Stuttgart goes open decklist: Riot reshapes rules and prizes
Three weeks out from the European Regional Championship, Riot has changed two things you will notice the moment you sit down. First: Regional Championships will be played with open decklists, so everyone knows what the other player is running. Second: Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends no longer reward the best player on each Legend, they reward where you finish, with the top 58 picking them in order. Alongside that come explicit rules against thrown matches, carrying immediate disqualification and possible suspension. It all applies to Stuttgart (November 6-8), Las Vegas (December 11-13) and the Chinese Regional Championship.
DecklistsEveryone knows what everyone is playing
The change that weighs most on preparation is also the shortest to state: Regional Championships will use open decklists. Every player's list is public, so nothing at the table is a surprise — you already know what your opponent can draw, and you plan around it.
Riot is leaning on a rule that already exists, 401.5.b of the tournament rules: events with a professional OPL — the OPL is the organized play level assigned to a tournament, and professional is the top tier — may be run with open decklists. Until now that was an option; from Stuttgart it is a requirement, and the announcement deliberately lands before the decklist deadline.
PrizingThe top 58 draft the Overnumbered Legends
Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends are the plated versions of Legends with artwork numbered past the set total, introduced as the Best-Of prize at Regional Championships: one went to whoever finished highest on that Legend. Riot says it has been tracking how that prize pushed player choices beyond simply playing a favourite champion, and is changing it.
One per Legend
One copy of each Legend, to the player who finished highest while playing it.
Drafted in order
The top 58 finishers draft from the available Overnumbered Legends in finishing order, starting at 1st place until all 58 are gone.
So the prize stops depending on which champion you picked and goes back to depending on your result: finish fifth, pick fifth, take whichever card you want from what is left.
Best-OfPlated Legends from three sets take over
Best-Of prizing is not going away: it becomes the regular Foil Plated Legend, the same version handed out at Regional Qualifiers, awarded to the highest finishing eligible player on that Legend. Not every Legend qualifies, though: only those from Unleashed, Vendetta and Radiance. Legends from Origins, Proving Grounds and Spiritforged are out of Best-Of prizing at Regional Championships. The entry condition is unchanged — you still have to reach Day 2 on that Legend.
One practical detail hits Stuttgart directly: because of the timing of the change, Radiance Foil Plated Legends will not be handed out at these events. Riot says it is working out how to deliver them to the players who earn them and expects them to be available in January 2027. Win Best-Of on a Radiance Legend and the card arrives later.
IntegrityThrown matches mean instant disqualification
The second half of the announcement tightens the screws on arranged results, the subject the community has been arguing about for weeks and that we covered on October 9. Two new rules, on top of the open decklist requirement: you may not ask for or offer a concession, before or during the tournament; and if a match ends in a draw because time ran out, you may not decide the winner at random, by a coin flip or anything like it.
Three things stay legal: conceding a single game inside a match for tactical reasons — typically to preserve time for game three, but never the game that decides the match; yielding a match for a genuine external reason such as a medical emergency; and intentional draws (IDs) before time expires. Riot will repeat the rules ahead of every event, by email to competitors and in floor announcements: anyone asking for, offering or carrying out an illegal concession or a collusion agreement is disqualified on the spot and risks suspension from competitive play.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Open decklists | Every player's deck is public: your opponent knows it before the match starts. |
| Day 2 | The second day of the tournament. In Stuttgart you get there with 12 or more match points on Friday. |
| Best-Of | A prize for the player who finishes highest among everyone who chose a given Legend. |
| Overnumbered | A Legend printed with a card number past the set total: the plated collector variant. |
| ID | Intentional draw: both players agree to a draw without playing. Legal while time has not expired. |
Why it matters here. The Italian players qualified for Stuttgart have two calculations to redo before locking a list. One: picking an under-played Legend to all but guarantee a Best-Of is worth far less now, because the most coveted card goes to whoever finishes high, not to whoever picked the right champion. Two: everybody reads your list, so surprise tech no longer exists and you want a deck that holds up when the opponent knows exactly what is coming. Whoever makes the trip will still find the Prize Wall and the side events, including the one testing an extra card for the player going second.
The short version
- All three Regional Championships go open decklist: Stuttgart, Las Vegas and the Chinese event.
- Overnumbered Foil Plated Legends go to the top 58 finishers, drafted in finishing order.
- Best-Of becomes the regular Foil Plated Legend, limited to Unleashed, Vendetta and Radiance, and still requires Day 2.
- Radiance Foil Plated Legends will not be distributed on site: Riot expects them in January 2027.
- Asking for or offering a concession means instant disqualification; IDs before time expires remain legal.
Source: Riot Games — Regional Championships: Competitive Integrity & Prizing. Images: Riot Games.
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