One week before the official start of the 2021 NA season, Riot announced the groups for the LCS Lock In, the tournament that will kick off the season on Friday, Jan 15. The Lock In features two groups of five LCS teams, lead by the top two finishers in the 2020 LCS Summer Split, TSM and FlyQuest. Those two teams chose their opponents for the Lock In group stage in a draft. 

The final groups are comprised of TSM, Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, CLG, and Golden Guardians in Group A and FlyQuest, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, Dignitas, and Immortals in Group B. The Lock In group stage will consist of a single round-robin format. The team with the worst record in each group will be disqualified, while the top four teams will advance to an 8-team bracket stage. The Quarterfinals of the bracket stage will be in a best of three format, while the Semis and Finals will be a best of five series.

The Lock In takes place over three weeks in January and does not affect any international tournament qualification. The Spring Split will start one week after the conclusion of the Lock In. Rather than directly contributing to a team's international chances, the winner of the Lock In receives $150,000 and will choose a charity to receive another $50,000. 

You can find the whole schedule for the LCS Lock In on the LoL Esports website here, with the first game featuring TSM vs 100 Thieves at 3PM PST on Friday, Jan 15. Check back here for updates on tournament results and interviews. Follow our Twitter below for more updates on the LCS and other League of Legends and other gaming content.

Find full schedules, brackets, and more for your favorite esports on Juked.gg!

For more LoL Esports news and content, head over to our dedicated League of Legends section!