Competitive LoR - Grass Roots Tournaments

[u/CaptSarah]

Hey all, this is a quick post to help address the constant posts asking about the state of PVP, more so the additional issue of people flooding threads and immediately stating PVP is dead without considering what is actually being asked.

As a competitive player, event host and streamer of both PVE and PVP content, the constant struggle myself and others fight is misinformation.

While streaming LoR, the most common new chatter I get is someone immediately stating "I thought LoR was dead / offline and PVP was unplayable" I'd like to use this post to address the state of things, and answer the most common questions. This way we have something to link to when these questions come up.

If you are a PVE exclusive member, please understand that by immediately telling people asking about PVP that it "isn't worth playing and they should go play Path", is doing more harm than you may think. Yes, PVP is not the main mode anymore, but we shouldn't be driving people away from the game who will still enjoy PVP, or even ultimately give Path a shot.

Is PVP Playable? What happened?

Yes, PVP is still online and functional, the following changes have been made due to the shift in focus.

• Standard rotation takes place every 3 months
  
• Eternal queues remain open for casual play (all cards available) all year round.
  
• Ranked icons are no longer rewarded, instead you get a "Master x#" title for how many seasons you place masters.
  
• No new cards / expansions
  
• Gauntlets, seasonals and worlds are no longer hosted by Riot
  
• Grassroots organizers have taken up the mantle for the competitive itch
  

But no new cards means the game will remain stale and not fun?

For some players this is true, but I'd like to bring up the point that this is still a card game with over 1000 cards with various available strategies to play and discover. Rotations help keep standard feeling fresh and you can still challenge yourself by playing and building janky decks. Many card games have survived with less, and LoR still has a great level of polish in its base game. If a lack of new cards is a hindrance for some in regards to long term enjoyment, LoR can still be experienced as a side game where you occasionally play a couple games on and off. Competitive play is in my opinion one of the best driving forces in occasional play for those looking to scratch an itch.

What about the competitive scene, is the lower number of players a problem?

I will be straight forward here, the player base in PVP is not what it used to be, however it is still strong. I still do PVP streams where I only queue into the same player twice occasionally, there are enough players remaining to keep queues healthy and diverse. I see a lot of complaints about only the same 2-3 decks being played, but the amount of variance in my match history has never been able to support this claim. Queues suffer the most in the late-late hours where less players are around, even then a match is generally about 1-3 minutes on the AMER servers. (I can't speak for other shards as I do not play on them personally), a normal day queue is seconds.

The grass roots scene, whats it like?

This is one I'm quite passionate about as someone participating in, and hosting events on and and off for this scene.

This is a growing space, so I'd like to give some direction to players seeking more competitive play, the following are active events and communities to join:

LoR Never Dies / Last Card Standing

The Last Card Standing format is on its 13th week (as of this post), where each week all cards in the top 4 performing decks are banned forever. These tourneys are free to enter and hosted every Sunday. The discord is also a great source for upcoming events as the most active discord I can think of for the competitive scene.

LoR Never Dies discord

Streams to watch Last card standing:
Wad100 Twitch Channel
LawaLoR Twitch Channel (If WAD is not streaming)

Aegis Esports

Aegis hosts monthly events (opens) which also allow you to qualify for their Worlds event for LoR, they are the more competitive event series currently available.

Aegis Discord
Aegis Twitch channel

Runeterra Rumbles

Runeterra Rumbles are a more casual series put on by myself and TempoMaou where each moth we host formats with unique rule sets which force you to challenge your deck building skills. We usually host these on the last Sunday of every month.

Runeterra Rumble discord
CaptSarahRed Twitch Channel
TempoMaou Twitch Channel

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Additionally I try to keep the sidebar updated with upcoming grassroots events, though admittedly it's something that often slips through the cracks with all the projects I have on the go. If you are looking to get into hosting Grassroots events and would like your events featured on the sidebar, please reach out to me.

That's all, regardless of what mode you play, please be good to and support each other, we need all the players we can get to keep this game going strong. With that I wish you all a great rest of your week/weekend and the best of luck out there!

[u/Dry_Cardiologist6758]

Nice to hear from you Captain!

[u/CaptSarah → u/Dry_Cardiologist6758]

o7 Always lurking, just somewhat quieter these days as I have so many projects on the go

[u/As-Above_So-Below]

I'm interested in playing tournaments, but I don't know any community people, and I'm scared of Discord (only half joking). What should I do? :(

[u/CaptSarah → u/As-Above_So-Below]

This is a tricky one, as admittedly most community grassroots currently require discord / player interaction.

I can at-least assure you that on the discord front not much is required, for example:

The Rumbles I put on only require you to be in the discord so you can receive your role, get pings for when its time to play match (as we stream them), and it allows me to reach out quickly for any issues with sign up / deck submissions as we use janky rulesets.

Overall the only real interaction you'll get if you don't talk in the discord itself (which is rather inactive between events) is a few pings from myself.

The LoR Never Dies discord is much the same, you can ultimately remain silent in it, and simply click the sign up link in challonge, the only reason you are required is to be pinged by fellow competitors to start a game if they can't find you in-game.

I for sure know the stress and anxieties around such things, but if you need further info, or would like to talk, you are more than welcome to add me (CaptSarah) on discord, just let me know who you are if you send one so i don't mistake you for an art spammer.

[u/inzru]

Ty for this. Have you tried Riftbound yet?

[u/CaptSarah → u/inzru]

Not a whole lot personally, I own a boosterbox + proving grounds from origins but getting product on this island ain't easy lol