:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55374483/rr_ticketsale_header_1_0.0.jpg)
At the end of May, Riot announced that it would be adding a new international League of Legends tournament to the yearly schedule with the addition of Rift Rivals, which has some of the world’s biggest regions facing off against rival regions. While the community was largely happy with the announcement and the regions that would be competing with one another, fans took issue with the format of the NA versus EU tournament.
The original format of the tournament involved a group stage, something that remains unchanged, but featured a Last Man Standing final that would have been a series of single elimination games between the two regions with the region whose team remained at the end winning.
Fans took issue with the idea of these single elimination games lobbying for a Best of 3 format for the eliminations instead. In response, Riot has announced that they will change the format to simply include one final Best of 5 series between the highest ranking teams from both regions.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8726481/2017_rr_format_infographic_na_eu_v2_0.jpg)
According to their announcement, Riot see this as a middle ground solution that should prove competitively satisfying to fans while not creating an overly long schedule for the final day of games — something playing up to five Best of 3s would have done.
Along with this statement on the new format, comes an official announcement of the dates for the tournament which will run from July 5-8, with tickets going on sale Friday, June 23.