The Winning Point

Riot's 2027 Riftbound Premier Play update is here, with a ranked ladder up to Grandmaster, free badges for the top 50 and Continentals in Dallas, Melbourne, London and Toronto, and we argue about who it really helps. Then Nam Dang's Riven wins LDXP Sacramento at 63% across the weekend: would one ban even fix her, and what can beat her at RC Stuttgart?

TCGplayer is an official partner of Turn ’em Sideways!Pick up every card in this deck on TCGplayer through our link: → https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/7805033/1780961/21018ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways!Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order!→ https://endgametcg.ca/

⏱️ Timestamps

0:00 Intro

1:14 Morning Announcements

4:45 Organized Play

28:55 LDXP Sacramento

48:40 Question of the Week: Stuttgart 🎃 RiftAtlas Convergence #4 this Saturday, sold out at 256 players, $5,500 prize pool, live on this channel: https://topdeck.gg/event/convergence-4

🛒 Score pads, playmats and TCG accessories: https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/

Riot banned Koko Lopez from sanctioned Riftbound events until January 1, 2029, for intentionally stacking his rune deck at RQ Los Angeles, and all three of us call it fair: two years and change sends the message. Pastry is back with Blevins and Charmer for that, the Nation Clash and PCG grading at RC Stuttgart, Riven taking five of the top eight in the first Riftbound Radiance results, and whether you should ever pile shuffle.TCGplayer is an official partner of Turn ’em Sideways!Pick up every card in this deck on TCGplayer through our link: → https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/7805033/1780961/21018ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways!Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order!→ https://endgametcg.ca/

0:00 Episode 68: Pastry is back, Cas is away1:38 Morning announcements3:39 Riot bans Koko Lopez until 202918:09 RC Stuttgart32:11 Riot respects the secondary market34:48 Our Pre-Rift weekend39:28 First Radiance results: Riven everywhere41:47 Is Kai'Sa a contender again?44:59 Secret tech before the RC48:16 Mailbag: should you pile shuffle?

Koko Lopez was disqualified at RQ Los Angeles, dropped by Challenger TCG, and Riot says they're looking into it. The Winning Point crew breaks down Riftbound's most high-profile cheating case, whether Riot should ban him and for how long, and how players can cheat without knowing it: rune deck weaving, how many shuffles is enough, and the marked-card trap with your chosen champion.

Then the Radiance brews to bring to your Pre-Rift: Cas's Mordekaiser, Iron Revenant First 40. Renekton, Butcher of the Sands finally working with Coalesced Energy. Then Jarvan IV, Exemplar of Demacia with the Demacian Standard trick and Dockside Lock-Up. Plus Level 0 for the Stuttgart Regional Championship: Riven, The Exile with Astral Heron and Baron Nashor, and Kennen back with Trifarian Captain and Nocturne.⏱️ Timestamps0:00 Between Two Beards: The Winning Point Ep 677:09 Koko Lopez9:58 Riot's Response24:56 Cas's Mordekaiser 34:21 Renekton38:13 Jarvan IV50:19 Riven57:10 Kennen (is back)60:26 Stuttgart & Pre-Rift legend picks

The Radiance reveals keep coming and the Winning Point crew works through four full legend packages: Evelynn, Agony's Embrace and the Last Caress letdown, Mordekaiser, Iron Revenant with Realm of Death and the nine-cost Mordekaiser, Dominating, Orianna, Lady of Clockwork turning The Ball and Plaza Guardian into units, and Ekko, Boy Who Shattered Time with Chronobreak and both chosen champions. Plus Packed Amphitheater, the Radiance Ultimate Rare at one in 4,000 packs, and whether it feels ultimate at all.Also this week: which Origins legends come back for the Regional Championships, the Evelynn two-drop problem, the Mask Mother tech, Hold 'Em as the new Punch First, blue Ekko in Teemo, why red Ekko costs too much, and the mailbag settles the Elnuk Ziggs scale for good.ENDGAME Sleeves are an official sponsor of Turn ’em Sideways! Use code TURN10 at checkout for 10% off your order! → https://endgametcg.ca/

⏱️Timestamps

0:00 Intro

5:10 Morning Announcements

7:45 Packed Amphitheater

20:30 Evelynn

36:25 Mordekaiser

46:15 Orianna

57:29 Ekko

1:07:50 Mailbag

🎃 RiftAtlas Convergence on Halloween, 256 players, $5,500 prize pool: https://topdeck.gg/event/convergence-4

🛒 Dunc x Turn 'em Sideways Rift Hub score pads, playmats and TCG accessories: https://shop.turnemsideways.gg/======= SOCIALS

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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