After a lengthy 45-game regular season that kicked off all the way back in February, the 2021 LCS playoff bracket is finally set.
The top eight teams in North America are set to compete in the postseason, with only one squad emerging as the LCS champion. Plus, the top three teams in the LCS playoffs will advance to the international stage, where a berth at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship in China awaits them.
Here are the matchups for the 2021 LCS Summer Split playoffs, set to begin on Aug. 7.
Aug. 7
- Evil Geniuses (No. 3) vs. Dignitas (No. 6)
Aug. 8
- Cloud9 (No. 4) vs. Team Liquid (No. 5)
Aug. 12
- Immortals (No. 7) vs. TBD
Aug. 13
- Golden Guardians (No. 8) vs. TBD
Aug. 14
- 100 Thieves (No. 2) vs. TBD
Aug. 15
- TSM (No. 1) vs. TBD
The entire LCS playoff bracket will follow a best-of-five format and each team will have to navigate through either an upper bracket, lower bracket, or both depending on playoff results. The seventh and eighth-place teams from the LCS regular season, Immortals and Golden Guardians, have been preemptively placed into the lower bracket due to their comparatively weaker performances over the span of the 45-game season. If either of those teams lose just one series in the playoffs, their season will come to an end.
In the bracket’s upper half, though, teams have the luxury of losing two matches before they’re knocked out of the playoffs. EG, Dignitas, C9, and Liquid will all start their playoff journeys in the first round of the upper bracket, while TSM and 100 Thieves—who finished first and second in the regular season, respectively—will advance directly to the upper bracket’s second round by way of byes.
The first round of the 2021 LCS Summer Split playoffs will begin on Aug. 7.
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