1. What are the Season Finals?
The Season Finals are a tournament in EMEA and NA, played after playoffs, and running in Season 10 only. Twelve teams per region qualify through playoffs: the top four from Master, and the top two from each of Expert, Advanced, Intermediate, and Open. They meet in one bracket, and the winner leaves as their region's season champion.
Until now, your run ended inside your division, with its playoffs. In Season 10 it can end in one bracket that every division has a route into. For teams below Master, that is a chance to measure yourself against rosters seeded above you while Master teams have their standing to defend against the best of every division below.
The Season Finals run November 9 to 15, in the window normally used for Promotion/Relegation matches, so the calendar barely changes.
2. What is the Season 10 prize pool?
The total is unchanged from Season 9: $50,000 in cash, with 1,500,000 FACEIT Points distributed alongside it, and free league passes for the teams finishing 9th to 12th in the Season Finals.
In Season 10, the pool covers the new Intermediate division and the Season Finals as well as playoffs.
Season Finals money is added to whatever a team wins in playoffs. For instance, a Master roster that takes both wins $5,000 plus $3,000, claimed together as $8,000 in a single request once the event ends. There is also a division skip on the line: an Open or Intermediate team that wins its opening match starts Season 11 one step higher.
The full cash breakdown, is here.
3. How does Season Finals seeding work?
Seeds are set by division first, then by playoff finish within it. Master's four qualifiers take seeds 1 to 4 and enter in the second round. The other eight play the opening round, where the bracket pairs the highest seed with the lowest, the second highest with the second lowest, and so on. Entering a round later is what a Master playoff finish earns.
The top two Open teams enter as the lowest seeds, so their opening match is against the top two from Expert. That is a hard matchup, and it is meant to be: an Open team that wins it has shown it can compete with a higher division, and earns automatic qualification to Advanced for Season 11.
4. Is Season 10 longer than previous seasons?
Lower divisions end their regular season one week earlier than before, so all playoffs finish together.
Only the teams that reach the Season Finals play beyond playoffs, and the maximum is four extra matches for an Open, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert side that wins every round. Master teams enter in the second round, so their maximum is three.
5. Is playing in a lower division preferential?
Master playoffs in EMEA and NA pay close to six times what Expert playoffs pay, across about half as many teams. The money stays concentrated at the top, so a roster playing below its level trades the larger pool for easier regular season matches.
The Season Finals also work against staying put. An Open or Intermediate team that wins its opening match is moved up a division for Season 11.
6. Am I allowed to use a second account to play in a lower division?
No. The FACEIT Terms & Conditions apply in FACEIT League, and competing on a second account is smurfing.
When smurfing is detected, both accounts are banned. The second account permanently. The main account for three months on a first detection, and from one year up to permanent after that.
7. What happens if my team drops out of Season 10?
Your division slot is not held for you. A team that does not take its place has to earn it back, either through the next Open Qualifiers or by starting again in Open and climbing.