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How to Play Riftbound Online on Rift Atlas: the Tournament Guide
Guide · Beginner · 7 min

How to Play Riftbound Online on Rift Atlas: the Tournament Guide

by Er11deSettembre21 September 202663 views

Since 20 September 2026 the online tournaments of Riftbound Zone (Zone Weekly and Monthly Zone) are played on Rift Atlas, a free simulator that runs in your browser: nothing to download, open play.riftatlas.com and play. Your table's voice channel on Discord stays mandatory: that is where you talk to your opponent and call the judge.

This guide covers how to prepare your deck, the four play modes, how a tournament match runs from the pairing to the result, and what to do when something goes wrong.

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In short

  • Rift Atlas is free and runs in the browser, no install; it is a community project, not an official Riot client.
  • Bring your deck with a copy and paste of the list, the same one you registered on the site.
  • Tournament games use a private room: one player creates it and gives the code to the other in the table voice channel.
  • Best of 3, then the result goes on the site with double confirmation. For rules questions, write in judge-call from your table.

1. What Rift Atlas is and what you need

Rift Atlas (riftatlas.com) brings together a card database, a deck builder, sealed and a simulator to play online. The part we care about is play.riftatlas.com: it opens in the browser, it is free and needs no download. The interface is in English (or Simplified Chinese).

  • A PC or laptop with an up-to-date browser: the board needs room, on a phone you see very little.
  • Discord open next to it, in your table's voice channel: voice is how you agree on the room and call the judge.
  • The deck list you registered on the site, ready to paste.
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Rift Atlas is a community project built with Riot assets under the «Legal Jibber Jabber» policy: Riot does not sponsor or endorse it. The game rules stay the official ones, and in tournaments our tournament rules apply.

2. Prepare your deck

The deck you play in the tournament must be the one registered on the site. The fastest way to bring it into Rift Atlas is the text list:

  • Open your deck in the Riftbound Zone deck builder and copy the list (text export).
  • On Rift Atlas go to Choose a deck and paste the list: the simulator accepts pasted or imported decklists.
  • Check the card count: Legend, champion, main deck, 12 runes and battlefields. If a card is not recognised, for example right after a new set, search it by hand and replace it.

You can also build the deck directly in the Rift Atlas deck builder, but for the tournament the list on the site is the one that counts: if you change anything, change it there before the start.

3. The four play modes

  • Quick Match: pick a constructed or sealed deck and join the matchmaking queue for a random opponent. Good for practice, not used in tournaments.
  • Private Room: create a room for a friend, or join one with their code. This is the tournament mode.
  • Solo Play: test a deck with no opponent or control both sides, useful to learn curves and opening hands.
  • Spectate: enter a room code to watch a match in progress. This is what streamers use for the Stream Table.
Gradeon, official sponsor of Riftbound Zone: grade your Riftbound cards from your phoneSponsor

4. A tournament match, step by step

  • Pairing. Each round Vander DMs you your opponent and table number, and posts the pairings in the table-pairings channel.
  • Voice. Join your table's voice channel, muted is fine: it is mandatory for the whole tournament. No-shows skip the next 4 online tournaments.
  • Room. One of you opens a Private Room on Rift Atlas and says the code in voice, or writes it in the table channel. The other joins with the code.
  • Match. Best of 3 with the official rules. The simulator keeps the board tidy, but the decisions are yours: when in doubt, stop and ask.
  • Result. When the series is over, one of you enters the score on the tournament page (2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 0-2, 1-1) and the other confirms it. Until it is confirmed the result does not count in the standings.
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Judge. If you need a judge, write in the judge-call channel from your table's voice channel: the bot alerts the judges and tells them which table you are at. Round timers and extra turns follow the instructions you get in the DM.

5. During the game: useful tools

  • Rewind: undo a mistake. Use it with your opponent's agreement, as you would in paper.
  • Auto-pay: the simulator can pay costs for you; still check which runes you exhaust or recycle, because rune management decides games.
  • If you lose the connection, tell your opponent in voice right away; if you cannot resume, call a judge instead of replaying on your own.

6. Common problems

  • A card is missing. Right after a set release it can take a few days: replace it by hand in the Rift Atlas deck builder.
  • The board stutters. Close other heavy tabs and use an up-to-date browser; on a phone the game is awkward.
  • Wrong room code. Have it repeated in voice or written in the table channel: safer than dictating it.

Next stepTournaments of Riftbound Zone: calendar and sign-ups→

Rift Atlas FAQ

Is Rift Atlas official?
No: it is a community-made simulator built with Riot assets under the «Legal Jibber Jabber» policy. Riot does not sponsor it. For Riftbound Zone tournaments it is the platform we use since 20 September 2026.

What does it cost and what do I install?
Nothing: it is free and runs in the browser, with no download.

Can I play on my phone?
It opens on a phone too, but the board is small and tournament games are long: a PC or laptop is better.

What about TCG Arena?
Still useful for practice and it has a dedicated guide, but our tournament games are played on Rift Atlas.

Where do I enter the result?
On the tournament page on the site: one player enters the series score and the other confirms it. The link is in the pairing DM.