Experimental Tournament format

The plan as it stands. Sponsorship is still in flight, so the numbers can move. Say something if you want them to move.

Every rank

Iron to Challenger. Nobody gets left out.

Brackets come from team rating. Your ranks set where it starts, weighted to your strongest player. Results move it from there.

Legend Top of the table Highest rated. Casted final
Rise The middle Own bracket, prizes and casted final
Open Everyone else No floor

Season one runs as one field. Bands split off as team numbers allow. Swiss pairing matches on results from round one. Drafted rosters, a quarterly season, a table. You play up by winning. Rating rises with results and pairs you against teams near it, so a run moves you up the field on its own. The draft is coming for the roster side of it.

Format

  • Double elimination — every team plays at least twice
  • Bo1 early, Bo3 later, Bo5 final
  • Fearless draft — a picked champion is gone for the rest of the series
  • 8 teams minimum; bigger fields add a group or Swiss stage first

Teams

  • 5 players, up to 2 subs, 1 optional coach — 8 max
  • Roster locks before the bracket. No outsiders mid-event
  • A coach or a captain, not both. Whichever it is registers the team

Entry & prize pool

  • Sponsored — free to enter. The whole sponsorship goes to players
  • Unsponsored fallback: $10 per player ($25 ceiling), 80% into the pool. Riot's floor is 70%
  • Top 3 paid, 60 / 25 / 15
  • No prize or entry caps since August 2026

How a team splits its winnings

  • Coach or captain — 10% off the top as a declared team fund. A team has one or the other, never both. A captain plays, so they take a normal share on top of it; a coach does not, and takes half a share
  • Players — even split of the other 90%
  • Subs — full share if they played, none if they didn't

Schedule

  • Built around shifts. No full-weekend commitment
  • Submit availability once. The system picks a time from the overlap
  • Need to move it? Propose in-app, the other team accepts
  • One match a week, whenever suits you both. Bo1 ~1h, Bo3 ~2h
  • Only the final is a fixed date

Season

  • Quarterly. Placement earns championship points
  • Points qualify you for the season championship
  • Rating carries between seasons and seeds the bracket
  • NA region. Anyone can enter

Rating — how you're placed

  • Your ranks set the starting number, weighted 60% to the best player on the roster
  • Results move it, per game. Beating a stronger team is worth more
  • It carries a confidence figure. Nobody is promoted or relegated while that is still wide
  • Forfeits cost points, never rating
  • Swap starters and the confidence widens, not the number
  • Built only from matches played in this competition. It is not your ranked MMR

Casting — open to anyone, paid

Every game we can staff goes on stream. Fixtures are published and crews claim the slots they can make.

  • A flat fee per broadcast, agreed before you claim it, paid whatever the viewership does
  • Plus half the YouTube revenue, split evenly across the credited crew — play-by-play, colour and observer alike
  • Half of that share is pooled across the season and paid by hours cast
  • Flat fee within a week. Revenue settles quarterly — YouTube pays in arrears
  • Every event publishes what it made and how the split fell out
  • Casters are paid from sponsorship, never from the prize pool
  • Viewers upvote crews. Upvotes decide who gets a claim
  • Games go up on YouTube edited, best plays included, embedded on the front page

Asked in the channel

Is this NA only? I play on SEA.

NA first, every region after. The form already asks which regions you'd play in and the schedule is built from that.

Can lower-ranked players take part, or is this Emerald+?

Everyone plays. There's no rank floor. Your tier decides where your team's rating starts and nothing else.

So what does my rank do?

Sets your team's starting rating on day one. After that results move it, and climbing in ranked mid-season doesn't change your bracket.

Is this a second MMR? Is that even allowed?

A team rating for this competition only, from matches played in it. Not an estimate of your ranked MMR and no bearing on your ladder — which is the line Riot draws. Method is Glicko-2.

I don't want to be an anchor on someone's team.

A team's starting rating leans on its strongest player, not the average — so a roster carrying someone much better gets placed by that player. Results correct a bad guess within a couple of games.

How is this different from Clash?

Drafted rosters, a quarterly season, a table. Brackets come from team rating, not your Clash tier.

How do I get into harder games?

Win. Rating rises with results and pairs you against teams near it. Joining a stronger roster does it faster — sign up as a free agent and you're in the pool captains pick from.

We swapped a player mid-season. Does our rating reset?

No. The number stays, the confidence in it drops — more with each new starter, and three or more counts as a new team.

What does it cost?

Nothing if we land a sponsor, and the first few are free either way. Unsponsored fallback is $10 a player (~€9), $25 hard ceiling. Any buy-in is published before registration opens and doesn't move.

I'm in a state where entry fees are a problem.

Free for you. Ten states restrict paid-entry competition — Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee. A bracket with affected players runs free entry.

When does it actually start?

When there are teams. Riot tournament codes aren't a requirement — they automate lobbies, draft settings and results. Without them it's custom lobbies and manual results. Approval takes a week to a couple of months.

I don't have a team.

Fill in the form anyway. Riot ID, regions, positions in order, availability — that's what a captain drafts from. Free agents get placed.

Can I help?

Yes. Casting pays — see above. Admin, observing and production help all wanted. Say so in the channel.

Do I have to play on my main?

Play the account you'll actually be on, and make sure it's the one we have. If it isn't your usual one, say so in the notes and we'll seed you on your real rank — an undeclared alt can mean disqualification.

Employee-run and unofficial. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Experimental. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Riot Games. League of Legends and Riot Games are trademarks of Riot Games, Inc.

Backstage