LoL Clash Schedule 2026: Dates, Tiers and Tickets

The LoL Clash schedule for 2026 has one tournament weekend every month, alternating between Summoner’s Rift and ARAM cups. The next date on the LoL Clash schedule is the Worlds Clash on November 21 and 22, with team formation from November 16, followed by the ARAM Freljord Cup on December 19 and 20. Each cup runs Saturday and Sunday, and you can play one day or both.

When is the next LoL Clash in 2026?

November 21 and 22, 2026. That’s the Summoner’s Rift Worlds Clash, and teams can start forming on Monday, November 16. The Piltover Cup on October 17 and 18 was the last ARAM weekend, so if you missed it, the next ARAM date is the Freljord Cup on December 19 and 20.

One caveat. Riot’s Clash FAQ lists both of those dates, but the same page still carries a note saying Season 3 Clash dates will come at a later time. In practice the listed dates have held all year (the Piltover Cup landed exactly where the table said it would), so plan around them, but check the client on the Monday of Clash week before you book your weekend.

Full LoL Clash schedule for 2026

All dates below come from Riot’s official Clash FAQ, last updated in May 2026. Team formation always opens on the Monday before the tournament, and you play on Saturday and Sunday.

Notice the pattern? Rift, ARAM, Rift, ARAM, with the only break in May and June where two ARAM-free weeks separate the Zaun Cup and the Void Cup. Six Summoner’s Rift cups and six ARAM cups in total. Riot also tags each cup with a season and act, so the Worlds Clash and the Freljord Cup both sit in Season 3 Act 2, which matters for the ticket missions we cover further down.

Ten of the twelve weekends have already happened at the time of writing, so the 2026 LoL Clash schedule is nearly done. The 2027 list usually appears in the same FAQ around the start of the new ranked year; see our LoL season dates page for when that is.

Who can play Clash in 2026?

Level 30, a verified phone number, and, for Summoner’s Rift cups, finished ranked placements. Those are the three gates, and the phone one trips up more people than the other two combined.

The ranked rule is specific: you need to have completed placements in at least one Summoner’s Rift ranked queue this year or the year before. Riot puts it bluntly: no Clash for you if you had no rank last season. Solo/Duo or Flex, either counts. Honestly, this is the part people forget when they switch to a fresh account in October and then wonder why the Clash tab stays grey.

SMS verification needs a real mobile or prepaid number. VOIP numbers get rejected, and one number can only be tied to one account at a time (yes, that includes your old main). Riot’s FAQ does not list an Honor level requirement for Clash, though chat restrictions and ranked restrictions from bad behaviour can still block you from queuing.

ARAM cups are easier to get into. Level 30 and SMS verification still apply, but Riot waives the ranked placement requirement, which is why ARAM Clash weekends tend to be the first ones new accounts can join. If you’ve just bought one of our level 30 LoL accounts, the honest order of events is: verify a phone number, play your placements, and only then expect a Summoner’s Rift cup to open up.

How do Clash tiers work?

Every team gets one of four tiers for the weekend, based on the ranks of the five players on the roster. Tier I is the strongest, Tier IV the weakest, and you only ever face teams from your own tier.

To be fair, the weighting is not an average. Riot says the calculation heavily prioritizes the highest-skill players on the team, so one Diamond friend pulls four Silvers up a tier or two. Tiers are also bottom-weighted, meaning Tier IV holds far more teams than Tier I. If you want to know what the ranks on your roster actually mean, our guide to League ranks walks through the full ladder.

Can you change tier mid-weekend? No. Riot assigns the tier for the whole weekend, even if you win Saturday and swap one player on Sunday.

What time does LoL Clash start on schedule days?

Each Clash day has a two-hour lock-in window before the first games, and your tier decides when inside that window you can press the button. Tier IV can lock in at any point in the two hours. Tier III waits 30 minutes. Tier II waits a full hour, and Tier I gets only the final 30 minutes.

Thing is, the actual clock time varies by server, and Riot does not print a per-region start time in the FAQ. The client shows your region’s exact lock-in time once team formation opens on Monday. That is the number to trust. In SEA regions the rule is simpler: all tiers can lock in one hour before Clash begins.

Lock in late and you miss the bracket, put simply. There’s no grace period, and the captain cannot lock in alone, since every player has to have a ticket submitted. More on tickets next.

How do Clash tickets work?

You need a ticket to enter each Clash day, and every one of the five players must submit one. There are two kinds. The Basic Ticket is the standard entry, bought in the store with Blue Essence or RP, earned from Clash missions, or gifted to you by a teammate. The Premium Ticket costs more RP, you can’t buy it with BE, and it raises the prize pool for the player who used it.

Clash missions are the free route. Riot runs them every two tournaments, once per theme, so if you complete the mission during a Rift cup, you’ve paid for your next weekend already. Short on BE for a Basic Ticket? Our Blue Essence farming guide covers the fastest sources.

Once your team enters the bracket, the ticket choice is locked. You cannot upgrade a Basic to a Premium after the first game, so decide before lock-in whether the better capsule is worth the RP for you (for a Tier IV team that expects one win, usually not).

What do you win in Clash?

Trophies, banners, logos, and loot orbs, scaled by how far you got and which ticket you used. For what it’s worth, the Trophy is the one people actually chase. Winning a bracket earns you a Trophy in the cup’s theme, and that Trophy appears at your nexus in Summoner’s Rift games for two weeks after the tournament. Real talk, that two-week window is the main reason most teams bother.

Victory Points (VP) run underneath all of this. Each win is worth 400 VP, adjusted by tier and ticket type, and there are first-win bonuses per Clash day: 150 VP in Tier I, 100 in Tier II, 50 in Tier III, nothing in Tier IV. VP then converts into banners and logos at fixed thresholds.

The orb or capsule you get when you leave the bracket depends on your record. A 0-3 run on a Basic Ticket gives an XP boost, a Clash logo and a mystery icon. A 3-0 run on a Basic Ticket adds a mystery emote, a ward skin, skin shards and another Basic Ticket. Premium capsules go further, with Mythic Essence and a full skin at the top end. Not bad for a weekend, if you can win three in a row.

How is a Clash tournament structured?

Eight teams, single elimination, one bracket per day. Long story short, three wins takes the bracket. Lose in the first round and you drop into a consolation bracket, so even a bad Saturday gives you more than one game. Win on Saturday but can’t make Sunday? Fine. Riot’s FAQ says you can still earn the best prizes in one day, though you earn more if you win on both.

Draft is tournament style: two ban phases and two pick phases, all champions unlocked for the weekend, and hovering a champion locks in that same champion where possible. The /pause and /remake commands are disabled. After 60 minutes, or 40 in ARURF, Sudden Death kicks in, turrets become fragile, and structures start taking damage on their own every five minutes until something falls.

You can also show up Sunday with a brand new team if Saturday fell apart, which is handy when one friend bails (we’ve all had that player).

How do you plan around the LoL Clash schedule?

Start on Monday, not Saturday. Sure, you can scramble on Friday night, but the SMS step alone has sunk plenty of rosters. Team formation for the Worlds Clash opens November 16, and that week is when you confirm every player has SMS verification done, a ticket in hand, and placements finished this year or last. Agree on a draft plan for your tier, then play a few Flex games together so the roster isn’t meeting for the first time in champion select.

Keep an eye on the client that Monday too, because that’s where Riot confirms whether the listed LoL Clash schedule dates are final for Season 3. The official Clash FAQ is the page to bookmark, and we’ll update the table above as soon as 2027 dates appear.

FAQ

What is the next date on the LoL Clash schedule?

The Summoner’s Rift Worlds Clash on November 21 and 22, 2026, with team formation opening on November 16. The ARAM Freljord Cup follows on December 19 and 20.

How often does the LoL Clash schedule have a tournament?

Once a month in 2026. The schedule alternates between Summoner’s Rift and ARAM cups, with twelve tournament weekends across the year.

What level do you need for Clash?

Level 30, plus SMS verification with a mobile or prepaid number. Summoner’s Rift cups also require finished ranked placements this year or the year before; ARAM cups waive that rule.

Can an unranked account play Clash?

Not in Summoner’s Rift cups. Riot’s FAQ states you cannot participate if you were unranked last season and have no placements this year. ARAM Clash has no ranked requirement.

Do Clash tickets cost RP?

Basic Tickets can be bought with Blue Essence or RP, earned from Clash missions every two tournaments, or gifted by a teammate. Premium Tickets are RP only.

What time does Clash lock-in start?

There is a two-hour lock-in window before games. Tier IV can lock in any time, Tier III after 30 minutes, Tier II after one hour, and Tier I only in the last 30 minutes. In SEA regions all tiers lock in one hour before start.