take their spots. If they can't take it then maybe they should find another profession.

Miror BMay 23, 20177 votes

If it helps, apparently they're dropping all of the IEM tournaments in favor of their own versions of them (mostly because of the fact that teams kept dropping out and the events themselves were plagued by literal tens of hours of technical delays). While I do agree that burnout is a risk, it wouldn't be if they played it smart and asked the middle of the pack teams instead (so that the entire strength of regions could be tested, instead of the top-3 teams).

Yordle XayahMay 25, 20173 votes

IEM was optional. Rift Rivals will force the top 3 teams into more games which in turn means more preparation for specific teams and for some teams, traveling to completely different continents.

Look at TSM, C9 and Phoenix1. They'll have to fly to Berlin in the middle of the Summer Split to have the NA/EU thing and then back to the United States for the regular split. This also somewhat puts the EU LCS teams in an advantage, as they will only travel to the Berlin studios as if it was a regular day. Better rest, no jet lag, and better preparation since they can just prepare from their regular gaming houses. It would apply backwards if the games were taking place at the LA studios.

I love competitive League of Legends. I'm just concerned about how this will affect the players and the quality of the tournament. These guys aren't robots.

Miror BMay 25, 20172 votes

While all this is sorta "true", if you think of it a slightly different way it could make things far more competitive (going to ignore the "optional" IEM thing as if teams press them hard enough they can and will probably be out of this thingy as well). Most regions (EU, NA, LPL if you consider EDG top tier there) have 2 or 3 "worlds-ready" teams in them (C9/TSM for NA, G2/H2K for EU). With this event thingy, it could potentially simultaneously groom those teams for international competition (more time facing the LCK teams theoretically makes them easier to plan against) while also giving the teams in said regions the ability to better prepare against those top 2-3. While there is a risk of exausting the players, the giant list of benefits is just too hard to ignore, as it could potentially make all the regions better at once, barring Korea, as there is literally nothing to "gain" off what is essentially two weeks of forced scrims against inferior teams.

CöbMay 23, 20172 votes

tbh when you look at other major esports they play 10+ tournaments a year minimum. It would be awesome if more outsiders organised tournaments like what ESL did with IEM. And playing from home is a big boost for other esports, maybe League needs tournaments like that too.

sKz Aaron DMay 23, 20172 votes

Yeah, but those other major eSports don't utilize a league based system. They're circuits. They don't compete in leagues that tie them down for months of competition. They go to 10+ tournaments that each only last from one day to a week. Competing in only the Spring and Summer splits is 16 weeks, adding both sets of playoffs bumps it up to 22. Add MSI for 3 more weeks - 25 total now. Then you have Worlds. That's another 6 weeks. 31 weeks out of 52 in the year for just the Riot sanctioned events if you're a top team. Compare that to being a top team in Dota 2, where even the Majors and The International last only 1 week. Sure, they compete in 20 tournaments, but that's still 10 fewer weeks of competition.

I would prefer seeing League back in a circuit system, but having 10 outside tournaments plus the league at the same time isn't possible.

ObiWanIsCoolMay 25, 20172 votes

I heard imaqtpie and scarra talk about eliminating the spring split and have the first half of the year be majors and international tournaments. I think that increasing the risk of burnout will increase the need for subs. SKT is the most successful team in League and they have 6-7 man rosters. Albeit they're not running a 10 man roster, but just some food for thought.

sKz Aaron DMay 27, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Brown Door,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=Nf2RF0Wf,comment-id=0002000300000000,timestamp=2017-05-25T00:15:04.301+0000)

I heard imaqtpie and scarra talk about eliminating the spring split and have the first half of the year be majors and international tournaments. I think that increasing the risk of burnout will increase the need for subs. SKT is the most successful team in League and they have 6-7 man rosters. Albeit they're not running a 10 man roster, but just some food for thought.

That sounds like a great idea.

irr3l3vantMay 23, 201710 votes

I disagree. I think you are over estimating things. I'm all for being empathetic towards the players. But I don't like this 'forced to do this' logic your using. Players are playing competitively because they want to be here. The goal of the players is to be the best. One way to do this is to give more international opportunities. Nothing says these teams have to go. In fact, at their leisure, I'm sure they can opt out. This event gives teams other then TSM the chance to learn some things. It can strengthen the region as a whole.

Nothing says that a pro player has to practice as much as they do. They can leave whenever they want. But to be the best they need the opportunities afforded to them in the off chance that they do want to practice this much. To out right never give it means that certain regions remain stagnant for some time and probably never win an international event for as long as league exists.

Stop trying to baby people who made this lifestyle choice.

SteefnessMay 24, 20172 votes

I'm surprised there's someone here with some sense, bravo to you. Earlier this year C9 passed on an IEM event because they wanted to keep their focus on the great start they had to the spring split. It's absolutely not mandatory. Plus these guys are pro's, and like you said they spend more time playing in their off days than they do on their game days. They don't take too many breaks because they have to keep their game at the top level or someone is going to take it. More international events gives players chances to be on that stage besides worlds, besides MSI or IEM since usually only one team represents a region. I bet the players will love this.

Gourd70May 25, 20171 votes

the thing about this is it isn't meant to be a super serious competition. I think they were going for something similar to all stars but in the middle of the year so now we have two fun competitions 6 months apart in the middle of all the more serious competitions. It's not like winning has any effect on chances at worlds or anything like that it's solely about having fun and I would imagine the players are going to treat it that way too.

Yordle XayahMay 25, 20173 votes

I mean... sure, but imagine the NA teams. They gotta travel to Berlin in the middle of the Summer split. They don't get to prepare in their gaming houses and get jet lag. The EU teams (while also having the games in the middle of the split) get to be in their gaming houses, rest well, and just come to their studio like always. And I'm not even pro-NA, I'm a FNATIC fan, but I can't imagine this being too much fun for the NA teams. Of course, if it was at LA we could say the opposite for EU teams.

Like I told someone else: I like the idea of Rift Rivals, but the execution/date I find a bit questionable.

CuckledgeFarmsMay 28, 20172 votes

This is such a classic response for a league player. Everyone just complains to Riot no matter what they do. Everyone complained about not having enough international play, so Riot adds more and u still complain

Yordle XayahMay 29, 20172 votes

I've never complained about "Not enough international play"... find a post of mine where I act in such way.

You answer to my post as if I was "everyone" not caring if I've actually complained about international play. Of course, you also didn't care to read the rest of my posts down here or you would have read I like the Rift Rivals idea, but it's the timing of it what I'm questioning. Did you bother to read that? Or the several posts I've made about player burnout and how it's a real thing?

About Riot making teams participate, guess what: There's no clear info about that, so don't go around assuming Riot can or can not force teams to participate. This is what's often known as "Lack of Transparency" so don't assume you know if teams can decline or not.

This has NOTHING to do with complaining about the state of the game, it's just me expressing concern for the quality of a tournament that risks burning out players. Don't be surprised if teams don't take Rift Rivals seriously.

More doesn't always equal Better

VanFoxJul 7, 20171 votes

Burn out? That's their job! If they aren't in stage they're gonna play anyways. It's better to test the waters. Man work is burning me out. Can you tell my boss that?

Yordle XayahJul 8, 20172 votes

Player burn out is a real thing. I've posted some videos and threads on this thread if you're interested. Weldon, the guy that has been with TSM and G2 speaks about it. I do not know how the players really feel about Rift Rivals, but what I can tell you is that NA came to win, not to "have fun" and that's something I highly respect from them, but EU playing so poorly makes me think that they either did not prepare well, or aren't taking the tournament seriously, and this could very well be attributed to the Summer schedule being so filled with events.

Vhan8765May 23, 201718 votes

Sounds like an event worth of another free/1 IP icon to me. [slayer-jinx-catface]

My Facial HairMay 23, 20178 votes

Riot trying to nerf SKT

Final Fantasy 7May 23, 20175 votes

Spoiler: SKT sweeps the whole thing.

HarambeDiedA FgaJun 29, 20171 votes

Dude really man? You spoiled the entire thing for me now, no point in watching it now.

OmusingaMay 24, 20175 votes

Not to be THAT GUY, but the circled part of the map in Vietnam is Hanoi, not Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), which is farther south. But hey I'm just a triggered Dignitas fanboy who hates Ezreal mains :)))

Thresh Outta FuxMay 23, 20174 votes

Why should I care about the pro scene? I thought this was going to be something cool, like a faction vs faction event. [zombie-brand-mindblown] Boring. Next.

PaquayMay 23, 201710 votes

You thought it was going to be a faction vs faction event on the Esports board? Ok.

Thresh Outta FuxMay 23, 20172 votes

Got a notice for it in game. Some of us actually play instead of just lurking on the boards.

PaquayMay 23, 20178 votes

Some of us actually work instead of just play games all day.

R7 FactorMay 23, 20174 votes

It should be NA vs EU vs China to see which region is #2 tbh

HarambeDiedA FgaJun 29, 20171 votes

I agree, that would please us westerners but People in china see there neighboring regions as rivals. More Chinese residents will watch and like it this way

TolkmitMay 23, 20173 votes

I seriously wonder who Riot has making these decisions. Every time they take a step forward, the next they take back. For NA & EU as example; They finally realize that Bo3>>>>Bo1, change up the spring and summer splits... but then not only do they fail to eliminate the Bo1's from MSI & Worlds, but they add more international events with Bo1's.

Wonder if teams have the option to skip events like these. NA teams were already using IEM for tryouts or just skipping them entirely, because they'd rather have the time off than put effort into something that doesn't help them at Worlds... why would they want to bother with this? These games will have less impact on what the teams actually care about than the normal summer split matches before & after them. Seems like a high chance of all-star type cheese & troll matches.

Mahou ShoujoMay 23, 20178 votes

It's supposed to be a fun event for bragging rights.OF COURSE theres gunna be cheese and silly shit, its a fun event. Also these players are going to get paid, hell yeah they're going to want to be apart of it.

And you're talking about time off but you'd rather they play events in best of 3s????

Dark MatterMay 23, 20173 votes

It'd be real Rift Rivals if it was China vs Korea vs Japan

coeurloyalMay 23, 20173 votes

I'm going to laugh when C9/P1 and UoL/FNC outperform TSM and G2 due to fatigue/patch changes (assuming this isn't played on MSI patch?).

TurquoiseYoshiMay 23, 20176 votes

This is in July. Read the article.

TrollFan01May 23, 20173 votes

The Battle of Atlantic is back! ON STEROIDS! :D

Super JagganathMay 23, 20173 votes

Amazing!!! finally more international brawls happening! And guys.... please... just let them do their work...

Flash WardMay 24, 20173 votes

Long as TSM is not the only team representing NA then this should be great! Sorry for salty TSM fans, but they look like shiiiit compared to other NA teams at international events!

FuryoceanMay 23, 20172 votes

Everybody keeps talking about getting burned out and all the teams playing in these events would be playing games locally anyway. This is an opportunity for teams to get more international practice in to up the competition on an international scale for those teams that are already performing well competitively.

4mplifi3dMay 23, 20172 votes

Rift Rivals? You mean the World vs Korea?

ArturxMay 24, 20172 votes

Is it just me or are some of these rivalries a bit made up, like I get NA vs EU and like LPL vs LCK. But like when did LJL and GPL become rivals or like LCL and TCL. Also is it just me or arent the LMS and GPL more rivals than any of the ones in their respective groups. IDK, some of these groups look a bit odd to me...