The Dalian regional was the most interesting so far in China. Not only we saw more diversity in the top cut alongside several legends with improved lists, the tournament also came at the perfect time.
Indeed, the western part of the world is about to kick off their regional tournaments, with Bologna and Vegas in February. With more legends solidifying their competitive status, the Spiritforged metagame actually looks less solved after Dalian than it was before.
Overall, Draven still is the best legend in Riftbound, and it isn't much of a debate. The Glorious Executioner sports two wins out of three possible, three out of four is we account for the proxy regional in Italy as well, alongside the best conversion rate over that period.
However, Irelia had a better conversion rate in Dalian, while Draven lost in top 4 to give us a Kai'sa against Ezreal finals.
Both finalists were playing control oriented lists, at least compared to the various options we have to build each. This makes sense considering it is too risky to accept showdowns against Draven. at the moment, only Body legends are still playing to enter showdowns, mostly thanks to SFD-097 almost guaranteeing a win when necessary.
I would say seven legends look like serious contenders. Among Tier 2 nominees, Lucian improved at every regional, going from a top 64 in Fuzhou to a Top 16 in Dalian, while Sivir just posted a fantastic result with a miracle list. If we consider that group to be above the rest, we have a global picture of the best domains in the game:
- 4 Chaos
- 3 Fury
- 3 Body
- 2 Mind Domain
- 1 Calm Domain
- 1 Order domain
That spread feels consistent with the community's expectations headed into Spiritforged. The Chaos domain was widely regarded as the best one, while Fury and Body are the proactive foundations with the best midrange units in the game.
Then, Mind is slightly better than the other two in terms of support, thanks to being more suited against Chaos through reducing opposing might rather than improving our own. Plus, OGN-116 or OGN-105 remain very strong cards in this second set.
We still have three regional events to follow this month, and Dalian just made them a ton more interesting. I have a hard time believing a legend outside that top 7 will look like a potential regional winner, although a fantastic run like the one Jax had to the top 8 can always happen.Be that as it may, the Spiritforged metagame never looked that open, and I can't wait to see whether Draven will come back with a vengeance in Nanjing or whether another upset is in the books.
Happy Tier List Everyone
| Tier | Champion Global Performance over Three Chinese Regional Tournaments |
|---|---|
| S Tier | Draven 460 Picks / 104 Top 64 / 22.6% Conversion Rate / 2 Wins & Top 4 |
| Tier 1 | Irelia 179 Picks / 35 Top 64 / 19.55% Conversion Rate / Top 4 & Two Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | Fiora 90 Picks / 7 Top 64 / 7.78% Conversion Rate / 2 Finals & Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | Kai'Sa 118 Picks / 12 Top 64 / 10.17% Conversion Rate / Win & Top 16 & 64 |
| Tier 1 | Ezreal 54 Picks / 7 Top 64 / 12.96% Conversion Rate / Finals & Top 4 & 32 |
| Tier 2 | Lucian 30 Picks / 4 Top 64 / 13.33% Conversion Rate / Top 16 & 32 & 64 |
| Tier 2 | Sivir 42 Picks / 2 Top 64 / 4.76% Conversion Rate / Top 4 & 64 & 256 |
| Tier 2 | Annie 28 Picks / 3 Top 64 / 10.71% Conversion Rate / Top 8 & 64 & 128 |
| Tier 2 | Sett 21 Picks / 3 Top 64 / 14,28% Conversion Rate / Three Top 64 |
| Tier 2 | Azir 48 Picks / 3 Top 64 / 6.25% Conversion Rate / Top 32 & Two Top 64 |
| Tier 2 | Viktor 65 Picks / 4 Top 64 / 6.15% Conversion Rate / Top 32 & Two Top 64 |
| Tier 2 | Master Yi 41 Picks / 2 Top 64 / 4.88% Conversion Rate / Top 32 & 64 & 128 |
| Tier 3 | Jax 23 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 4.35% Conversion Rate / Top 8 & Two Top 128 |
| Tier 3 | Rek'Sai 28 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 3.57% Conversion Rate / Top 64 & Two Top 128 |
| Tier 3 | Lux 28 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 3.57% Conversion Rate / Top 64 & Two Top 128 |
| Tier 3 | Ahri 21 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 4.76% Conversion Rate / Top 64 & Two Top 128 |
| Tier 3 | Leona 14 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 7.15% Conversion Rate / Top 64 & 128 & 256 |
| Tier 3 | Ornn 49 Picks / 1 Top 64 / 2.04% Conversion Rate / Top 64 & 128 & 256 |
| Tier 3 | Yasuo Two Top 128 & 256 |
| Tier 4 | Miss Fortune - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Jinx - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Renata Glasc - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Rumble - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Lee Sin - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Darius - Top 128 & Two Top 256 Volibear - Three Top 256 Teemo - Top 128 & 256 & 512 Garen - Two Top 256 & No Pick |
- S Tier: Dominant legend, expected to win most events until a metagame shift happens.
- Tier 1: A force in the metagame, expected in the top cut of most tournaments and a potential winner.
- Tier 2: Solid performer, often contending for top cut spots, but typically falling short of winning it all.
- Tier 3: Competitive sparks but unable to beat certain match-ups or losing to itself at times. Needs improvement to become a serious threat.
- Tier 4: Not expected in most tournament's top cut or even to see much play overall. Popularity rises for regional tournaments, with players vying for a Best-of card, arguably easier to earn on these lesser played legends.
S Tier
Draven
Dalian has been the first misstep for Draven, and possibly the start of the metagame shift many have been trying to provoke. For the first time in this regional period, Draven failed to win, but also to post the best conversion rate.
It is too early to rank Draven with the other Riftbound legends. However, the last regional tournament in China should have quite the impact on the popularity of Draven heading into the first large events in the rest of the world.
Tier 1
Irelia
The Blade Dancer confirmed it is one of the most reliable picks when to it comes to making it to Day 2. For the first time, Irelia managed to beat Draven in conversion rate, quite the achievement in this Spiritforged metagame.
However, with 14 representatives in Top 64, Irelia once again failed to make it to the big game, losing in the quarterfinals for the second time in three regional tournaments.
Fiora
While a midrange build reached the finals in Fuzhou, Fiora's last two strong performances came from OGN-242 decks, so it is safe to assume this is the direction going forward.
It can be considered risky, almost unreliable, and vulnerable to gear removal, which might explain why the Grand Duelist features a worse conversion rate compared to her Tier 1 comrades, being the only one below the 10% mark. However, The Body-Order legend is also one of three, alongside Draven and Irelia, to have reached the quarterfinals in all three regional tournaments.
Overall, Fiora isn't winning as much as the other very competitive legends. Still, at least one Fiora player always find a way to win in large events.
Kai’Sa
After Chengdu, it felt like she had lost a step, but this win, alongside a solid conversion rate of 15% gets Kai'sa back in the first Tier.
There is a controversy regarding the semifinals which sent Kai'sa to the big game. Still, the record books will show the Daugther of the Void was the first legend to take a Regional Tournament from Draven in the Spiritforged metagame. This also means Kai'sa is the only legend in Riftbound to have won a large event in both expansions.
More importantly, the winner took a page from the best Kai'sa in Chengdu, running three copies of OGN-105 in its main deck, while sitting most midrange units in the side deck. Going forward, this should become the norm for Kai'sa in Spiritforged.
Ezreal
The Prodigal Explorer keeps improving as time passes, following up on its semifinals performance in Chendgu with a loss in the finals of the Dalian tournament. Both lists are extremely similar, indicating Ezreal probably found its footing in Spiritforged, and should be a routine performer from now on.
Tier 2
Lucian
Lucian keeps improving as time passes, with a personal best Top 16 placement in Dalian. Lists gravitates around the same concepts, but some slight twists are made each time a Lucian reaches the next round of a regional tournament.
The question is how far can the Purifier go from there.
Sivir
A build not centred around OGN-160 finally emerged for Sivir, and eclipsed everything the Battle Mistress had accomplished so far. The pilot (Randyyy) already placed Top 32 in Houston back in the Origins metagame, which could also play a role in Sivir spiking in this precise tournament. Now, we'll have to see if that list picks up in popularity, and can achieve similar results in the future to solidify Sivir as a serious threat in the Spiritforged metagame.
Annie
The Dark Child really needs to step it up soon or she might disappear from the competitive discussion in the near future. Indeed, after a top 8 in the first regional tournament showed Annie was still a contender, her top 64 in Chendgu and now top 128 in Dalian are worrying.
In the Origins metagame, Annie really took off once the West started playing, so we will see if she takes off once more with Bologna and Vegas soon.
Azir, Viktor, Sett and Master Yi are better than those ranked in Tier 3, but also lack something to make a deep run in a regional tournament. Indeed while you can expect one or two in the Top 64, it feels they drop the ball once the best-of card has been decided. As a result, it is fair to call this group the Tier 2.5 of our rankings.
A special mention to The Boss, who manages to be in this group with half as many picks as the other three. Either only experienced players with the legend are picking it, or maybe it could be worth digging a little deeper with this one.
Sett
Azir
Viktor
Master Yi
Tier 3
Jax had the cinderella story of the tournament, with a crazy run up to the quarterfinals. While the list still relied on the same concepts as the best ones from Chengdu or Fuzhou, this one looks more polished.First, there is larger emphasis on the buff synergy, with OGN-282 to allow for some draws. The current metagame features very little buffs among the most popular legends so this is a great battlefield to use at the moment.
The second difference lies in the average cost of cards in the deck, with the most expensive being the chosen champion SFD-054. This list feels like it understood Jax needs to get a great start and snowball from there, rather than look for strong standalone cards we typically would play in unfavourable situations.
Another legend to mention is Lux, who finally got into day 2 after stopping in the top 128 twice. The list isn't very different from what we saw in Spiritforged so far, but there is a bit of variance in a deck looking to leverage SFD-084
Jax
Rek'Sai
Lux
Ahri
Leona
Ornn
Yasuo
Tier 4
Yasuo's top 256 in Dalian got him closer to this last tier, but he will stay out of it until the last regional is played. For the others however, two Top 256 out of three tournaments shows this is a difficult metagame for them to navigate.
