We're almost halfway through season 8 EU / season 1 NA and we have exciting news to share about the end of the season; our new playoff format. Let us guide you through it;
Europe
Our European season is bigger than ever and this called for more divisions than Heroes Lounge has ever seen. So our competition crew went to the drawing board, and went to the drawing board, again and again, asked for captains opinions, sent out surveys until this new format was created.
The divisions will be divided over 4 playoffs, with each playoff consisting of a group stage and 1 bracket day. The first playoff will be between divisions 7 and 6, the second between 5 and 4, the third between 3 and 2 and the last one is for division 1. The top 8 teams of each division qualify for the group stages. All group stages will be a round-robin with each group consisting of 4 teams, with 4 groups for the joint division playoffs and 2 groups for the division 1 playoff.
| Divisions | Group stage | Playoff bracket |
| Division 7 & 6 | Top 8 teams from each division
3rd of February - 21st of February |
Top 2 of each group
Single elimination bracket 23rd of February |
| Division 5 & 4 | Top 8 teams from each division
3rd of February - 21st of February |
Top 2 of each group
Single elimination bracket 24th of February |
| Division 3 & 2 | Top 8 teams from each division
3rd of February - 28th of February |
Top 2 of each group
Single elimination bracket 2nd of March |
| Division 1 | Top 8 teams(2 groups)
3rd of February - 28th of February |
Top 3 of each group
Double elimination bracket 3rd of March |
North America
The North American season has as many divisions as our European league had last year. But with the massive overhaul of the European system, we've decided to keep one line into both regions when it comes into playoffs. With this new format, it officially means the end of the 'Championship' and 'Cup' as it was known from before. The NA season will end with 3 playoffs, with each playoff consisting of a group stage and 1 bracket day. The first playoff will be between divisions 5 and 4, the second between 3 and 2 and the last one is for division 1. The top 8 teams of each division qualify for the group stages. All group stages will be a round-robin with each group consisting of 4 teams, with 4 groups for the joint division playoffs and 2 groups for the division 1 playoff.
| Divisions | Group stage | Playoff bracket |
| Division 5 & 4 | Top 8 teams from each division
27th of January - 8th of February |
Top 2 of each group
Single elimination bracket 9th of February |
| Division 3 & 2 | Top 8 teams from each division
27th of January - 9th of February |
Top 2 of each group
Single elimination bracket 10th of February |
| Division 1 | Top 8 teams (2 groups)
27th of January - 16th of February |
Top 3 of each group
Double elimination bracket 17th of February |
The Brackets
The single elimination bracket that will be used for all joint division playoffs:
The double elimination bracket that will be used for the Division 1 playoffs:
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