Challengers and Contenders: NA LCS Promotion Tournament

Riot·8/3/2016, 2:41:43 PM·0 votes·19,387 views

With the 2016 Summer Split regular season done, teams are preparing for NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs and the NA Promotion Tournament.

Who will rise to the challenge and secure their spots in the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split at the Promotion Tournament? Let's breakdown all the action happening during the NA Promotion Tournament: 

Who is participating?

The top two Challenger teams - Cloud9 Challenger and Team Liquid Academy - will battle for NA LCS spots against the three lowest ranked LCS teams: Echo Fox, NRG Esports, and Phoenix1. They’ll compete in four Best of 5 matchups, broadcast on August 4, 6 and 7 on Lolesports.

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Winners of Saturday and Sunday matches will join the NA LCS.

Thursday, August 4 - 12:00 PM PT

  • Match 1: Echo Fox (LCS #10)  vs. Team Liquid Academy (CS #2) - NALCS1

Saturday, August 6 - 12:00 PM PT - Dual Streams

  • Match 2: NRG Esports (LCS #9) vs. Cloud9 Challenger (CS #1) - NALCS1
  • Match 3: Phoenix1 (LCS #8) vs. Match 1 Winner - EULCS2

Sunday August 7 - 12:00 PM PT

  • Match 4: Match 2 Loser vs. Match 3 Loser - NALCS1​

What’s on the line?

Winners of Match 2, Match 3, and Match 4 will each earn a spot in the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split. The eliminated teams from the Promotion Tournament will earn spots in the 2017 NA Spring Challenger Series.

How do I catch the action?

The NA Promotion Tournament begins with Echo Fox vs. Team Liquid Academy on Thursday, August 4 on Lolesports. After Thursday’s matches, one team will join the 2017 Challenger Series while the other will continue its journey toward earning an NA LCS spot.

The EU Promotion Tournament will take place on August 4, 5, and 7. Learn more about the EU Promotion Tournament here.

28 Comments

Otasta8/3/2016, 8:50:32 PM3 votes

I feel like the fact that teams like C9 and TLA can just dominate challenger and then sell LCS spots for cash diminishes challenger a lot. It is basically, can these teams save their spot or will we have a bidding war for an LCS spot.

Linthe8/3/2016, 10:14:37 PM3 votes

Yup. Pretty interesting.

I think it very unlikely that EchoFox gets back in or that C9-C doesn't.

Which means that TLA, NRF, P1 are fighting over 2 spots.

AND that there will be some nice drama over C9-C's spot... that is actually my favorite part- to see how that all shakes out.

Miror B8/4/2016, 12:51:39 AM2 votes

Gonna be an interesting promo tourny compared to the last one (in which it was so blatantly obvious that none of the challenger teams were "ready" ). Assuming NRG and P1 retain their spots (which won't be too surprising due to both of those teams being far and away the best ones in this thing), and TLA not making it past echo fox tomorrow (due to them being the 2nd best team in what was a mostly weak NACS this split), it'll ultimately come down to whether C9C can overcome the power of Froggen EF. Unless echo fox can pull out new stuff and get around all of hai's off-meta picks (like kennen), then I could very well see this being a 3-0 for c9c with them then immediately selling their spot back to echo fox, unless some other gaming franchise (NIP, please let it happen) decide to expand into LoL.

Ifur8/4/2016, 8:44:33 AM1 votes

lol would like to see TLA vs P1. after piglet's comments about how disgraceful of a team P1 is, now I'd like to see him fight against the more organized P1

kujiesar8/4/2016, 7:26:26 PM1 votes

Ey how about a bracket?

GraceGreen8/3/2016, 3:33:44 PM1 votes

summoner 6

What happens if C9 Challenger wins?

Two C9 teams in NALCS -or- An NALCS spot sale ?

KyleMG8/5/2016, 1:16:37 AM1 votes

[slayer-jinx-catface]

The 6108/3/2016, 4:06:16 PM1 votes

what would happen if C9C and TLA win like that would be an issue right

TrollFan018/3/2016, 5:28:40 PM1 votes

I think only Phoenix1 will make it back in. Everything seems to be stacked against EF and NRG.