NZ High School Esports League Playoffs

NZ High School Esports League Playoffs

Letsplay.live has confirmed an exciting single-elimination finals series for the inaugural edition of the national High School League.

Fifty teams from throughout New Zealand have taken part in a thrilling season of League of Legends.

Sixteen teams will qualify for the finals and will be seeded based on their results from the campaign.

The top three teams from each of the five regions – Auckland 1, Auckland 2, Bay of Plenty-Waikato, Wellington and the South Island – will qualify with one wildcard team set to complete the Sweet 16.

The wildcard team will be selected by a committee appointed by the HSL and will be seeded No 16. The wildcard will meet the No 1 seed in the first week of the playoffs.
The No 2 seed will play the No 15 and so on with the winner advancing to the next round of the playoffs – there are no second chances.

HSL tournament director Freddie Tresidder says this format will make for an exciting finals series.

“Given the quality of play on display throughout this season, we felt that expanding the playoffs was the right move to provide more teams with an opportunity to claim the national title,” Tresidder says.

“The single elimination style will ramp up the pressure and only the best will prevail.”

The finals will start on Monday, May 15 before the Elite 8 matches will take place the following week with the Final 4 contests to be played during the week beginning Monday, May 29.

Once the grand finalists are set there will be a week off as the competition builds towards the championship-decider on Sunday, June 11 in Auckland.

“Now that everyone knows the playoffs format these final round-robin matches should take on extra importance,” Tresidder says.

“We expect to see some great matches as we push towards the finals and teams aim to get the best seed possible.”

Any tie-breakers from the points table will be determined by the team who won the meeting during the season.

For example, if Howick College and Massey High school were both to finish with the same win-loss record and in third and fourth place respectively in Auckland 1, the playoff spot would go to the team that won the match during the season.

If multiple teams are tied on the ladder and the first tiebreaker option cannot split the teams, greater weight will be given to teams that beat higher-ranked opponents.
The final round-robin matches will take place on Tuesday, May 11 and after that, the seedings for the finals will be announced. The wildcard team will also be confirmed shortly after.

“The wildcard in the playoffs has the ability to completely change the game if they can knock off the No 1 seed. They will have nothing to lose in the finals,” Tresidder says.

Playoff Schedule
Week of Monday, May 15: Sweet 16 Matches
Week of Monday, May 22: Elite 8 Matches
Week of Monday, May 29: Final Four
Sunday, June 11: Grand Final

HSL is organised by the New Zealand eSports Federation, Letsplay.live and Computer Power Plus.

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