With Playoffs on the horizon, we wanted to update everyone on the Week 9 schedule and share a quick refresher on the LCS and Academy Playoffs format and dates.
**WEEK 9 SCHEDULE**
**LCS**
In the case of ties, all LCS tiebreaker matches will take place after the regularly scheduled Week 9 games on Sunday, August 9.
Pre-game coverage remains the same as previous weeks starting at 5PM PT on Friday, August 7 and 12:30 PM PT on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9.
**ACADEMY**
Academy Rush, presented by Verizon, will be moved to Wednesday, August 5 at 7PM PT. The other five Academy games in Week 9 will be broadcasted back-to-back on Thursday, August 6 starting at 3PM PT. If needed, tiebreakers will follow the Academy broadcast on Thursday, August 6.
**PLAYOFFS**
**LCS FORMAT**
Here’s a refresher on the new LCS Summer Playoffs format:
- **Week 1 –** In the First Round of the Winners Bracket, the third seed will play the sixth seed in Match A1. The fourth seed will play the fifth seed in Match A2. The loser of match A1 will play against the seventh seed in Match W2 in the Losers Bracket. The loser of Match A2 will play against the eighth seed in Match W1. The winners of Matches W1/W2 will proceed to Matches X1/X2 respectively in the Second Round of the Losers Bracket. The losers of Matches W1/W2 will be eliminated at seventh and eighth place.
- **Week 2 –** The first seed will choose to face either winner of Matches A1/A2 in Match B1. The second seed will play the winner of Matches A1/A2 which has not been chosen in Match B2. The winning teams will advance to Match C1 in the Third Round of the Winners Bracket. The losing teams will drop to Matches X1/X2 in the Second Round of the Losers Bracket. The winners of Matches X1/X2 will proceed to Match Y1 in the Third Round of the Losers Bracket. The losers of Matches X1/X2 will be eliminated at fifth and sixth place.
- **Week 3 –** In the Third Round of the Winners Bracket, the winners of Matches B1/B2 will face each other in Match C1. The winner will proceed to the Finals (Match E1) and the loser will drop to Match Z1 in the Losers Bracket, where they will face the winner of Match Y1. The loser of match Y1 will be eliminated in fourth place.
- **Finals Weekend –** The Finals Weekend will begin with Match Z1. The winner of this match will proceed to the Finals. The loser of Match Z1 will finish in third place. The loser of the Finals will finish in second place. The winner of the Finals will be crowned the 2020 LCS Summer Champion.
The top three teams from 2020 LCS Summer Playoffs will advance to the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. As such, there will no longer be a Regional Qualifier or Championship Points.
**ACADEMY FORMAT**
For Academy, the Playoffs format is the same as the Spring where the top six teams from the regular season advance to Playoffs. During Playoffs, matches will transition to a Best of 5 bracket with the top two teams receiving byes to Quarterfinals.
**PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE**
During Playoffs, the first set of matches will begin at 1PM PT.
LCS
- Round 1: August 13-16
- Round 2: August 20-23
- Round 3: August 29-30
- Finals: September 5-6
Academy
- Quarterfinals: August 13-14
- Semifinals: August 20-21
- Finals: August 28
**LOCATION**
For Playoffs and Finals, we plan to continue hosting LCS and Academy games online. As we previously announced, we’ll continue to follow local and state guidelines around COVID-19 to determine when it’s safe to return to the LCS Studios and live events.
