Draven dominates meta as Simon Sun wins New Zealand $10,000 Riftbound Open
The top Kiwi Riftbound player took out Australian Ross Jones in the final of New Zealand’s biggest TCG tournament in history.
Ducky·April 22, 2026·3 min read
Despite bans and rule changes less than a week out from New Zealand’s biggest TCG tournament ever, results prove Riftbound is still the League of Draven.
Simon Sun, widely considered the best Kiwi player, managed to pilot the Glorious Executioner to win the 340-player New Zealand $10,000 Riftbound Open. He took down the sole Lucian player to make Day 2, Australian Ross Jones, in the final 2-0.
This was despite a rocky start from Sun. “From a 3–2 start on Day 1 to becoming the champion on Day 2, every match was intense and close,” he said on Facebook following the event.
Sun’s list featured staples such as Kai’Sa Survivor, Darius Trifarian, Overzealous Fan and Ferrous Forerunner. With no more Draven Vanquisher, he opted for the Origins Showboat chosen champion.
“Purple Draven costs 6 [energy], which overlaps with Ferrous Forerunner’s slot, and it can sometimes give your opponent scoring opportunities,” he explained. “In contrast, red Draven is a very strong defensive unit in the late game.
“Thanks to Ferrous Forerunner, against non-purple decks this card becomes an incredibly powerful value engine — the longer the game goes, the more pressure it puts on your opponent.
“In my list, I also take three Falling Star to continuously extend the resource gap. As long as you can stabilize the board, even if you’re behind (for example 3-7), you can still come back. It’s very difficult for opponents to deal with holding two battlefields while also [hiding two cards].”
This was echoed by Esala Wathutrantrige, who finished in the top 4. Known for his success in Yu-Gi-Oh, Esala brought a modified version of his Draven deck to Auckland, saving some special tech for the upcoming Regional Qualifier in Atlanta.
However it still rocked some spice, including Gust in his mainboard and keeping the anti-miracle tech card Against The Odds in his sideboard.
“I think many people wrote off Draven and were excited to see if other decks that had been locked out could take over,” he told Piltover Archive.
“I knew that Draven was still probably strong but I also wanted to try everything else, but ultimately felt that it was still the strongest on Friday night prior to the event.”
With Irelia stumbling in her first major outing post-bans, many are expecting Draven to continue dominating the meta for the rest of Spiritforged, including Esala.
“Draven will have a strong showing for sure at future events,” he continued. “At the very least, its representation will be higher now that people have the data to support its strength in the meta.
“[He] will definitely have a target on its back moving forward.”
The next major event in Oceania will be the Sydney Regional Qualifier on 15-17 May. More than 1,000 players are expected to compete for best-of honors in the first major Western Unleashed tournament.
Disclaimer: The author of this article participated in the New Zealand $10,000 Riftbound Open as a floor judge.
