The First Runeterra Open

Apr 18, 2023

Hello Runeterra, RubinZoo here to chat about Competitive! Following our first Runeterra Open, I want to reiterate that we are committed to continuing to iterate and improve LoR Tournaments based on your feedback to build the best possible experience for players, with players.

The First Runeterra Open

This Runeterra Open had issues, but we’re undeterred in our mission to deliver a best in class experience for players for the long haul, cultivating competition and creating games that matter. We want to communicate what issues we saw, what we’ve learned, and what we’re doing about it.

Qualification Records and Matchmaking

We aim to enable a fierce, yet fair competition for the Runeterra Opens Day 1 by supporting Double Elimination. We're already prioritizing adjustments for our next big update, which will provide a more record-based Swiss-like matchmaking experience. These changes are going to be rolled out in patch 4.4, and we're confident that the World Qualifier will be the best tournament experience yet!

These changes will create a hyper-competitive environment on both days, so be ready for some intense matchups.However, we do expect longer queue times due to these changes, so make sure to account for additional matchmaking time when scheduling your runs.

In the Open last weekend, players in certain regions did not make it to Day 2, even with a 9-1 record. 9-1 is a superb performance and our intent is this guarantees a Playoff slot. 9-2 and 8-3 are strong finishes that provide the maximum Trophies, but may not be qualifying records for playoffs.

We will be retroactively awarding two Runeterra Points to all players who had a 9-1 record, and one point to all players with a 9-2 record on Day 1 to reward them for their efforts.

For the remainder of the year, we will continue to give 9-1 players 2 points, in case further issues arise.

Tournament Entry Window Issues

We also identified an issue where the 14 hour tournament started one hour earlier than was communicated, and fixed it for the next event. This resulted in a small number of players missing out on finishing matches that could have potentially made the cut. We recognize the frustration around this situation, so we’re awarding all players with an 8-0 or 8-1, or 8-2 record one Runeterra Point.

We’re also addressing some discovered potential exploits with tournament windows, as well as issues with players who had an ongoing active run for Patch 4.4.

Smurfing, Collusion, and Unsporting Conduct

We want to make something absolutely clear: Playing a Runeterra Open multiple times, colluding, or match fixing, are all against LoR Tournament Policy and Riot Games’ Terms of Service. Intentionally slow-playing with clear intent to win on time, stream sniping, and queue manipulation are all unsporting conduct and unacceptable in Tournament competition. Violations are subject to disqualification (prizes revoked and passed down), and/or additional punishments.

We are committed to investigating these issues to the fullest extent, taking actions when necessary. Because of this, we’re delaying publishing Runeterra Points standings to give us time to evaluate these cases and properly pass down Runeterra Points and prizes in the case of any infractions.

For all future tournaments, we’re implementing additional in-client acknowledgement of our Tournament Policy when entering a Runeterra Open that players have explicit visibility of our policies, and agree to the terms prior to competing. We’re also updating the current Policy to be even more clear around potential abuse cases.

Additional Eternal Runeterra Open

As there were several issues affecting players this past tournament, we have decided to add an additional Runeterra Open for this Season only. We hope this will provide an ample opportunity for players hungry to qualify for Worlds an additional opportunity to compete on an even playing field.

This Open will take place on June 17/18, and will be played on the Eternal format. This will provide the same cash prizes and RP as a normal Runeterra Open, as well as more invites to the Mystery Event.

We hope you’re ready for some cutthroat back-to-back weekends of Eternal Competition!

Worlds Regional Balance

We’re excited to say that Opens have been more popular than expected. However, even with this new influx of players, some regions still have more populated events than others. We want to create as equal of an opportunity as possible for each region, so we’ve decided to make an adjustment to the at-large qualification slots for Worlds. With this in mind, the Top 18 Yearly Runeterra Points players will split into 6 invites per region from Americas, EMEA, and APAC (ties broken by highest 2023 finish, then 2nd, etc).

We really appreciate your hunger for competition, your deck crafting, and your passion for Legends of Runeterra. We're committed to making LoR Tournaments the best they can be and we're grateful for your patience and feedback as we continue to iterate and sharpen the Tournament experience. We can't wait to see what you bring to the table in future.