One of the new points applied in the LCK Spring 2023 (and soon MSI 2023) is the Double Elimination format. This is not exactly a novel format, even for the professional League of Legends scene. However, tournaments like the LCK or MSI, World Championship (Worlds) had never implemented this format until 2023.
For those who may not know, the Double Elimination format splits the playoffs into a winners’ bracket and a losers’ bracket. A team that competes in the winners’ bracket, if unfortunately defeated and drops to the losers’ bracket, still has a chance to come back. This has sparked much debate, as many believe this format allows teams to “hide their strategies” more effectively. Moreover, for teams in the winners’ bracket reaching the grand finals, their only advantage is having more rest time.
Recently, after T1’s defeat, the shortcomings of the Double Elimination format have been brought up for discussion again. This is because Gen.G once again came from the losers’ bracket to win the championship. Meanwhile, the team from the winners’ bracket, T1, failed after just one loss in this qualifying round. A netizen commented: “Every time teams lose in the winners’ bracket, they get a chance to come back. But when teams like T1 (or G2 previously) lose, they are out completely, with no more chances. This format truly has issues.”
On many forums, there have been opinions suggesting that this format may need to be adjusted to better suit professional League of Legends. For example, Gen.G is performing well after defeating KT Rolster in the losers’ final. Immediately after, they had to face T1 (with less than 24 hours of rest). Meanwhile, T1, who is also in high form, had to wait a full week just to face their opponent. From one perspective, it could be said that Gen.G is ‘in form’ while T1 has yet to ‘warm up’.
Of course, these opinions are just debates from the fans. Perhaps, for Riot to truly consider and make adjustments, the audience needs to experience the entirety of MSI 2023 and Worlds 2023. Only when international tournaments also face issues, perhaps then this publisher will take action to resolve the problems.