2026 marked a milestone year, the beginning of NRG Series: Riftbound, our first ever non-MTG tournament series! A year of in person Showdown events culminates in the first ever NRG Championship: Riftbound. On Dec 19th at NRG headquarters in Buffalo Grove, IL, sixteen players will compete for an invite to NRG Champs 2027, and for stakes in the $15,000 cash prizes.
NRG Champs is designed to test the skills needed to succeed at the highest levels of competitive play. Thus, the tournament structure demands knowledge across several decks and formats.
Placement | Cash Prize | Invite |
|---|---|---|
1st | $5,000 | NRG Champs 2027 |
2nd | $2,500 | |
3rd-4th | $1,000 | |
5th-8th | $500 | |
9th-16th | $200 + $50 per match win |
Constructed A, Constructed B, Radiance Draft.
To promote deckbuilding skill and format diversity, players will bring two Constructed decks to the event and will play with both. These decks may not share a domain.
4 Stages across two days.
DAY 1: 3 Rounds of Draft, 2 Rounds of Constructed A, 2 Rounds of Constructed B.
DAY 2: 1 Round of Constructed A, 1 Round of Constructed B. Top 8.
When a player reaches 7 match wins they are automatically seeded into the top 8 and removed from Swiss pairings. The first player to 7 wins will be the #1 seed, the second will be #2, and so on. If multiple players reach 7 wins in the same round, the tie-breaking procedure detailed lower in this article will determine their seeds. Once the 9th round has concluded, if there are fewer than 8 players that have reached the 7-match win threshold, players with fewer than 7 wins will be considered based on the tournament tie-breaking procedure.
Each day, players will randomly get paired across opponents regardless of record, excluding the draft which will be paired in pod, keeping in mind that players with particularly strong tournaments are removed from the pairings once they reach 7 wins. This pairing restriction resets overnight, so players may face opponents they played on Day 1 again on Day 2. Care will be taken in Day 2 to prevent players from facing against the same player in the same format, however this cannot be guaranteed; as the tournament shrinks it can become mathematically impossible to avoid repeats.
Stage One: Draft, Rounds 1-3.
Players will be randomly assigned across 2 pods of 8 drafters where they will play within their pod paired by record like a typical draft pod. A players entire draft pool but NOT their build will be used as their open decklist provided to the opponent.
Stage Two: Constructed A and B, Rounds 4-9.
Players will be randomly paired regardless of record against anyone they have not already played that day.
The order of the constructed rounds will be as follows:
Round in Tournament | Format |
|---|---|
1-3 | Radiance Draft |
4-5 | Constructed A |
6-7 (END OF DAY 1) | Constructed B |
8 | Constructed A |
9 (END OF SWISS) | Constructed B |
Stage Three: Top 8, Single Elimination.
The top 8 will begin with a randomly seated draft (ignoring seed so as to prevent planned collusion). Then players will be paired for Quarterfinals based on their seed, ignoring their seating in the draft. Then, for each match, each player will eliminate one of the three formats and the third format will be contested for the match. The weaker seed will have the first format veto, and the stronger seed will have the second format veto (thus locking in the format) and the choice to play/draw. For example, Natalie, the #8 seed, vetoes Draft. Then Andy, the #1 seed, chooses to veto Constructed B. So, the match between Andy and Natalie is Constructed A, with Andy having the play/draw option.
This means that any of the three formats could be contested across the four quarterfinal matches, requiring players to demonstrate mastery and matchup knowledge across multiple formats to advance.
The Top 4 matches will follow the same veto procedure as the Top 8 round. Players will be allowed to veto the same format in multiple rounds if they so choose.
Stage Four: Top 2
The Championship finals is a true test of skill—instead of best-of-three games to determine a winner, we’re playing best-of-three matches. Here’s how the final will look:
Match 1: Stronger seed picks any format and gets their choice of play/draw in Game 1
Match 2: Weaker seed picks either of the remaining formats and gets their choice of play/draw in Game 1
Match 3 (if necessary): The remaining format will be played, and the stronger seed gets their choice of play/draw in Game 1
NO DRAWS: Players will not be allowed to draw during the tournament. Round timers will be extended to 70 minutes to allow matches to come to their natural conclusion. Should time expire, players will have a normal 3-turn extension before entering Sudden Death. These procedures are detailed in the Riftbound Tournament Rules section 408:
"If a player has the most points in the current game, they win that game. Then, if a player has more game wins in the match, they win the match. If the point score of the current game is tied, but a player has the most game wins in the match, that player wins the match. If the point score of the current game is tied and the game score of the match is tied, players continue to play until the next point is scored. The player who scores that point wins the match. This does not remove normal scoring restrictions if the next point is the Final Point."
Additionally, since players are competing to win 7 matches across the first 9 rounds, intentionally drawing a match has no benefit.
BYES: If there’s an odd number of players in any round, the lowest-ranked player based on tournament tiebreakers will receive a bye, which counts toward their goal of 7 match wins. Players who have already received a bye will not be considered for future byes.
DECKLISTS: Due to the nature of live event coverage, decklists will be open for the event. Players may review their opponents’ decklists before their match, during sideboarding, and when making format decisions during the top 8 rounds. For draft, a players entire draft pool but NOT their build will be used as their open decklist provided to the opponent.
Due to the unique tournament structure, modified tiebreakers will be in use for Champs as follows:
Total match wins
Head-to-head result vs. other player(s) involved in the tie*
Game win %
NRG Series leaderboard ranking
* In the case of a three (or more) way tie, head-to-head will only be applied if a player has won against all the other players within the tie. If needed, the head-to-head and game win % may be applied iteratively to determine placement within a multi-way tie.
The 2026 NRG Series MVP will get two strategic selections. First, the MVP will banish one player from their draft pod to be replaced by another random drafter. Further, the same or a different player can be picked and dodged throughout the remaining 6 rounds in Stage Two. That’s right—whether they pick their feared rival, a testing teammate, or a player known to play decks that match up strongly against their own, the MVP will not be paired against the player of their choice during Stages One and Two.
When pairings are reset for Day 2, if the MVP is still competing, the MVP may choose a player to dodge for the 2 remaining rounds of Stage Two or keep their choice the same*.
The MVP will make their Day 1 decision before the publication of the meta game breakdown and each player’s decklists. The Day 2 decision is made before midnight on Day 1.
*unless necessary for tournament pairings
The MVP will receive free entry into all 2027 Riftbound Main Events.
We’re excited to provide the Riftbound community with two full days of video and social media coverage from #NRGCHAMP live from the floor. Tune in to our video coverage on twitch.tv/NRGSeries for all the early-round action on Saturday, and come back Sunday to help us crown our Champion. Don’t forget to follow us on social media @NRGSeries for updates leading up to the event, and stay in the loop with #NRGCHAMP !
The 2026 NRG Series Championship is our eleventh iteration of this event, but the first of its kind for Riftbound, and we continue to strive towards a structure that accomplishes the following goals:
Familiarity for regular tournament players and viewers.
Rewards for outstanding performances with seeding advantages in elimination rounds.
Fair chances for players with early losses to redeem themselves.
Recognition of expertise across multiple tournament formats.
We look forward to your thoughts or questions on this year’s Championship structure, feel free to reach out to us via discord or social media. We hope you’ll join us on December 19-20 as we crown our 2026 NRG Series Champion!
Got a question about the leaderboard and qualifying for Champs? Check out this FAQ article.
Published
Thursday, October 22, 2026
3 weeks ago