The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) is the top-level professional league for League of Legends in China. The first season of the LPL was the 2013 Spring season. The top three finishers of the playoff tournament receive automatic bids to the League of Legends World Championship. Playoffs are an eight team single elimination with each step a best-of-five series. The total prize pool is ¥2,350,000. In 2014 Riot Games began providing an English language broadcast.[1] The format is modeled after the League of Legends Champions Korea format in South Korea.[2] In September 2015 it was announced that Riot Games was in negotiations with Tencent to take over operations of the league.[3] In 2019, Riot Games and Tencent created joint venture, TJ Sports, to focus on all League of Legends esports business in China, including tournament organizing, talent management, and venues.[4]
Format
For the 2015 spring season the LPL adopted a best-of-two series. Teams compete in a double round robin.
From 2017 to 2018, the league used the same format as the EU LCS for selecting regular season groups.[5] The highest ranked teams from the previous split headed the groups with other teams being selected. Matches were also best-of-three.
The LPL has used the following format from 2019 to 2021:
Regular season:
All 16 teams compete in one group
Single round robin, all matches are best-of-three
Top eight teams advance to playoffs
All matches are best-of-five
First and second place teams from the regular season begin in the semifinals (round 3)
Third and fourth place teams from the regular season begin in the quarterfinals (round 2)
Fifth to eighth place teams from the regular season begin in the round 1.
The LPL has used the following format from 2021:
Regular season:
All 17 teams compete in one group
Single round robin, all matches are best-of-three
Top ten teams advance to playoffs
All matches are best-of-five
Teams entering Game 7 and 8 have a second chance before being eliminated.
Ninth place team competes Eighth team from the regular season in Game 1.
Tenth place team competes Seventh team from the regular season in Game 2.
Winner of Game 1 competes with Fifth place team in Game 3.
Winner of Game 2 competes with Sixth place team in Game 4.
Winner of Game 3 competes with Fourth place team in Game 5.
Winner of Game 4 competes with Third place team in Game 6.
Winner of Game 5 competes with First place team in Game 7.
Winner of Game 6 competes with Second place team in Game 8.
Losers of Game 7 and Game 8 competes in Game 9.
Winners of Game 7 and Game 8 competes in Game 10.
Loser of Game 10 and Winner of Game 9 competes in Game 11.
Winners of Game 10 and Game 11 competes in Game 12 and decides the champion.
The finalists of the spring split represents China at the Mid-Season Invitational. The winner of the summer split (seed 1), the team with the most championship points (seed 2), and the winner and runners-up of the regional qualifier (seeds 3 & 4) qualify for the World Championship.
