The bracketWho plays the quarterfinals
Pairings follow the Swiss standings: first plays eighth, second plays seventh and so on. The number in brackets is where each player finished the preliminary rounds.
| Match | Player | Legend | Swiss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nam Dang (1st) | Riven, The Exile | 9-0-2 |
| 1 | Daniel Vu (8th) | Rengar, Pridestalker | 9-1-1 |
| 2 | Bo Su (4th) | Riven, The Exile | 9-1-1 |
| 2 | Capt.Dewgong (5th) | Riven, The Exile | 9-1-1 |
| 3 | Alex Gorica (3rd) | Akali, Rogue Assassin | 9-1-1 |
| 3 | Dylan Sumner (6th) | Kennen, Heart of the Tempest | 9-1-1 |
| 4 | Calvin Jin (2nd) | Viktor, Herald of the Arcane | 9-1-1 |
| 4 | Arnon (7th) | Riven, The Exile | 9-1-1 |
The second quarterfinal is a mirror: Riven, The Exile against Riven, The Exile. At least one Riven is therefore guaranteed a semifinal slot, and at most three can get there.
The LegendsOne from Radiance, four veterans
Riven is the only Legend from the new set to survive the cut. The other four all come from earlier sets: Viktor, Herald of the Arcane is an Origins card from a year ago, and Calvin Jin rode it to second seed; Akali, Rogue Assassin and Kennen, Heart of the Tempest are from Vendetta; Rengar, Pridestalker is from Unleashed.
Of the 723 Legends registered at the start, Riven was already the most popular pick with 96 decks, 13% of the field, ahead of Kennen on 56 and a cluster of five Legends around 5%. Results did the rest: the final top 64 holds 23 Riven and 11 Kennen, while the rest of the Radiance Legends are down to a single Evelynn, with Orianna and Mordekaiser placing nobody at all.
96 decks, 23 in the top 64
13% of the starting field, 36% of the top 64 and half of the Top 8.
One player in the top 64
Evelynn places one. Orianna and Mordekaiser place none, from 29 and 25 registered decks.
It matches what the day-one numbers already showed, when win rates had Riven at 63% and every other Radiance Legend below 50%. After the cut, those percentages have a bracket to back them up.
How it worksThe words you need
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Swiss | Nobody is knocked out: each round pairs you with someone on your own score. Sacramento ran eleven rounds across two days. |
| Cut | Once the Swiss ends only the top eight stay in, and they play single elimination for the title. |
| 9-0-2 | Nine wins, no losses, two draws. A draw happens when the clock runs out with nobody finished. |
| Invite | A guaranteed seat at the Regional Championship, the continental event: no need to qualify again. |
On the lineWhat they take home
At 755 entrants Sacramento counts as a Tier I Showdown Series, the bracket for events of 512 players and up: Regional Championship invites go to the top four and Regional Qualifier passes to the top sixteen. Whoever finishes highest with their Legend also collects a non-foil Prize Wall Plated Legend.
Quarterfinals, semifinals and the final are played overnight European time between Sunday and Monday. The winner and the decklists follow straight after: our Sacramento live page refreshes itself round by round with the full standings and the bracket.
Why it matters here. Sacramento is the first five-hundred-plus tournament played with Radiance legal, which makes it the first real data set on the format that will also decide the Regional Championship in Stuttgart on November 6-8. Stuttgart runs open decklists, so knowing that half the Sacramento Top 8 was Riven matters both for anyone choosing what to bring and, more to the point, for anyone preparing to face it. The other eight Radiance names have yet to find a build that works.
In short
- Sacramento Showdown Series Top 8: four Riven, The Exile, plus Viktor, Akali, Kennen and Rengar.
- Nam Dang tops the Swiss undefeated at 9-0-2, from 755 entrants and 2,519 matches played.
- Riven is the only Radiance Legend in the cut: 23 of them in the top 64, against a single Evelynn and no Orianna or Mordekaiser.
- Tier I event: Regional Championship invites for the top four, Regional Qualifier passes for the top sixteen.
Source: TopDeck.gg (standings and bracket) and Riftbound Organized Play (Showdown Series tiers and prizing). Analysis by Riftbound Zone. Images: Riot Games.
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