Rift Rivals NA vs EU details are set, to take place in Los Angeles

Top League of Legends teams from North America and Europe will face off at Rift Rivals 2019 from June 27 to 29.

The LEC vs. LCS tournament will be hosted in Los Angeles in the LCS studio for the second consecutive year. Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, and Cloud9 will compete against G2 Esports, Fnatic, and Origen for the title. Fnatic claimed victory last year and will look to retain its title and build momentum towards the 2019 World Championship after missing out on the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational.

According to LoLesports.com, the move to return to the LCS studio was made at the request of LEC officials. The decision will allow the staff to focus their efforts on the 2019 World Championship, which will be held in Europe later this year. European fans eager to see international competition live in Berlin will have to wait a little bit longer as a result.

This also impacts the LEC players, who will need to travel to Los Angeles to take part in the event. As a concession, the LEC will see no action the week after Rift Rivals to allow the players time to recover. This has prompted some players including Luka “Perkz” Perković to label Rift Rivals as an unnecessary event and to call for Riot to remove it from the calendar entirely.

The event will feature a unique format, which starts with a round robin group stage comprised entirely of interleague play. The finals are then contested in a relay race best-of-five with each team competing at least once. The first three matches are selected by the side that wins the group stage.

Rift Rivals 2019 will also include a LEC vs. LCS all-star show match and a two-on-two side tournament.