Rift Rivals has come to an end. Though the tournament had a light-hearted feeling to it, the LCK fans were disappointed nonetheless. They were in awe when they bore witness to the LCK teams successfully fending off the LMS and LPL's aggressive plays, but they groaned when their region was unable to meet the expectations when it really mattered. The past can't be changed, but people still often wonder how the past might have been if something were different, just as the fans wonder how the RIft Rivals competition might have gone if LCK's new No.1 team, Griffin, had participated.  

The process of selecting teams to compete in the Rift Rivals tournament is actually an odd one. Although the tournament takes place during the middle of the Summer split, the teams selected to compete in the tournament are picked based on their Spring split results. Putting together strong teams from Spring could certainly be entertaining, but it is not guaranteed that the teams will perform at the same level that they did in the last split. Aside from simple performance issues, some teams have also gone through significant roster changes. It doesn't seem unreasonable to ask the question, "is it best to send teams to an international tournament based on their Spring results?"

Also, there already is an international tournament that is based purely off of Spring split results, and that's MSI. If the purpose of "Rift Rivals" is to pit rival regions of similar strength against each other, the tournament could be more competitive if the teams are selected based off of their immediate level of performance. Is it truly necessary to hold two tournaments that are based on the same results?

A lot of fans have shared their ideas to improve the tournament. Instead of rushing the tournament before Round 1 of the Summer split even ends, they suggested running the tournament at least after Round 1 has finished -- and then selecting teams to compete in Rift Rivals based on the Round 1 results. This way, Riot won't need to rely on Spring results alone, and even if an inexperienced team competes in the RR competition, it'll be a valuable experience for them in the end. In addition, this will lessen the pressure the teams feel from the busy schedule. Some have also suggested that Riot should simply fuse the Rift Rivals and ALL-Star tournaments together, get rid of the entire 'light-hearted' part, and make it a major tournament similar to MSI.

Aside from the World Championship, Rift Rivals is one of the only competitions that pits rival regions against one another; that's one of the main reasons it provides a lot of entertainment for the fans. This tournament needs to be conducted while considering the state of all the regional leagues. A busy schedule, lower prize winnings, and an inefficient selection method; If these negative factors are fixed and improved upon, then maybe Rift Rivals will one day evolve into the fierce tournament fans think it could be.