Everything you need to know about the TFT Challenger Series

Nearly two months after the first tournament for Teamfight Tactics: Gizmos and Gadgets, the TFT Challenger Series will give high-ranked players their next stop on the North American TFT Circuit on Saturday and Sunday.

Performing well will help competitors secure their invite to the Mid-Set Finale in February while paying out some prize money for their troubles, too. Here is everything you need to know about the invitational-only event.

Format

The Challenger Series is a 16 player invitational with two spots to the TFT Mid-Set Finale on the line. The event itself will take place over the course of two days.

On Day 1, the 16 players will split into two groups of eight based on their ladder rankings at the time of the snapshot. Competitors will play a total of five games with lobbies that are reseeded after every two games. The top eight players in points after five games will move onto Day 2. Points are awarded based on placements. A first place will result in 10 points, second will grant eight points, third will give seven, fourth will give six, fifth will receive four, etc.

Day 2 will follow the same exact points system, but with a twist. With points being reset, the eight competitors will play games until they reach 24 points. Once a player meets this threshold, if they win the next game, the tournament will end and that player will be crowned champion. If they don’t win, play resumes until a player that has met the threshold wins a game.

There is a safety net with this tournament to keep it from continuing forever, however. If a player reaches 40 points, regardless of whether or not they won a game after reaching the 24 point threshold, they will win the event.

Players

The 16 players competing in the tournament were chosen based on the ladder snapshot that ended on Jan. 5. Notable names include the last two North American regional champions, Robin “Robinsongz” Sung and Alex “Kurumx” Tompkins, who both play for Team Liquid. TSM also has two players competing in Ki Yoon “Kiyoon” Yoo and Duy Minh “Souless” Nguyen. Rounding out the sponsored players are Beastcoast’s Albert “Mismatched Socks” Chen and Invictus Gaming’s Daniel “DQA” Li.

Where to watch the TFT Challenger Series

The trio of Nathan “Admirable” Zamora, Khalif “Khroen” Hashim and “Casanova” will bringing the play-by-play coverage and analysis live on stream during the two day event.

The Challenger Series kicks off on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The tournament will be broadcast live on the TeamfightTactics Twitch channel. Day 2, on Sunday, will also be broadcast live at 6 p.m. ET.