With the mid-set update on the horizon, the competitive season for the Teamfight Tactics Dragonlands expansion is in full swing, with the TFT Dragonlands Championship just a few months away. Official details have just released detailing some of the biggest changes coming to this season’s world championship which will include a $156,000 increase to the prize pool as well as an updated overall format to the event. The tournament will still be held online with the event taking place on the weekend of November 18-20.
The prize pool for the TFT Dragonlands Championship has been increased again to give players an even greater incentive to strive to become the Worlds best tactician. This season, the prize pool has been raised from $300,000 to $456,000 in which a majority of the increase has been funneled into the top two spots. To increase intensity in the final lobby, the difference between first, second and the rest of the field is drastic. The winner will walk away with $150,000 while second place will walk away with $75,000. For comparison, the TFT Gizmos and Gadgets Championship only awarded $48,000 to the winner and $32,000 to second place.
As for format changes, there is a massive one. The 32 players competing at this set’s World championship will at minimum play 10 games. This is because the previous format of cutting the players in half at certain intervals is not happening this time around. Instead, the 32 players will be split into separate lobbies for five games on Day 1, as is standard in tournament play. However, all 32 players will come back for Day 2, with all points earned on Day 1 carrying over. The 32 players on Day 2 will play an additional five games with a cut to Top 8. This is a much requested change that will decrease variance and help decide the actual best players at the event.
However, Top 8 will still follow the controversial Checkmate format. Here, the tournament’s final eight players will come back for Day 3 with their points reset. There will not be a set amount of games on Day 3; instead, players will race to 18 points — at that point, they will move into “check.”
Once a player in check wins a game, the tournament is over and the champion will be crowned. This does create a very high-stakes, high-pressure situation for the players; however, it’s a great show for spectators.
No details have been made on regional seeding at this time; however, information for each region’s world championship qualifiers has been made public on Riot’s official site.
