Gaming
esports
Legends of Runeterra’s competitive scene and how to break into it
Are you interested in competitive LoR but don't know where to start? We’ve got insider tips from perennial Masters rank player Morppadorp on how to follow it as a fan or start competing yourself.
Legends of Runeterra is a digital collectible card game developed and published by Riot Games. This free-to-play title for PC and Mobile makes use of the League of Legends universe and has attracted many talented players to compete for Prime Glory. Figuring out how to tap into this competitive scene is tough when there’s so little about it that’s advertised. But, luckily for us, Canadian eight-time Masters ranked player Morppadorp has the insider knowledge to help you break into this up and coming esport title, either as a fan or as a competitive player.
Who is Morppadorp?
Angus "Morppadorp" Lam, is a Legends of Runeterra competitor from Toronto, Canada that plays for Team Aretuza and is an expert on all things LoR. On top of placing in the top cut of many community tournaments, Morpp is a writer for RuneterraCCG, streams regularly on Twitch and is a coach for players that want to study CCG theory and apply that knowledge to improve their win rate.
His interest in card games originated with Yu-Gi-Oh!, but his passion for competitive CCGs didn't come about until he was introduced to Legends of Runeterra by a friend. Outside of LoR, Morpp is a Media Production student at Ryerson University and a fan of the Toronto Raptors.
LoR is a very, very good game. If you have any doubts about getting into it competitively, just try it out and see if you like it. I assure you, there's a good chance you will very much like it.
What device(s) do you need to play competitive LoR?
Even though there are advantages to using a PC, all you really need is a smartphone and a stable internet connection.
“Personally, I have a gaming PC setup. I think the majority of people who stream and play competitively also use a PC,” says Morpp.
“I know of [MisterBear] from Singapore, who has won one of the Southeast Asia Seasonal Tournament’s for LoR, and he said he was playing most of the matches on his phone. He also very frequently plays while he's on the bus or when he’s in transit and he's like one of the best players in the game.”
What does LoR’s first party competitive scene look like?
Riot separates the Legends of Runeterra competitive scene into four regional shards.
“There's the Americas, there's the Europe shard, which consists of both Europe and Africa, and then there's the Asia region which is exclusively, as of right now, just Japan and South Korea. Unfortunately, LoR has not been released in China yet, which is why China is not part of the Asia shard, and there's the Southeast Asian shard, which is just like a variety of Southeast Asian countries: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, stuff like that," says Morpp.
Each shard has their own Seasonal Tournaments with two ways to qualify. Either you must be in the top 700 Masters players, or be one of the first 324 people to achieve Prime Glory in the Last Chance Gauntlet. But Morppadorp believes some shards are more competitive than others.
“Asia and Southeast Asia are kind of a bit weaker in terms of just overall player strength. For the first season I think Southeast Asia didn't even get 700 Masters players to enter the tournament, like they actually didn't hit their cap of 1024 players," explains Morpp.
They usually hit this cap now, but it was a sign that Southeast Asia was just like, not that strong as a region and or their player base just wasn't as big as, like you know, America or Europe. I think Asia is kind of in a similar boat."
Out of the stronger regions, Europe and the Americas, Morpp says that Brazil has the highest concentration of really good players and he expects to see at least one Brazilian player in the top cut of most tournaments.
If you ask most competitive players, they'll say Brazil is definitely the strongest region in terms of LoR, which is really strange, in the case of League of Legends, it's always been China and Korea that have dominated, but here it's this South American country.
On top of Seasonal Tournaments, a World Championship has been announced for September 2021, which Morpp says is imperative for keeping talented players interested in the game.
“Worlds existing is really important because it gives competitive players something to strive for, it gives us a reason to play. We all want the glory of going to the first World Championship,” says Morpp.
What exists outside of Seasonal Tournaments and the World Championship?
Those that want to find other tournaments to compete in can consult Cephalopod’s spreadsheet that is pinned to his Twitter account. Cephalopod is a top player in the US and a friend of Morppadorp’s.
Morpp suggests that people who want to watch top talent compete, but don't want to wait for the Seasonal Tournaments, can tune into GiantSlayerLoR’s Fight Night: Legends every Friday to watch the best players compete. They’ve recently started a Brazilian only tournament on a separate channel GiantSlayerBR on Saturdays.
“These guys run tournaments three times a week. Granted, these are not open to the public, but they are a good way to get a glimpse as to who's doing well in the scene, who got invited and why, and they also do a really good job establishing narratives within the top player community,” says Morpp.
Who are the best content creators to keep competitive?
The two biggest streamers/content creators Morppadorp swears have helped him stay competitive are swimstrim and BruisedByGod.
“The thing I like about swim, is that he strikes a good balance between casual content and competitive content. [His content is] a nice way for casual players to be more competitive and for competitive players to kind of remind themselves why they play, which is to have fun,” says Morpp.
“He has a website as well, where he updates a decks tier list relatively frequently. He's just a very knowledgeable person and he has resources to help the Runeterra scene stay competitive and to kind of understand what's good right now and why. BBG definitely represents the true ladder grinder in my eyes, so he'll be the person who just streams for like six hours every single day. I think he takes Sundays off, but like he's still streaming Monday to Saturday six hours of ladder."
Who are some of Canada’s top players?
Besides himself, Morppadorp says Canadians can follow: BlazinAzn, RattlingBones, Glop, Darkodius, HunterVii, MonteXristo, ryanlaguatan, Sekuu, LazaroB88, Calamity Jun, Kevor24, Erigby and last, but not least, Henneky.
“I think Canada in general just has a very promising future in LoR and I think there's a lot of good players within the country,” says Morppadorp.
“I think one of the biggest success stories from the Canadian point of view is Henneky. So Henneky placed top four in the first two Seasonal Tournaments, which I think is crazy because it's a really hard feat to do once let alone twice. So I would say he's one of Canada's brightest stars as of right now.”
