Riot Games has announced the new playoff format for the LEC in the 2020 season. The LEC will follow the LCS with a brand-new seeding system for the Spring and Summer playoffs. Furthermore, Championship Points will see changes to make the Summer Playoffs the only route to Worlds 2020.
The LEC will adopt a new playoff system and points seeding going into the 2020 season. (Photo courtesy Riot Games)
The Playoffs
The LEC playoffs are the only schedule change the European region sees in 2020. The regular weeks will still be best of one,
The LEC will adopt a new playoff system and points seeding going into the 2020 season. (Photo courtesy Riot Games)
with each team playing twice a week. Each team will go through the regular weeks as expected and will climb the standings to earn a playoff spot. The top four teams will then be placed in either the upper bracket, with brackets to be decided by seed one. The bottom two teams will then head to the lower bracket.
Teams positioned between one to six will then be placed into the Playoffs, albeit differently to seasons before. Week one of the Playoffs will see seed one face off against their choice seed three or four in match one. Seed two will then play the team not chosen in the match after in match two. Week one will then close with seed five and six fighting in the lower bracket in match three.
Week two will then have the winner of match-three fights the lowest seed team that lost in week one. Match five will then be the battle between the two winning teams in the upper bracket. Match six will then have the advancing lower bracket team face off against the other team that lost in the first round of the upper bracket.
In week three, the final lower bracket game will play out, with the advancing team meeting the upper bracket team in the grand final.
Championship Points
Championship points are valued differently during the Spring and Summer Splits.
In Spring, the Championship Points are rewarded as follows:
#1 = 90
#2 = 70
#3 = 50
#4 = 30
#5 = 20
#6 = 10
However, the Summer Playoff has increased values on Championship Points. These Championship points will instead be awarded at the end of regular split, rather than during the Summer Playoff season. Summer Playoff seeds will then be decided via total Championship Points earned in Spring and Summer. Only the best of the best in Summer will make it to the Summer Playoffs after the following awarded points:
#1 = 140
#2 = 100
#3 = 70
#4 = 50
#5 = 30
#6 = 20
For Europe, Championship Points is a symbol of how hard or easy it is to enter the Summer Playoffs. This makes it so only the best teams in Europe have access to Worlds 2020. Expect to see the caliber of competition raised as the Summer weeks progress.
