6 reasons why China's LPL picked up Korea's OGN format

South Korea burst onto the League of Legends scene during the Season 2 World Championships. Although a Korean team didn’t take the crown that year, one year later SKT stood at the top of the heap.

But have you ever wondered why Korean pros are so much better, usually both individually and as a team? The league they play in—OGN Champions—makes a big difference, and that’s precisely why China’s LPL chose a similar format. Here are the advantages it offers:

1. Best of two series

There is nothing worse than losing a best of one, especially when it matters the most. One wrong decision can ruin an entire season. A best of two series can prevent that from happening by giving both teams a second chance to prove they can get the best of their opponents.

2. More time for scrims

Most LPL teams play only one set of games per week, which gives them six days to scrim and practice in solo queue. If you compare that to Europe’s LCS, you will find that some teams have to travel a few hours to even get to the studio. Then there are at least two days of matches. This takes away a lot of precious practice time.

Korean players tend to practice ten to 16 hours a day, and China’s teams aspire to similar performance levels. But they’d never be able to keep up a Korean-style practice schedule if the LPL was scheduled like the LCS is, with multiple matchdays throughout the week.

3. No restrictions about sister teams

Korea is famous for having big eSports organizations with multiple teams, and it is believed to be one of OGN’s biggest assets. Having a sister team that also plays at the highest level gives you a secure but still-challenging enviroment for scrims, and can help teams keep their game at the highest level without having to give away new strategies by scrimming with other pro teams outside of their organization.

And, of course, having multiple teams at the highest level means a bigger staff, more players, more perspectives, and more data to work with. Although they occasionally compete with each other, this increased ability to share information can help keep major eSports organizations strong. It’s something that LPL teams like Invictus Gaming and Team WE will be hoping to emulate this split with their sister teams having achieved promotion from the LSPL.

4. Experience in best of fives