How Schorn won Lille’s Best Of Master Yi: “I didn’t dream of second place”
Schorn went into Riftbound Regional Qualifier Lille hoping for a top 64 finish. What happened in the three days after, winning Best Of Master Yi and taking home second place, went beyond his wildest dreams.
Ducky·April 24, 2026·10 min read
Sean ‘Schorn’ Binks’ Lille luck started back on 18 February with just getting a ticket in the first place.
After missing out on the Riftbound Regional Qualifier Bologna rush and having to opt for side event farming for Europe’s first regional qualifier, he made sure to secure his spot in the main event. That was the first sigh of relief.
Then the main event came, and the pressure started to bubble.
“I was joking around with my friends saying ‘I want to get Best Of Yi’, and it was working in my small cosmos in my area,” he told Piltover Archive. “Everyone was saying ‘you’ll get Best Of Yi, you’ve trained so hard for it,’ but I wasn’t sure. If there were 20 Yis at the event, maybe, but it didn’t even cross my imagination.”
So color him surprised when there were five times that in the main event of nearly 2,000 players. 101 people fighting for the prized Best Of card. The opening few games were easier, but by the end of Day 1, sitting near the top of the ladder, he was “struggling.”
“With Yi I have a lot of time so I rarely went into overtime,” he said. “The more I won, the more intense the games got because every misplay could give me a loss.
“[But] every game though, I got closer and closer and I got more hope.”
Nevertheless, he persevered. Schorn would be the first to admit he is far from the most seasoned card game veteran, but he has the right attitude and commitment to make it through these tense brackets. Smile, potentially grit your teeth, and pray lady luck is on your side.
“I started TCGs ages ago with YGO, but I was not competitive. After it got too complex, I left it behind — and it wasn’t until the live action One Piece where I started with One Piece [TCG] and started to get competitive.
“I played One Piece for the lore and characters, but the gameplay was not that complex. It’s a rock-paper-scissors game.
“In Riftbound, you can do so many different things and spice up your deck with different tech cards your opponent won’t suspect and really turn the game around. It’s a hard match and it’s worth it, even if you lose in the end. That’s part of why I love Riftbound.”
Schorn, fourth from right, at Riftbound Regional Qualifier Lille.
In Bologna, despite not making the main event, he performed decently enough in the Super Saturday event on Master Yi. That gave him some confidence heading into Lille to make a deep run in the main event.
Both times he did so on midrange Yi. While Aurora Yi was more prevalent in Set 1, the higher tempo variant has become a staple of Spiritforged. With cards like Lonely Poro and Navori Scout now in the mix, Yi has a few good lower cost unit choices compared to just praying for your Deadbloom Predators.
On top of that, it didn’t quite tickle the skill ceiling Schorn thought he could reach.
“Aurora is a cool deck, but it’s the simple way of the game. You’re ramping and hoping you’re finding your Aurora. When you find it, it breaks down your opponents. If they have gear removal, you’re at least guaranteed one big play, and if you have Defy or Not So Fast you can stop that. However if you don’t see it, your game is lost.
“I also don’t like playing against it. You look at your opponent, they’re playing the game and having fun sitting there waiting for their perfect hits. The midrange hits where you can be more active, come back when it’s looking rough — that’s a big part of it for me.”
So heading into Lille, Schorn changed a few things. Firstly, there was adapting to the banlist. With less Draven around, he focused on “beating more Kai’Sa and Irelia”. That means Ruin Runner to dodge Kai’Sa spells, as well as combat tricks like Defy, Not So Fast and Punch First.
However, that was only half the meta. Order had also weaved its way into the mix, with legends like Azir and Viktor touted as outsiders to take the win. And that was not good news for Yi.
“The biggest weakness of Yi is Yellow. It’s the Cull The Weak, Hidden Blade, Imperial Decree. When they hit you, you need backup immediately.
“The old Master Yi plan focused around some midrange units, your Deadbloom [Predator] — so you often had 1 or 2 units. Now I’ve got smaller backline units [like Desert’s Call or Lonely Poro] so when they try to remove my units, I can kill those instead.”
Schorn’s Best Of Master Yi deck list at Riftbound Regional Qualifier Lille.
Now with the bodies on board to deal with all the removal, Schorn kept one trick up his sleeve: Equipment. With favorable colors, Yi does have access to Guardian Angel and Zhonya’s Hourglass for survival, as well as Brutalizer and Trinity Force for big might swings. Couple that with a legend ability contingent on defending, and you can get big holds to swing the tempo in your favour.
“Trinity Force won me so many games,” he explained. “Even if I’m behind and they’re on Ahri for example, holding one battlefield, they have problems getting out and swapping into the other battlefield. Playing Trinity Force lets me save the king or queen on the board and get an extra point each turn to get tempo back.”
However it’s not just the might. It’s the mind games. Showing your full hand in Game 1 can bait out the many gear removal options in Spiritforged like Thermo Beam or Salvage. And that came up when he played on stream in Round 12 against ‘Kxmzzy’.
“I had a Sand Soldier with two Trinity Forces. When it’s played, it puts so much pressure on your opponent because they need to find a quick way to remove it. If they kill the unit, I can equip it back, and that’s very good in Game 1 because they don’t have gear removal.
“Typically they play it in the second game, so I pull my gear out for the second game and then surprise them with Forge in the third game, putting all my gear back in including Brutalizer. I keep Zhonya’s in, but when they have their Thermo Beams and Salvages in hand for second game, they can’t really use it efficiently. They then side it out for Game 3, so when I need the gear for my Forge game, I put it back in.”
These things matter. One dead card in hand can be the difference between keeping or losing control of the match. And with plenty of little units on board, and other ways of pumping them with En Garde or Discipline, Schorn could keep a healthy army to maintain tempo and win.
After that win, Schorn was basically locked in the top 8. With an 11-1 record and an intentional draw on the cards to secure his seeding, he could finally rest his brain after two days of intense Riftbound.
“I went outside to get some fresh air, drink something, and I didn’t talk to anyone. I just needed a minute for myself to realize it all and relax.”
That freedom didn’t last long though. The thoughts of his friends back home, cheering him on for Best Of Yi, were lingering. Even in the venue, his boyfriend — who was playing Annie in the main event and dropped on Day 1 — and other locals were keeping tabs on the games for him.
Now up against ‘Natureal’, the first Irelia he’s played all weekend, it was all or nothing. ‘Barczek’ had also crept into top 8, meaning the Yi battle wasn’t over yet. Then there was the thoughts of what that metal card could go towards
“I went into this event to try and get Best Of Yi to pay for my wedding next year,” he said.
“That was my most intense match. We were in the third game, 7-7, he had a pumped Irelia in the battlefield and I had to get both battlefields to win.”
Then the news hit through the white noise: “My boyfriend was running around with my friends shouting ‘he lost, he lost!’ That gave me the final push to win the game and get the Best Of Yi.”
From there, there wasn’t any pressure. Up against Daniel ‘DZiden’ Zidenberg in the semifinal, he managed to somehow get over the top. He doesn’t even really remember how it all happened or what deity he had on his side to get so fortunate. All of his wildest dreams were achieved, and suddenly he found himself up against Pedro ‘Squirtle’ Bañeres in the final.
That’s when the luck finally ran out. Sub-optimal turn 1 plays both games left him down on tempo, and Azir can fully capitalize on that.
“It was harder to go second the whole way through top cut, but I tried to not let it get me down. I put in another First Mate and Brutalizer to try and get something to play out, and in both games I didn’t have a unit to play out. I was thinking ‘everyone is watching, it’s the final, I don’t want to make it too easy for my opponent.’ I wanted to have a worthy final too, even if I lose.
Game 1 was close, with Squirtle finding the game-saving Salvage off a Hidden Blade. And then in Game 2, Ravenbloom Conservatory worked against him, giving Squirtle Discipline and Arise at key moments.
“Even in the first game, my mind was completely split when I saw the second Hidden Blade. I really spent three buffs in the hopes there wasn’t anything there. I didn’t want to play the En Garde so I could play Defy, but then I had to hope he didn’t have the Hidden Blade so I could wipe the board, but it didn’t work out.
“He was a good player, and Pedro basically went 2-0 the whole tournament so he was very deserving. Everyone was impressed by his journey.”
As Squirtle lifted the trophy, Schorn could sit back with a wry smile. “I didn’t dream of second place — top 64 was my hope — and I’m totally happy I went even further.”
Having stuck with Master Yi through two sets, Schorn is hoping to go back-to-back in Set 3 at the next Regional Qualifier he attends.
“I’ve played a lot of TCG Arena and RiftAtlas, testing the XP Yi and Vex, but she was giving me too much Ahri — Ahri is a nice legend, but trying to push and hold one battlefield is tricky. I was trying the old Yi with new cards and it’s working out for me very well online.
“Nami is one of the biggest cards for Yi next set with the stun, the ready units and buffing them.”
But beyond that, the wedding plans can begin too.
“We’ll be throwing boosters around, maybe some Poros — but we will see!”
