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With the biggest tournament of 2025 in the books, Riftbound now features a flurry of smaller events across the globe : Nexus Night, City Challenges, Luxury Gaming PPG Qualifier, Runes & Rift Weekly Online tournament…
With events now held in different regions of the world, the question everyone wanted to answer was whether the Chinese had solved everything before the global release. From the look of tournaments this week, it looks like they did.
Indeed, across the dozen of tournaments I could gather results from, Kai'sa won at least half of those, with 5 City Challenge wins, alongside the trophy from various community tournaments and Nexus Nights.
Master Yi places second with two big wins, one in a City Challenge, another at Luxury Gaming's and multiple Nexus Night first places.
As for the other legends, it is the usual carousel of solid performers winning here and there, but never comparing to Kai'sa or Master Yi. Teemo and Ahri each won a city challenge in China, while Viktor, Miss Fortune, Sett and Annie all placed in a top 8 somewhere. Last, a few other legends managed to snatch a Nexus Night win, such as Yasuo, Jinx, or Lee Sin,
Nevertheless, these sporadic results might tell us these are worthy to consider, they are a notch below the two juggernauts in the Origins set.
Also, it means except for regional sized tournaments, certain legends will likely not be represented at those smaller events. In the Chinese National tournaments, the reward of a metal card was a great incentive for an exotic pick. Once that prize disappears, the likes of Volibear, Leona, or Lux vanish from competitive recaps.
Overall, one could consider this report to be more casual, small events friendly compared to the one from last week, covering the Shanghai National Open.
Happy Tier List Everyone.
| Tier | Champion |
|---|---|
| S Tier | Kai'Sa |
| Tier 1 | Master Yi |
| Tier 2 | Sett |
| Tier 2 | Teemo |
| Tier 2 | Ahri |
| Tier 2 | Viktor |
| Tier 2 | Annie |
| Tier 3 | Yasuo |
| Tier 3 | Miss Fortune |
| Tier 3 | Jinx |
| Tier 3 | Lee Sin |
| Tier 4 | Darius |
| Tier 4 | Volibear |
| Tier 4 | Leona |
| Tier 4 | Lux |
| Tier 4 | Garen |
- S Tier - Undisputed strongest legend based on results, whether we look at Best-of-1 or Best-of-3 events. There is no winning a tournament without going against it multiple times.
- Tier 1 - Fantastic performer and metagame defining legend. Top cut placements or wins in the previous week across multiple events.
- Tier 2 - Recent results and solid track record. Able to perform in competitive environment, but likely struggling against some legends ranked in the first or S Tier.
- Tier 3 - Results in smaller events, such as a taking down a Nexus Night requiring to win 3 to 4 matches in a row.
- Tier 4 - No results this week, either because it was not a popular pick, or because it failed to reach the top cut of any reported tournament.
S Tier
Kai’Sa
For yet another week, OGN-247 proved she is the top legend in the game no matter if we play Best-of-1 or Best-of-3. The Daughter of the Void took down 4 Nexus Nights, 5 City Challenges and won a few other community events on the side while dominating Top 8 cuts from a popularity standpoint.
This has been the legend to beat for almost two months now, and no one seems to have figured how to do it yet.
Tier 1
Master Yi
In big events held in the best-of-3 format, OGS-019 is on OGN-247's level. However, once we start to factor in smaller, Best-of-1 tournaments, the Wuju Bladesman racks up fewer wins than her rival.
As such, it felt right to rank them in different tier, but still above everyone else.
As for this week's performance, Master Yi took down 3 Nexus events, 1 City Challenge, and the win the Luxury Gaming PPG qualifier. Also, the legend was the most popular behind Kai'sa in most top 8 cuts.
One interesting thing to note is the presence of ramp elements in decks, such as OGN-138 in the side here. However, OGN-160 has been very discreet amongst top performing Master Yi decks lately.
Tier 2
Sett
Behind Kai'sa, OGN-269 has the most Nexus Night wins with three, while the legend also shows good deckbuilding flexibility. For the past few weeks, Sett has been building around OGN-244 as its win condition, a direction most of the community pursues at the time.
Yet, Riftbound Meta managed to go undefeated in two Nexus Night, sporting a 9-0 record total, with a different take on OGN-269. I felt it was good to feature that build, as it might be more straightforward in how it approaches the game, and easier to pick up for a semi-competitive event.
You can find plenty of information about the list here, as the deck builder has been answering questions, especially about OGN-235.
Teemo
The swift scout was one of two legends outside of Kai'sa and Master Yi to record a win in a City Challenge this week, taking down the Ghengdu City Challenge. GN-263 also won a Nexus Night, but did not appear in any Top 8 amongst other reported events.
Once again, Teemo shows potential to compete in this metagame as part of the group regularly posting results. However, the legend might be too inconsistent to be called a strong pick, at least when it comes to events rewarding a strong win rate over many games.
Ahri
The other legend alongside Teemo able to snatch a City Challenge win from Kai'sa and Master Yi, Ahri keeps living up to her reputation of being unreliable. Indeed, the Calm - Mind legend is able to win a tournament on the back of great draws, but can just as well post a catastrophic performance like we saw last week in the Shanghai National Open.
Smaller events seem to be more suited for this legend, as it might be easier to snowball a strong early game in those compared to large events with many rounds to play.
Viktor
OGN-265 is a solid pick to reach the top cut of most tournaments, but looks poised to fall before the finals. Indeed, the Herald of the Arcane only managed to win a Nexus Night this week, but has been part of many top cuts.
Unfortunately, Viktor's main strength seems to punish an opponent without the appropriate reactive cards. Yet, as soon as side decks are available, most opponents can adapt, and turn what was a fine match-up into an uphill battle.
Annie
OGS-017 was gaining all sorts of momentum lately, but dropped most of it this week, only recording one win in a Nexus Night, and a Top 8 in an online tournament.
Then, the Dark Child gets to stay in this tier based on her previous accomplishments, but another week like this could spell the end of the "Annie is the dark horse of this metagame" narrative arc.
Tier 3
Yasuo
OGN-259 won two Nexus Nights this week, even if they were quite small as only three and four wins were required to take home the trophy. Still, the champion did enough to remain in that grey area, with a sizeable fan base convinced there is more potential than the record books are showing.
Miss Fortune
OGN-267 placed 5th in Runes & Rift online tournament on the back of an aggressive build which had the community talking. Otherwise, the Bounty Hunter failed to post any convincing result, as it did not win a Nexus night nor did particularly well in City Challenges.
Jinx
OGN-251 took down a Nexus night and reached the final of two more this week, a better showing than the disaster that was the Shanghai National Open. Arguably, these smaller events and Best-of-1 format are much better suited for the Loose Cannon and her aggressive strategy without much of a back-up plan.
Lee Sin
OGN-257 is unfortunately outshined by Sett when it comes to the buff synergy, leaving the Blind Monk to not see much play. This week, Lee SIn managed to win a Nexus Night, but was otherwise absent from all the other reported events.
Tier 4
Five legends had no results reported over the past week and have not been ranked as a result. Check out our previous report, covering the Chinese National Championship to see the latest deck for OGN-253, OGN-249, OGN-261, OGS-021, or OGS-023:
