Where to Play Riftbound

How to find a Riftbound event near you

Go to playriftbound.com/events, Riot's own event search. Under Find an Event, set Where to your city or address, narrow it with the Event Type and Format filters, and you get the upcoming events at stores near you, with a distance setting and a map. You can favorite your regular stores and show only their events, and My Events lists the ones you've registered for.

This search is new. On September 14, 2026, PlayRiftbound.com became the home of Riftbound organized play, and starting with Radiance Pre-Rift registration it replaced carde.io for finding, registering for and playing in events. Riot said player history from carde.io is being moved over. The older Riftbound Gaming Network store locator still exists, but it now points Radiance players to playriftbound.com/events.

Not every store lists every event far in advance. If a store near you sells Riftbound but shows nothing, call or check its own calendar; many run a weekly night that they post closer to the date. Riot's announcement of the new site →

The Riftbound event types

Riot's organized play has a casual weekly event, a sealed event before each set, a local competitive event, and bigger tournaments above that. These are the ones running through Radiance.

Nexus Nights are where most players start. Riot calls them "your bread and butter weekly events": the store picks the day and the format, the mood is relaxed, and the prize is participation rather than placement. Riot classes them as casual, so a new player can show up with a starter deck.

A Pre-Rift is Riftbound's prerelease. It runs the week before a set comes out, and everyone opens the new set and builds a deck on the spot, so nobody has an advantage from a bigger collection.

A Summoner Skirmish is the local competitive event: 1v1 Constructed, best-of-three matches and Swiss rounds, with a top cut if the store runs one. Each store can host one per window, two per set. It is a different thing from Skirmish, the three-player game mode.

Radiance events: Pre-Rift, Nexus Nights and Summoner Skirmish

Radiance Pre-Rifts run October 16 to 22, 2026, and the set releases October 23. Riot says each Pre-Rift kit holds five Radiance boosters and a seeded Pre-Rift pack for one of the set's nine new Legends. UVS Games' retailer guide describes that pack as a 15-card mini-preconstructed deck with the Champion Legend and Champion Unit, plus a Pre-Rift promo card. You build a sealed deck from the kit and play a paired tournament.

Signing up for a store's Pre-Rift also earns Heimerdinger, Academy Instructor while supplies last. Stores had to register their Pre-Rift with Riot by August 29, 2026, so not every store will have one; the event search shows which do.

Heimerdinger, Academy Instructor

RAD-132/167

Heimerdinger, Academy Instructor: the Pre-Rift sign-up promo (main-set printing shown).

Ekko, Boy Who Shattered Time

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Ekko, Boy Who Shattered Time: one of Radiance's new Legends.

Seraphine, Starry-Eyed Songstress

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Seraphine, Starry-Eyed Songstress: another new Radiance Legend.

Nexus Night promo packs are switching to Radiance cards. Riot said it would post the list of Nexus Night promos on October 16.

Summoner Skirmish 1 events start November 9, 2026, and UVS Games gives the window as November 9 to December 13. Summoner Skirmish 2 starts December 14 and, per UVS, runs to January 17, 2027. The champion of each takes home the Skirmish Playmat. Riot's August State of Play said Radiance is the last set with Summoner Skirmish and that these events won't award Regional byes; byes already earned are still honored. Riot's Radiance Overview →

For the cards themselves, see the Radiance set guide.

Regionals, Continentals and Worlds

The 2026 Regional Qualifiers ended with Los Angeles on September 25 to 27. Two Regional Championships are left this year, in Stuttgart on November 6 to 8 and Las Vegas on December 11 to 13, and both need a qualification earned earlier in the season.

Riot is renaming and reshaping the ladder for 2027. Regional Qualifiers become Riftbound Regionals, open events held three to four times per set that qualify players for Continentals. Regional Championships become Riftbound Continentals, three-day events whose first day is an open-entry qualifier. The Riftbound Challenge Series replaces Summoner Skirmish as the first competitive step at a network of stores, and the Nexus Cup is a new monthly tournament at local stores. The season ends at the Riftbound World Championship. Riot hasn't published dates or prizes for the Challenge Series or the Nexus Cup yet. Riot's August 2026 State of Play →

Formats you'll play at events

Constructed means you bring your own deck. 1v1 Standard is the competitive format, used at Summoner Skirmishes and every tier above them. 2v2 Constructed has its own ban list, which is Standard's plus Master Yi's Wuju Bladesman Legend, and some stores run it on Nexus Nights. Check the ban list before any event.

Sealed is the Pre-Rift format, and some Nexus Nights use it too. The event search's format filter also lists Modified Champion Deck and Draft. What a given night plays is up to the store, and the listing says which format it is.

How to sign up and what to bring

Sign up on playriftbound.com with your Riot ID. Riot says no account linking is needed, so if you have a Riot account from League of Legends, that's the one. Find the event, register for it in the site, and during the event check your pairings and report your results from your phone. Some stores also take sign-ups at the counter, so ask.

For a Constructed event, bring a legal deck: 1 Legend, a main deck of at least 40 cards including your Chosen Champion, 12 runes and 3 battlefields, plus a sideboard of up to 10 if you use one. A store may ask for a decklist before the event, so check the listing. The deck-building guide covers each rule.

For a Pre-Rift, the kit supplies the cards. Bring your phone with your Riot ID signed in, sleeves if you like to play with them, and something to keep score with. If you're new to the game, read how to play Riftbound first; Pre-Rifts and Nexus Nights are friendly places to learn, but knowing the turn structure helps.

As for cost, each store sets its own entry fee, and Riot doesn't publish one. Riot's program doesn't allow cash prizes at Nexus Nights or Summoner Skirmishes; stores can add store credit or boosters on top of the official prizes.

Tracking your games at an event

TurnZero HQ's Riftbound score tracker keeps the points for Duel, Match (best of three), Skirmish, War and 2v2, scored by battlefield as Conquer or Hold. It reminds you of the final point rule, and the Game Menu has an optional 60-minute round clock with Call time for tournament rounds.

For your record, Riftbound events and the match log group your rounds from one Nexus Night, Pre-Rift or Summoner Skirmish. Create the event with its name, type, day and deck, use Add a round after each match, and the event shows your Swiss record and a top cut result you can fill in. Your stats split those games by deck version, play or draw, battlefield and the Legends you faced, and they're shown only to you. All of it comes with a free account on iPhone, Android and the web.

Frequently Asked Questions