Demacia Cup: 28 Team Climb
Riot·7/1/2014, 8:15:14 PM·0 votes·1,126 views
Between the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, Tencent Games sponsored a tournament to which all eight participants for the 2014 Spring LPL received invitations. After Invictus Gaming clawed their way to the top, the tournament was declared a success, and many expected it to return before the Summer Split.
The Demacia Cup returned on June 9th, but not in the same form fans expected. The weekend before the event was supposed to start, Tencent announced an upgrade of massive proportions. 28 teams were invited instead of eight, and the team to emerge victorious from the finals in December will have to climb from a mountain of opponents to prove they’re the best team in China.
Regardless of whether you always thought WE.A would come out of the gates tied for last place in LPL, it’s hard to deny the individual skill of the team’s players. WeiXiao hand-picked SmLz as his successor, and xiye still manages to win lanes on Annie mid. One thing emerging LSPL teams have taught us is that China is rich in individual skill; they just need some nurturing to change a group of five skilled players into a team.
Doubling the prize pool in LSPL is a start, and Tencent has done that, changing the reward from $16,000 US dollars last split to $32,000 this split for the first place team. They’ve also promised to expand the number of LPL teams from eight to twelve next season, giving this season’s top LSPL teams a greater opportunity to grow by facing the best China has to offer on a consistent basis.
The prize pool totals ~$115,191, which is a little more than a third of what is available in the LPL, but nothing to turn up one’s nose at. More importantly, the tournament offers endless opportunities for upsets. Vici Gaming-S has already eliminated a rejuvenated Energy Pacemaker, suggesting that LSPL does contain teams that can best squads that have appeared in LPL within the last year. Every set is crucial, as a single best-of-three loss spells elimination from the tournament. EP are out for good.
Each faceoff takes the form of a best-of-three all the way until the finals, which will be a best-of-five. Two best-of-threes are scheduled each Monday, beginning at 18:00 China time, or 3:00am PDT. The tournament lasts through the fall, and finals will take place in December.
Aside from offering LSPL teams a chance to show their stuff, Tencent has a brand new tournament to show off their rising streaming platform, QT.
THE DEMAND
Though World Elite Academy, the first place team from the LoL Secondary Pro League (LSPL), China’s Challenger League, has performed poorly so far in LPL this split, the rumor during the early spring was that WE.A could place in the top five with ease and possibly even upset the playoff standings. Some agree that the WE.A that triumphed in G League, a large tournament that involved most of the top teams in China, isn’t the same WE.A that entered LPL. That’s a fair assessment to make considering they lost their captain, AhrI, to a wave of drama.
Regardless of whether you always thought WE.A would come out of the gates tied for last place in LPL, it’s hard to deny the individual skill of the team’s players. WeiXiao hand-picked SmLz as his successor, and xiye still manages to win lanes on Annie mid. One thing emerging LSPL teams have taught us is that China is rich in individual skill; they just need some nurturing to change a group of five skilled players into a team.
Doubling the prize pool in LSPL is a start, and Tencent has done that, changing the reward from $16,000 US dollars last split to $32,000 this split for the first place team. They’ve also promised to expand the number of LPL teams from eight to twelve next season, giving this season’s top LSPL teams a greater opportunity to grow by facing the best China has to offer on a consistent basis.
PROVING GROUNDS
Tencent has gone one step further and created an additional opportunity to for LSPL teams to duke it out against current LPL teams in the form of the Demacia Cup. The Demacia Cup is a 28 team bracket involving the eight LPL teams, 16 LSPL teams, and four teams invited from the Tencent Games Arena Grand Prix. LPL Spring Playoff teams all receive first round byes, allowing the bracket to extend to a round of 32.
The prize pool totals ~$115,191, which is a little more than a third of what is available in the LPL, but nothing to turn up one’s nose at. More importantly, the tournament offers endless opportunities for upsets. Vici Gaming-S has already eliminated a rejuvenated Energy Pacemaker, suggesting that LSPL does contain teams that can best squads that have appeared in LPL within the last year. Every set is crucial, as a single best-of-three loss spells elimination from the tournament. EP are out for good.
Each faceoff takes the form of a best-of-three all the way until the finals, which will be a best-of-five. Two best-of-threes are scheduled each Monday, beginning at 18:00 China time, or 3:00am PDT. The tournament lasts through the fall, and finals will take place in December.
Aside from offering LSPL teams a chance to show their stuff, Tencent has a brand new tournament to show off their rising streaming platform, QT.
