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LCK and LEC format changes shake up the LoL esports scene

Riot Games has announced that the LCK and LEC will undergo significant format changes ahead of the 2023 season.... Shubh | 18. November 2022

Riot Games has announced that the LCK and LEC will undergo significant format changes ahead of the 2023 season.

Following the latest adjustments made by Riot games in the League of Legends esports ecosystem, the LEC will now be known as the League of Legends EMEA Championship, while the LCK will start using the highly anticipated double-elimination format in the 2023 season. Here is everything you need to know about the revamped LEC and LCK.

LCK 2023 will adopt a new format

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) has undergone significant changes that result in a completely new format for the 2023 season. The LCK playoffs will use a double-elimination system beginning with the Spring split in January 2023. These changes will open up new possibilities for the LCK to host the miracle runs that are sought so eagerly by nearly all League fans for a while. 

There will be six teams in every split who qualify for the playoffs, which will consist of five rounds, the fifth of which is the Grand Final. The double-elimination bracket begins with round 2, meaning the winner of Round 1 advances to the next round while the loser is immediately removed from the competition.

The regular-split champions and runners-up will receive byes to move on to Round 2 right away. As for the 3rd to 6th-place teams, they will compete in Round 1. The third-place team will choose whether to play the fifth or sixth team, while the fourth-place team will compete with the remaining team. Similarly, the first seed of the regular split will decide which of the two Round 1 winners they want to face, and the second-place team will take on the remaining team. 

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Image Credit: LCK/Riot games

  • The two victorious teams of Round 2 move to the upper bracket of Round 3, while the two losers face each other in the lower bracket of Round 3. 
  • The Round 3 winners will move directly into the grand finals of the LCK, where they will wait for the Round 4 winner. 
  • The losing team from the Round 3 upper bracket, on the other hand, will move down to the lower bracket to play the Round 3 lower bracket winners. 
  • The winner of Round 4 will move to the grand finals. 

New roster rule for LCK and LCK Challengers League

Additionally, the LCK and Korean Challengers League will now run on integrated rosters with no separation, allowing one side to have up to 20 players under their banner. The LCK also mandates that each team must have a general manager, head coach, and assistant coach. While head coaches are not necessary for the Challengers League, each team must field at least one assistant coach, according to the new rules.

Riot has completely overhauled LEC

Riot Games has officially unveiled the changes to the LEC format and structure for the 2023 season. Since Riot wants to give opportunities to more players and teams, the LEC will now be known as the EMEA Championship and it will cover more regions than it did before. In addition to a name change, the EMEA Championship will also have a completely new format, a brand-new B-tier circuit, and a revised EU Masters structure. 

The League of Legends EMEA Championship 

The League of Legends esports ecosystem is expanding in Europe, merging Europe with Turkey, the CIS, and MENA to create EMEA, a united competitive region. All players who have resident status in EMEA will no longer be subject to the Interregional Movement Policy and will instead be considered native players, as opposed to imports. This will open up a road for more professionals from other countries to ascend to the LEC, the highest level of League of Legends competition in EMEA.

Turkish Championship League (TCL) and Arabian League (AL) will connect with the League’s Tier-2 European Regional League (ERL) circuit, which has been renamed EMEA Regional League, as part of the new structure. Moreover, Riot has also rebranded the EU Masters as the EMEA Masters in an effort to provide the teams from the recently united region a chance to qualify for the competition (EM). Additionally, this implies that the TCL Champion will no longer have a reserved spot at Worlds.

EMEA Championship structure

The League of Legends EMEA Championship will feature three separate Splits, as opposed to the LEC’s two splits, each of which will have a three-week regular season. The adjustments will take effect at the start of 2023, however, the tournament dates have not yet been announced. The Winter Split and Spring Split will take place prior to the Mid-Season Invitational, while the Summer Split will proceed between the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship.

  • Winter Split (Regular Season): January
  • Winter Split Playoffs: February
  • Spring Split (Regular Season): March
  • Spring Split Playoffs: April
  • Summer Split (Regular Season): June
  • Summer Split Playoffs: July

EMEA Championship format

  • Each of these three splits begins with single round-robin best-of-one matches.
  • The best-of-one matches from the regular season will determine which eight teams move on to the second stage. 
  • The eight qualified teams will face off in a best-of-three series, with only four moving on to the playoffs.
  • The final four teams will play best-of-five games in a double-elimination bracket to crown the Split Champion. 

LCK and LEC format changes shake up the LoL esports scene

Image Credit: LEC/Riot Games

  • LEC Season Finals will take place between the top six European teams, with three of them being the champions of their respective splits, and the other three being invited based on their Championship Point standings.
  • The six teams will compete in a double elimination bracket and all the games will be best-of-five series.
  • The winners of the LEC Season Finals will earn a spot in the League of Legends World Championship.
  • The winner of the Spring Split will represent the EMEA region in the Mid-Season Invitational.

Header: Riot games