TL;DR
- Spain’s 2022 Iberian Cup introduces revolutionary ‘fearless draft’ forcing teams to use 15-25 different champions per series
- The tournament eliminates group stages, starting directly with knockout rounds featuring best-of-three and best-of-five formats
- Fearless draft prevents champion repetition across games, dramatically increasing strategic complexity
- Historical precedents exist in China’s LDL and Korea’s OGN Champions with blind pick final games
- Format encourages player development through forced champion diversity and adaptive strategies
The 2022 League of Legends Iberian Cup represents a significant departure from traditional tournament structures, introducing groundbreaking format changes that challenge conventional competitive wisdom.
This ProAm competition bridges the gap between amateur aspirations and professional excellence, offering 32 teams—20 from SuperLiga divisions plus 12 from amateur circuits—the opportunity to compete in Spain’s premier developmental tournament. While historically featuring international participants from Portugal and Italy, this edition focuses exclusively on Spanish organizations to strengthen domestic talent pipelines.
Unlike typical esports tournaments that progress through group stages, the Iberian Cup adopts an immediate knockout format reminiscent of traditional sports competitions, creating high-stakes environments from the very first match.
Format of Spain’s Iberian Cup explained
The tournament’s structural innovation centers on its elimination of conventional group stages, instead launching directly into knockout rounds where every match carries immediate consequence. Most early rounds employ best-of-three series, but the true game-changer lies in the ‘fearless draft’ system that prohibits teams from selecting champions used in previous games of the same series.
This revolutionary approach demands extraordinary strategic depth, forcing teams to prepare 15 distinct champions for a full best-of-three and up to 25 for best-of-five finals. The format reaches its climax in potential fifth games of finals series, where blind pick mechanics create unpredictable mirror matchups and eliminate draft-phase information advantages.
The semi-finals and championship matches escalate the challenge through best-of-five implementations of the fearless system. Teams must navigate increasingly complex champion selection scenarios while managing limited practice time across multiple roles and playstyles.
Scheduled from October 17 through November 19, 2022, the tournament culminates in a LAN final at the PortAventura Convention Centre, blending competitive intensity with entertainment venue excitement in Catalonia, Spain.
Have fearless drafts been used in pro play before?
While seemingly radical, the Iberian Cup’s fearless draft system builds upon established competitive innovations. China’s LDL (second division) recently integrated similar mechanics into their best-of-three regular season matches, specifically designed to broaden developing players’ champion proficiency and strategic versatility.
The blind pick finale concept carries even deeper historical roots, having been featured in Korea’s OGN Champions (precursor to LCK) between 2012-2014. This format famously produced one of League of Legends’ most iconic moments: Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok’s legendary Zed versus Zed outplay against Ryu ‘Ryu’ Sang-wook, demonstrating how unconventional rules can create legendary competitive narratives.
These historical implementations reveal how alternative draft formats serve specific developmental purposes—forcing players beyond comfort zones while creating memorable spectator experiences that transcend conventional competitive structures.
The fearless draft system fundamentally alters team preparation dynamics and strategic priorities. Organizations must now prioritize breadth over specialization, developing players capable of executing multiple strategies across diverse champion pools rather than perfecting narrow specializations.
Strategic adaptation becomes paramount—teams that traditionally relied on specific champion combinations must now demonstrate flexibility and creativity. This format particularly benefits organizations with strong coaching staffs capable of developing flexible game plans and adaptive draft strategies.
Common preparation mistakes include over-prioritizing meta champions without considering series-long availability, or failing to develop backup strategies when primary picks become unavailable in subsequent games.
Advanced teams will leverage this format to identify and develop versatile talent, creating rosters capable of adapting to evolving metas and unexpected draft scenarios. The system rewards comprehensive game knowledge and punishes over-reliance on specific champion mechanics or predetermined strategies.
For amateur participants, the format provides invaluable exposure to professional-level strategic complexity while forcing skill development across multiple playstyles and champion types.
Action Checklist
- Develop champion proficiency across 3+ roles with at least 5 viable picks each
- Create series-long draft strategies accounting for champion availability across games
- Practice blind pick scenarios and mirror matchups for potential final games
- Analyze opponent champion pools to anticipate series-long draft patterns
- Build flexible team compositions that can adapt to multiple strategic approaches
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