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The North America vs Europe Rift Rivals competition has finally been officially unveiled for 2018 and it’s got an all new format, according to a Riot announcement early Friday morning.
Just like last year, this year’s Rift Rivals tournament will start by pitting the top three teams of both regions against one another in a group stage where ever team plays the opposing region’s teams once over the first two days of competition. Unlike last year, the finals will follow a new relay format. The format is similar to what many other regions did for their Rift Rivals tournament, and will pit all six teams up against each other.
In the relay format, each of the three teams from each region must play at least once, representing their region in a series that will be a best-of-five. The first region to have their teams win three games wins the tournament. Whichever regions comes out of group stages with a better record will have counter pick in which team they send into each of the first three matches. The last two games of the series will have their teams determined at the same time, giving no region an advantage.
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Rift Rivals 2018 will be held at the North America LCS Studios in Los Angeles, California, and will run from July 5 - 7. This slightly adjusted, Thursday through Saturday schedule is designed to help viewers from all regions get a chance to catch all the action. As usual, all the games from Rift Rivals will be broadcast on the Riot Games Twitch and YouTube channels.