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League Championship Series (esports)

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League of Legends Championship Series
File:League of Legends Champion Series Logo.jpg.png
SportLeague of Legends
Founded2013
No. of teams20 (10 Europe, 10 North America)
ContinentNorth America, Europe
Most recent
champion(s)		Team SoloMid (North America)
Alliance (Europe)
Sponsor(s)Riot Games
Official websitehttp://lolesports.com

The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) is a professional League of Legends electronic sports competition run by Riot Games, consisting of 2 leagues (North America and Europe) with two splits (spring and summer) per season. As of 2015, each split features a regular season in which 10 teams play every other team 2 times in round-robin play and concludes with a play-off featuring the top six teams from the regular season. The highest placing three teams per league each season qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championships.

The LCS represents the highest level of League of Legends play in Europe and North America. The LCS has a promotion and relegation system; the bottom teams in the LCS from each split compete with the top teams from the Challenger Series to compete for spots in the next split of the LCS. The Challenger Series in each continent is composed of six teams: three teams which failed to advance in the previous promotion tournament, one team from the previous CS split, and the top two teams from ranked ladder play in the respective public League of Legends server.

With the exception of some touring events, all games of the LCS are played live at Riot Games' studios in Los Angeles, United States and Berlin, Germany. In addition to a relatively small studio audience, all games are streamed live online, with broadcasts regularly attracting over 200,000 viewers.[1]

The popularity and success of the LCS has attracted significant media attention. The competition gained legitimacy and was compared to more traditional sports after the US government granted athlete visas for LCS competitors.[2] The LCS has also attracted major sponsorships from Coca-Cola[3] and American Express.[4]

History

Riot Games launched League of Legends in October 2009 and rapidly attracted attention from the competitive gaming community. The first two seasons of play consisted of a series of tournaments mostly organized by third parties, such as Major League Gaming in North America, and Intel Extreme Masters in Europe, capped by a world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games.[5]

Riot Games announced the formation of the LCS on 6 August 2012,[6] creating a fully professional league with a regular schedule and guaranteed salaries for players. The first season of the LCS took place in Season 3 of competitive League of Legends and featured eight teams per split. The top three finishers in both the Riot Games North American and European regional championships held in August 2012 automatically qualified for the first spring split. The remaining five teams were decided in the qualifier tournaments held in January 2013. The first games of the first spring split took place on 7 February 2013 in North America and on 9 February 2013 in Europe.

LCS Season 3 finished with the summer playoffs, held on 30 August to 1 September 2013 in North America[7] and 23 to 25 August in Europe.[8] In North America, Cloud9 finished first, with Team SoloMid placing second and Team Vulcun placing third. In Europe, the top three finishers were Fnatic, Lemondogs and Gambit Gaming. The top three teams from each continent advanced to the Season 3 World Championships.

Riot Games changed naming conventions in 2014, calling the season the "2014 Season" instead of "Season 4". The Challenger Series was created for this season, creating a second tier of competition for promotion and relegation and a clear pathway for players to become professionals.[9]

Format

As of 2015, 10 teams from North America and 10 teams from Europe compete separately in the North American and European LCS. Each season is divided into two splits, with opportunities for promotion and relegation preceding each split. Regular play in each split consists of 9 weeks of play consisting of 10 games per week. Each team on each continent plays each other team in the league twice for a total of 18 games played per team. Teams are ranked by win percentage, with ties allowed in regular season. For the purpose of seeding playoff positions, a tiebreaker is played to split a tie.[10]

At the conclusion of each split, a playoff is played to determine the final standings. The top 6 teams determined via regular season standings are eligible for the playoffs, with the top 2 teams receiving a bye into the semi-finals. Teams placing 3-6 play each other in quarter finals to determine who among them play the teams ranked 1 and 2 in the semi-finals. Each split's playoffs award cash prizes and Championship Points. The summer split champion, the next team with the highest Championship Points, and the Regional Qualifier tournament champion from each continent receive entry into the annual League of Legends World Championship.

The top seven teams of the regular season qualify for the next split. The 10th-placed team in the regular season is relegated to the Challenger Series and is replaced by the Challenger Series champion. The 8th- and 9th-placed team of the regular season must compete in a promotion tournament with the 2nd and 3rd place team of the Challenger Series to determine the remaining two teams for the following split, with the 8th-placed team from the LCS getting choice of opponent.[11]

Media Coverage

The LCS primarily reaches its viewers through its online streaming using its own channels on Twitch and YouTube. On Twitch alone, viewership numbers regularly exceed 200,000 for regular season play,[1] and the games have drawn over 1.7 million unique visitors.[2] However, Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck stated in 2012 that there were no immediate plans to try to bring the LCS to traditional TV, and news coverage of the regular season is generally limited to dedicated electronic sports news sites, such as CBS Interactive's onGamers.[12]

The scale and popularity of the LCS itself, however, has attracted considerable media attention,[13] particularly around some events that legitimized the LCS as a serious competition. In 2013, the awarding of athletic visas by the US government to LCS players was covered by multiple major outlets.[2][14][15]

Teams

North America

Team Position in 2014 Summer Split First appearance in LCS Number of splits in LCS
Cloud 9[16] 2nd Summer 2013 4
Counter Logic Gaming[17] 6th Spring 2013 5
Team Coast[18] N/A Summer 2013 3
Team Liquid[19] 4th Spring 2015 5
Team Impulse[20] 3th Spring 2015 2
Gravity[21] N/A Spring 2015 1
Team Dignitas[22] 5th Spring 2013 5
Team SoloMid[23] 1st Spring 2013 5
Winterfox[24] 7th Spring 2015 3
Team 8[25] N/A Spring 2015 1

Europe

Team Position in 2014 Summer Split First appearance in LCS Number of splits in LCS
Elements[26] 1st Spring 2014 3
Copenhagen Wolves[27] 8th Spring 2013 4
Fnatic[28] 2nd Spring 2013 5
Gambit Gaming[29] 7th Spring 2013 5
Unicorns of Love[30] N/A Spring 2015 1
ROCCAT[31] 4th Spring 2014 3
SK Gaming[32] 3rd Spring 2013 5
MeetYourMakers[33] 5th Spring 2014 3
Giants Gaming[34] N/A Spring 2015 1
H2k-Gaming[35] N/A Spring 2015 1

Source: League of Legends Championship Series

References

  1. ^ a b Kwilinski, Darin. "LCS retains viewers during the Super Bowl". Ongamers. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Dave, Paresh. "Online game League of Legends star gets U.S. visa as pro athlete". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  3. ^ Gaudiosi, John. "Why eSports are attracting sponsors like Coke". Fortune. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  4. ^ Peel, Jeremy. "American Express to sponsor LCS Season 3 and Staples Center final: "We're stepping up and saying this is no longer niche"". PCGamesN. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Premier Tournaments". Leaguepedia. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Riot Games Shares its Vision for the Future of Esports, Reveals Initial Details of League of Legends Championship Series" (PDF). Riot Games. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  7. ^ "North America Season 3 Summer Playoffs". Leaguepedia. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Europe Season 3 Summer Playoffs". Leaguepedia. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  9. ^ Sarkar, Samit. "How the new League of Legends Challenger league will create a pathway to the pros". Polygon. Vox Media.
  10. ^ "Season Three Official Rules" (PDF). Riot Games. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  11. ^ "2014 EU Challenger Series/Spring Series". Leaguepedia. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  12. ^ Rom, Kim (November 7, 2013). "Welcome to the onGamers beta". onGamers. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  13. ^ Snider, Mike. "'League of Legends' makes big league moves". USA Today. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  14. ^ Lejacq, Yannick. "Score! Professional video gamers awarded athletic visas". NBC News. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  15. ^ Welch, Chris. "'League of Legends' gamer granted US visa recognizing him as professional athlete". The Verge. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  16. ^ http://cloud9.gg/lol-na-cloud9/
  17. ^ http://clgaming.net/teams
  18. ^ http://teamcoast.net/team/league-of-legends-na/
  19. ^ http://www.teamliquidpro.com/players#league
  20. ^ http://www.teamimpulse.gg/
  21. ^ http://lol.esportspedia.com/wiki/Gravity_Gaming
  22. ^ http://team-dignitas.net/teams/League-of-Legends
  23. ^ http://www.tsm.gg/index.php/p/team/lol/
  24. ^ http://www.winterfox.gg/
  25. ^ http://www.team-8.net/
  26. ^ http://lol.esportspedia.com/wiki/Elements
  27. ^ http://www.cphwolves.gg/
  28. ^ http://www.fnatic.com/players/LoL/
  29. ^ http://gambit-gaming.com/gambit-players
  30. ^ http://lol.gamepedia.com/Unicorns_of_Love
  31. ^ http://team.roccat.org/
  32. ^ http://www.sk-gaming.com/players/
  33. ^ http://mymym.com/team/league-of-legends-1/
  34. ^ http://www.giantsgaming.pro/zona/jugador/1885/werlyb/
  35. ^ http://www.h2k-gaming.eu/teams/7/
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