We’ve all been there: you just got done with a soul-crushing solo queue loss where your jungler afk’d after 10 minutes, and you’re ready to play League with people you actually trust. If you’ve been looking for a low-stakes competitive tournament to play with friends, you’ve probably asked when is Clash League of Legends. This official Riot Games tournament series is built for regular players, not just pro esports athletes, and it’s one of the most popular events in the LoL calendar for players of all ranks. You don’t need to be Challenger to participate, and you can walk away with exclusive in-game rewards just for playing a few matches with your team.
When Is Clash League of Legends Scheduled Each Split?
Clash runs multiple times per year, aligned with League’s annual spring and summer ranked splits. Riot always posts official Clash dates in the client’s Clash tab 2 to 3 weeks before sign-ups open, so you’ll have plenty of time to get your team together once dates are announced. On average, you can expect 3 separate Clash weekends per split, plus occasional special edition Clash events tied to big esports moments like the Mid-Season Invitational or World Championship.
Clash weekends always fall on Saturday and Sunday, with separate brackets for each day. Saturday is the lock-in round, where every team plays at least 2 matches regardless of win rate, and the top 50% of teams advance to the Sunday elimination bracket. Exact start times vary by region, so always check your local client for start times tailored to your time zone—you don’t want to show up an hour late to your first match because you mixed up NA and EUW timings.
You might also see test Clash events pop up from time to time, usually a few weeks before the official split Clash schedule kicks off. These test events have smaller rewards, but they’re a great way to practice the sign-up and match process if you’ve never played Clash before.
How to Prepare for Clash Before Sign-Up Opens
Sign-ups for Clash open 1 week before the tournament weekend, and slots fill up fast for most regions, especially for Platinum and Diamond rank brackets. A little prep before sign-ups go live will save you a ton of stress later, and it’ll drastically increase your odds of winning matches once the tournament starts.
First, confirm you and all your team members meet the basic eligibility requirements: you need to be level 30, have completed your ranked placements for the current split, have no active ranked or chat restrictions on your account, and have 2FA enabled on your Riot account. You’ll also need a full 5-person roster, plus you can add 1 substitute player in case someone can’t make it last minute.
Here’s a quick checklist of pre-Clash tasks to knock out before sign-up day:
- Confirm all team members have active 2FA on their Riot account at least 3 days before sign-up opens, as last-minute 2FA activation sometimes doesn’t register in time for registration
- Play 3-5 normals or flex queue games together as a team 1 week before Clash to work out communication flows and confirm permanent role assignments
- Set a shared group reminder for sign-up day, as popular bracket slots fill up within 1 hour of opening for most major regions
- Pick 3-4 tried-and-tested team comps you all feel comfortable playing, including counter picks for common meta team setups like enchanter bot lanes or dive junglers
You don’t need to spend hours scrimming other teams to do well in Clash. Most teams show up completely unprepared, so even just agreeing on role assignments and a few default comps will put you ahead of 70% of the teams in your bracket. Clash matches you against teams with a similar average rank, so you’ll never be stuck playing against a team full of Challenger smurfs if your roster is all Silver and Gold players.
What Rewards Can You Earn From Clash?
One of the biggest draws of Clash is the exclusive rewards you can’t get anywhere else in League, even from paid battle passes. The rewards you earn depend on how many matches you win over the Clash weekend, but even players who lose both of their Saturday lock-in matches walk away with something for their time.
For 0 wins on Saturday, you’ll get a limited-edition Clash icon, 500 blue essence, and a Clash emote. For 2 wins on Saturday and a spot in the Sunday bracket, you’ll get 1000 orange essence, a Clash ward skin, and a permanent champion shard. If you win all 4 of your Sunday matches and take first place in your bracket, you’ll get a permanent random skin worth 1350 RP or higher, a Clash trophy that displays on your profile homepage, and a team banner that shows up in your loading screen for all games for the rest of the split.
First-place Clash teams also get a special banner that displays on your profile for the entire split, so everyone who checks your profile will see that you won a Clash tournament. You can only claim rewards for one team per Clash weekend, so make sure you join the right team before registration closes—you can’t switch teams halfway through the weekend even if your original roster drops out.
If you can only play one day of Clash, you can still join the Saturday lock-in bracket for the smaller rewards, but you won’t be eligible for the Sunday bracket prizes unless you win at least one match on Saturday. You don’t have to pay anything to join Clash, so all the rewards are completely free just for playing with your team.
Common Clash Mistakes to Avoid for New Teams
I’ve played in 12 Clash tournaments over the last 2 years, from Bronze brackets all the way up to Diamond, and I’ve seen the same small mistakes ruin entire weekends for otherwise solid teams. Most of these mistakes are super easy to avoid if you plan ahead just a little bit.
The most common mistake is forgetting to assign a team captain early. The team captain is the only person who can register the team for Clash, so if they miss sign-up day because they forgot, your entire team can’t join. Pick a captain who checks their League notifications regularly, and make sure they have sign-up day marked on their calendar.
Another common mistake is arguing over roles or champion picks during the 60-second champion select window. You should lock in your roles and a few default comps weeks before the tournament, so you don’t waste time fighting over who gets to play mid right as your match starts. Never queue for Clash if any team member is already frustrated from a bad solo queue session—tilt spreads fast in team play, and you’ll play way worse if someone is already angry before the match even starts.
Don’t pick off-meta champs you’ve never played before just because you think they’ll counter the enemy team. I once had a teammate lock in a brand new Ivern jungle for our final Clash match because he heard Ivern counters Lee Sin, and he had never played Ivern before—we lost the match in 20 minutes. Stick to champs you have at least Mastery 4 on, and you’ll perform way better even if the pick isn’t a perfect counter.
If someone on your team has to drop out last minute, make sure your substitute is around the same rank as the rest of your team. The matchmaker uses your team’s average rank to find opponents, so if you bring a Challenger substitute for your Silver team, you’ll get matched against Diamond and Master teams, and you’ll almost certainly lose your first match.
If you’ve been burnt out on the randomness of solo queue lately, Clash is the perfect way to fall back in love with competitive League. Now that you know when is Clash League of Legends and all the small steps you can take to set your team up for success, you can round up your friends, lock in your roles, and jump into the next tournament weekend. Even if you don’t take home the first-place trophy, you’ll walk away with fun memories and at least a few small rewards for your time. Don’t stress too much about winning—half the fun of Clash is messing around with your friends and trying new team comps without the pressure of losing solo queue LP.