2020 LEC Format Changes Announced
With the LCS schedule getting overhauled, it was only natural for Riot to take a look at the 2020 LEC format as well and improve it in any way they could. Generally speaking, the adjustments listed below aren’t something that was frequently requested, but when summarized, they’re welcome changes nonetheless.
New Playoff Format
The playoffs are still played in the Best of 5 format, but we’ll have a double-elimination bracket this time around, and a proper one! Here’s a better look at the entire playoff format (with both the Winners and Losers brackets).
The winner of the Winners Bracket will ultimately collide with the winner of the Losers Bracket in the grand finals. This also means that both finalists will have to win at least two Best of 5s before clashing.
The winner will, as always, represent Europe at the Mid-Season Invitational.
By participating in the Spring playoffs, teams will accrue a certain amount of Championship Points depending on how high they finished after the playoffs concluded. They’ll then take these points into the second split of the year.
Unlike in Spring, Championship Points in Summer will automatically be allotted based on the final standings after the regular portion of the season concludes — before playing any playoff match. Based on this, teams will then be seeded in the playoffs accordingly (considering their points from Spring as well). So, if a team won Spring but fumbled a bit in Summer, they still stand a chance of ending up first in the playoffs.
This means that teams will no longer use Championship Points to qualify for the World Championship. Much like in the LCS, the first three teams from Summer will represent Europe at Worlds.
By all accounts, this is a huge change. Only the three best teams in the region will now have the honor of representing Europe at the biggest of stages, which should, in turn, make things slightly more competitive. This means that Spring Split will remain about as important as it was in the past. It’s by no means a negligible part of the season, but performing in Summer will be much more important.
In the end, these 2020 LEC format changes are a positive step forward for the region, and they should make the upcoming season even more exciting and competitive.
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