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Everything you need to know about the LCS Playoffs and Regional Qualifiers

Riot·7/30/2015, 9:48:49 PM·2 votes·159,418 views

Playoffs are right around the corner, and LCS teams are prepping to make a run at the top spot in their regions. They've got a long road ahead of them, filled with trials, tribulations, and Baron throws.

Will Fnatic ever lose a game? Will TSM find their groove again in the Playoffs? Can Unicorns of Love inject some chaos into the Playoffs and play the spoiler? Will CLG play the choke artists, or finally find their Worlds destiny? To quote us from a couple years ago, who will rise?

There are three ways that LCS teams can qualify for Worlds: a first place finish in the Summer Playoffs, having the most Championship points, and qualifying through the Regional Qualifier gauntlet. With the Playoffs kicking off on August 8, it's a good time to go over what the format means for all the teams.

The Playoffs

The Playoffs format is pretty simple. The top six teams from the Regular Season head into a three round bracket, where they'll duke it out in a series of Best of 5 matches. Teams who finished 3rd through 6th compete in a Quarterfinal round, while 1st and 2nd get a bye into the Semifinals. Winners of the Semifinals will not only punch their tickets to Madison Square Garden (if they're from North America) or Stockholm (if they're from Europe), but also play for the top seed from their regions at Worlds.

The winner of the Finals will head straight to Worlds, while the other teams will net Championship Points based on where they finish. We'll get to those in a second.

Here's what the NA bracket looks like right now:

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And here's the EU bracket:

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Remember that whoever wins their Regional Playoff will automatically qualify to be the first seed out of their region. But, fortunately for teams that don't manage to get to the top of the brackets, there are two more ways to punch a ticket to Worlds.

Championship points

Let's talk about Championship Points.

For any team that doesn't qualify for Worlds through a 1st place finish in the Summer Playoffs, the next option is to get in by finishing the Season with the most Points. Teams are awarded Championship Points based on where they finish in both the Spring and Summer Split Playoffs.

The team that has the most Points (assuming they didn't automatically qualify during the Summer Split Playoffs) earns the second spot at Worlds. You can read more about how Championship Points work right here.

Let's take a look at the Points of teams that still have a shot at making Worlds.

Here are the Championship Points the NA LCS Playoff teams earned in the Spring Split:

  1. ​Team SoloMid - 90 Points 
  2. Cloud9 - 70 Points 
  3. Team Liquid - 50 Points 
  4. Team Impulse - 30 Points 
  5. Counter Logic Gaming - 10 Points 
  6. Gravity - 10 Points 
  7. Team Dignitas - 0 Points

And here's the EU teams' point standings:

  1. Fnatic - 90 Points
  2. Unicorns of Love - 70 Points
  3. H2K Gaming - 50 Points
  4. Origen - 0 Points
  5. Giants Gaming - 0 Points
  6. Team ROCCAT - 0 Points

Whoever finishes with the most points after the 2015 Summer Split Playoffs will qualify for Worlds as the second seed from their respective regions. Anyone finishing 6th or above will receive points, and with up to 90 Points still up for grabs, that Worlds spot can still be nabbed by just about anyone.

Note: If there happen to be any ties in overall Championship Points, the team that earned the most points in the Summer Split will be the holder of the tiebreaker.

Here are the number of points ready to be picked up, based on Summer Split Playoff finishes:

2nd - 90 Points
3rd - 70 Points
4th - 40 Points
5th-6th - 20 points

The Regional Qualifiers

Those hard-earned Championship Points won't go to waste if a team doesn't get that second seed, though, as the third and final way to qualify for Worlds is to win a Regional Qualifier. Seeded into a single elimination knockout gauntlet based on their final Championship Points standings, teams with fewer points will have to play more Best of 5 matches, beating all of the higher seeds in order to qualify. Basically, teams that finish with more Points won't have to win as many Best of 5s to get to Worlds.

The bracket looks like this:

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Not as complicated as it sounds, right?

So there you have it, the postseason plans for both NA and EU LCS! Will your favorite team make it to Worlds? Find out by keeping your eyes right here on Lolesports when the Playoffs start on August 8. And if you want to attend any of the Playoffs or Regional Qualifiers in person, head over to the Tickets page. See you there!

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330 Comments

Deer Merchant7/30/2015, 11:12:13 PM152 votes

if its tsm vs c9 again in the finals im going to buy everyone rp

Easyreal7/30/2015, 10:34:56 PM27 votes

C9 Gauntlet run Incoming

paulsworldohya7/30/2015, 11:09:03 PM20 votes

I wanna see C9 make it and just have a crazy end to the playoffs.

NA Danny7/31/2015, 5:40:45 AM16 votes

CLG taking this split boys.

Amastris Dratwka8/1/2015, 5:53:12 PM14 votes

I wish that Riot would pay attention to proper organization of competitve eSports. It's too bad that the developers who run EU & NA leagues are not as professionally organized as China or Korea, or Garena for that matter. I appreciate their casters and analysts and the broadcasts themselves but, if for financial reasons, they are in no way capable to expand their competitive leagues they will never be able to be comparably competitive to the other regions and the teams they have in their leagues will never be placed as high up on the scouting ladder.

Solo Q or even scrimming is no comparison to actual on stage competitive play. Anyone who has been involved in any competitive sport understands this, not just in eSports. When LCK gets 13 weeks of Bo3s then LPL gets 11 weeks of Bo2s, how do you compare LCS EU/NA's league with 8 weeks of Bo1s. While the rest of the most competitive teams are still playing for their spot in their league's playoffs at the end of August, beginning of September, the LCS will have already completed their playoffs and get to wait around until October for Worlds. While the other major regions are still keeping themselves freshly competitive and maintaining their drive and stamina up until the World Championships, LCS teams get to scrim and Solo Q and lose whatever momentum they could be gaining, not to mention that playoffs will be their only "practice" of best of anything more than 1 game per day.

It's a great improvement to see that Riot has LCS teams requiring sub players on their rosters as well as a coaching staff. It's sad they aren't as able to utilize those "subs" like other regions have learned. It's a testament to the top LCS teams who have finally learned they need to employ more than just a Coach & Manager to lead their teams. It doesn't surprise me at all that the Top teams have now started to employ "Sports Psychologists" as well as "Team Scouters" and "Analysts" who aren't just there to make sure the team players are "doing their job". Competitive sports teams, outside of eSports, have grown and learned this lesson.

It's nice to see that eSports is trying to grow itself. It still has a long way to go, and an understanding that "fair play" means that all leagues should be "equal" across the board. It is the same concept as a Pro League versus, say, FIFA or The Tour de France. The players may play in other leagues but they all have to EQUALLY qualify for the big game and play the tournament through at the same level. Not every match or race should earn you "tournament points" if they cannot meet the high standards of every region. Much like on the Rift, everyone should start at zero and have the same opportunity to get to #1. Hamstringing certain regions doesn't make the whole tournament competitive. The results become completely obvious, the region with the best infrastructure wins. It's no longer entertaining. It's boring and predictable and those outside the preferred region will always be heartbroken and disappointed with nothing to really look forward to other than the blind fanbase love who will cheer their team no matter what the outcome. It's like being a Boston Red Sox fan during the drought. How many decades will it take Riot to help its other regions to be more competitive?

TrollFan017/31/2015, 12:31:50 AM7 votes

TSM/CLG finals and CLG will make an epic gauntlet run.

IntruderCZ7/30/2015, 11:13:08 PM7 votes

C9 will be in Gauntlet no matter what. They secure thier place here by ending second at Spring. Even at most unreal scenario when most possible number of teams get above them, at least one will always end below them. Mean secure 5th place with 70 CP

OHminus7/31/2015, 2:29:40 PM1 votes

This system is bad... why not reward teams like Origen/GV and punish teams like TSM/C9? Origen/GV are clearly better than TSM and C9 right now, but TSM/C9 has a better chance of making worlds with the way this system is set up. NA should be: TL GV and TIP EU should be: FNC ORG and H2K/UOL

prozak827/31/2015, 6:52:03 PM1 votes

its pretty stupid to give the winner of summer playoffs an auto spot at worlds. riot should be rewarding consistency across both splits and give the spots based on championship points. just think how stupid it would be for dignitas to get a spot at worlds after finishing eighth place in spring split.