TFT Set 16 Pro Circuit: Schedule, format, players to watch

Riot Games has unveiled the details for its latest Teamfight Tactics Tier 1 tournament series, the TFT Pro Circuit (TPC).

The top 32 players across the four regions (APAC, America, China, and EMEA) will compete across three major events, with players from each region competing for a share of the $30,200 (~£22,430) prize pool.

The competition for this year’s edition will see pros compete across the Shurima Cup, the Bilgewater Cup, and the Demacia Cup in the coming two months.

Winners of each Cup tournament, as well as the player with the most points accumulated, will gain direct qualification to the Lore & Legends Tactician’s Crown at the end of March.

Additionally, the format will see all players on Day 3 of TPC gain four Pro Points, rather than earning more for each individual placement. These points will now also give additional prize money to the top four, instead of just the first-place finisher.

Each Cup will have a total of 12 games across the first two days and a maximum of eight games on the final day. Initially, the 32 players will be split across four groups of eight, and will be reshuffled using snake-seeding every two games.

Players will advance based on points earned through each match, with eight points given to first place and one point to last. The top 24 point earners will advance to Day 2.

On the following day, the players will have points carry over, with eight more players being eliminated.

Still on day two, the 16 remaining players will then have two additional games before determining the top four eligible for Pro Points, while the bottom four will be eliminated. Players ranked 5th to 12th will then play two extra games to decide the additional four to form the top eight on Day 3.

Points on the final day will be reset, and the eight players will play using a checkmate format. When the first player earns 20 points, they will put all the other players “in check”. The player then needs to win one lobby to win the tournament.

The Shurima Cup will be held from January 9th to January 11th, with schedules as follows, depending on the region:

Following the latest Regional Finals, the 32 players from each region have already been selected. Some of them, such as Vietnamese player Bui ‘YBY1‘ Tuan Kien, retained their slots from the K.O. Coliseum Tactician’s Crown event that took place in 2025. The now RRQ player finished third overall at the event.

Some of the must-watch players for this event, though, are those who qualified for the K.O. Coliseum Tactician’s Crown without going through the TPC last year, such as Brazilian players Matheus ‘cmbQAQ‘ Contro and Shaco. These two were the best players from the Americas region at the tournament, finishing 9th and 11th, respectively.

From the APAC region, aside from YBY1, the top contenders are expected to be Korean player Seo ‘Ssang Yeop‘ Seong-won and CantWithoutYou (不能沒有妳), the winner of the K.O. Coliseum.

For EMEA, the attention will likely go to the French pros, such as Gabriel ‘Gobosteur‘ Brault and Emre ‘Double‘ Demirtas, who plays for Karmine Corp.

Among the Chinese players, keep an eye on Xie ‘Wmeng‘ Fuchao and weimuluoqiu. In particular, the latter seems to be one of the rising stars from the region, having recently finished runner-up at the Tactician’s Crown with no previous major global event participations.

To watch all the action of the TPC, fans must watch pros and co-streamers since the competition will not have a dedicated broadcast. The full roster of co-streamers will be revealed at a later date.