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Riot Adds Points System to LCS, Modifies Schedule
In an effort to increase the weight of each game, Riot has made serious tweaks to the EU and NA LCS.
Last year’s EU Super Week
© LoL eSports
Last week, Riot announced changes to the EU and NA LCS designed to complement the recent addition of two more teams to both regions. Answering questions about how a ten-team league would affect splits, Riot has revamped schedules, introduced a points system, and designed a new bracket for the third seed in Worlds.
However, one of the most interesting changes was a clearer path from the Challenger Series to the LCS.
Get to the Points
First hinted at in August, the introduction of a points system increases the importance of the Spring Split, which in the past has had little impact on Worlds. At the conclusion of each split, teams will be awarded Championship Points according to their standing following the playoffs.
The winner of the Spring Split takes away the most points, with each subsequent place taking home fewer points. Summer Split is slightly different, as a region’s top team is not given points but instead awarded the number one seed for Worlds. The second place team is awarded the most Championship Points instead. The team with the most combined Championship Points secures the number two seed for their region.
Of the remaining eight teams, the four with the most points then enter a grueling best-of-5 bracket to battle for the third and final Worlds seed.
The qualifier for a number three seed at Worlds
© Riot Games
In conjunction with the Championship Points system, Riot also adjusted the regular season schedule for both splits. Teams will still play once a day but will only play against the same team twice each split, two less than last year's four. This makes for a shorter season by two weeks and ten less games per split; it also eliminates the action-packed Super Weeks from each season.
The stated goal of the new points system and schedule is to ensure teams play their best in every match. With fewer games against opponents and a shorter season, any game could mean the difference between an automatic seed and facing a gauntlet for a third seed. But even that tournament doesn’t compare to what awaits the tenth place in each region.
Relegation. No Breathing.
That’s right, the tenth place team in each region will now automatically drop from the LCS into the Challenger Series, while the top team in Challenger joins the LCS. The 8th and 9th place teams will now face Challenger’s 2nd and 3rd place teams in each split’s Promotion Tournament, meaning each season could potentially see three new teams in the LCS.
Coming so soon after the recent LCS expansion, Riot seems confident in the depth of talent in professional League of Legends. While traditionally the LCS has been a long stride ahead of any competition from lower leagues, the Expansion Tournament has proved that semi-pro teams can play in the majors.
H2k qualified for the LCS through the Expansion To
© H2k-Gaming
If Riot is wrong and the former Challenger Series team promoted automatically via placing can’t compete at an LCS level, they will simply be relegated back into Challenger, taking the competitiveness and experience from the LCS back to the lower league. This should increase the level of competitiveness in both leagues.
In a response to Cloud9 Meteos’ objection to the move, Riot eSports Manager Nick Allen tweeted it’s “about making the bottom of LCS and top of CS more exciting.”
When combined with the addition of two new teams, a points system, and no best-of matches in the regular season, Season 5 is shaping up to be just that. Week in and week out, top teams will be vying for points while bottom teams (7th-10th place each split receive no points) will be fighting for their right to be in the LCS at all.
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