The Winning Point

The first Radiance legends are here and the Winning Point crew rates them: Orianna turning your gear into units, Jarvan IV and his Demacian Standard flag-and-drag, Ziggs bringing Miracle Draven back, Seraphine's three-unit cost reduction, and Neeko, Blending In, the neutral card that adds a second Legend to your board mid-game. Plus the Elnuk Ziggs scale for flavor, and the best Neeko legend combos in Riftbound.Before the spoilers, the RQ Los Angeles recap: Prismaticismism wins again, the Smoke and Mirrors LeBlanc story from the player's seat, the ARAM Mayhem tower we built at the Cloud9 studio, Malmo and Bristol showdowns, and a top eight with no Jayce Aurora and a Poppy deck without Aurora ("sloppless Poppy").ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways! Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order! → https://endgametcg.ca/CHAPTERS0:00 RQ recap and Radiance spoilers5:34 Malmo and Bristol showdowns, casting Sweden9:56 LA week at Cloud9: the ARAM Mayhem tower13:37 Free for all with Jimmy Wong and Krim15:16 RQ LA story: Smoke and Mirrors LeBlanc21:43 Charmer's LA: cosplay, Ivern stilts, 24 hours of content29:16 Sloppless Poppy, no Jayce Aurora, Prismaticismism wins again34:02 Radiance reveals begin: Orianna rules questions41:39 Jarvan IV and the Demacian Standard45:29 The Elnuk card, zero out of ten on flavor49:26 Ziggs, Rune Blade Anvil and Miracle Draven55:20 Seraphine: nerfed in playtesting?62:00 Neeko, Blending In: add a second Legend67:11 Mailbag, the Elnuk Ziggs scale, Neeko combo question- Dunc x Turn'em Sideways Rift Hub score pads, playmats and TCG accessories (score pads drop October 2): https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/- Best-of decklists, tier list & event coverage: https://turnemsideways.gg/

Can you actually go pro in Riftbound? We recorded a special episode of The Winning Point live from the Cloud9 studio in Los Angeles, with Prismaticism (DSG) on what life as a full-time Riftbound pro really looks like, Nack (MERC) and Dani from Cloud9 on building a Riftbound content career, and LCS caster Kangas on how casting a card game compares with casting League of Legends. We get into why esports orgs are still waiting to sign Riftbound players, why the Best-Of prize system might make Riftbound the first TCG where going pro is realistic, and how Turn' em Sideways itself got started.

Then the part you can use this weekend: what RQ Los Angeles looks like after the Stacked Deck ban. Jayce and LeBlanc are rising, Akali keeps winning with a 44% win rate, Kangas thinks Pack Ezreal is back, and the whole panel puts their top 8 predictions on the record.

ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways! Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order! → https://endgametcg.ca/

Huge thanks to our special guests for joining us this week!

Nack: https://x.com/nacktcg

Dani: https://x.com/queuep0p

Prismaticism: https://x.com/Prismaticismism

Kangas: https://x.com/KangasCasts

Riot banned Ekko, Recurrent and Stacked Deck effective September 18, killing the Lux combo and pulling the best consistency card in the game out of Kennen, Diana, Ezreal, Kha'Zix and the rest of purple. Blevins, Casanova and Charmer disagree on the record about who actually got hurt: Charmer thinks Kennen took the worst of it, Blevins thinks Kennen keeps Lightning Rush and every other purple deck is the one paying, and Charmer's tinfoil theory is that Riot was aiming at the round timer the whole time.Then the part you can act on this weekend. Green is the de facto best color now, LeBlanc finally escapes the purple matchup that has capped her for three sets, three Lucians made Showdown top 8s without the combo, purple Ezreal and Vex are quietly back, Proving Grounds Yi is still a problem, and the Aurora panic is probably overblown. Convergence #3 and the CCS Houston Showdown on Saturday are the first real read on all of it, with RQ Los Angeles the week after.⏱️ CHAPTERS0:00 Stacked Deck and Ekko are banned8:11 Two cards gone: Ekko and Stacked Deck10:09 Tinfoil theory: the ban targets the round timer17:33 A good long term ban, and Origins regrets20:46 Is an Aurora winter actually coming?24:49 Why Best-Ofs stop the meta from moving30:05 LeBlanc, Vex and purple Ezreal rise34:41 Lucian in Showdown top 8s, minus the combo41:41 Houston and Convergence preview RQ LA

Casanova was on the mic for the RQ Singapore round seven feature match, the one everybody spent the week arguing about on Twitter and Reddit, and he explains what it actually looked like from the casting booth. Then the part nobody is saying out loud: playing every resource you have once the round goes to turns is not sharking, it is the correct play, and the real problem is the players who slow the game down for forty minutes to manufacture that clock pressure in the first place.

Before that, the good stuff. Courtney cast her first ever live event in Singapore and Cas breaks down the round five decision that turned the whole booth around. The event itself came down to an Akali deck with a 4 percent day two conversion rate and four pilots in the entire field, and the story behind why he registered it is the best thing to come out of the weekend. Plus Master Yi is still the second most represented legend, a Teemo deck went 7-1 on day one, and the Riot music teasers have everyone convinced Radiance is bringing K/DA and True Damage into Riftbound.

🏆 Rift Atlas Convergence #3, 256 players, $5,500 prize pool, streamed live right here: https://topdeck.gg/event/convergence-3

📊 Best-of decklists, tier list & event coverage: https://turnemsideways.gg/

🛒 Playmats, dice & merch: https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/

ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways. Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order!→ https://endgametcg.ca/

Riot Games has posted a job listing for a publishing product manager on an unannounced new digital game, asking for trading card game knowledge and mobile experience, and Casanova thinks it is the Riftbound digital client we have been asking for since before the game launched. Blevins, Casanova and Charmer read the post line by line, work out how soon a client could realistically arrive, and argue about whether it helps or guts the local game store.

Then Barcelona. Casanova calls it the worst Regional Qualifier that has ever happened for attendee experience, and explains why: a venue at 85 to 90 degrees, players stuck outside for hours, side events gone in minutes, and on demand events that never fired because there was no room to run them. After that, the fun part: an Aggro Ornn deck most people had written off as a D tier legend won the entire event in Manland's hands, and we go through the official Day 1 and Day 2 metagame numbers to work out how it happened. Kennen was 13% of the field, near prime Draven numbers, and still could not close it out.

So many Riftbound showdowns from this past weekend - what does that mean for us? Statistics. Lots and lots of statistics. In Episode 60 of the Winning Point, we cover decks and legends seen from Convergence #2, Riftbound Showdown in Speyer, 10K Showdown in Auckland, Ottawa Showdown, and Gen.G LA Showdown (did we catch them all?).

We also delve into what goes into streaming these tournaments, and include a snippet of an interview we did with Tayfun from Battle Bear, who ran the Riftbound Showdown in Speyer. If you're watching/listening to this upon release, we're also at Barcelona, so come and say hi if you see any of us! We have new playmats available for preorder! https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/🃏 SPONSOR: VEGAS SINGLESOur partner for the whole month of August. Singles, trade-ins and a buy list worth actually reading. Use code **TURN5** for 5% off your singles order, free tracking on every package, free US shipping over $50.→ https://vegas.singles/collections/riftbound-singles?bg_ref=lOW1wb5iTD

Riftbound Showdown Ottawa gave us the first real look at the Vendetta metagame, and Prismaticism took the whole thing down on Rengar with a 25-1-1 record in games before telling everyone not to play the deck at their RQ. Kennen was the most represented legend in the room, Rek'Sai put three copies in the Top 8, Master Yi is still posting an absurd win rate with no Best-Of on the line, and Diana is stuck at 51% while everyone keeps calling Blue Purple the boogeyman.Blevins, Casanova, Charmer and Pastry break down the Ottawa Top 8 and the win rates, argue about what a stock Kennen list is even supposed to look like, make the case that somebody is about to crack Mel, then recap Dual Queue, the 2v2 tournament we ran on this channel, where Helm of Suppression turned out to be format warping and one Otterpus denied three points in the grand final. Plus the updated RQ prizing with the Jayce champion promo, the Wuhan Regional exhibition between the English and Chinese scenes, and the mailbag returns with a Crash Out Corner about sets designed for draft.

⏱️ Timestamps0:00 Intro

1:15 Announcements

4:10 Ottawa Showdown

32:27 2v2 Magma Chamber

41:43 Updated RQ Prizing

46:45 Wuhan Riftbound Regional Exhibition

48:28 Mailbag🎮 WATCH THIS WEEKENDRift Atlas Convergence #2: Saturday August 15, $5,000 prize pool, 256 players, sold out with a waitlist. Streaming right here.Dual Queue, the Magma Chamber 2v2 tournament, is already up on the channel if you missed it.🃏 SPONSOR: VEGAS SINGLESOur partner for the whole month of August. Singles, trade-ins and a buy list worth actually reading. Use code **TURN5** for 5% off your singles order, free tracking on every package, free US shipping over $50.→ https://vegas.singles/collections/riftbound-singles?bg_ref=lOW1wb5iTD📊 Best-of decklists, tier list & event coverage: https://turnemsideways.gg/🛒 Playmats, dice & merch: https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/

Riot dropped the August 2026 State of the Game plus five more articles in a single week, and between them they rewrite competitive Riftbound: Summoner Skirmish is retiring into the Riftbound Challenge Series, RQs become Riftbound Regionals with 16 in 2027, Regional Championships become Continentals with a Friday last chance qualifier, and a Riftbound World Championship finally lands next year.Blevins, Cas and Charmer go through all of it: Legacy being the first set designed for draft, The Minion and the illegal deck problem it fixes, the Ekko reveal from Radiance, the Cho'Gath movie monster posters coming in Reckoning, the trigger arrow and grey targeting backing that should finally make Riftbound cards read the way they work, the plated Legends that may never be awarded, and why Vendetta season is the last one where you can bank byes.⏱️ CHAPTERS0:00 Kennen should be banned3:09 Dual Queue, Convergence 2 and our new partner Vegas Singles7:48 State of the Game: no more double Legend packs12:39 The trigger arrow, and why reading the card doesn't explain the card19:22 Legacy is the first set designed for draft, and The Minion29:04 Ekko revealed, and the Cho'Gath movie monster posters43:39 Stuttgart, Convergence Fest and the plated Legends nobody may earn53:39 2027: Summoner Skirmish retires and Worlds arrives📰 EVERY ARTICLE WE COVEREDState of the Game, August 2026: https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/organizedplay/august-2026-state-of-play/Products and Sets: https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/products-and-sets-into-2027/August and Onward Roadmap: https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/august-2026-roadmap/Creators and Riftbound: https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/announcements/riftbounds-creators-in-2027/Regional Championship Info: https://playriftbound.com/en-us/news/organizedplay/2026-regional-championship-info/🎮 WATCH US LIVE THIS WEEKENDDual Queue, the Magma Chamber 2v2 tournament: Sunday August 9, 11am EDT, $500 prize pool, Vendetta legal. Streaming right here.Convergence 2 with Rift Atlas: August 15, $5,000, 256 player cap. Sign up while there are still spots.🃏 SPONSOR: VEGAS SINGLESSingles, trade-ins and a buy list worth actually reading. Code TURN5 for 5% off your singles order, tracking on every package, free US shipping over $50.https://vegas.singles https://vegas.singles/collections/riftbound-singles?bg_ref=lOW1wb5iTD📊 Best-of decklists, tier list & event coverage: https://turnemsideways.gg/🛒 Playmats, dice & merch: https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/======= SOCIALS =======Follow us for more competitive Riftbound content:🎥 YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@TurnemSideways?sub_confirmation=1🐦 Twitter – https://x.com/TurnThemSide⏲️ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@turnemsideways📸 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/turnemsideways/🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0qFsptquUddq21pGXu9Thx🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-winning-point/id1847709608🎮 Discord – https://discord.gg/MNFCaxFGpZ🩵 Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/turnthemside.bsky.social📝 Threads – https://www.threads.com/@turnemsideways

We caught a glimpse of Riftbound's first Vendetta metagame at our CN vs. the World event, and the winning deck was a Diana running Swain, Visionary, and Patched Porobot. In this episode, we're breaking down every piece of the combo, the missed Promising Future in Game 3 of the Grand Finals, and discuss whether or not Lux deserved an emergency ban.

Also hot topics for this episode are: results of the Pre-Rifts, where Ambessa is in the current format, how Orange might be the best color, and whether or not our Vendetta predictions came true so far.

Riftbound dropped a ban announcement ahead of Vendetta, removing Aspirant’s Climb and Arena’s Greatest from competitive play. We break down why these battlefields had become nearly mandatory, what their removal means for the game, and whether cards like Star-Crossed, Ferrous Forerunner, Aurora and Ekko should have been targeted instead.

We also discuss the move to 10-card sideboards, the possibility of best-of-five tournament matches, our most anticipated Vendetta prerelease legends, and the cards that could define the new Limited environment. With Vendetta fully revealed, competitive Riftbound is about to look very different.

Let us know: Did Riot ban the right cards—and is Ekko eventually next?