Just two more weeks to go in the LPL.
We finally have the top 10 teams that will be competing in the LPL Spring Split playoffs with only two slots to the Mid-Season Invitational up for grabs. This comes after an intense 10-week group stage portion that saw the likes of JD Gaming edge out a first-place finish ahead of EDward Gaming and LNG Esports.
Close behind was Weibo Gaming in fourth with Bilibili Gaming and Oh My God coming in at fifth and sixth respectively. The final four of the top 10 feature some familiar names like last season's top performer, Top Esports as well as Thundertalk Gaming, the reigning MSI champions Royal Never Give Up, and finally Team WE.
But with only 10 teams pulling through to the next round, that meant we had to bid farewell to the seven teams that got eliminated from the spring split. This includes the 2019 world champion FunPlus Phoenix, who failed to make it past the group stage for only the second time in the organisation's history. Other notable absentees also include Invictus Gaming and LGD Gaming, two teams who have a storied history in the LPL but have failed to live up to its expectations in recent years.
Here is what the LPL Spring Split playoff bracket looks like:
Like previous seasons, the playoffs will be in a king-of-the-hill format with three rounds of matches before the double-elimination bracket. All games will be played in a best-of-five format. This is also where you'll find the top two seeded teams, JD Gaming and EDward Gaming. The third, sixth, seventh, and 10th-placed teams are in one bracket while the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth-placed teams are in the other bracket.
This will put immense pressure on teams that are starting in the first round, particularly for the bottom four of the top 10. For the likes of RNG and Top, they will be looking to mount a herculean climb to the double-elimination bracket. The same can also be said for Thundertalk and Team WE as both teams will look to take the opportunity at hand to go further than ever before.
LPL Spring Split Playoff Preview
Teams like JD and EDG will get to have a full week to rest before they have to play, which gives them plenty of time to analyse who they could potentially face. On paper, JD will have a harder match-up with RNG in their bracket as well. With that said, the onus is on the defending MSI champions to make it to the double-elimination portion of the playoffs. They haven't had the greatest of group stages, maintaining a 50 per cent win rate during that time.
However, RNG is also the reigning LPL Spring Split champion, having won it for two years straight now to go with their two MSI titles. And given how the LPL now has two slots to Riot Games' first international LAN of the year, it doubles RNG's chances once they're in the double-elimination bracket. Of the three teams RNG will and could potentially face on their route to the final four, they have never played an official LPL best-of-five against any of them before.
This will make for some great viewing given that RNG very rarely ghosts when it comes to the playoff bracket. If this were the summer split, that would be a different story entirely. And on the other side of the bracket, Top Esports is another noteworthy team that could make a long playoff bracket run. Given that the team finished second in both splits last season, fans will be expecting to see Top give it a good run for its money.
The LPL Spring Split playoffs begin tomorrow, March 30 with ThunderTalk Gaming versus Royal Never Give Up. The following day, it will be Top Esports going up against Team WE.
