With playoffs this season including the 7th and 8th place teams, 100 Thieves and Dignitas, there has been lots of talk about how these teams don't deserve to be in playoffs, and their matches are a waste of time. But then I wondered if 100 Thieves and Dignitas can be removed, how many more teams can we remove from playoffs?

After minutes of arduous research, it turns out that from 2015 to now every eventual split winner ended regular season in 1st or 2nd place except one (Spring 2018, where 4th place Team Liquid went on to win the split). This would suggest that the vast majority of the time Riot could just schedule the top two teams after each split to play a best of 5 against each other and simplify the process drastically. This information was all gathered from Leaguepedia.

Some of the benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Teams would have a week or two more to prepare for MSI and Worlds. With this extra time the teams would be better emotionally prepared for when they get beaten by LEC and LPL teams.
• Teams that don't get into this new playoff format would get some advantages too. These teams would actually get the time they need to find some NA talent, which they obviously don't have time to do currently.
• There would be two more weekends per split where I would actually be productive and do things other than watch the LCS. With those two weekends I could start learning a language, or learn a hobby, or even watch Twitch while sitting in bed. The possibilities are endless!

Overall, I think it is obvious that the LCS playoffs should move to a single best of 5. The advantages for all the teams and viewers is very clear, and it would rarely change the actual outcome of playoffs.