Riot Reveals Format Changes to 2024 EMEA Masters Summer Split

Riot Games reveals format changes to 2024 EMEA Master Summer Split

Riot Games announced Wednesday that it has made some adjustments to the format for the 2024 EMEA Masters Summer Split, following feedback from fans and stakeholders in the League of Legends esports community on the original format announced in March.

As a result of this feedback, the Summer Split (which begins July 31 and runs until Aug. 30), will now feature a 60-team tournament, additional best-of-five (Bo5) matches, an all-new Swiss Stage, and what Riot calls “fairer slot distribution” among ERLs.

The Summer Format will keep the three-phase tournament format, but will add a Swiss Stage, following the initial Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). The final phase of the tournament will see teams progress to the Playoffs. These changes will see 32 teams qualify for the LCQ, with “28 of the best teams from ERLs qualifying directly into the Swiss Stage,” where they will compete for one of 16 Playoff spots.

From July 31 – Aug. 2, 32 teams will be split into “four randomly drawn single elimination brackets, with regional protection applied to avoid clashes.” The first two LCQ rounds will be best-of-three (Bo3) matches, while the final round will see teams compete in a best-of-five (Bo5) match to qualify for the Swiss Stage.

The Swiss Stage will feature the top four teams from LCQ and the 28 teams that automatically qualified into this stage of the competition. From Aug. 5 – 13, the Swiss Stage will require teams to secure four wins to reach the Playoffs, while those teams that lose four times will be eliminated from the tournament. These matches will be best-of-one (Bo1) matches until the qualification/elimination matches, when it will be switched to best-of-threes (Bo3) matches until 16 teams have qualified for Playoffs.

The final 16 teams that make it to the Playoffs will face off Aug. 15 – 22 to claim a spot in the 2024 EM Summer Finals on Aug. 30, with seeding based on performance. Teams will compete in best-of-five (Bo5) single-elimination matches in all stages of the Playoffs.

Riot said in its announcement that slot distribution has been tweaked to make sure “each region is fairly represented and the best league performers are suitably rewarded for their consistency.” Accredited ERLs will be rewarded with six slots each, with the three highest-ranked teams qualifying into the Swiss Stage and the remaining three teams qualifying for the LCQ. Non-accredited ERLs will be able to qualify four teams into the competition. The number of teams from non-accredited ERLs qualifying into the Swiss Stage and the LCQ stage will “depend on the respective ERLs performance at recent EM events.”

More details about these changes and some visual representations of the format can be found in this post on lolesports.com.