How will the playoffs look like?

Here is a picture of the playoffs, and after the explanations

There will be 2 playoff trees for each divisions (Upper and Lower).
Both brackets will be played out in a single elimination system.
Upper bracket (for places 1st-4th)

• Top 2 teams from each group will advance here.
  
• The winners of the first round will advance into the Grand Finals, and the losers will play for the bronze.

Lower bracket (for places 5th-8th)

• Teams that ended up 3rd and 4th in their groups will advance here.
• The winners of the first round will play for the 5th place, and the losers for the 7th.
• In case in a group will have less than 4 teams, then we'll fill the empty spots from the other group, for example Group A got only 3 teams, but group B got 5. Then the first round will look like this: A3 vs B4, B3 vs B5.
• If a group ends up with less than 8 teams, then it'll be a surprise.

Playoff's format

Each team will pick their own map for their playoff matches.
You don't have to tell your opponent what map did you pick.
Teams can pick any map from the map pool.
If both team picks the same map, then you'll play the same map twice.
Playoff games can't end in a draw! In case if after 4 rounds, the score is tied, then the teams will pick a 3rd map, by elimination.


Playoff's schedule

Last week of the group-stage will end on the 22th.
If there won't be any wildcards, then the playoffs will be posted on the 23th.
If there will be a wildcard, then the playoffs will be posted on the 28th.
The playoffs will start on the week after the trees were posted (leaving enough time for schedule).
Teams will have to schedule their playoff game on the same way they did their group-stage ones.
The playoffs will take 3 weeks to finish.

• week 1: Teams will schedule their first game.
• week 2: Teams will play their first game, and schedule their last game asap.
• week 3: Teams will play their last game in the cup.

Rules and APL

The same rules will apply for the playoffs as for the group-stage.
During the playoffs, each team can add one more new member!