In September, we reported the Latin American League (Liga Latinoamérica or LLA for short) was moving from its home in Chile to Mexico City for the 2020 season. It appears that wasn’t the only change Riot Latin America has planned for the region. They announced an LLA 2020 format change for the splits, too.

New LLA 2020 Format

According to the announcement on the LLA website, the new format consists of eight teams playing a double round-robin, best-of-one format, with each win counting for one point for the winning team.

After the double round-robin concludes, the top five teams move on to a second single round-robin set-up. The bottom three teams end their run for the split.

The new phase continues to be best-of-ones, but now wins count for two points and added to the point total from the previous phase.

.@RiotTrooper_ nos presenta el formato de la #LLA para el 2020, así como también el proceso de trabajo y razones para llegar a esta decisión, ¡los invitamos a dejarnos sus comentarios y preguntas! pic.twitter.com/FAyHZOiuL4

— LoL Esports Latinoamérica (@lolesportsla) December 17, 2019

Once each team has played once, points are totaled and the top team places directly into the Grand Final. The second-place team automatically places in the semis.

The fifth-place team dropsfrom competition. The third and fourth-place teams duke it out in a best-of-five in the quarterfinals. Essentially, this last part is the LCK Gauntlet system used over in Korea, but without fourth place.

The team that wins the Gauntlet is declared the split winner and moves on to represent the region at MSI (for Spring) or Worlds (for Summer).

Isaac’s Opinion: A Weird Format

It is nice to see Riot Latin America show interest in trying out a new format. It could help with counteracting the problem many leagues have of late-season slumps by top teams who still end up going deep into playoffs due to regional rules (looking at you Griffin). It is somewhat puzzling format decision.

The format change mid-split is going to confuse viewers who may not follow the league closely, especially fans of teams who go out in the first phase of the split. The format also promotes early success for teams looking to build their brands. A young roster that needs time off might have a good chance of ending up in the bottom three and having their split end at what would be the halfway point for most other regions.

That’s going to make it hard for new talent to get picked up. It’s even harder for struggling teams to build a fanbase and sponsorship when they can’t show up the full time.

The double points in the second phase are also helpful to stop a Griffin situation from occurring. But, it seems weird to bring five teams to that phase and then drop one at the end. Why not stretch out the Gauntlet one more round and let fifth play fourth in a play-in?

It’s a highly risky move to change to the LLA 2020 format. But, if it pays off, it could help make the LLA more competitive on the World stage by making sure the best team is representing the region more often the before.

The league has not confirmed the exact start date of the Spring Split. However, it’s safe to assume it’ll start in late January/early February like most of the other ones.

We’ll be covering the region going into the 2020 season. So, stay tuned for all the action as we prepare for Season 10 of League of Legends.