After nine weeks of games, a move to an online format and a lot of surprises, the regular season of the LEC – the League of Legends European Championship – Spring Split is over. Now it’s time for the best six teams in Europe to duke it out one last time for the top spot and an opportunity to represent Europe in the Mid-Season Invitational.
As is somewhat typical by now, the year brings updates for the LEC playoffs which now have a nearly full two-bracket format. Many viewers are confused by how this looks, so here’s our rundown
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How it looks so far
To begin, this is how the top 6 teams finished the regular season:
- G2 Esports: 15 wins, 3 losses
- Fnatic: 13 wins, 5 losses
- Origen: 13 wins, 5 losses (third due to worse second-half performance)
- MAD Lions: 11 wins, 7 losses
- Misfits Gaming: 10 wins, 8 losses
- Rogue: 9 wins, 9 losses.
The two teams at the bottom, Misfits and Rogue, will be seeded directly in the Lower Bracket, where the loser of every series will get eliminated from the playoff. The top four teams will play in an Upper Bracket, with the losers being relegated to the Lower Bracket as well. The Lower Bracket match winner gets a (re-)match with the team that was undefeated at the top of the table.
As the top team of the regular season, G2 chose to face MAD Lions, leaving Fnatic to play against Origen. The defeated teams from the top four series bracket are seeded in the Lower Bracket. The eliminated team with the lower standing in the regular season will be playing first.
How it works
Looks confusing? Let’s try and unwrap that. Essentially, it is a double-elimination tournament, but the last two teams – Rogue and Misfits – already start in the loser’s bracket.
For example, let’s say that in the first round, G2 beat MAD Lions, Fnatic beat OG and Misfits beat Rogue. This means that Rogue are out and Misfits will then play against MAD, with the winner playing against Origen (because Origen ended the season in a higher position).
However, if in the same scenario, MAD Lions upset G2 Esports, then Misfits will play against Origen and the winner will face off against G2. The winner of the Upper Bracket will play the winner of the Lower Bracket in the Grand Finals.
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Due to the pause in the season caused by the Coronavirus situation, there will not be a one-week break before the playoffs. The matches begin this Friday, April 3, with G2 Esports facing off against MAD Lions. The weekend continues with Fnatic vs OG on Saturday and Misfits vs Rogue on Sunday.
All matches will be in the best-of-five format and will be played online. You can follow the game on Riot's YouTube and Twitch channels, as well as on the official LoL Esports site.
