League of Legends: Clash guide
Here's how League's new high stakes game mode works.
Clash is League’s equivalent of Arena mode in Hearthstone or Destiny’s Trials of the Nine. If you’re not familiar with either of these two things, it’s essentially a high stakes tournament which grants you greater rewards the further you progress. To gain entry you’ll need to pay a special Clash Ticket, which don’t come around often, so once you’ve entered you’ll want to knuckle down and get as many wins as possible.
Below we’ve rounded up all the key information on League of Legends’ new game mode Clash, including how to access it, how to form teams, how to get tickets, rewards and more.
What is Clash?
Clash is a biweekly tournament which sees you and your squad team up to compete against other teams at your skill level. To enter the tournament, you need a Clash Ticket which can be purchased from the Riot Store using Blue Essence. Players can also purchase a premium ticket with Riot Points which will increase your rewards.
You can begin forming your team on Monday, but matches will take place either on Saturday or Sunday. Your team can join an 8-team bracket on either day (or both), and if you win all three games, you’ll get a special trophy alongside some prizes.
The more games you win, the better your prizes will be. If you lose your first round, fear not, as you can still play some consolation games to improve your prize pool.
Your team can only join one Clash bracket each day, and once you’ve joined, that team is locked in for the entire bracket. However, if things don’t go well for you on Saturday, you can still come back the next day and try again with the same team - or an entirely new one!
How to create a team in Clash
To create a team in Clash, you’ll need to meet three requirements:
- Reach level 30.
- Completed placements in at least one Summoner’s Rift ranked queue.
- Verified your League account by SMS.
Every team has a captain who is responsible for managing its members. To create a team, the captain must select “Create Team” in the League of Legends Clash tab and follow the instructions. It’ll involve setting up a team name, icon, adding members and the like.
Each team is assigned a Tier based on skill level. Tier 1 is the highest, while Tier IV is the lowest. Tiers are based on everyone on the team’s Rank, but it is weighted more heavily towards the best player on the team. Your Tier determines the skill level of the teams you’ll be matched against, but also when you need to lock-in for your Clash Bracket.
What’s the Bracket format?
When you enter a Clash tournament, you’ll be placed into a single-elimination 8-team bracket against teams at the same skill level. Even if you don’t win a bracket on day one, you can try again the next day in another 8-team bracket!
If you lose out early, there’s a consolation bracket for all the teams which lost their first match of the day. Each of these teams face off against one another to earn better prizes.
Participation is flexible, meaning you can enter on any day of the tournament. If you win Saturday, but can’t play Sunday, that’s okay. You can still earn the best prizes in one day, but playing both will net you more if you end up doing well.
What happens once you’ve entered a match?
Scouting
Before a match commences, you’ll see the scouting page. This is where you can see your opponents’ stats and info to aid your pick/ban strategy.
You’ll see win rates, KDAs, most played champions in ranked, best champs in terms of mastery and previous Clash data.
Champ Select
Next up, you’ll use the draft format to pick and ban champions. The team captain makes all the ban decisions for the team, so ensure your opinions are heard by the head honcho.
All champions are unlocked in Clash, so don’t worry about not having access to particular heroes. All strategies are open to you!
Unlike regular games, not declaring or hovering a champion will lock in a random one for you. This is to prevent dodging and to keep things ticking over.
How do tickets work in Clash?
To enter Clash, each team member will need a Basic or Premium ticket. Each teammate can choose which ticket they want to use, and their rewards will scale individually based on their choice.
Tickets can be earned from missions, a teammate, or the store. Every two tournaments, completing the Clash missions unlocks a ticket. Teammates can also offer a ticket to anyone else on their roster, so it’s worth bearing this in mind.
You can purchase Basic Tickets with Blue Essence or RP, and Premium Tickets at a higher RP cost.
What prizes can I earn in Clash?
Rewards in Clash come in three main forms: Trophies, Victory Points, and Capsules.
Win a bracket and it’ll earn you a Trophy of the corresponding tournament theme:
Your highest-level trophy shows up at the nexus for all your Summoner’s Rift games for two weeks after the tournament concludes. Once this time period is up, you’ll need to win a new one! Trophies will also be displayed on your profile page, which is nice.
Every time you win in Clash, you’ll earn 200 Victory Points. You can use these to unlock Banners. These show up in Summoner’s Rift on your chosen lane and in your profile too.
As you collect banners over the course of the season, you’ll upgrade the appearance of the frame that holds each banner in place.
VP can also be spent on new team icons and your rewards total will scale depending on the tier your team plays in - as well as your personal ticket entry.
Every player who enters Clash will receive a Clash Orb or Clash Capsule no matter where they exit the bracket. The capsule’s content upgrades depending on ticket entry and how far you progress, though.
For a full breakdown of Clash, make sure you head on over to Riot's official Clash FAQ.