In a world where North American and European League of Legends teams have the most respect and prowess that they’ve probably ever had, the Rift Rivals experience has become more of a fan-fare atmosphere than its original intention of giving these regions more spotlight and tournament time. Or, at least that’s what any North American fan will tell you.
With Day 1 of Rift Rivals 2019 in the books, it’s easy to look at those score lines and cringe a bit, and for the most part, they tell an accurate story.
Europe came in on Day 1 and swept their entire schedule. Each of the four games played (Fnatic played twice) on Thursday were decisive victories for the European team on the rift. Some could have swayed the opposite way at times (like the Team Liquid versus Fnatic match or the TSM versus Origen match) but none of them did.
The only thing that North America managed to win was the NA vs EU Classic showcase match that brought in famous faces from the League of Legends scenes in both regions for a big’ol troll fest.
What day one proved is that North America is still a step behind Europe, and that’s okay. For now.
With that said, perhaps it’s time to shift why or when the Rift Rivals tournament format is a great thing for League of Legends fans. The best part of this competition is that one of these two regions gets to host the other. This brings high-profile and famous League of Legends players together in a slightly more jovial atmosphere.
For fans of the LCS or LEC, Rift Rivals is the perfect chance to get to witness some of their favorite foreign League of Legends players live, all while getting a brief preview of what the other regions might bring to the more important international competitions. On the other hand, plenty of these drafts and compositions have been meme-worthy, so perhaps this isn’t the best venue for strategy research.
Day 2 of Rift Rivals 2019 will see the continuation of the beloved 2v2 tournament, as well as the first rematch between Team Liquid and G2 Esports since their meeting at the MSI 2019 Grand Finals.
You can catch all the action via our Rift Rivals 2019 How to Watch guide.
