Hartford Regional Qualifier Breakdown — Hextech Analytics

Master Yi has been the bridesmaid of Western Riftbound since Houston, and Hartford finally handed him the trophy. Factor took a Body/Calm Wuju Bladesman list through the 1,661-player Day 1 field at 14-1-1 and closed the finals 2-0 over bsweitz's Diana, making him the first Master Yi champion in the eight Regional Qualifiers the West has run, at the event the desk framed as the last Regional Qualifier of the Unleashed format. A week after Utrecht showed 59% of Master Yi players reaching Day 2, the deck stopped teasing and won the whole thing.

14-1-1

Champion's record

2-0

Finals sweep

6 / 8

Top 8 decks on Chaos

1st

Master Yi title ever

Factor

Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman

Hartford Regional Qualifier champion

CalmBody14-1-1

Riftbound Legend: Wuju Bladesman - Starter. While a friendly unit defends alone, it gets +2 [S].

Riftbound Unit: Master Yi, Tempered. [Hunt 2] (When I conquer or hold, gain 2 XP.)
[Level 6][>] I have [Deflect] and [Ganking]. (While you have 6+ XP, opponents must pay [A] to choose me with a spell or ability and I can move from battlefield to battlefield.)

The field

Nobody can accuse the champion of dodging the metagame: Master Yi was the most played deck of the weekend at 10.9% of Day 1 and grew to 18.2% of the Day 2 metagame per the official numbers, with Diana second and Leblanc rounding out the top three. The desk noted that in a field of 1,661 Day 1 players, every deck outside the top three sat below that tier, which is a flatter spread than any Spiritforged event produced.

The oddity is what happened to Utrecht's heroes. Darius and Sett drew just 20 players each in Hartford despite both making the Utrecht Top 8 the weekend before, which might be the fastest I have ever seen a field move on from its own results, while Lux brought only 24 players and still landed CTCG Relivia at the final table.

Prismaticismism deserves his own line here: the desk cited his average placement across every regional as 13th, and Hartford put him at yet another final table, which tells you the player pool at the top of this game has gotten very small and very sharp.

The Top 8

The desk described a bracket led by Mind and Chaos decks, counting three Dianas plus an Ezreal on that domain pairing and six of eight decks carrying Chaos. It is hard not to read that as a direct answer to the Chaos-free Top 8 Utrecht produced a week earlier.

The bracket lost its favorite almost immediately: bsweitz beat Atlanta champion Prismaticismism in the quarterfinals, prompting the call that “the juggernaut of the top” 8 was gone and a new champion was guaranteed.

Bradykin earned the first seed with the best Swiss run of the weekend. He came to Hartford with the goal of making Day 2, in his own words, and left the Swiss rounds as the only undefeated player at 11-0-1, riding an Ezreal the desk said had posted an 84% win rate into Diana across the weekend. In a bracket holding three Dianas, that matchup table made him the most dangerous player in the building until the semifinals stopped him.

1st

Factor

Master YiBodyCalm

2nd

bsweitz

DianaMindChaos

3rd

Bradykin

EzrealMindChaos

4th

Linsanity

DianaMindChaos

5th

ASC Evansrhim

DianaMindChaos

6th

CTCG Relivia

LuxMindOrder

7th

Prismaticismism

AnnieFuryChaos

8th

Mirru

PykeFuryChaos

Placements and decklists from the official Hartford's Top Decks article; the bracket detail comes from the official broadcast.

The winning list

Factor's title comes with a revenge arc attached: his finals opponent bsweitz had beaten him at Vancouver a few weeks earlier, and the new champion's interview did not hide how that felt, with Factor saying that “getting my revenge there” was nice.

Getting my revenge there.
Factor, after sweeping the finals against the opponent who beat him in Vancouver

The interview's best moment belonged to a card rather than a player. The desk teased Factor about Ruin Runner, “the worst card that you had seen all” weekend by his own account, which then kept running to the top of his deck and ended up closing the title. There is a nice irony in the list itself, because Ruin Runner sits at just two copies in the main deck with a third waiting in the sideboard, so the card he trusted least is the one that finished the job.

Ruin Runner

The card Factor trusted least kept running to the top of his deck and closed the title.

Underneath the story sits a very consolidated piece of deckbuilding: nine different cards appear at three copies, led by Charm, Defy, Lonely Poro, Pit Rookie, Scuttle Crab, and Rengar, Trophy Hunter. En Garde, Fiora, Peerless, First Mate, and Zhonya's Hourglass appear twice, while Challenge and Primal Strength appear once. The rune base commits seven to Body and five to Calm, and the sideboard stays just as tight, carrying three copies of Disarming Rake, a pair of Alpha Strike, and single copies of Challenge, Fiora, Peerless, and Ruin Runner. A list this focused seems to say Factor knew exactly which game he wanted every matchup to become, and a 14-1-1 record is hard to argue with.

1st

Winning list · Factor's Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman

1st place · 14-1-1 · Beat bsweitz's Diana 2-0 in the finals

Main deck (40 incl. chosen champion)

Riftbound Unit: Lonely Poro. [Deathknell] — If I died alone, draw 1. (When I die, get the effect. I'm alone if there are no other friendly units here.) — Lonely Poro

Riftbound Unit: Scuttle Crab. (Units with 0 [S] can conquer and hold.)
When you play me, draw 1.
[Deathknell][>] Choose an opponent. They reveal their hand. You can look at their facedown cards this turn. Gain 1 XP. (When I die, get the effects.) — Scuttle Crab

Riftbound Unit: Pit Rookie. When you play me, buff another friendly unit. (If it doesn't have a buff, it gets a +1 [S] buff.) — Pit Rookie

Riftbound Unit: First Mate. When you play me, ready another unit. — First Mate

Riftbound Unit: Fiora, Peerless. When I attack or defend one on one, double my Might this combat. — Fiora, Peerless

Riftbound Unit: Rengar, Trophy Hunter. [Ambush] (You may play me as a [Reaction] to a battlefield where you have units.)
I can be played to a battlefield where there are enemy units (even if you don't have units there). — Rengar, Trophy Hunter

Riftbound Gear: Zhonya's Hourglass. [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].)
If a friendly unit would die, kill this instead. Heal that unit, exhaust it, and recall it. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) — Zhonya's Hourglass

Riftbound Spell: En Garde. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Give a friendly unit +1 [S] this turn, then an additional +1 [S] this turn if it is the only unit you control there. — En Garde

Riftbound Spell: Charm. Move an enemy unit. — Charm

Riftbound Spell: Defy. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Counter a spell that costs no more than [4] and no more than [A]. — Defy

Riftbound Spell: Sabotage. Choose an opponent. They reveal their hand. Choose a non-unit card from it, and recycle that card. — Sabotage

Riftbound Spell: Punch First. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Give a unit +5 [S] this turn. — Punch First

Riftbound Spell: Discipline. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Give a unit +2 [S] this turn. Draw 1. — Discipline

Riftbound Spell: Challenge. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Choose a friendly unit and an enemy unit. They deal damage equal to their Mights to each other. — Challenge

Riftbound Spell: Primal Strength. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Give a unit +7 [S] this turn. — Primal Strength

Runes (12)

Battlefields (3)

Riftbound Battlefield: Emperor's Dais. When you conquer here, you may pay [1] and return a unit you control here to its owner's hand. If you do, play a 2 [S] Sand Soldier unit token here. — Emperor's Dais

Riftbound Battlefield: Seat of Power. When you conquer here, draw 1 for each other battlefield you or allies control. — Seat of Power

Riftbound Battlefield: The Arena's Greatest. At the start of each player's first Beginning Phase, that player gains 1 point. — The Arena's Greatest

Sideboard (8)

Riftbound Unit: Disarming Rake. When you play me, you may kill a gear. — Disarming Rake

Riftbound Spell: Alpha Strike. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Choose a friendly unit. It deals damage equal to its Might split among enemy units at battlefields. Then for each unit this kills, do this: Gain 1 XP. — Alpha Strike

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Notable decks from the Top 8

bsweitz's Diana (2nd)

The runner-up Diana is the closest thing Unleashed has to a widely used build done perfectly: 7/5 Chaos/Mind runes, the full Ravenbloom Student, Tideturner, Stacked Deck, and Stupefy to keep finding answers, three copies of Vex, Apathetic doing the work the Vancouver desk described, and Sprite Fountain creating a ready 3-Might Temporary Sprite when played and another when the Fountain dies. The varied counts of Fizz, Trickster, Hwei, Brooding Painter, and Moonfall are where the personal choices live, and a list this clean beating another Diana on the way to the finals suggests games between two Diana decks may now test play skill more than deckbuilding.

Inside the most common Diana list

Vex, Apathetic

Three copies doing the work the Vancouver desk described.

Sprite Fountain

Creates a ready Temporary Sprite when played and repeats that effect when the Gear dies.

2ndbsweitz's Diana, Scorn of the MoonView decklist

2nd place

Main deck (40 incl. chosen champion)

Riftbound Unit: Ravenbloom Student. When you play a spell, give me +1 [S] this turn. — Ravenbloom Student

Riftbound Unit: Tideturner. [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].)
When you play me, you may choose a unit you control at another location. Move me to its location and it to my original location. — Tideturner

Riftbound Unit: Traveling Merchant. When I move, discard 1, then draw 1. — Traveling Merchant

Riftbound Unit: Diana, Lunari. When a showdown begins here, you may pay [1]. If you do, [Predict], then reveal the top card of your Main Deck. If it's a spell, draw it. (To Predict, look at the top card of your Main Deck. You may recycle it.) — Diana, Lunari

Riftbound Unit: Fizz, Trickster. When you play me, you may play a spell from your trash with Energy cost no more than [3], ignoring its Energy cost. Recycle that spell after you play it. (You must still pay its Power cost.) — Fizz, Trickster

Riftbound Unit: Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror. [Ambush] (You may play me as a [Reaction] to a battlefield where you have units.)
When I attack or defend, if an enemy unit is alone here, give me +2 [S] this turn and gain 2 XP. — Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror

Riftbound Unit: Hwei, Brooding Painter. When I move, draw 1, then discard 1. Then, do the following based on the discarded card's type:
* Spell — Draw 1.
* Gear — Ready up to 2 runes.
* Unit — Give me +3 [S] this turn. — Hwei, Brooding Painter

Riftbound Spell: Stupefy. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Give a unit -1 [S] this turn, to a minimum of 1 [S]. Draw 1. — Stupefy

Riftbound Spell: Acceptable Losses. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Each player kills one of their gear. — Acceptable Losses

Riftbound Spell: Gust. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Return a unit at a battlefield with 3 [S] or less to its owner's hand. — Gust

Riftbound Spell: Stacked Deck. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Look at the top 3 cards of your Main Deck. Put 1 into your hand and recycle the rest. — Stacked Deck

Riftbound Spell: Hard Bargain. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
[Repeat] [2] (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.)
Counter a spell unless its controller pays [2]. — Hard Bargain

Riftbound Spell: Ride the Wind. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Move a friendly unit and ready it. — Ride the Wind

Riftbound Spell: Rebuke. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Return a unit at a battlefield to its owner's hand. — Rebuke

Riftbound Spell: Eclipse. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Give a unit -4 [S] this turn.
[Predict]. (Look at the top card of your Main Deck. You may recycle it.) — Eclipse

Riftbound Spell: Moonfall. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Choose a battlefield where you have units. You may move up to one enemy unit to that battlefield. Then give enemy units there -2 [S] this turn. — Moonfall

Riftbound Spell: Star-Crossed. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Return a friendly unit and an enemy unit to their owners' hands. — Star-Crossed

Runes (12)

Riftbound Rune: Chaos Rune. — Chaos Rune

Battlefields (3)

Riftbound Battlefield: Abandoned Hall. When a player plays a spell, they may give a unit they control here +1 [S] this turn. — Abandoned Hall

Sideboard (8)

Riftbound Spell: Turn to Dust. Give a gear [Temporary]. (Kill it at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring.) — Turn to Dust

Riftbound Spell: Switcheroo. [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].)
[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Swap the Might of two units at the same battlefield this turn. — Switcheroo

Riftbound Spell: Singularity. Deal 6 to each of up to two units. — Singularity

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CTCG Relivia's Lux (6th)

Twenty-four players brought Lux to Hartford and the best of them reached the Top 8 on a Mind/Order list built to keep drawing and replaying cards: Downstage Dramatics and Progress Day draw more cards, Seal of Insight supplies Mind Power, Forge of the Future makes a Recruit and recycles cards from the trashes, and Sacrifice turns a friendly Mighty unit into two cards and a channeled rune. Ekko, Recurrent can ready those runes again when he dies. Relivia also committed fully to the role the desk assigned him as the tournament's villain, eliminating two-time champion Alanzq1 from contention in round eleven before he ever reached the bracket, and he did all of it on one of only two decks at the final table without the Chaos domain.

6thCTCG Relivia's Lux, Lady of LuminosityView decklist

6th place

Main deck (40 incl. chosen champion)

Riftbound Unit: Soaring Scout. [Deathknell] — Channel 1 rune exhausted. (When I die, get the effect.) — Soaring Scout

Riftbound Unit: Ekko, Recurrent. [Accelerate] (You may pay [1][C] as an additional cost to have me enter ready.)
[Deathknell] — Recycle me to ready your runes. (When I die, get the effect.) — Ekko, Recurrent

Riftbound Unit: Lux, Illuminated. When you play a spell that costs [5] or more, give me +3 [S] this turn. — Lux, Illuminated

Riftbound Gear: Seal of Insight. [T]: [Reaction] — [Add] [C]. (Abilities that add resources can't be reacted to.) — Seal of Insight

Riftbound Gear: Sumpworks Map. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
[Temporary] (Kill this at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring.)
When an opponent scores, draw 1. — Sumpworks Map

Riftbound Gear: Forge of the Future. When you play this, play a 1 [S] Recruit unit token at your base.
Kill this: Recycle up to 4 cards from trashes. — Forge of the Future

Riftbound Spell: Retreat. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
Return a friendly unit to its owner's hand. Its owner channels 1 rune exhausted. — Retreat

Riftbound Spell: Sacrifice. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
As an additional cost to play this, kill a friendly [Mighty] unit. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ [S].)
Draw 2 and channel 1 rune exhausted. — Sacrifice

Riftbound Spell: Downstage Dramatics. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve.)
[Repeat] [2] (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.)
Draw 1. — Downstage Dramatics

Riftbound Spell: Rally the Troops. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
When a friendly unit is played this turn, buff it. (If it doesn't have a buff, it gets a +1 [S] buff.)
Draw 1. — Rally the Troops

Riftbound Spell: Shadow's Call. Choose a friendly unit without [Temporary]. Give it [Temporary]. Draw 2. (Kill it at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring.) — Shadow's Call

Riftbound Spell: Sprite Burst. Play two ready 3 [S] Sprite unit tokens with [Temporary]. (Kill each at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase, before scoring.) — Sprite Burst

Riftbound Spell: Promising Future. Each player looks at the top 5 cards of their Main Deck, banishes one of them, then recycles the rest. Starting with the next player, each player plays those cards, ignoring Energy costs. (They must still pay Power costs.) — Promising Future

Riftbound Spell: Progress Day. Draw 4. — Progress Day

Riftbound Spell: The Ruination. Kill all units. — The Ruination

Riftbound Spell: Time Warp. Take a turn after this one. Banish this. — Time Warp

Runes (12)

Riftbound Rune: Order Rune. — Order Rune

Battlefields (3)

Riftbound Battlefield: Aspirant's Climb. Increase the points needed to win the game by 1. — Aspirant's Climb

Riftbound Battlefield: Forgotten Monument. Players can't score here until their third turn. — Forgotten Monument

Riftbound Battlefield: The Papertree. When you hold here, each player channels 1 rune exhausted. — The Papertree

Sideboard (8)

Riftbound Unit: Card Sharp. When you play me, you and each opponent may play a Gold gear token exhausted. For each opponent who did, you play a Gold gear token exhausted. — Card Sharp

Riftbound Unit: Fiora, Worthy. When a unit you control becomes [Mighty], you may pay [C] to ready it. (A unit is Mighty while it has 5+ [S].) — Fiora, Worthy

Riftbound Unit: Renata Glasc, Mastermind. [1][C]: Draw 1.
[4][C][C][C][C], [T]: Score 1 point.
Use my abilities only while I'm at a battlefield. — Renata Glasc, Mastermind

Riftbound Unit: Ashe, Focused. When you play me, choose an opponent. They reveal their hand. Choose a card revealed this way and banish it. When they hold, return it to their hand (even if I'm no longer on the board). — Ashe, Focused

Riftbound Gear: Garbage Grabber. Recycle 3 from your trash, [1], [T]: Draw 1. — Garbage Grabber

Riftbound Spell: Wages of Pain. [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].)
[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Deal 3 to a unit at a battlefield. Play a Gold gear token exhausted. — Wages of Pain

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Mirru's Pyke (8th)

Pyke's first Western final table came from Team PBG's Mirru on a Fury/Chaos deck that mixes disruption with steady card value: Bewitching Spirit forces a discard, Void Seeker deals 4 and draws a card, Treasure Hunter makes Gold when it moves, and Traveling Merchant trades one card in hand for another. Blighted Battleaxe adds Gear pressure, while Kai'Sa, Survivor can enter ready and draw after conquering, all on a dead-even six-and-six rune split. A player interviewed on the Utrecht Day 2 broadcast had already called Pyke “probably the second best deck behind Diana,” and one week later the Bloodharbor Ripper backed the scouting report up with a bracket seat.

8thMirru's Pyke, Bloodharbor RipperView decklist

8th place

Main deck (40 incl. chosen champion)

Riftbound Unit: Treasure Hunter. When I move, play a Gold gear token exhausted. — Treasure Hunter

Riftbound Unit: Pyke, Dockside Butcher. [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].)
[Ganking] (I can move from battlefield to battlefield.)
You may pay [C] as an additional cost to play me.
When you play me, if you paid the additional cost, ready me and give me +2 [S] this turn. — Pyke, Dockside Butcher

Riftbound Unit: Bewitching Spirit. When you play me, choose a player. They discard 1. — Bewitching Spirit

Riftbound Unit: Rengar, Pouncing. [Reaction] (Play any time, even before spells and abilities resolve, including to a battlefield you control.)
[Assault 2] (+2 [S] while I'm an attacker.)
I can be played to a battlefield you're attacking. — Rengar, Pouncing

Riftbound Unit: Ezreal, Prodigy. When you play me, discard 1, then draw 2.
Optional additional costs you pay cost [1] or [A] less. — Ezreal, Prodigy

Riftbound Unit: Kai'Sa, Survivor. [Accelerate] (You may pay [1][C] as an additional cost to have me enter ready.)
When I conquer, draw 1. — Kai'Sa, Survivor

Riftbound Unit: Ferrous Forerunner. [Deathknell] — Play two 3 [S] Mech unit tokens to your base. (When I die, get the effect.) — Ferrous Forerunner

Riftbound Unit: Mindsplitter. When you play me, choose an opponent. They reveal their hand. Choose a card from it, and they discard that card. — Mindsplitter

Riftbound Gear: Blighted Battleaxe. [Equip] [1][C] ([1][C]: Attach this to a unit you control.) — Blighted Battleaxe

Riftbound Spell: Cleave. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Give a unit [Assault 3] this turn. (+3 [S] while it's an attacker.) — Cleave

Riftbound Spell: Falling Star. Deal 3 to a unit.
Deal 3 to a unit. — Falling Star

Riftbound Spell: Void Seeker. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Deal 4 to a unit at a battlefield. Draw 1. — Void Seeker

Runes (12)

Battlefields (3)

Riftbound Battlefield: Forbidding Waste. While a unit here is defending alone, it has -2 [S]. (It's alone if there are no other friendly units here.) — Forbidding Waste

Riftbound Battlefield: Ripper's Bay. When a unit here is returned to a player's hand, that player may pay [1] to channel 1 rune exhausted. — Ripper's Bay

Sideboard (8)

Riftbound Unit: Brynhir Thundersong. When you play me, opponents can't play cards this turn. — Brynhir Thundersong

Riftbound Spell: Thermo Beam. [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.)
Kill all gear. — Thermo Beam

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What we learned

The Unleashed season ends with four different champions in four events: Irelia in Sydney, Diana in Vancouver, Azir in Utrecht, and Master Yi in Hartford, so the format never once crowned the same legend twice. Set against the Spiritforged season that needed a ban wave to loosen Draven's grip, that is about as strong an endorsement of the current design direction as results can give.

Diana leaves the season as the measuring stick even so: three of eight Top 8 seats here, a title in Vancouver, and a Hartford semifinal between two Diana players that guaranteed her a finalist. Whatever the next set changes, the Mind/Chaos moon deck is the one every new deck has to answer first, and I expect the first big question of the new format to be whether anyone can do it without borrowing her own domains.

Looking ahead

The road map from here is already published: Vendetta, the fourth set, previews through July and releases July 31, and the Barcelona Regional Qualifier opens the new season August 21 to 23. That gives the player base roughly three weeks of the new cards before the first trophy is on the line, which is Bologna-to-Vegas turnaround speed applied to an entire format. The prize wall changes with it too, because the desks spent this weekend reminding everyone that Hartford was the last chance at the Origins and Proving Grounds Best-of cards before Vendetta ushers in its own.

I will have a full Vendetta preview here once the reveal season starts, and a Barcelona meta read once we have actual decklists instead of speculation. If you were in Hartford or watched from home, hit me up on X at @shadow618tv and tell me which of the four Unleashed champions had the most impressive run, because I have gone back and forth on it all week.

See you on the rift,
Shadow