Rift Rivals 2019: NA vs. EU kicks off June 27.

This League of Legends competition features the top three teams from Europe and North America clashing in exciting show matches, group stage games, and relay race finals. And considering it’s one of the few international tournaments in the LoL esports scene, we just had to prepare a quick preview for the event!

Rift Rivals 2019 live stream

Rift Rivals 2019 teams and format

It’s no secret Rift Rivals is defined by the attending teams. This year’s NA vs. EU tournament might be the most exciting yet. Both regions sent some of the biggest names in League of Legends. With that, TSM, Cloud9, and Team Liquid will represent North America. And Fnatic, Origen, and G2 Esports will fight for Europe. All these teams have long-standing histories of competitive success. So even though Rift Rivals 2019 doesn’t have the prize pool or the prestige of MSI and Worlds, there are still plenty of reasons to tune in to the Twitch stream.

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The event follows a similar format to last year’s Rift Rivals. Showmatches comprise the first two days, then come the group stage games and a mini 2v2 competition. But the real meat of the tournament is the relay race final. It takes place on the third day of the events and involves all teams playing in a collective best-of-five. Each team has to play at least once over the course of the series. The region that comes out on top in the group stage gets to choose which lineups play in the first three games.

There’s a surprising amount of depth to this format. For one, the teams from the best-performing region will effectively get to counter-pick their opponents in the most important series of the event. Thus, everyone has a lot of incentives to do well in the group stage. And once they reach the relay race finals, they will pull out all stops to get favorable matchups and claim the Rift Rivals trophy.

Rift Rivals 2019 betting tips

When it comes to the NA vs. EU Rift Rivals, most esportsbooks view European teams as the overwhelming favorites.

And now that G2 Esports emerged victorious at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, this trend is likely to continue. However, the balance of power isn’t as lopsided as it appears at first glance.

Sure, G2 Esports are by far the strongest team in their region. But that doesn’t necessarily apply to other European teams. Fnatic are in the process of discovering their identity, and the fact that they signed another jungler for the 2019 LEC Summer Split means they still have a lot of things to figure out. And while Origen know where their bread is buttered, their slow, macro-heavy playstyle puts them into the same ballpark as the best North American teams.

With that, TSM, Cloud9, and Team Liquid have very good shots to take down Fnatic and Origen. Ultimately, our main Rift Rivals 2019 betting tip is to consider gambling on these matchups during the group stage.

Image courtesy of Riot Games.