Normal games and ranked are about one match after another, without much context around them. Clash is a different kind of experience. It’s a recurring team tournament right inside League of Legends, where you and a fixed group of people fight to advance through knockout rounds, not just for a single win or loss. This article explains how to sign up for Clash, what tickets are, how a team is put together and what rewards await you if you make it further.
What Clash is and how it differs from regular games
Clash is a tournament format for five-player teams, played on Summoner’s Rift (occasionally also as a special ARAM edition), and it runs through a knockout bracket rather than as a single match. Unlike normal games or ranked, you don’t play for yourself. You play as a named team with its own icon and tag, which either advances or gets knocked out in a given round.
Tournaments run in regular waves, roughly once a month, usually on a weekend. In recent seasons, besides the classic Clash tournaments on Summoner’s Rift, Riot has also added ARAM editions, which are played on Howling Abyss and have a different pace and strategy. You’ll find the exact tournament calendar for the year in the client under the Clash tab, where you can also see the next upcoming date.
Requirements to play
Before you jump into Clash, your account has to meet a few basic requirements. You need an account level (summoner level) of at least 30, you must have completed your placement matches in at least one ranked queue on Summoner’s Rift, and the account must have a phone number verified by SMS. All three requirements are meant to stop teams from being built out of freshly created or unverified accounts that could abuse or sabotage the tournament.
If you don’t meet one of the requirements, the Clash tab in the client will usually show you right away. Most often it’s the missing SMS verification, which is quickest to add directly in your account settings.
How a team is put together
A Clash team is led by a captain, who creates the team in the Clash tab, picks the name, tag and icon, and invites four more players to join. The captain also handles the organizational side of the matches: coordinating with the team and choosing the pick/ban strategy on tournament day.
If you don’t have your own group of five, you don’t have to give up on the tournament. Players without a team can mark themselves as Free Agents in the Clash tab and list their main and backup role. Captains looking for the last piece of the puzzle can then see these players and reach out to them. It also works the other way around: as a free agent, you can browse teams that are still looking for someone and apply yourself.
Tickets: what they are and how much they cost
Every player on the team needs their own ticket to take part in the tournament. Without one, they can’t join, even if the rest of the team is already complete. There are two types: a basic ticket, which you can buy with Blue Essence or Riot Points, or occasionally get for free from in-game quests and missions, and a premium ticket, which can only be bought with Riot Points and unlocks a better reward table for the same tournament results.
A premium ticket gives you no gameplay advantage in the match itself. It doesn’t raise your chances of winning or make the game any easier. It’s purely a cosmetic and reward choice: for the same results in the bracket, you get more valuable rewards if you played with a premium ticket than if you had played with a basic one.
If some team members have a ticket and others don’t, a missing ticket can also be gifted. The captain or any teammate can buy a ticket and assign it straight to a specific team member who doesn’t have one.
How a tournament weekend works
Team registration takes place in the week before the tournament itself. By the deadline, the team must have a full five players with tickets, otherwise it won’t take part in the tournament. The matches themselves are then played on the weekend in waves, typically with a short break between rounds to fine-tune your strategy.
Before each match there is a roster lock-in phase and a short phase for scouting your opponent, before moving on to the standard champion select with picks and bans, much like in ranked games, just with higher stakes. A loss either sends you to the consolation bracket or knocks you out of the tournament entirely, depending on the specific format of that tournament.
Tournaments normally run as an eight-team knockout bracket, and occasionally a larger sixteen-team variant shows up. Besides the main bracket, there is usually also a consolation branch for teams that lost in the first round, so even a bad start doesn’t mean the end of your tournament day with no more matches.
Rewards
Rewards depend on two things: the type of ticket you played with and the number of wins in the tournament. Even a team without a single win gets at least a basic reward, usually Orange Essence and skin shards, but with every additional win the value and rarity of the rewards go up.
The top teams, who make it through the entire bracket without a loss, typically take home the rarest rewards of the season: a set of high-value shards, bonus in-game currency and, with a good enough result, even a guaranteed full skin instead of just a shard. The exact reward lineup varies from tournament to tournament and is usually part of the description of each tournament right in the client.
What to do when your team can’t get all five players together
Clash is designed for a fixed five-player team, but reality is often different. Someone gets sick, someone can’t make it at the last minute, and suddenly the team has to decide whether to play at all. In that case, it makes sense to have a substitute arranged in advance, ideally someone who already knows the game and understands team communication, not a completely new player hastily pulled from the Free Agents right before the match.
Just like in ranked games, an improvised lineup without any synergy significantly lowers your chances of advancing in the bracket. Clash rewards teams that have played together repeatedly and have sorted out their roles and communication somewhat more than regular ranked does. A single tournament day is too short for strangers to click with each other on the fly.
When Clash is played
Clash doesn’t run nonstop like normal games or ranked. It’s a series of separate tournaments spread across the year, usually once a month on a weekend. From time to time, Riot also adds themed editions tied to the current in-game event or an upcoming update, or the ARAM editions on Howling Abyss mentioned above instead of the classic map.
You’ll always find the exact calendar of upcoming tournaments, including the registration deadline, in the Clash tab right in the client. It’s the only source that updates along with the current season, so it’s worth relying on it more than on what you remember from past seasons.
One thing worth keeping in mind when building your team: Clash is tied to your game server just like regular matches, so you can only form a team with players on the same server as you. If someone in your group has an account elsewhere, we cover how the servers are split and how to transfer an account in the article on language, EUNE and servers.
FAQ
An account level of at least 30, completed placement matches in at least one ranked queue on Summoner’s Rift and a phone number verified by SMS.
Yes, every player on the team needs a ticket, and without one they can’t take part in the tournament. You can buy a basic ticket with Blue Essence or Riot Points (or occasionally get one from missions), while a premium ticket costs Riot Points only and gives better rewards for the same result.
You don’t necessarily need your own team. Through the Free Agent system, you mark yourself as an available player and captains looking for a last member can reach out to you, or you can apply to a team that is still looking for someone.
Yes, even a team without a single win gets a basic reward, usually Orange Essence and skin shards. The more wins, the more valuable the rewards.
Roughly once a month, usually on a weekend. You’ll find the exact calendar in the Clash tab right in the client, where Riot also lists the registration dates.
No. It only affects the quality of rewards for the same tournament result and has no effect on how the match plays out or how it ends.
Information verified on 28 August 2026 for patch 26.18. Check the exact ticket prices and bracket format for the current season directly in the client. Before you jump into Clash, also read about roles in LoL, so your team is well balanced, and about runes, so everyone shows up to the match prepared. You’ll find the full hub overview in the League of Legends section.