Biggest tournaments
When looking at League of Legends tournaments, there’s a lot. There’s so many tournaments that catch the eye, so we’re only going to take a look at the Premier tournaments. Sure, there are a bunch of Major’s that get a lot of attention as well. But the Premier events are truly at the height of the excitement.
LCK
League of Legends Champions Korea is the primary competition for League of Legends esports in South Korea. Contested by 10 teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the League of Legends World Championship. The LCK is widely considered to be the strongest League of Legends competition in the world, with the game’s World Championship having been won exclusively by teams from the LCK since 2013. Longzhu Gaming are the current champions, having won their first title on 26 August 2017 after defeating SK Telecom T1 (who have a massive 6 LCK titles to their name) in the finals of LCK Summer 2017. With the world’s powerhouses as it’s main attraction this tournament packs a massive punch, and is a sure-fire for entertainment.
LCS
The League of Legends Championship Series is the name of two professional League of Legends eSports leagues run by Riot Games. Twenty teams compete in two separate competitions in Europe and North America, with ten teams per continent. Each annual season of play is divided into two splits, spring and summer and conclude with play-off tournaments between the top six teams from each region. At the end of the season, the team with the most championship points qualifies for the annual League of Legends World Championship. In the EU LCS, Fnatic is the only team remaining that has played in every split since the first EU LCS split. In the NA LCS, Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming are the only teams remaining from the first NA LCS split. Having a massive media coverage, and over 300.000 viewers for every game, this tournament has the chills and thrills that you’re looking for
LPL
Tencent League of Legends Pro League is the top level League of Legends league in China.The first season of the LPL was the 2013 Spring season. The top three finishers of the playoff tournament receive automatic bids to the League of Legends World Championship. Playoffs are an eight team single elimination with each step a best-of-five series. In 2014 Riot Games began providing an English language broadcast. The format is modeled after the League of Legends Champions Korea format in South Korea. In September 2015 it was announced that Riot Games was in negotiations with Tencent to take over operations of the league. As of 2017, the league will adopt the EU LCS format for selecting regular season groups. The highest ranked teams from the previous split will lead the groups with other teams being selected. This also means the format now includes the best of 3 matches. With Tencent distributing the game in China, the league gets Tencent’s massive 300 million follower base with it. This league hosts some of the World’s greatest teams, and therefore creates the perfect league for some world class entertainment.
Mid-Season Invitational
The Mid-Season Invitational is an annual League of Legends tournament hosted by Riot Games since 2015. It is the second most important international League of Legends tournament aside from the World Championship.The event features the Spring Split champions of the five major competitive League of Legends regional leagues, as well as a wildcard team from a lesser region determined by the International Wildcard Invitational, held a few weeks beforehand. This tournament is the second most exciting tournament of the season, and the first time each year that the fans get to see all of the world’s best go up against each other. It is a sample of what to expect in the world championship, and definitely worth a watch.
World Championship
The League of Legends World Championship is the annual professional League of Legends world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games and is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the champion title, the Summoner’s Cup, and a million dollar champion prize. In 2017, the finals were watched by over 60 million people, and had over 300 million views, breaking 2016’s finals’ viewer records. The tournament has been widely praised for its performances, and is the number 1 watched eSports event in the world. This tournament, with all of its twists and turns, is an absolute must see.