Riot has announced all the details on Legends of Runeterra's seasonal tournaments! We've recapped everything below but you can read the full press release and FAQs by reading on.

  • Tournaments are held at the end of seasons with the top 1024 players competing for a grand prize of $10,000.
  • You can qualify by being one of the top 700 players on the ladder or by being one of the top 324 players in the Last Stand Gauntlet.
  • There is a waitlist. If someone can't participate, you may make the top cut.
  • The end of the Monuments of Power season is December 4.
  • You may only participate in your home shard.

Last Chance Gauntlet

  • Get 7 wins on your first attempt at a weekly Gauntlet to achieve a Prime Glory.
  • Each Prime Glory you earn throughout the season, up to 5, counts as an automatic win in the Last Chance Gauntlet.
  • Be one of the first to complete the Last Chance Gauntlet with 7 wins to earn that final Prime Glory and qualify for the tournament.
  • The more Prime Glories you have, the more likely you’ll be one of the first 324 players to finish.

Tournament Structure

  • Day 1 - 5 Swiss Rounds with Best of 3 Matches to determine the top 32 players.
  • Day 2 - Single elimination bracket.
  • The second day (December 13, 2020) takes place a week after the first (December 6, 2020).

Prizing

  • All competitors will receive a special icon.
  • All competitors can earn an exclusive card back by winning 4 matches in the tournament.
  • The grand prize is $10000 USD.
  • There are smaller cash prizes for everyone who makes it to Day 2, the top 32.

Additionally, there will be even larger competitions in the future, but Riot is not sharing details yet.

Runeterra Seasonal Tournaments Press Release

Quote From Riot Games

LOS ANGELES - October 15, 2020 - Riot Games today announced Seasonal Tournaments as part of the Monuments of Power expansion for Legends of Runeterra (LoR), the free-to-play card game set in the League of Legends universe. Seasonal Tournaments offer players an exclusive competitive experience and will be fully accessible in-game.

Seasonal Tournaments will be held at the end of each bimonthly season, with the first tournament starting on December 6th, 2020. Over the course of two days, the top 1,024 players from each of LoR’s four regional servers will have the ability to compete for a grand prize of $10,000, with the final matches broadcast live around the world. Additionally, all competitors will have a chance to earn an exclusive card back by winning four matches within the tournament.

“Seasonal Tournaments are the apex of competition in Legends of Runeterra, exclusively for the best of the best,” said Executive Producer Jeff Jew. “We know our players have been eager for an accessible, competitive experience, and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top in the first Seasonal Tournament.”

Players can qualify for Seasonal Tournaments in one of two ways: Ranked and Gauntlets. Those who place among the top 700 Ranked players on their server at the end of each season will automatically qualify for the tournament. Through Gauntlets, 324 more players can qualify by being the first to achieve 7 wins on their first attempt in the high stakes Last Chance Gauntlet, which also takes into account their performance in previous Gauntlets throughout the season.

Runeterra Seasonal Tournaments FAQ

Quote From Riot Games

What are seasonal tournaments?
Seasonal tournaments are the apex of competition in Legends of Runeterra, exclusively for the best of the best, and supported fully in-game.

How often will there be a tournament?
There will be a seasonal tournament at the end of each season (makes sense, right?), so roughly every two months.

How many players can compete in each tournament?
At the end of every season, 1024 qualifying players on each of LoR’s four regional shards—Americas, Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia—will be able to compete for pride, glory, and a cash prize.

How do I qualify?
There are two ways to qualify for a seasonal tournament: Ranked and Gauntlets.

Be one of the top 700 Ranked players on your regional shard at the end of the season (December 4), and you’ll automatically qualify for the tournament.

324 more players can qualify by being the first to achieve 7 wins on their first attempt in the high stakes Last Chance Gauntlet, which takes into account your performance in previous Gauntlets throughout the season. The Last Chance Gauntlet will take place shortly after the end of the Ranked season.

How does the Last Chance Gauntlet work?
Get 7 wins on your first attempt at a weekly Gauntlet to achieve a Prime Glory.
Each Prime Glory you earn throughout the season, up to 5, counts as an automatic win in the Last Chance Gauntlet.
Be one of the first to complete the Last Chance Gauntlet with 7 wins to earn that final Prime Glory and qualify for the tournament.

The more Prime Glories you have, the more likely you’ll be one of the first 324 players to finish —so make sure to compete in a Gauntlet each week!

What’s the tournament structure?
Each seasonal tournament takes place over two days. The first day kicks off with 5 Swiss Rounds of Best of 3 matches to determine the top 32 players. These finalists advance to the second stage of the tournament, a week later, to compete in a single elimination bracket. The victor will be crowned Season Champion and win the grand prize.

When will the first tournament take place?
The first tournament will take place in two months at the end of the Monuments of Power season. The competition takes place over two days, with 1024 players competing on December 6, 2020, and 32 finalists competing on December 13, 2020.

How will tournament matches work?

On Day 1, players will compete in Best of 3 matches using a combination of rules. For Seasonal Tournaments 2020, the following rules will be in effect:

Players bring three different decks with no duplicated champions, no duplicated region combination, and no more than one deck without any champions at all.

40 cards to a deck, from up to 2 regions; up to 3 copies of any individual card, and up to 6 champions total.

Players ban one of their opponent’s decks before the matches begin.

Players cannot use a deck again after winning a game with it.

How long will each tournament round last?
Each tournament round lasts for 75 minutes maximum, which includes the following:

Game 1
5 minute preparation phase
1 minute ban phase
1 minute pick phase

Game 2+
1 minute preparation phase
1 minute pick phase

We’re also working on a chess clock-style system that will keep things moving, and hope to implement that in time for the Monuments of Power Tournament. We’ll share more details as soon as we’ve finalized them.

How does matchmaking work for the first day?
Players will initially be matched based off their season Rank. After that, the Swiss-style rounds will match players based on their current scores. After five rounds, the top 32 players will advance to the next day.

For those doing the math, a single loss effectively means you’re out of contention for the second stage of the tournament. However, you can continue competing to earn an exclusive card back only available to those who reach 3 wins in a tournament.

What happens if qualifying players decline to participate? Could I take their place?
Yes! We’ll have a per-shard waitlist for players that missed the cut, comprised of Masters-ranked players and additional players who earned a Prime Glory in the Last Chance Gauntlet—more details to come.

If you’re on the waitlist, you’ll sign in at the start of the tournament, just like the qualifying players. If a player drops out and you’re next on the list, your lobby will update accordingly and you’ll be in the tournament!


How is the bracket determined on the second day?
The bracket will use a standard seeding system, where the highest seed players from the first day are placed into a matchup, which are then filled by the lowest seed players (players that have the same record from Day 1 of the tournament will be seeded according to their season Rank). Any byes due to an uneven number of competitors will be given to the highest seeded players.

Please note that those who qualify for this stage of Seasonal Tournaments will need to validate their country of residence in order to participate—make sure to check your email if you make it to the top 32!

What’s the grand prize? Are there other prizes for participation?
The grand prize for winning the entire tournament is $10,000 USD, with smaller cash prizes for the rest of the top 32. All competitors will have a chance to earn an exclusive card back by reaching 3 wins in any tournament. All participants will also receive an exclusive icon.

Can competitors use different decks for Day 1 and Day 2?
Players will submit their three decks during sign-in for each of the two stages of the tournament, so it will be possible for the final 32 to use different decks than they did on Day 1.

How can I watch the tournament?
Our plan is to broadcast the entire second day of the tournaments (the top 32 player single elimination bracket) on various channels to the entire Legends of Runeterra community. We’ll update you when we have more details on where you can go to watch!

Will seasonal tournaments be a path to pro? How do tournaments connect to esports?
We want tournaments to be one path to going pro, and have more plans to support those taking that path. It’s still a bit too soon to talk about, so stay tuned for more info in the future.

World Championship when?
We’re working on some competitions that are even bigger than seasonal tournaments, but nothing to share just yet.

Can I participate in tournaments on multiple shards at the same time? What about using a VPN to participate on another shard?
Both of these are a “definitely not.” The goal of seasonal tournaments is for players to compete on their shard within their country of residence. In order to preserve the integrity of per-shard tournaments, we will disqualify anyone found to be using a VPN or otherwise competing in a shard outside their country of residence. That includes any players who manage to qualify for multiple tournaments—we’ll ask you to decline for any shards that do not include your country of residence. Sorry, but we’re taking a hard line on this one.

Can Rioters participate in seasonal tournaments?
No Rioters will participate in a seasonal tournament, and If there’s a mistake, we’ll correct it. That also means if a Rioter would qualify by being one of the top 700 Ranked players, they will drop out of the tournament and leave their spot open for a player on the waitlist.

Will a Tournament mode be available for custom tournaments?
For now we’re focused squarely on preparation for the first Seasonal Tournament, but long-term we’d like to make more tournament features available to players in game—we'll have more detail to share next year.

What about X? I have more questions!
We’re still working on a bunch of things and will be back with more details as they become available. Expect more info on what local broadcasts will look like, exact schedules, terms & conditions / competition rules, etc.