User blog comment:B214/Shin DxD 1 discussion/@comment-2607:FB90:3851:A5D3:0:14:ECCB:7501-20181029115052/@comment-2602:306:CD9A:C860:8161:DE26:6BE5:3DE1-20181030161055

You say it's more than a friendly competition but in what way? Are they fighting for their dreams? No, they are not. Sairaorg and Issei in volume 10 was fighting for their dreams which made their game more impactful. What's Issei and Rias fighting for? Issei already accomplished his dream of being a high class devil and having a harem. Rias dream is to become rating game champion but beating Issei or winning the tournament won't accomplish that. Both Issei and Rias are just using the tournament for experience. There's nothing big on the line here other than they want to win because they are competitive.

It's serious in the way that it's a competition but again, there's nothinf big at stake. Whoever loses won't lose anything. Sure, they get eliminated from the tournament but so what. This tournament isn't an official one.