How Do The 2022 League Of Legends LCS Spring Playoffs Work?

ByFeisal Merali Hours
LCS Trophy

The 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs are here, but how do they work? What is the format for the tournament used to send North America’s representative to MSI? How many games does each team play?

Fans new to the LCS may not know how the playoffs work, but this article is here to make sure they know how to cheer on their favorite team to make the run to MSI.

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How Does The Playoff Bracket Work?

2022 LCS Spring Playoffs Bracket
Screenshot From The LCS Broadcast Of The Playoffs Bracket

The 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs bracket is a simple one. There are six teams, four in the upper bracket and two in the lower bracket. The four teams in the upper bracket play each other in a best of five series to see who moves on to the next round while the loser moves down to the lower bracket.

The two teams in the lower bracket do not play in the first week of playoffs, instead of waiting to see which team will play them after their losses in the first week. Once they have their matchup, there are two best of five series played again, but the losers are out of playoffs instead of falling to a lower bracket.

The same process continues in the second round, where the loser in the lower bracket is sent home and the winner moves on, while the loser in the upper bracket moves down to the lower bracket and the winner moves on directly to the finals.

Round three is where it gets interesting. The winner of the lower bracket in the second round goes against the loser of the upper bracket series. The winner of this best of five series moves on to the finals, to face the team that won in round two.

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Who Plays Who?

The matchups are decided by the seeding that each team ended with. In the upper bracket, the first-seeded team and fourth-seeded team face-off, and the second and third-seeded teams play as well.

In the lower bracket, the sixth-seed team faces off against the loser of the series between the second and third-seeded teams, while the fifth-seed team faces off against the loser of the series between the first and fourth-seeded teams.

When Do The 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs Start?

The playoffs start on April 2nd, with the second-seed team Cloud9 taking on 100 Thieves at 1:30 PM PST/ 4:30 PM EST/ 9:30 PM GMT. The rest of the playoffs schedule can be found at lolesports.com.