Rift Rivals 2019 is finally here, and regardless of your opinions on the validity of the tournament, there are certainly some grudges to settle. The NA versus EU rivalry has arguably never been stronger than in 2019, and this Rift Rivals gives NA fans a much needed chance to cheer on their favorite teams against their greatest rivals.





Let's take a journey into the history of these 6 teams and recount who holds grudges against whom.





Team SoloMid record against Rift Rivals 2019 teams: 5-5





G2 Esports: 3-2





Let’s not kid ourselves. While TSM have a history of regional dominance in NA (ignoring 2018), they always seem to struggle at international events. Since solid domestic performances qualify the team for many international events, it makes sense that they are the only NA team at Rift Rivals to have a personal history with all three EU representatives.





Looking at G2 goes back to the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational and a conversation about NA tiebreakers… which we suck at winning. As the year after CLG made their miracle run to the 2016 MSI finals, there were higher expectations for NA. Fans thought NA would at least make it out of groups this time.





Unfortunately, G2 showed up big at the tournament, matching TSM at a 4-6 record and inevitably winning the resulting tiebreaker match. G2 even made it all the way to the finals and did something NA has yet to do: win a single international finals game.





TSM's only saving grace from that year was when they beat G2 twice during the round robin stage of the tournament. After missing Rift Rivals in 2018, I’m sure TSM fans are eager to see that success again.





Fnatic: 2-1





The first ever MSI was an interesting event that looked very different from today's format: a best-of-1, single round robin group stage with no qualifiers. This meant that TSM only had a single opportunity to take down Fnatic at the event, and unfortunately did not do so.





While this was a single loss, it’s a loss that prevented TSM from making it out of groups at an international event yet again. That’s enough to harbor a grudge. At least TSM exacted revenge at their last Rift Rivals appearance in 2017 by going 2-0 against the European team and winning the entire event.





Origen: 0-2





In perhaps their worst ever showing at an international event, TSM went 1-5 in the group stage at the 2015 World Championships. They also just so happened to be in the same group as a surging new European powerhouse known as Origen. Yes, OG eventually made it to the semi finals and now has a completely different roster from that year, but I’m sure TSM fans will feel good seeing wins on the board to even up this lopsided record.





Team Liquid record against Rift Rivals 2019 teams: 3-7

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G2: 1-5





Team Liquid have been around the NA regional scene since 2014 as Team Curse, but their recent success has given them the chance to establish new rivalries with international teams. As the golden boys of NA for the past two years, they have a chance to make back to back Rift Rivals appearances, as well as represent NA at two separate MSI tournaments.





Their history against G2 starts and fizzles with their meeting at the 2018 Rift Rivals, where they lost a single game during the round robin stage. Things heated up in 2019 when G2 and TL shocked the world and represented the first ever West vs West international finals since the season one World Championships. During the group stage, TL went 1-1 against G2 and looked strong in their win.





Unfortunately for NA fans, once the finals came around, G2 kicked their play into high gear and proved why there was so much hype behind their team coming into the event. This resulted in the fastest international best-of-5.





FNC: 2-2





It’s hard to remember now, but there was a lot of hype around the strength of bot laners going into the 2018 MSI. Names like Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, Kim "PraY" Jong-in, Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift" Peng, and Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao were thrown around in conversations about the best ADC at the tournament. While Doublelift and TL clenched one win against Rekkles and Fnatic, it was not enough to break the NA tiebreaker curse.





With both teams finishing the group stage 4-6, advancing to the bracket phase came down to one more game. Liquid were unable to play around star ADC Doublelift despite drafting a two support composition. However, if Doublelift has taught us anything, it’s he will never stop trying to prove he is the best ADC in the West.





Cloud9 record against Rift Rivals teams: 3-6





G2: 1-1





The only time that C9 met G2 at an international tournament was their 2017 Rift Rivals run. They went 1-1 against the organization, meaning G2 is technically the only team that C9 has a non-losing record against at Rift Rivals 2019. Grudges are made of stiffer stuff than this, but I’m sure C9 would love to make that record positive.





FNC: 2-5





Cloud9 have the least history with any of the EU teams coming to Rift Rivals. Despite making it to Worlds five times and out of groups four times, they have only met Fnatic twice in past Worlds runs and once at Rift Rivals 2017.





Their first encounter was at Worlds 2015, the only single Worlds appearance where the organization did not get out of the group stage. After going 1-1 against FNC, who were the group's first seed and made a deep run to semifinals, it’s hard to say that Fnatic alone were the reason C9 failed to advance.





However, their second encounter was much more personal. Just eight months ago, FNC swept C9 3-0 in the worlds semifinals without giving up so much as a fight. The fact that Cloud9's run was the deepest run an NA team has ever made at Worlds masked the sting of defeat for NA fans a bit, but this match up will still be personal for the remaining C9 members.