The winter in Chengdu is cold in a “lingering and damp” way — not as biting as in Tianjin, not as bleak as in Wuhan, and not even as romantic as the winter in Paris. Amidst the unique damp cold and softness of this Rong City, there is an exception: hundreds of people poured into the hotel lobby, their voices echoing loudly, as lively as the back kitchen of a hot pot restaurant — this is the Riftbound: League of Legends TCG Season 2 Regional Open – Chengdu Station.
Nathan, a Frenchman. If you see this ID on the Riftbound battle mini-program: “Taojinchao · RandyyyTCG”, that’s him. Even when sitting at the card table in the “Competition Arena” area, Nathan still looked solemn and serious, staring intently at the game, as if he were defusing a bomb.
He said that the most “rock and roll” thing he had ever done in his life was to take the initiative to resign from his stable job at the age of 25, just before Riftbound was released, to become a professional Riftbound player. This decision seemed quite adventurous even in romantic France. Fortunately, Nathan persisted with his excellent card skills.
He is not only a professional player but also a coach of a team with more than 30 members. The team members are from all over the world, gathered together because of a common hobby. “But this team doesn’t have a name yet,” Nathan said with a bit of embarrassment. “Maybe we can give it a Chinese name first.”
This is Nathan’s first trip to China, and also his first trip to Asia. The 15-hour flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Chengdu Shuangliu was a long journey, all for the sake of participating in the Riftbound Regional Open. Unfortunately, he failed to get a supplementary registration spot. Fortunately, he had already booked plane tickets to Dalian and Nanjing. “My biggest wish for this trip is to successfully register or get a supplementary spot,” he said with a bitter smile.
But his purpose for this trip is not necessarily to achieve any great results; it is more about learning and communication. Nathan prepared a deck with Sivir as the Legendary hero. Different from the common construction that takes “Shining Aurora” as the core, he has some unique insights. “I think everyone’s development and optimization of Sivir are quite limited at present,” Nathan said while stroking his card box. “I may have a chance to promote the competitive meta. I don’t like playing Draven. If I can get the supplementary spot, I can win Sivir’s ‘Legendary Master Award’.”
When he stepped into the “Competition Arena” with his deck, his whole state immediately became lively. As long as they sit face to face at the card table, language barriers disappear and turn into mutual understanding — tapping the card surface lightly when thinking, a slight smile when playing a key card, and holding one’s breath when at a disadvantage. He loves this feeling very much; the cards in his hand seem to become a simultaneous interpreter, allowing Nathan to communicate with people from all over the world through them. As he thought, he gradually sank into the card table, into his own world.
“ef” has many identities: he is a League of Legends player, a Riftbound card player, the owner of Tianjin Rift Arena, and also a Riftbound referee.
He has previous experience refereeing TCG competitions. Before Riftbound was released, “ef” began to study the Riftbound rulebook with other referee friends, memorizing many obscure terms and rules thoroughly.
“Playing cards and refereeing are completely different things,” he said. “Refereeing Riftbound is also different from my previous experiences. For example, in previous refereeing, when a player raised a question, I, as a referee, would give a corresponding reply immediately. If the player still had doubts, they could ask a higher-level referee again. But it’s not like that in Riftbound. No matter what question a player asks, I, as a referee, have to confirm with another referee before giving a reply to the player. Even if the question is very basic, even if I can be sure I can give a correct answer, I still have to confirm with other referees first.”
This is indeed a bit “cumbersome”, but as a referee, he has always abided by this rule because he agrees that it can minimize the chance of mistakes on the field.
The process of refereeing is also a process of thinking. If you are sitting on one side of the card table, you only need to consider your own gameplay. But if you stand beside the card table, you have to keep an eye on everything around you. “Thinking about why the player made such a move? Was it a momentary mistake or intentional? Can the player benefit from this move, and so on.”
“ef” leaned against a chair in the venue, talking about these things while taking out his own hamburger and greeting players to come over for dinner. This is also a “special benefit” in his refereeing career, but little did he know that an even bigger surprise was waiting for him later.
“Keji” spoke unhurriedly, with a slight Wuhan accent. He was gentle and refined, but the “Laurent’s Reflex Blade” in his deck was quick and accurate.
He said he likes to be a challenger. When Riftbound Set 1 was released, Kai’Sa and Blade Master dominated the card table, but the deck he chose was Viktor. Unfortunately, just like “Shilite” at the Fuzhou Station, he failed to get selected for any major competitions. He only achieved some unsatisfactory results in city tournaments. This made the silver border on the mini-program more in line with his identity as a challenger.
Naturally, when the “Draven Alliance” swept Set 2, he kept changing his ideas to fight against the mainstream: Renata Glasc, Jax, Sivir, and finally the one he chose — Fiora the Grand Duelist.
“I finally chose Fiora because this deck achieved very good results in the local card shops in Wuhan. It won ten consecutive championships, which means nearly thirty consecutive wins!” His tone was excited when he said this. “In addition, I am a fan of Shaoxia. After watching the Fuzhou final, I decided to play with Fiora.”
When he said this, it was like taking on the responsibility of “restoring glory, duty-bound”. “Keji” has always believed that Fiora is capable of competing with Draven. After adding “Sea Monster Hook” and its components to the main deck, his winning rate has increased a lot, which also boosted his confidence.
But when asked about his goal for this competition, he replied quite calmly: because it was the first time he successfully registered, he only wanted to fulfill his wish. He definitely wanted to play the game, but he didn’t set any goals. When he got to the venue, after a few Swiss rounds, he felt that he had a chance to get out of the first round, so he secretly started cheering for himself. He tried to strive for Fiora’s “Legendary Master Award”. Early the next day of the competition, he found on the big screen of the venue that he was the only remaining Fiora player. The Legendary Master Award was already in his pocket, and instead of feeling pressured, he only wanted to make every calculation and play every card well. It was this relaxed attitude that allowed him to pass all the levels and advance to the final.
Late on Sunday night, the curtain of the Season 2 Regional Open – Chengdu Station slowly fell.
Nathan achieved an excellent record of eight consecutive wins in the “Competition Arena”. He “boasted” about his deck to friends he met through playing cards in a hot pot restaurant, while his friends laughed loudly at the way he held his chopsticks.
Keji repeated Shaoxia’s script from last week, challenging Draven at the final table: after being reversed in the first game, he suffered a crushing defeat. Even though he gained some advantages through “Decisive Strike” in the second game, he still couldn’t turn the tide and finally lost the game 0-2. After watching the game from the commentary table, Shaoxia was deeply moved. He immediately ran into the director’s room to review the game with Keji and even pulled him to take a photo. At that moment, they became “mutual fans”.
After player “Dongguan Panda” stepped down with his championship card, the birthday song suddenly sounded in the venue. “ef” was surrounded and brought to the center of the stage. When he saw the birthday cake brought by his colleagues, his face was filled with joy and emotion.
The competition ended — everyone walked out with their card boxes, in twos and threes, discussing the game just now and making an appointment to practice cards later. It was like returning to the playground after school, except that the discussion was no longer about math homework, but “Why didn’t you play a counter card that round?”
Some people traveled thousands of miles across the sea, some faithfully guarded the rules, and some tilted at windmills by going against the current. At this moment, they all converged here.
This is probably the most magical thing about playing cards: it condenses the act of making friends into drawing a card, nodding your head, and bumping fists.
