Seasonal Tournaments FAQ

Oct 12, 2020

This article has been updated from the original Seasonal Tournaments announcement FAQ published on 10/15. We’ve made a few minor updates to original questions, and added or significantly updated a few (marked [NEW]) covering things like the tournament waitlist, game timers, and prizing.

If you’re looking for an exact schedule for the Monuments of Power Seasonal Tournament, or info on how to watch the Playoffs stage, check out the dedicated schedule & broadcast article.

If you’re looking for the official legal details or complete tournament ruleset, head to the comprehensive Global Player Policy—warning, it’s lengthy.

What are seasonal tournaments?

Seasonal tournaments are the apex of competition in Legends of Runeterra, exclusively for the best of the best, and supported fully in-game.

How often will there be a tournament?

There will be a seasonal tournament at the end of each season (makes sense, right?), so roughly every two months.

How many players can compete in each tournament?

At the end of every season, 1024 qualifying players on each of LoR’s four regional shards—Americas, Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia—will be able to compete for pride, glory, and a cash prize.

How do I qualify?

There are two ways to qualify for a seasonal tournament: Ranked and Gauntlets.

Be one of the top 700 Ranked players on your regional shard at the end of the season and you’ll automatically qualify for the tournament.

324 more players can qualify by being the first to achieve 7 wins on their first attempt in the high stakes Last Chance Gauntlet, which takes into account your performance in previous Gauntlets throughout the season. The Last Chance Gauntlet will take place shortly after the end of the Ranked season.

How does the Last Chance Gauntlet work?

• Get 7 wins on your first attempt at a weekly Gauntlet to achieve a Prime Glory. Again, only your first attempt of the week is eligible.
• Each Prime Glory you earn throughout the season, up to 5, counts as an automatic win in the Last Chance Gauntlet.
• Be one of the first to complete the Last Chance Gauntlet with 7 wins to earn that final Prime Glory and qualify for the tournament.

The more Prime Glories you have, the more likely you’ll be one of the first 324 players to finish —so make sure to compete in a Gauntlet each week!

What’s the tournament structure?

Each seasonal tournament takes place across two stages—the Open Rounds, and Playoffs. The Open Rounds consist of 5 Swiss Rounds of Best of Three matches to determine the top 32 players. These finalists advance to the Playoffs, a week later, to compete in a single elimination bracket. The victor will be crowned Season Champion and win the grand prize.

When will the first tournament take place?

The first tournament will take place at the end of the Monuments of Power season. The competition takes place over two days, with 1024 players competing in the Open Rounds on December 6, 2020, and 32 finalists competing in the Playoffs on December 13, 2020.

How will tournament matches work?

On Day 1, players will compete in Best of Three matches using a combination of rules. For Seasonal Tournaments 2020, the following rules will be in effect:

• Players bring three different decks with no duplicated champions, no duplicated region combination, and no more than one deck without any champions at all.
• 40 cards to a deck, from up to 2 regions; up to 3 copies of any individual card, and up to 6 champions total.
• Players ban one of their opponent’s decks before the matches begin.
• Players cannot use a deck again after winning a game with it.

[NEW] How long will each tournament round last?

Each tournament round lasts for 70 minutes maximum, with a 5 minute break between rounds. Each round includes the following:

Game 1

• 5 minute preparation phase
• 1 minute ban phase
• 30 second pick phase

Game 2+

• 1 minute pick phase

Round durations will be tightly controlled by a persistent 60-minute round timer shared by both players. The round timer starts counting down once the Ban phase starts, and new games can only start while Round Time is active, otherwise the current game results are used to declare a victor.

Each player, in each game, will have an individual game time of 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Overtime kicks in for either an individual player who has used all their Game Time, or both players for 5 minutes after the round timer has expired. Players will only have 20 seconds for their turn during Overtime, and will no longer be able to bank additional time.

A tournament-wide “hard stop” will terminate any ongoing games 5 minutes after the round timer for a given round has expired. In the case of an unfinished game, victory will be awarded to the player with the most game time remaining.

How does matchmaking work for the Open Rounds?

Players will initially be matched based off their season Rank. After that, the Swiss-style rounds will match players based on their current scores. After five rounds, the top 32 players will advance to the next day, with an additional 15 allocated to the Playoffs waitlist (based on result and seed).

For those doing the math, a single loss effectively means you’re out of contention for the Playoffs. However, you can continue competing to earn an exclusive card back only available to those who reach 3 wins in the tournament.

[NEW] What happens if qualifying players decline to participate? Could I take their place?

Yes! We’ll have a per-shard waitlist for players that missed the cut, comprised of Masters-ranked players and additional players who earned a Prime Glory in the Last Chance Gauntlet.

The Open Rounds waitlist will be an ordered list starting with the next 300 Master-tier players who missed the top 700 cut for the tournament, followed by the next 700 players who earned a Prime Glory in the Last Chance Gauntlet after the 324 LCQ qualifiers.

If you’re on the waitlist, you’ll sign in at the start of the tournament, just like the qualifying players. If a player drops out and you’re next on the list, your lobby will update accordingly and you’ll be in the tournament!

How is the bracket determined for the Playoffs?

The bracket will use a standard seeding system, where the highest seed players from the Open Rounds are placed into a matchup, which are then filled by the lowest seed players (players that have the same record from the Open Rounds of the tournament will be seeded according to their season Rank). Any byes due to an uneven number of competitors will be given to the highest seeded players.

Please note that those who qualify for this stage of Seasonal Tournaments will need to validate their country of residence in order to participate—make sure to check your email if you make it to the top 32 (or are on the Playoffs waitlist)!

[NEW] What’s the grand prize? Are there other prizes for participation?

The grand prize for winning the entire tournament is $10,000 USD, with smaller cash prizes for the rest of the top 32.All competitors will receive an exclusive icon and have a chance to earn an exclusive card back by reaching 3 wins in any tournament. The icon and card back will be awarded to players at the end of the Open Rounds.

Full prizing details:

• 1st: $10,000 (USD)
• 2nd: $3,500 (USD)
• 3rd & 4th: $800 (USD)
• 5-8th: $400 (USD)
• 9-32nd: $150 (USD)
• 3+ wins in Open Rounds: Card Back
• All Competitors: Player Icon

All tournament cash prizes will be distributed by local publishers and be awarded as per countries’ tax laws depending on country of residency, so exact payment amounts may vary (again, based on local tax laws).

Can competitors use different decks for the Open Rounds and Playoffs?

Players will submit their three decks during sign-in for each of the two stages of the tournament, so it will be possible for the final 32 to use different decks than they did during the Open Rounds.

[NEW] How can I watch the tournament?

We plan to broadcast the entire Playoffs stage (the top 32 player single elimination bracket) of each tournament on local channels around the world—you can find full current details in our dedicated schedule & broadcast article.

Will seasonal tournaments be a path to pro? How do tournaments connect to esports?

We want tournaments to be one path to going pro, and have more plans to support those taking that path. It’s still a bit too soon to talk about, so stay tuned for more info in the future.

World Championship when?

We’re working on some competitions that are even bigger than seasonal tournaments, but nothing to share just yet.

Can I participate in tournaments on multiple shards at the same time? What about using a VPN to participate on another shard?

Both of these are a “definitely not.” The goal of seasonal tournaments is for players to compete on their shard within their country of residence. In order to preserve the integrity of per-shard tournaments, we will disqualify anyone found to be using a VPN to obfuscate their location or otherwise competing in a shard outside their country of residence. That includes any players who manage to qualify for multiple tournaments—we’ll ask you to decline for any shards that do not include your country of residence. Sorry, but we’re taking a hard line on this one.

Can anyone participate in Seasonal Tournaments?

Not necessarily—participation in the tournament is potentially subject to local stipulations, restrictions, or exclusions based on where you live.

Can Rioters participate in seasonal tournaments?

No Rioters will participate in a seasonal tournament, and if there’s a mistake, we’ll correct it. That also means if a Rioter would qualify by being one of the top 700 Ranked players, they will drop out of the tournament and leave their spot open for a player on the waitlist.

Will a Tournament mode be available for custom tournaments?

For now we’re focused squarely on preparation for the first Seasonal Tournament, but long-term we’d like to make more tournament features available to players in game—we'll have more detail to share next year.

[NEW] Can I add-ons like a deck tracker?

Normally permitted add-ons such as deck trackers may be used during Seasonal Tournaments.

Of course, the use of any kind of cheating device and/or cheat program is not permitted and will result in disqualification and possible account action.

What about X? I have more questions!

We’re still working on some things and will provide additional updates as new details become available. Some of the details above may also change or end up varying based on where you live—look for more on local stipulations or expectations on your local Legends of Runeterra channels leading up to the tournament.