This article has been updated to include information pertaining to regional league winners.
Riot has revealed new details ahead of this year's second international event, Masters: Shanghai. The biggest change includes the introduction of first seeds picking their playoff opponents.
After breaking viewership records at Masters: Madrid, Riot highlighted its vision for the upcoming Masters tournament which included more teams, larger venues, and a twist to the pre-playoffs stage of the event.
To begin, the newly-introduced Swiss Stage format from Madrid will be re-used at Shanghai. Teams will fight to secure a threshold of wins before they accumulate a certain amount of losses. Spain's international required teams to win two matches before they lost two in order to advance out of the Swiss Stage.
The next game-changing detail revealed by Riot was the introduction of first seeds from regional leagues selecting their playoff opponents. Currently, all four regional leagues are in the process of determining their Shanghai representatives. However, a new incentive outside of the three Championship Points is on the line for the first-place winner.
The winners of the regional leagues will not only secure a BYE to playoffs at Shanghai, but they will also be able to pick their opponents right after the Swiss Stage concludes ahead of playoffs. The order of the process for the four teams will be randomly drawn.
Finally, Riot has also revealed the venue for the finals of Shanghai, which will take place at the Mercedes Benz Arena from June 7-9. This is the largest venue utilized in VCT history, leaving more opportunities for fans to see their favorite teams perform in person.
Currently, seven of the 12 teams traveling to China have been determined, with the other five set to solidify by May 10. Masters: Shanghai kicks off on May 23 as what may be the most interesting international yet.