AXIZ coach Jerophillip with Uinyan (Source: lolesports.jp IG)

The Japanese League has finished their regular split, and with six teams in the play-offs the LJL has changed its format to where they previously only had the top three participating in previous iterations. With the new renowned play-offs bracket, the LJL sets up for the ultimate climaxing ending of the Spring Split of 2020 with only one winner that will go to the Mid-seasonal invitation!

Who are participating in the Spring 2020 LJL Play-offs?

The six teams are (in positional order); Crest Gaming Act, AXIZ, Rascal Jester, V3 Esports, Sengoku Gaming and Detonation FocusMe. Crest Gaming Act managed to get their last spot through winning a tie-breaker between them and Burning Core.

With the six teams in the play-off bracket, the bracket has adapted to a similar style to what the LEC in Europe uses for their own play-offs. A quick explanation to the bracket system: The number three seed of the regular split will either choose the fifth or sixth seeded team, the remaining team will face off against the number four. Once battled against each other, the winners of the first round bracket will play against each other to determine who will go and play in the third round.

The Spring 2020 LJL trailer (Source lolesports.jp IG)

Whilst all that is happening, the number one and two seeded teams in the higher bracket will face off against each other as well and the winner will automatically be seeded into the finals, while the loser of the series will play in the third round against the winner of the lower bracket of round two in round three. The winner of round three will play in the finals, where the winner of the LJL will be determined. Simple isn’t it!

The first matchups of the play-offs

Match 1: V3 Esports vs. AXIZ

Date and time: 2020/03/21 01 PM Japanese Standard Time.

Expected Line-up:

V3 Esports: Top: Paz Jungle: Bugi Mid: Ace Bot: Archer Support: Raina AXIZ: Top: Uinyan Jungle: Hoglet Mid: Gariaru Bot: Hide Support: Corporal

AXIZ will have a tough task to accomplish. As the underdog in the series, they need to shut down the enemy jungler Bugi in order to succeed. But with creative drafting and wicked playstyle the AXIZ narwhals could upset V3 Esports on a good day. For V3 Esports perspective, the AXIZ team shouldn’t create any problems whatsoever. However the mid lane matchup; Gariaru vs. Ace could shake up some upsets.

“When the pause hits your sanity and you try to backdoor your enemy” presented by AXZ Uinyan (Source: Lolesports JP Youtube)

The last time the teams faced off against each other, Uinyan carried his team to victory in a slumping 42 minute victory with an astonishing backdoor. However, it was a team made effort in order to succeed Uinyans backdoor. With Corporal and Hoglet using their bodies in front of V3 Esports players, the opposing team couldn’t even cast any recalls.

Match 2: Rascal Jester vs. Crest Gaming Act

Date and time: 2020/03/21 07 PM Japanese Standard Time.

Expected Line-up:

Rascal Jester: Top: Cogcog Jungle: Hachamecha Mid: Ninja Bot: Art Support: viviD Crest Gaming Act: Top: Nap Jungle: Yoshi Mid: Aria Bot: Gango Support: Grendel

This match could be a lot closer than it initially looks. The matchup could be dubbed as the “Civil Crest Gaming Act war” as both Hachamecha and Art used to play on the same team as Nap, Aria and Grendel. But back on why it could be closer than it looks. Rascal Jesters main strength is through their bot lane in Art and viviD, while their weaknesses are through their solo laners. The opposite could be said for Crest Gaming Act, where their mid and bot are the strengths of the team.

“Everything on the line” presented by RJ Hachamecha (Source: lolesports.jp IG)

The last time the teams faced off against each other, Crest Gaming Act had an incredible lead of 10k gold. They unfortunately threw it away in one team fight where Rascal Jester took the nexus with one push.

Match 3: DetonatioN FocusMe vs. Sengoku Gaming

Date and time: 2020/03/28 01 PM Japanese Standard Time.

Expected Line-up:

DetonatioN FocusMe: Top: Evi Jungle: Steal Mid: Ceros Bot: Yutapon Support: Gaeng Sengoku Gaming: Top: apaMEN Jungle: Blank Mid: Pirean Bot: Yutorimoyashi Support: Enty

The two titans of the LJL will face off against each other in the second round of the LJL play-offs structure. The winner of the match will be automatically seeded into the finals, which makes this match super important. DetonatioN FocusMe has only lost this split against two teams: V3 Esports and their opponent Sengoku Gaming. For Sengoku Gaming, their task is going to be very difficult but doable if done right. Main priority for them is to set Yutorimoyashi in the botlane for success in order to win teamfights. For DetonatioN FocusMe, their overall cohesion should be already enough to get them over the crossline. The only enemy are actually themselves. It might sound as a joke, but whenever DetonatioN FocusMe gets out of their usual habits, they tend to lose their games.

The always happy DFM Evi on camera with the thumbs up (Source: lolesports.jp IG)

The previous match against each other was a slugfest, where Blank had a tremendous lead over the enemy jungler Steal. With every minute being back and forth, they somehow managed to get every drake and baron in order to finish the game.

Players to watch from every team!

These are the players to look an closer eye upon. Their performances are the reason why they are with their team in the LJL play-offs, so look out for them! For every player there is going to be a highlight play, so make sure to watch those:

Crest Gaming Act; Mid Aria Leblanc outplay that sealed the game

AXIZ; Top Uinyan backdoor on Camille

Rascal Jester; Bot Art showing how to play Jinx in LJL

V3 Esports Jungle; Bugi completely dominating the early game on Lee Sin

Sengoku Gaming; Bot Yutorimoyashi 200 years of experience on Aphelios

Detonation FocusMe; Top Evi SETTing up his teammates for success

Wonder how the LJL play-offs will unfold? Tune into the next LJL match!

Interested in the LJL? Come and watch the next LJL broadcast either on the official Japanese broadcast or the English broadcast! Starting this saturday at 5 AM CET, the LJL Spring play-offs will be played with the first match being V3 Esports vs. AXIZ Gaming. You don’t want to miss that!

Join our LJL English Discord to discuss and learn even more about the LJL!

I hope you had a wonderful read about The start of the LJL Play-offs, and on every Thursday I will post an new article which features various things about the LJL as well. So stay tuned!