If you’ve logged into League of Legends in the last few years, you’ve probably seen the bright, flashy Clash banner pop up on your home screen every couple of weeks. It usually shows a group of players holding trophies, and it’s easy to assume it’s only for high-rank players who take the game way too seriously. A lot of new players skip past it entirely, assuming they don’t have the skill or the team to join, but that’s a huge mistake. Clash is one of the most fun, rewarding game modes Riot has ever released, and it’s open to players of every skill level. If you’ve been asking what is clash in league of legends, this guide breaks down everything you need to know, from sign-up rules to how to win your first bracket, even if you’ve only been playing for a few months.
What Is Clash in League of Legends, Exactly?
Clash is a bi-monthly, team-only tournament mode built for casual and competitive players alike. Unlike ranked or normal queues where you get matched with random teammates, Clash requires you to form a full 5-person team (plus an optional substitute) before you join, and every bracket follows single-elimination rules. That means if you lose one match, you’re out of the bracket for that day, but you can come back to play the next day’s bracket if you want.
Every Clash weekend runs for three days, Friday through Sunday, and each day has its own separate bracket. Teams are sorted into 4 tiers based on their average rank, so you’ll never be matched against a team of Challenger players if you and your friends are all Silver or Gold. I still remember my first Clash run back when I was stuck in Silver 4. I joined up with 4 friends I met at a local LoL meetup, none of us had ever played in a tournament before, and we somehow won 3 matches before getting knocked out by a team of Platinum players. We were all hyped for days after, even though we didn’t win the whole bracket, and I still have the emote we earned from that run on my profile today.
You don’t have to be a high-rank player to join – more than 70% of Clash participants are ranked Iron to Platinum, and Riot’s matchmaking system is tuned to keep skill levels as even as possible across every match. You don’t even need a current ranked split rank to sign up, as Riot will use your normal game MMR to place your team in the right tier if none of you have ranked placements done.
Key Rules and Requirements to Join Clash
Before you can lock in your team for a Clash bracket, there are a few simple requirements you and every member of your team have to meet. None of them are hard to hit, even for new players, but it’s good to check them off a few days before the tournament starts so you don’t run into last-minute issues.
- A level 30 account with at least 20 champions unlocked (free weekly rotation champions count towards this total, so you don’t have to spend Blue Essence on random champs you don’t want to meet the requirement)
- An active Summoner’s Name and verified email linked to your Riot account, to prevent smurfing and fake accounts from joining brackets
- A full team of 5 players, plus 1 optional substitute you can register if someone on your main team might not make the start time
- A completed Clash ticket, which you can buy for 975 Blue Essence or 195 Riot Points, or earn for free from event passes, daily login rewards, or Twitch drops
You have to lock in your full team roster at least 24 hours before the bracket starts, and you can only swap players for your registered substitute up to 10 minutes before your first match. If you don’t have a substitute and someone doesn’t show up, your team will be disqualified automatically, so it’s always a good idea to have a backup friend on call just in case.
Smurfing is strictly penalized in Clash, so if Riot detects a player is using a lower-rank account to stomp lower-tier brackets, the whole team will be disqualified, all rewards will be revoked, and the smurf account will get a temporary or permanent ban from Clash. You don’t have to worry about running into overpowered smurfs ruining your run most of the time, as Riot’s detection system catches the vast majority of them before brackets start.
Exclusive Rewards You Can Earn From Clash
One of the biggest draws of Clash is the exclusive rewards you can’t get from any other game mode, even ranked. The more matches you win in a bracket, the better your rewards get, but you’ll always get something even if you lose your first game, so you never waste your ticket.
For every win you get, you’ll earn a Clash capsule with different prizes: 1 win gets you a basic capsule with Blue Essence and a random champion shard, 2 wins get you a premium capsule with skin shards and Orange Essence, 3 wins get you a grand prize capsule with a chance at permanent skins and Clash Points, and 4 wins (taking first place in your bracket) gets you a full set of top-tier rewards. Even teams that lose their first match get a consolation reward, usually a small amount of Blue Essence or a Clash-exclusive emote, so you never walk away empty-handed for showing up.
First-place teams also get a physical-style Clash trophy that displays on their profile page and in every pre-game lobby for 2 years, plus a custom team banner that shows up on the Summoner’s Rift spawn platform for every match you play for 6 months. Clash-exclusive trophies and banners are visible to every player you match with for up to 24 months, making them one of the most sought-after profile bragging rights in the game. I once got a permanent PROJECT: Yasuo skin from a 2-win capsule last year, so even if you don’t win the whole bracket, the rewards are almost always worth the small time and Blue Essence investment.
Simple Tips to Win Your First Clash Bracket
You don’t need to be a pro player to win Clash matches, even if you’re playing against higher-rank teams. Most Clash wins come down to team coordination and basic strategy, not individual mechanical skill, so even a team of Silver players can take home a first-place trophy if you plan ahead.
First, always play with people you know and are comfortable talking to, not randoms you found on a Discord server 10 minutes before the bracket starts. Team communication matters far more than individual skill in Clash – a team of Silver players on comms calling out rotations and enemy positions will almost always beat a team of Platinum players playing without voice chat. Do a quick 10-minute normal game scrim with your team before the bracket starts to warm up, make sure everyone’s mic is working, and work out any kinks in your playstyle before you play for real.
Second, build your team composition around your strengths, not just meta picks. If your ADC is your best player, pick enchanter supports and frontline tanks to keep them alive through team fights, instead of forcing them to play a weak meta ADC they don’t know how to use. Ban champions that your whole team struggles against, not just the ones you personally hate playing against. For example, if your support can’t handle playing against Thresh, ban Thresh instead of wasting a ban on a mid laner you don’t like that no one else on your team cares about.
Third, never surrender early. Clash teams usually play more coordinated than random ranked teams, so comebacks are way more common than they are in normal queues. My first Clash team was down 3 inhibitors at 25 minutes, but we caught the enemy team out doing Baron and won the game 10 minutes later, so don’t give up even if you’re way behind early on. Always lock in your team composition around your strongest player, even if it means picking off-meta picks that your best player is comfortable on, instead of forcing meta picks no one knows how to play.
Clash is the perfect game mode if you’re tired of dealing with toxic randoms in ranked or normal queues, and want to play League with friends in a low-stakes, fun tournament environment. You don’t need to be a pro or have a high rank to have a good time, and the rewards are well worth the small effort of putting a team together. Next time you see that Clash banner pop up on your home screen, grab 4 friends, pick up a cheap Blue Essence ticket, and give it a shot. Now that you know what is clash in league of legends, you can stop scrolling past that banner and start planning your first tournament run.