Friday 28 October 2016 09:09, UK
After Sunday's dramatic Decision Day saw FC Dallas lift the Supporters' Shield and last season's MLS Cup holders Portland Timbers fail to make the play-offs, we now know the 12 teams who will be taking part in the race for the Cup.
But how do the play-offs work and who is involved?
Here is our handy guide…
The knockout round
The first set of fixtures were the knockout rounds. These were four single elimination games with the winners advancing to the conference semi-finals.
And on October 27, Montreal Impact made light work of Didier Drogba's absence as they beat D.C. United 4-2, Matteo Mancosu scoring twice. In the Western Conference, Seattle Sounders also made it to the semi-finals as Nelson Valdez's 88th-minute winner secured a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City.
The route to the MLS Cup final
The conference semi-finals are two-legged ties with an aggregate-goal format. FC Dallas, Colorado Rapids, New York City and New York Red Bulls finished first and second in their conferences meaning they have a bye to this stage of the play-offs. These four teams play the first leg at home.
Top seeds Dallas and New York Red Bulls, who both finished first in their conferences, will be paired up with the two lowest advancing seeds from the knockout round. The conference second seeds Colorado and New York City will each face the highest seed.
The winners of these matches then play in the two-legged Eastern and Western Conference finals. The two teams who come out on top move into the MLS Cup final on December 10. The higher of the two seeds will host the final at their stadium.
Which star names will be involved?
In the knockout round, expect to see former Premier League household names Gerrard, Robbie Keane, Ashley Cole and possibly Drogba.
Other names include Landon Donovan, Sebastian Giovinco and Michael Bradley.
The conference semi-finals will see the introduction of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa to the play-off picture alongside the New York Red Bulls' Bradley Wright-Phillips who finished the season as MLS' golden boot winner with 24 goals.
Kaka is arguably the only real star name to not be involved as Orlando missed the play-offs by just a single point.
Clint Dempsey will be sidelined for Seattle Sounders. He has been ruled out for the rest of the season with health issues relating to an irregular heartbeat.
What are the dates and times?
