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In the weeks since our last metagame update, we’ve had a lot going on in the world of Riftbound. Between multiple regional tournaments in China, and a host of Riftlab tournaments, there’s definitely been an emerging metagame with the looming worldwide release of Origins.
There’s two decks at the top of the metagame, but a lot of contenders too. And, as we get closer to the end of October, more decks are starting to creep their way towards the spotlight. And, with Spiritforged on the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see how the metagame shapes as we see the first of the cards for the second Riftbound set.
In this article, we’re going to go over our update for the Riftbound Metagame, going over where each deck is positioned in the metagame as well as the tournaments that have happened over the past few weeks. With this, we can get a better idea of the metagame, and the decks that seem to be getting closer to the pinnacle.
Riftbound Metagame Tier List - 24th September 2025
| Tier | Champions |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 |
General Information
In this report, we’ll be covering five tournaments; the Chongqing, Beijing and Hangzhou Open Regionals Tournaments that took place over the last three weeks in China, and the smaller Riftab Clash III and IV events which happened during this month. Check out our tournament reports for more information on each of these!
The Riftlab Clash III and IV events took place on September 5th and 19th, and were our only online tournaments of note over the last few weeks. The Riftlab Clash events always give some great insight into the metagame in smaller group play, as the playerbase is split into pods of 16 or less to battle until one remains undefeated, and as our only online tournaments in this update can provide valuable information on how the online Origins metagame is shaping up to be; however today we will mainly be discussing the paper tournaments due to their drastic effect on the Origins metagame.
This weekend, the Chinese Open Regionals Tournaments came to a close. These tournaments have left a drastic impact on the Origins metagame week by week, drawing over 500 players per tournament, with the final event in Hangzhou leaving possibly the biggest impact out of them all with its surprising Top 8 standings and decklist shakeups.
It seems we’ll have to wait a little while for the next round of official Riftbound tournament play, with the next events being scheduled in Paris and Shanghai for later this year. For now, we’ve gained some highly valuable information from these paper tournaments, and we can begin to see the similarities and differences between the information we’ve gained from online play, and how the paper metagame is shaping up to be. Through this, we’ve adjusted our rankings to better represent the overall metagame; legend strength, through win rate and top conversion rate, and legend popularity, from player and deck popularity to ongoing discussion, testing, and breakthroughs that are of note.
S Tier
Kai’Sa
Across these last few weeks of tournament play, Kai’Sa has been inescapable; with 2 wins and 10 Top 8 entries within the Open Regionals tournaments in China, and two 4-0 results in the Riftlab Clash III, it’s no doubt that Kai’Sa Tempo is one of, if not the most powerful decklist currently in Riftbound. For that, she deserves the top slot in our tier list at S.
Master Yi
The only one to challenge Kai’Sa’s ‘most powerful decklist’ title is Master Yi, with 11 Top 8 entries across the Open Regionals tournaments in China, and one particular win in Hangzhou that has truly shaken up the future Origins metagame. After weeks of coming second place against Kai’Sa, Master Yi players took matters into their own hands, and pivoted from a Tempo based decklist to an ultimate Ramp plan that destroyed any decklist in its way. Throughout all of this, Master Yi remains firmly in our S tier.
There’s still much more to see from Master Yi; whether the Ramp decklist will truly reform the metagame, or if Kai’Sa will bite back twice as hard, but it will be interesting to see how the Origins metagame will change and develop now as we move into a faster paced Ramp-favored season.
A Tier
Sett 🔽
After his domination over the metagame in August, Sett has failed to continue his reign as we move into the paper metagame. Sett only managed to pull together roughly 20 players in each of the Open Regionals tournaments in China, with only 2-3 Sett players making their way through to the Top 64. Until Hangzhou, Sett was a ghost to the metagame; here one week, gone the next.
In Hangzhou, Sett did manage to make a comeback, with 2 surprise Top 8 entries out of 5 Sett players that made it through. Yet, judging from each player’s devastating loss towards the Master Yi Ramp decklist, Sett still has a lot of work to do to make a comeback in this metagame. For now, Sett is still a very strong hero in the right circumstances, but due to the massive hold that Master Yi and Kai’Sa currently have over the metagame, we have decided to move The Boss down to our A tier.
Darius
Darius performed exceptionally well in the Riftlab Clash III and IV, gaining 4 wins across all 10 player pools. Apart from in the Hangzhou regionals, where only 1 player took Darius into the tournament, this legend has had a pretty good turnout and conversion rate, considering his smaller player pool than most legends. It seems the Darius Hook plan might work best in online play rather than in paper, due to the stark differences between Darius’s online and paper winrates, but there’s definitely still room for this hero to thrive across the current metagame.
Viktor
This legend’s popularity has been dwindling over the last month, and so have his results; from 8 Top 64 conversions in Guangzhou to only 1 in Hangzhou, Viktor has not been doing well recently at all in larger tournament play.
However, we did see our first top result from Viktor this weekend in the Riftlab Clash IV, with player HonestlySarcastic piloting the Herald of the Arcane to a 4-0 win. It seems Viktor is still doing well in online play, and moving forward into a faster paced metagame we may see a Viktor resurgence in the paper metagame, which is why this legend has remained in our A tier.
Teemo
Although not seeing any top results over this last month, Teemo hasn’t failed to show up, consistently converting into the Top 64 of each Open Regionals tournament in China. With how unique and powerful Teemo’s playstyle is, we have much hope for this hero moving forward into the metagame. He may become an underdog similar to Darius, thriving in the lower ranks, but may have a difficult time in top league play moving forward into a faster Ramp-based metagame.
B Tier
Ahri
After not being seen for quite some weeks, Ahri has returned bigger than ever, moving away from the Control decklist we initially saw her running and onto a Ramp based gameplan, combining decklist staples from both Master Yi and Kai’Sa to create a powerful hybrid of the two S tiers. This decklist could be very powerful moving forward, and we could see Ahri rise back up into our A tier with this gameplan.
Annie
Annie has had quite a successful month, with 2 Top 64 conversions at the Chongqing Regionals, and a 4-0 in the Riftlab Clash III. As a decklist, Annie is quite hit-and-miss, either performing powerfully or being quite lackluster. This legend definitely has some potential to move up in a future metagame, but until her gameplan is more consistent, she remains in our B tier.
Leona
Leona continues to be a strong anti-Meta pick within the community, and even saw a Top 64 conversion in the Hangzhou Regionals. Many Riftbound players still have faith in the Radiant Dawn, and so do we; but we’ll be keeping a close eye on her moving forward into a Master Yi dominant meta, and if she can still keep her anti-Meta title.
Miss Fortune
Miss Fortune has been incredibly popular with players over this last month’s Regionals tournaments, with a pretty good Day 2 conversion rate across the board. Her current plan with Dazzling Aurora has seen pretty good matchup rates into both Master Yi and Kai’Sa; however, she hasn’t yet had the results to prove for that, so she remains in our B tier.
Volibear
With only 1 Top 64 conversion in the Beijing Regionals, there’s not much to say about Volibear in this update. As we move into a fast-paced metagame, Volibear may have his time to shine, with a Ramp-based Dazzling Aurora plan that could match the rates of Master Yi; we’re intrigued to see how Volibear will move forward into a new metagame, but for now he lies in our B tier.
Jinx
Despite her initial popularity, Jinx hasn’t seen much play at all recently. With not a single Top 64 conversion throughout the Open Regionals tournaments, Jinx’s metagame days could be over for now. Yet, we still have faith in this legend, and believe her strength lies in smaller tournament based play.
C Tier
Lux
Surprisingly, One out of Three Lux players in the Chongqing Regionals made it through into the Top 64! They ended their run not long after, but that is a very successful feat for the Lady of Luminosity. It seems some players have faith in this decklist, however until she starts seeing a consistent improvement in results, she remains in our C tier.
Lee Sin
As mentioned in our last update, Lee Sin players are still rampant and eager to win, with more and more players bringing him into the Regionals tournaments each week. However, he saw no Top 64 conversions, and as the Master Yi decklist moves into a Ramp-based strategy, Lee Sin may fail to adapt to this plan as efficiently as his counterpart. We’ll have to see how Lee Sin players can move forward in this future metagame, and if he could move up to our B tier.
Yasuo
There’s not much to say about Yasuo, after not seeing a single Top 64 conversion and under 10 players each in all of the Open Regionals tournaments. Ouch.
Garen
Now, usually we wouldn’t have much to say about this C tier legend, often being the butt of a lot of jokes. However, in Day 1 of the Hangzhou Regionals tournament, a Garen player gave an absolute beating to a Kai’Sa player live on-stream and defeated them 2-0; which sent waves through the community. We’re still not certain Garen has much potential throughout the whole metagame at the moment, but hey, he did something cool!
Closing Time
WIth a lot of tournaments coming up as well as the official worldwide release of Origins, this is an exciting time for Riftbound. It’ll be interesting to see whether Kai’Sa and Master Yi can dominate going forward, or if other decks will start to figure out the matchup against these two dominant decks.
If you’re looking for the best Riftbound content headed into the Origins release, keep an eye on Riftbound.gg. We’ve got a ton of content planned for the release of the game, as well as going forward towards Spiritforged.
In any case, thank you for your time, and I’ll see you on the rift.
