The newest mid-season tournament—Rift Rivals—is over, and it’s time to take a look at things we learned from it.

It’s always fun to see regions clash. Each league has its heroes with their own unique playstyles. And while Rift Rivals was more akin to a series of showmatches than a serious tournament, everyone was glued to their screens to see how North America’s best teams match up to their European counterparts.

Could Fnatic pull off their splitpush against a powerhouse like TSM? Could Unicorns of Love outteamfight Cloud9? And could Phoenix1 rise up from the ashes and challenge G2? Now that we know the answers to these questions, it’s time to see what they mean in the grand scheme of things.

MikeYeung is a monster

It’s not uncommon for rookies to make a splash in the pro scene. After all, there’s only so much a champion can do, and—if you have the mechanics—you can even outplay seasoned veterans. But coming into this tournament, few could expect MikeYeung, the up-and-coming North American jungler become the MVP of the tournament’s groups stage.

With a 6.0 KDA, 4.8 CS per minute, and a 77.2% kill participation, MikeYeung stood at the helm of P1’s offensive and lead them to victory against big names like Trick, Broxah, and Xerxe. The best thing about him is that he isn’t all brawn and no brain. On the contrary, MikeYeung plays with surprisingly high-level decision-making that lets him put his mechanics to good use. Of course, that’s not to say that the rest of Phoenix1 didn’t step up—they did. But MikeYeung’s Lee Sin and Nidalee will forever be the highlights of this tournament.

North America isn’t a joke



The NA LCS has always been treated as the weakest of the five major leagues. But now that North American teams took 15 of the 21 games at the tournament, a different narrative has emerged. Perhaps Europe has been too caught up in its own meta or the NA LCS teams simply adapted better to the Rift Rivals format.

But in the end, there’s no denying that European lineups look pale compared to their North American counterparts. Even the best EU LCS team, Unicorns of Love, only managed a 50% win rate during the group stage—a number that was easily matched by Cloud9 and overtaken by Phoenix1 and TSM. So if it weren’t for the specific EU vs NA rules, we could’ve very well seen two North American teams duke it in the finals.

Europe got a wake-up call

In the pursuit of domestic dominance, it’s easy to forget that there are other regions out there. And while a certain playstyle may work on your home turf, it’s not until the international competitions that its shortcomings are exposed. In the past, it was North America that paid the price for its self-centered approach. But now, after TSM made a conscious effort to adjust its playstyle, it’s time for European teams to pay the same toll.

Of course, neither Unicorns of Love, nor G2 Esports entered the tournament as favorites. UOL had a worrying series against Ninjas in Pajamas, giving the 10th place team its only game win in the process, while G2 struggled to regain momentum after the MSI. But when Fnatic—the most dominant team in the region—falls apart this easily, a bell has to ring in the mind of every EU LCS fan. Something has to change. Otherwise, European teams stand no chance at major tournaments.

EU LCS mid laners need to step up

The most interesting point of the tournament was witnessing the clash between the EU and NA LCS mid laners. Players like Bjergsen, Jensen, and Ryu were a blatant mismatch to the likes of Exileh, Perkz, and even Europe’s next rising star—Caps. A huge part of it was due to North America’s focus on breaking open the game through the mid lane. But when yo go beyond game plans and tactics and take all the solo kills into account, it was clear that the EU LCS mid laners are simply worse than their NA LCS counterparts.

There’s still time

In the end, Rift Rivals is a very vague way of measuring regions’ strength. A series of Bo1’s and a single Bo5 to top it all off aren’t enough to tell who’s going to be better off at the end of the year. There are still five more weeks that both regions have to study their mistakes, adjust their playstyles, and come out stronger than they are today. Let’s hope they take their time to do so.

What do you thing about Rift Rivals between NA and EU? Share your opinion in the comments below!

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