Don’t say LEC anymore but League of Legends EMEA Championships (well, OK, that’s still LEC, phew). Riot Games has unveiled all the changes to its European championship and ERLs for the 2023 season in a complete article on the future of competition in League of Legends.
The main change, as we know, it is the arrival of new leagues within the European competition. Indeed, Europe will henceforth be associated with the Middle East and Africa. A single competitive region now, therefore, the EMEA, with the ERL teams but also the AL teams (Arabian League) or those of the TCL (in Turkey). When Russia is debanned, the LCL structures will also be found there. In short, an operation like that of the WEC of Wild Rift currently. The structures will therefore have a better chance of joining the new EMEA Masters, replacing the EU Masters.
There followed a second name change for the European Championship, formerly EU LCS and LoL European Championship, now EMEA Championships.
Over the past decade, our team has worked tirelessly to create an industry-leading esports ecosystem. Today, we’re excited to reveal our plan for the next decade of LoL Esports in EMEA and the changes we’re making to the LEC and the wider ecosystem to continue delivering a top-notch experience for our players. We are focused on providing our players with the best possible competition. These changes will further improve the opportunities for professional players and aspiring LoL players in the region, giving them more opportunities to reach the elite level of competition in EMEA.
– Maximilian Peter Schmidt, LoL esports director
??Rebrand: EU Masters ➡️ EMEA Masters
MENA and Turkey becoming ERLs and a big old rebrand. What do we think about the brand new logo?#EUMasters #LEC(Old – shield; new – star/crown?)
Vote for the one you prefer ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VNYbGvDUCc— LEC Absol (@LEC_Absol) November 18, 2022
In terms of the structure of the competition now, there are also changes for 2023. From now on, it will be necessary to count on three splits, during the winter, the spring then the summer. The first two will be followed by the traditional MSI, while the third will lead to a new competition like in the Asian regions, the EMEA Championships Season Finals, before the Worlds.
Three six-week splits, with a ten-team BO1 round-robin tournament, followed by an eight-team double-elimination BO3 group stage, and ending with a four-team double-elimination BO5 playoffs. Champions of the Winter, Spring, and Summer Playoffs will automatically secure a spot in the LEC Season Finals, with other spots and the overall standings determined by Championship Points.
On the side of the ERL now or rather the EMEA Regional Leagues, the LoL ecosystem will be common with all the old regions (ERL, LCL, TCL and AL). An updated list of accredited and non-accredited leagues has been revealed, allowing to define their internal structures (to read again here):
ACCREDITED ERLS
SUPERLIGA
Spain, Andorra
THE FRENCH LEAGUE
France, Monaco
PRIME LEAGUE
Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland
ULTRALIGA
Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Israel
NEW: TCL (TURKIYE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE)
Türki̇ye, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
NON-ACCREDITED ERLS
NORTHERN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP
UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Malta, and Iceland
PG NATIONALS
Italy: Holy See (the), San Marino
EBL
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Moldova
GREEK LEGENDS LEAGUE
Greece, Cyprus
ELITE SERIES
Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, (incl. Caribbean Dutch Islands, Aruba and Curacao)
HITPOINT MASTERS
Czech Republic, Slovakia
LIGA PORTUGUESA OF LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Portugal
NEW: ARABIAN LEAGUE
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates