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A Procedural Guide to the Group Draw

Riot·9/8/2016, 1:01:18 PM·1 votes·23,276 views

As we previously announced, the Worlds 2016 Group Draw Pools are based on MSI 2016’s results. In this article, we’ll be going into greater detail on how the groups are drawn from a procedural standpoint.

During the Group Draw Show on Saturday, September 10 at 11:00 AM PT, we’ll be holding the draw according to the rules and structure described below. 

The info in this post is pretty dense and technical, and much of it mimics the 2015 guide. It’s designed to give you a solid understanding of the mechanics of the draw process and a clear idea of what to expect during the live draw. The draw process is the same as it was in 2015, but with #1 LMS being promoted to Pool 1 and #1 EU being demoted to Pool 2 due to MSI standings, some of the invalid draw possibilities have changed. We’ve updated the invalid draw example to illustrate that difference.

Group Draw Structure

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Group Draw Rules

  • No group can have more than one team from the same region. So, for example, #1 CN and #2 CN cannot inhabit the same group.
  • Each group must have exactly one team from Pool 1
  • Each group must have exactly two teams from Pool 2
  • Each group must have exactly one team from Pool 3

Procedure

The draw begins with the seeds physically separated into three bowls by Pool. The groups are arranged in alphabetical order from left to right - A, B, C, and D. First, all of the seeds from Pool 1 are drawn randomly, then Pool 2, and finally Pool 3.

When a seed is drawn, it is placed into the next group available in alphabetical order so long as that would not render the draw invalid at any future point by preventing another seed from being placed in a valid spot. For example, if placing the next drawn seed into Group A would make it impossible to place a future seed without violating a rule, that seed would need to “skip” Group A and be placed in B, C, or D, depending on what spot is available - more on this later.

In Pool 2, each group must have one Pool 2 seed before any group has two Pool 2 seeds, unless doing so would create an invalid draw.

For example, imagine #2 CN has just been drawn as the first team from Pool 2, but #1 CN already occupies Group A. Because of rule #1 (no group can have more than one team from the same region), #2 CN cannot occupy Group A, and is placed in the next available group, Group B, which currently has space for Pool 2 teams and has no CN seeds.

Invalid Draws

Because seeds are drawn randomly and there are several rules governing where those seeds can go, there are a few situations we can run into in which a draw cannot be completed, rendering the draw “invalid”. The general procedure for avoiding invalid draws is the same year to year, although the scenarios in which invalid draws can arise varies depending on which seeds are in which pool every year. Below is an example specific to 2016.

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In the above example, there are two Pool 2 spots remaining (in Group C and D), two Pool 2 seeds that need to fill those spots (#3 CN and #2 EU), but Group D can’t accommodate either of those seeds because:

  • Group D already has #1 CN, so another CN seed cannot inhabit that group.
  • Group D already has #1 EU, so another EU seed cannot inhabit that group.

There are two ways to deal with situations like this. One would be to simply restart the draft until we avoid an invalid draw, but this could result in an infinite number of restarts and, since the show is live, isn’t realistic.

Alternatively, we could monitor the draw as it proceeds, and use a series of logical checks to identify when placement of a specific team would create an invalid draw down the road. If that happens (specifically before picks 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15), we can move the team to the first available placement that would avoid the invalid draw.

To see an example of how one such check would work, let’s revisit the invalid draw example pictured above. In that example, we’re already at a point where the draw cannot be resolved. The problem arose when #2 NA was drawn - when #2 NA was placed into Group B (despite satisfying Rule #1), that left two teams (#3 CN and #2 EU) who could only fit into one spot - the third slot in Group C.

However, if we rewind to before Pick 10 (when #2 NA was drawn), we can see that it’s possible to anticipate and prevent this by placing #2 NA in a spot that would not create an invalid draw further along in the draft. What follows is the logic for deducing where #2 NA must go when drawn at Pick 10.

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In this example, exactly 1 CN and 1 EU team remain, and one of the 3 remaining groups already has both a CN and EU team. To avoid putting ourselves in an invalid draw, if the 10th overall pick is not a CN or EU team, it must be drawn into the next available group that contains both a CN and EU team. This means if we draw #2 NA next, it must go to Group D, which enables either #3 CN or #2 EU to be drawn into either Group B or C.

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If we had instead drawn #3 CN or #2 EU at Pick 10, that team would be placed in Group B. These kinds of checks ensure that the draw can proceed without the need to restart and will stay in compliance with the rules of the draw.

Conclusion

To see how the groups turn out, watch the Group Draw Show on September 10 at 11:00 AM PT. Keep your eyes on Lolesports to catch all the exciting Group Stage action starting on September 29.

 

Chris “RiotChopper” Hopper is one of the International Esports and League Operations Leads. His team is focused on the global development and operations of competitive League of Legends. Chopper is a sports fanatic who wins (almost) every Fantasy League among the Riot esports team and always cheers for his alma mater, Duke. Questions or want to chat about Magic: The Gathering? Reach out to him on Twitter via @RiotChopper.

31 Comments

DieShin9/8/2016, 10:02:17 PM11 votes

Shouldn't NA #3 seed be in Pool 2 because NA is 2nd place during MSI???

TrollFan019/8/2016, 3:53:58 PM4 votes

I'm just sitting here waiting to find out what grour will be the Group of Death.

Grammar Police9/8/2016, 3:46:23 PM2 votes

All JarvanIV horses and all his men, couldn't put group select back together again

YaJpTpOg4C9/9/2016, 12:49:38 AM1 votes

Can't wait for the picks

HumidifiedGaming9/10/2016, 5:02:34 PM1 votes

how the duck do u play

TrollFan019/10/2016, 6:26:05 PM1 votes

Group B and D are the groups of death. Oh boy lol*[slayer-pantheon-popcorn]*

III BAKURYU III 9/8/2016, 6:01:18 PM1 votes

5 random days later after all the LCS/LPL etc games are played can you please go in detail about each team their combined KDA/players to watch/ casters thoughts on the group etc etc.

I feel like it will be like last year where one of the most important dates is just 3 random players mixing balls for 2 mins in a fish bowl pulling out a little piece of paper and that's it.

Like if the casters etc aren't going to go in to detail about the teams etc but instead when Worlds itself gets here we will instead have 20 casters talking over each other like baboons trying to speak about what could have been discussed during the Draw.

Random player picks name " reads CLG" take 2-3 mins talking about the team and their strengths and weaknesses or something!

If the whole thing is just a huge breeze why not just have the draw 1 day later after the IMT and C9 games were done but it's 5 random days later so Riot must feel like it's important but year after year it feels like Riot just wants to go just get the draw over with. WTF.

Like I said this is very important and exciting and I would like to know about the other teams competing at Worlds and have the Riot employees discuss each teams chances at Worlds their journey to the BIG DANCE.

Instead we get some random guy on the board discussing the teams and when it came to IMAY and CLG his thoughts were " NAH JUST NAH" wow great insight and you pay that guy to do that BRILLIANT Article. Looks like we fans need to do Riot's job ourselves.

Ahri the Arden9/9/2016, 12:34:34 AM1 votes

so... will Froggren be allowed to draw???

he was the one who made the best groups on last worlds!