“It’s important to foster the grassroots nature of TCGs”: T1 CEO Joe Marsh talks entering Rifbound, T1 bundle cards, and grassroots communities

Back in June, T1, the most decorated esports organization in League of Legends, revealed it had signed Nick “LS” De Cesare as its inaugural Riftbound signee. For those unaware, Riftbound is not an esport, but a TCG version of Riot Games’ League of Legends. It was a significant move, and perhaps one of the hallmarks of interest in the Riot card game becoming a serious contender.

Not long after that, MSI revealed that more Riftbound cards were coming in the following set, alongside announcing that T1’s World skins were getting both playable cards and serialized collectibles with the upcoming T1 bundles, with only 10,125 serialized cards being printed, representing the 2025 version of each player’s chosen World skint.

Riot recently announced that raffle openings will begin later in August, with buy links going out in October to commemorate the release of the rare collection cards and playable bundles.

Furthermore, Riftbound is undergoing an extremely soft “esportification,” with the likes of Gen.G and Cloud9 also running events as licensed event runners. That is on top of EDG already being in the scene, winning the Sydney Regional Qualifier alongside many other events in China, too.

It got me thinking: what do organizations see in the card game? I spoke to Joe Marsh, CEO of T1, to learn more about the organization’s views and goals for the game, both as a grassroots community and its competitive side.

ESI: What was the thinking behind signing LS as the spearhead for T1’s Riftbound? Was it his Magic: The Gathering background and understanding of card valuation and speculation, his profile as a personality, or something else entirely that factored into the decision?

Jo Marsh: LS has a genuine passion for TCGs and has already won some early Riftbound tournaments. TCGs have taken off in the West, and we want to help make Riftbound huge in South Korea too.

LS understands the value of trading card games, whether it’s Magic: The Gathering or Riftbound, and he has an authentic passion for the space combined with high-level competitive skill. That combination made him a natural fit for T1.

ESI: What does Riftbound offer esports organizations that other TCGs haven’t in the past?

Jo Marsh: At T1, we’re heavily invested in the Riot Games ecosystem, and knowing how they operate, the passion and scale they bring to everything, we naturally gravitated toward investing in a space they were going to execute at a very high level. Riftbound blends the lore and history of our marquee game, League of Legends, with the collectability and competitive nature of TCGs. That’s what got us excited about it specifically.

We’ve been looking for a TCG to get into for a few years, and even considered building our own. Another huge factor is that we can host live Riftbound competitive events at our T1 Base Camp facilities across South Korea, including our soon-to-open flagship in Gangnam.

ESI: How early do you feel T1 is getting into Riftbound competitively? Does this feel similar to how orgs positioned themselves early in League esports, or other titles that later achieved huge success?

Joe Marsh: We might be early to Riftbound, but we’re late to TCGs in general, so in some ways we’re playing catch-up. TCGs are a different animal compared to League of Legends. Competitive success will come down to how well the individual players we sign can adapt in an ever-changing landscape.

How skilled you are at building a deck and outsmarting your opponent will be paramount. I hope our early investment in the scene can earn T1 even a fraction of the success our League of Legends team has enjoyed and continues to enjoy.

ESI: What was the process in getting T1’s 2025 World skins turned into Riftbound cards?

Joe Marsh: Riot approached us with the opportunity to include our Worlds skins in Riftbound, and it was a no-brainer. As I mentioned, we were looking to get into a TCG, and the chance to have crossover appeal, using our League championship skins as our opening bridge to TCG players and collectors, was too big an opportunity to pass up. 

It also made sense given that T1 will become a local Riftbound distributor and sales hub at our T1 Base Camp locations. It was just a perfect storm. That it also celebrates our historic three-peat World Championship was icing on the cake.

ESI: TCGs already have strong grassroots communities and independent teams built up over the years. Do you see a world where those existing competitive communities and esports orgs like T1 start to intersect, and TCG becomes more commonly part of an esports organization’s ecosystem?

Joe Marsh: I do think that will happen organically. It would be great to see esports orgs coexist with the grassroots communities and independent teams. That’s what will make the scene fun and exciting.

We don’t need the same top 10 esports orgs taking over the scene. TCGs will always be about community, and seeing organic, independent teams compete alongside some of the biggest names in esports will be exciting.

ESI: Watching competitive Riftbound feels like a different experience from watching League or other esports. Do you see it developing as a spectator game in the same sense, or is it a different kind of audience product entirely?

Joe Marsh: I think each game has a unique appeal. Watching a League of Legends match is a very different experience from watching a TCG or a fighting game, and different again from Counter-Strike or other FPS titles. 

Right now, it’s important to foster and cultivate the grassroots nature of TCGs before worrying about matching League’s in-person spectacle. Remember, League is over 12 years old. When it started, the world finals were held in a ballroom at a third-party event.

Now we’re selling out stadiums across the world. Riftbound will become as big as the community allows it to be, and T1 is excited to play a small part in that journey.

ESI: Do you think esports orgs will eventually sign Riftbound players to compete full-time, as they do with traditional esports players? Or does the format of TCG competition, with fewer events and different travel and prep demands, mean the model will look different?

Joe Marsh: Personally, I think the model will look a bit different. As the game scales globally, you’ll naturally see more events pop up, but I don’t think it would be helpful to have a calendar like League of Legends, which is pedal-to-the-floor for most of the year. 

For us at T1, hosting weekly and monthly events at T1 Base Camp locations and being an authorized card dealer will be just as important to growing the scene locally in Korea as our pro players winning tournaments around the globe. 

I hope Riot eventually integrates Riftbound into flagship League events like MSI and Worlds. The IP crossover between the two games makes for a natural extension. Teaching people how to build decks and play competitively will also be important to growing the scene, and I’m sure high-level players will create how-to videos and other short-form content.

I do think you’ll see orgs sign players and plant their flag in the space, but I also hope the game keeps its grassroots, community-first DNA.