LoL - LPL: The round 1 playoff matchups are set

The Play-In stage of LPL Split 3 wrapped up on Tuesday, September 2, with four elimination best-of-fives between the bottom four teams of Group Ascend and the top four of Group Nirvana. Two teams from each side came out on top: Ninjas in Pyjamas knocked out FunPlus Phoenix in the only series that went the distance, while EDward Gaming secured victory over Team WE on Sunday. The week then resumed with two clean sweeps — first Weibo Gaming against Ultra Prime, followed by JD Gaming over LGD Gaming.

For the Bracket Stage, kicking off on Sunday, September 7, the top four teams from Group Ascend were able to select their opponents in the order of their regular season finish. Top Esports picked NIP, Invictus Gaming chose EDG, Bilibili Gaming went for JDG, and finally Anyone’s Legend, as the fourth seed, will face Weibo. The Knockout Stage will be a double-elimination bracket with 14 best-of-fives in total, requiring at least four series wins to claim the title. All teams will start from Round 1.

The Play-In results came as expected. First, Ninjas in Pyjamas — the best team from Group Nirvana — struggled against FunPlus Phoenix, who, despite finishing last in Group Ascend, have shown real improvement in recent series since the arrival of jungler Zhao "Jiejie" Li-Jie from IG. The World Champion’s impact, however, wasn’t enough to overcome Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang’s squad. A standout performance came from AD Carry Hu "Leave" Hong-Chao, who carried his team to qualification in the last two games of the series.

Next, EDward Gaming, the second seed from Group Nirvana, comfortably defeated Team WE, who never really showed their potential. The balance then shifted in the final two best-of-fives, with Group Ascend teams clean sweeping their opponents. The hierarchy held: Ultra Prime and LGD Gaming were never true favorites and hadn’t impressed in their group either.

That marks the end of the year for those eliminated squads. Only eight teams remain to chase the championship and secure their spot at Worlds 2025, which will be hosted in China. The others will head into the Regional Finals to determine the last two teams qualifying for the Worlds main event, along with the single squad heading into Play-In phase to face the LCK’s fourth seed.