As we ramp up towards the 2024 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, some new bracket draw rules have been implemented by Riot Games to ensure teams have a fighting chance and fans are in store for one of the best international tournaments in recent memory.
The event sports a double elimination bracket format that gives teams a chance at redemption if they end up falling from the upper bracket, which was a decision that garnered widespread praise from the general fanbase. These types of formats always create incredible storylines, whether its an underdog overcoming the odds or a fallen team earning back its crown.
There are, however, some new changes to the draw for the two stages that should also add even more excitement into the mix, since fans are now guaranteed to watch multiple cross-regional games over the course of the tournament.
Here are all of the new bracket draw rules, broken down for easy understanding.
Breaking down MSI 2024 bracket draw rules
Play-in stage draw changes
Moving forward, the play-in stage will feature eight teams that are split into four different tiers, with the LPL and LCK second seeds as tier one, the LEC and LCS second seeds at tier two, the PCS and VCS first seeds at tier three, and the LLA and CBLoL first seeds in tier four.
These eight teams will be placed into two brackets with one team from each tier, with four teams moving through to the bracket stage against the best teams in the world.
Bracket stage draw changes
The biggest changes to the group draw will happen in the bracket stage, after the remaining eight teams have been split into four tiers again. In a similar fashion, the tiers are as follows:
- Tier one: LPL and LCK first seeds
- Tier two: LCS and LEC first seeds
- Tier three: Two play-in teams with 2-0 records
- Tier four: Two play-in teams with 2-1 records
Teams from the same tier will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket, with tier one teams playing against tier four teams and tier two teams playing vs. tier three teams. The most exciting change, however, is that each side of the bracket can only have one team per region.
As a result, for the first two rounds of the upper bracket and the first round of the lower bracket, there won’t be any inter-regional matchups. If a tier one LPL or LCK team is on the top side of the bracket and an LPL or LCK team is drawn, that team will be moved to the other side of the bracket to avoid a matchup between the same region.
If the play-in results dictate, there could be a world where there is only one draw result possible. If this does occur, however, the draw show will be cancelled and the bracket stage will be announced on Sunday, May 5 following the conclusion of the play-ins.
