League of Legends Employs Massive Changes in the Competitive Scene
League of Legends is a team-based multiplayer game, part of the MOBA genre, that has grown massively in terms of popularity. League of Legends is one of the most popular video games of the past decade. The competitive Esports scene of League of Legends is the most watched esports in the world. As the game approaches its 13th season, League of Legends will implement massive changes in multiple regions to maintain the fire of its competitive scene.
League of Legends EMEA
In 2023, massive changes will happen in the League of Legends scene in Europe. For the past decade, the LEC was mainly composed of European teams. In an effort to bring fans together across multiple continents, League of Legends is planning to expand the reach of its esports scene in Europe. They will expand the region by merging Türki̇ye, CIS, and MENA with Europe to consolidate one competitive and united region.
LEC will now be known as the League of Legends EMEA Championship. The Türki̇ye Championship League (TCL) and Arabian League (AL) will join the EMEA regional leagues. All of them will compete in the EMEA Masters, truly bringing together multiple regions in an intercontinental regional tournament hosting a massive 13 regional leagues after the addition of TCL and AL. The LCL will remain suspended until further notice. The CIS region will be part of the EMEA region, even in the absence of the LCL. It is truly exciting to be part of the League of Legends community in the EMEA region with the new changes coming in 2023.
League of Legends Pacific Championship Series
Starting in 2023, the League of Legends Pacific Championship Series (PCS) ecosystem will expand to include the League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO). The LCO will continue to play its domestic season in Oceania (OCE). However, rather than qualifying directly to MSI and Worlds, the top two teams from each LCO split will seed into the PCS playoffs and compete with other PCS teams for a chance to represent the larger region at international events.
The addition of the LCO teams to the Pacific Championship Series will undoubtedly spark a more competitive landscape in the region. This move will surely create more opportunities for player development and increase the popularity and fan support of the players and teams. The expansion of the region is a step forward in terms of building a more multi-tiered esports ecosystem in the world.
LCK Playoff Format and Integrated Rosters
The LCK will employ a new playoff format in 2023. The previous LCK playoff format was a single elimination tournament with each match being a best-of-five series. The new playoff format will employ a double-elimination format with the addition of a lower bracket. Each series will still use a best-of-five format. The LCK will also employ integrated rosters with no separation as seen in the picture above.
