What is Open Play?

Open Play is the most relaxed way to play Riftbound: the League of Legends trading card game in a store. The store keeps its tables free for an afternoon or an evening, players come in with their decks, and everyone plays whoever is there. A casual Open Play session has no title to win, and many stores ask nothing to take part.

Open Play is also the name of an event type on playriftbound.com, Riot's own site for organized play. A store picks a type for every Riftbound event it lists there, and Riot's event search places Open Play among the local events, next to Learn to Play, Nexus Nights and Pre-Rift. Riot and UVS Games give stores a format, a schedule and prize support for Nexus Night, Pre-Rift and Summoner Skirmish. Open Play has none of that, so each store decides how its sessions run.

What happens at an Open Play session?

At a casual Open Play session, you sit down with your deck, find an opponent and play as many games as you like. Stores that run these sessions describe them as relaxed, with no tournament pressure. Some of them have no fixed pairings at all, and some let players join at any time during the session. Players come to test a new deck before a Nexus Night, to teach the game to a friend or simply to play against someone new.

Open Play is also a good chance to try the modes for more than two players. The Core Rules list Skirmish for three players, War for four players and Magma Chamber for two teams of two, and several stores advertise their Open Play nights for two-versus-two and free-for-all games as well as one-on-one.

Is every Open Play event a casual session?

No. Stores use the Open Play type for more than casual tables. Some stores list their own tournaments under it: a weekly league in which players collect points over a season, a draft or a sealed event that the store organizes itself, or a small tournament with a booster display as the top prize. Those events have rounds, an entry fee and prizes that the store puts up. Some stores even list their weekly Nexus Night as Open Play.

The name alone does not tell you which kind of session you will find, so read the event page before you go. Each event page in the event finder shows the format and the entry fee, along with the number of rounds and the store's own description when the store gave them.

How is Open Play different from Nexus Night?

Nexus Night is one of Riot's own programs, and Open Play is not. Riot calls Nexus Nights the heart of its local organized play. A store runs its Nexus Night every week and picks Constructed, Sealed or a format built on the Champion Decks, and every player should get a Nexus Night promo pack while the store's supply lasts. The dates and details that UVS Games gave stores for the Radiance season name event kits for Pre-Rift and Summoner Skirmish and promo packs for Nexus Night, and they name no kit or promo pack for Open Play.

The difference shows in the price as well. Most Open Play sessions are free, while most stores ask a small entry fee for their Nexus Night. When an Open Play event does have prizes, such as booster packs or store credit, the store provides them. Far fewer stores list Open Play than Nexus Night, so for most players the weekly Nexus Night stays the main casual event.

What should you bring to Open Play?

Bring a deck of real Riftbound cards, ideally in sleeves. The Tournament Rules allow no proxies at a competition of any level (rule 419.2), and UVS Games tells stores that any event scheduled on the organized play software needs authentic Riftbound cards. A legal deck lets you play against anyone at the table: a Champion Legend, a chosen champion, a main deck of 40 cards, a rune deck of 12 runes and three battlefields. The Core Rules allow a larger main deck, but the Tournament Rules ask for exactly 40 cards at a Constructed event (rule 402.1), so 40 is the safe size. Those are the rules of a legal Riftbound deck, and the deck builder checks them while you build.

A player without a deck of their own can start with a ready-made Champion Deck or with the two decks in a Showdown box, which play well straight out of the box. Open Play is a calm place to learn such a deck before a Nexus Night. If you want to try something unusual, such as a deck that is still half finished, say so to your opponent before the game starts.

An Open Play session listed on playriftbound.com takes sign-ups there with a Riot account, like every other store event, and signing up tells the store how many players to expect. A few dice or counters to keep the score, your XP and any spare Energy or Power are worth packing as well (Tournament Rules 415.3.a and 415.4), the same as for any first Riftbound event.

Is there Open Play at big Riftbound events?

Yes, although Riot calls it a free play area. Riot's plans for its first English Regional Qualifier, in Houston from 5 to 7 December 2025, included a free play area where players could play any format they liked next to the main tournament. Riot's list of upcoming official events names a free play area at Paris Games Week as well, with its dates from 22 to 25 October 2026. The major events page shows the big Riftbound events to come.

How do you find Open Play near you?

The event finder shows Open Play sessions on their own when you pick Open Play as the kind of event, and the filters for place, day, format and entry fee narrow the list further, as the guide to finding a Riftbound event near you explains. The list is short in most places, because far fewer stores hold Open Play than Nexus Night. If no Open Play session is near you, a Constructed Nexus Night is the closest thing to it, and a store with a weekly Nexus Night is also the place to ask about casual tables on other days.

A player who has never played at all is better served by a Learn to Play event, the event made for beginners.