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LPL Grand Finals bracket explained: who is fighting for Worlds

Ascend’s top four enter a double elimination bracket, Play-In (Ascend 5 to 8 vs Nirvana 1 to 4) sets their foes, then seeds pick quarterfinals for China’s first Worlds spot.

Mads Wildenhoff · · Updated 5 Sep 2025 · 2 min read

The LPL split the field into two groups this season: Ascend, the “good” group, and Nirvana, the “bad” group. Groups were set by Split 2 standings, with the top eight in Ascend and 9th to 14th in Nirvana. Here is a simple breakdown of the format and the current bracket.

LPL Grand Finals format

  • Two stages: Play-In, then a double-elimination Bracket Stage with upper and lower bracket.
  • The top four from Ascend advance directly to the Bracket Stage, TES, AL, BLG, iG.
  • Play-In features Ascend 5th to 8th versus Nirvana 1st to 4th.
  • Opponent selection: in order of their Ascend placement, the four direct qualifiers pick their Upper Bracket Quarterfinal opponents from the Play-In winners.
  • All series are best of five, the Grand Final winner qualifies to Worlds as China’s first seed.

Play-In matches

Teams on the left is from the Ascend group and teams on the right is from the Nirvana group.

BLG beat Gen.G 3-1 to end their lost finals curse
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BLG beat Gen.G 3-1 to end their lost finals curse

  • WBG 3-0 UP
  • JDG 3-0 LGD
  • WE 1-3 EDG
  • FPX 2-3 NIP

Now it is up to the Ascend top 4 teams to choose who of WBG, JDG, EDG and NIP they will play in the first round of playoffs.

LPL Grand Final Playoffs: Matchups and Schedule (CEST)

Upper Bracket Quarterfinals

  • Sun Sep 7, 08:00: BLG vs JDG
  • Sun Sep 7, 11:00: IG vs EDG
  • Mon Sep 8, 08:00: AL vs WBG
  • Mon Sep 8, 11:00: TES vs NIP

Upper Bracket Semifinals

  • Tue Sep 9, 11:00: Winner IG/EDG vs Winner BLG/JDG
  • Wed Sep 10, 11:00: Winner AL/WBG vs Winner TES/NIP

Lower Bracket Round 1

  • Thu Sep 11, 11:00: LB Round 1 Match 1
  • Fri Sep 12, 11:00: LB Round 1 Match 2

Lower Bracket Quarterfinals

  • Sat Sep 13, 11:00: LB Quarterfinal 1
  • Sun Sep 14, 11:00: LB Quarterfinal 2

Upper Bracket Final

  • Mon Sep 15, 11:00

Lower Bracket Semifinal

  • Tue Sep 16, 11:00

Lower Bracket Final

  • Sat Sep 20, 11:00

Grand Final

  • Sun Sep 21, 11:00

Winners move through the upper bracket, losers drop to the lower bracket for a second chance.

Playing for Worlds

The LPL Grand Finals is a demanding playoff run, and only one direct ticket is on the line. The champion qualifies to Worlds as China’s first seed. Teams that fall short still have a path through the LPL Regional Finals, where the remaining Worlds spots for China are decided.

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