League of Legends' tournament mode, called Clash, begins May 25

League of Legends' three-day online tournament mode, called Clash, will begin on May 25, Riot Games has announced. Players will be able to gather four friends and then compete across single-elimination games every other week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, netting rewards such as logos and banners for wins and trophies for becoming tournament champions. 

Day one of each tournament will be a four-team bracket. If your team comes out on top, you'll progress to an eight-team bracket on day two, and then a sixteen-team bracket on day three. Before games, you'll be able to see your opponents' stats and top picks, and all champions will be unlocked.

You can change your team name and choose a custom banner for each tournament, and to join, you must have a rank in Summoner's Rift and be at least honor level 2. Each player will also have to spend one Clash ticket to compete. You can earn tickets by completing missions, or buy them using either Blue Essence or Riot Points. The exact pricing has not yet been confirmed.

The rank of the players in your team will determine the tier you're placed into, and it'll be heavily weighted towards the rank of your best player. If you have one platinum player, for example, you'll be bumped up for a much tougher test. Riot says it'll use a number of methods to stop players "smurfing", which is when a high-level player creates a new account to artificially lower their rank.  

The banners and trophies are new rewards in League of Legends: banners are "war flags that drop into your lane to mark your territory" (see the screenshot at the bottom of this story), while you'll be able to display trophies at your Nexus for two weeks after your Clash victory. 

Provided you can get four other players to commit to a three-day tournament, it sounds like fun. You'll be able to create your team on May 21.