Filling in a Pick'Em bracket takes about ten minutes, and the mechanics are simple enough that the only real way to lose points is to miss a deadline. This is the whole process, in order, with the timing traps called out.
- Three deadlines per tournament: the Crystal Ball, the opening stage bracket, then the knockout bracket.
- Only the Crystal Ball is unrecoverable. Miss a bracket deadline and the later ones still open for you.
- Picks stay editable until that stage locks, so submitting early costs nothing.
- Scoring is automatic. You do not need to watch a single game for it to work.
What you need before you start
- A Riot account - the same one you play League on. It is free, and no separate signup exists.
- Nothing else. There is no entry fee, no purchase, and no minimum rank.
Rewards are delivered to the account you make your picks with, so if you play on more than one account, use the one you actually want the cosmetics on.
Step 1 - open Pickems on the LoL Esports site
Pick'Em runs on the official LoL Esports website, not inside the League client. Sign in with your Riot account and open the Pick'Em section for the current event. If no event is running, there is nothing to fill in - the game only exists in the weeks around MSI and Worlds.
Rewards do arrive in the client afterwards, which is where the confusion usually comes from. You make picks on the website; you receive skins and emotes in the game.
Step 2 - do the Crystal Ball first
This is the step people skip, and it is the one with the earliest deadline.
The Crystal Ball is a set of tournament-long predictions unrelated to match results - which champion gets picked most across the event, which player finishes with the highest KDA, whether a specific unlikely thing happens. It locks before the first match of the tournament and does not reopen at any point afterwards.
At MSI 2026, simply submitting Crystal Ball answers before the opening day earned an exclusive emote regardless of whether any of them turned out to be right. That pattern has held across events: showing up on time is itself rewarded.
Step 3 - predict the opening stage
The main bracket opens in stages rather than all at once. For Worlds, the first one is the Swiss stage: you pick which eight of the sixteen teams advance, and optionally call the exact record each finishes on for bonus points.
Two things worth knowing while you fill it in:
- Picking who advances is the reliable scoring. Calling exact records is a bonus that most people get wrong, because Swiss pairings are generated as the stage unfolds and nobody knows the fixtures in advance.
- You can edit freely until the stage locks. Submitting early costs you nothing - an early bracket you revise later is strictly better than an unsubmitted one you forget about.
Step 4 - come back for the knockouts
Once the opening stage finishes, a second window opens for the knockout bracket. You pick the winner of each series through to the final.
This is a separate deadline, days after the first one, and it is where the highest-value picks live - later rounds are worth progressively more, and the champion pick carries the most weight of any single decision in the game. Filling in the opening stage and never returning forfeits the majority of available points.
Deadlines, and what happens if you miss one
There are effectively two or three deadlines per tournament:
| What | Locks | Reopens? |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal Ball | Before the first match of the event | Never |
| Opening stage bracket | Before that stage's first match | No |
| Knockout bracket | Before the quarterfinals | No |
Missing one deadline does not remove you from the rest. If you forget the Swiss stage, knockout picks still open for you later and still score normally. The only irreversible miss is the Crystal Ball, because it never reopens.
How your score is calculated
Scoring is automatic - you do not need to watch a single game for it to work. Riot compares your bracket against the real results as each stage resolves and adds points for everything correct.
The structure has been consistent across events, even as the numbers change:
- A base amount for each team correctly picked to advance.
- A bonus on top for calling the exact record or scoreline.
- Progressively more for each knockout round, with the final worth the most.
- Crystal Ball scored separately, weighted by how hard each question was.
Exact point values are published by Riot when the game opens and have changed from year to year, so treat any guide quoting specific numbers from a past event with suspicion - including this one, which deliberately does not.
Mistakes that cost people points
- Never submitting. An unsubmitted bracket scores nothing, even if every pick in it would have been right. Submit early, edit later.
- Skipping the Crystal Ball. Earliest lock, highest points per question, and frequently an emote just for participating.
- Not returning for the knockouts. The second window holds the most valuable picks in the game.
- Chasing exact records over qualifiers. The bonus is real but volatile. Eight correct qualifiers beats one lucky 3-0 call.
- Using the wrong account. Rewards land where the picks were made - see what each tier pays out.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to fill in every stage to get rewards?
No. Participation rewards have historically required picks in at least one stage, not all of them. Percentile rewards depend on your total score, so more stages completed means a better placement.
Can I edit my picks after submitting?
Yes, until that stage locks. After the lock those picks are final, but stages lock independently, so a locked bracket does not affect the ones still open.
Does Pickems cost anything?
No. It is free and always has been. There is no entry fee and nothing to buy.
When do rewards arrive?
Within a few days of the tournament ending, delivered to the League client. They are not instant - if nothing appears the moment the final ends, that is normal.
Can I play Pickems on mobile?
Yes. The LoL Esports site works in a mobile browser, and the bracket interface is usable on a phone. There is no separate app required.
What if a team withdraws or a match is cancelled?
Riot resolves affected picks case by case when it happens. It is rare, and historically handled in a way that does not penalise players for circumstances outside the results.