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NA LCS Summer Split Survival Guide

Riot·5/18/2016, 9:01:57 PM·3 votes·44,292 views

As the the last of the glitter from the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational is swept away, we’re finalizing all our preparations for the new and extended NA LCS Summer Split starting on June 3. As we previously announced, our NA LCS matchups will now be Best of 3 (Bo3) in the regular season.  

Below is everything you need to know to get ready for Summer including the schedule, how you can catch the NA LCS action, and changes coming to the NA LCS studio.

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What’s the NA LCS Summer Split Schedule?

The regular season of the NA LCS Summer Split will take place from June 3 - August 6.  Head over to the full NA LCS match schedule for matchups, locations, and streams.

NA LCS Summer Playoffs take place:

  • Quarterfinals: August 13-14
  • Semifinals: August 20-21
  • Finals: August 27-28

How do I watch the NA LCS Summer Split? What’s changing?  

Players will still be able to watch the NA LCS on:

  • Lolesports
  • Twitch
  • YouTube

Lolesports​

Our Watch Page will be updated to include a drop down menu to toggle between simultaneous streams.

Twitch

The biggest change is that the main RiotGames channel will no longer be streaming all games. We’ll be splitting the streaming of NA LCS games across three different channels.

  • NALCS1 Channel: This channel will be primarily streaming games from the Battle Arena (main stage). Except for Fridays when games are only played in Battle Theater (our new stage), but will be streamed on NALCS1.
  • NALCS2 Channel: This channel will be streaming exclusively games that are played in the Battle Theater on Saturdays and Sundays.
  • RiotGames Channel: This main channel will rotate featuring exciting match-ups or fan-favorites from around the World.  

YouTube

For YouTube, we’ll continue to stream all the games on Lolesports.  

We’ll be releasing a full Watch Guide closer to the start of Summer Split with all the detailed changes on how you can watch the NA LCS this Summer.

What's changing with Fantasy?

For a full breakdown of how Fantasy will change for Summer Split, head over to Fantasy Changes update and Draft Guide. [[{"fid":"22682","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/26085549750_6be3a07550_o.jpg%3Fitok%3Df4RjZFyv","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"620","width":"992"}}]]

What’s changing at the NA LCS studio?

New Battle Theater

During the break between splits, we’ve been putting the finishing touches to our second studio - an intimate space we’re calling the Battle Theater. This will have all the signatures of our Battle Arena in a smaller space, including a studio audience and players live on stage,and will host matches simultaneously on Saturdays and Sundays. We’ll also be hosting our newest match day on Friday nights from this new space.

Battle Arena

The Battle Arena we first unveiled in 2015 is almost unchanged. We’ll have a new Championship banner to commemorate our 2016 Spring Split Champions, Counter Logic Gaming.  As usual, the Battle Arena will host a live studio audience and you can buy tickets via EventBrite. Battle Arena matches will take place on Saturdays and Sundays with all matches from this spot being shown on NALCS1.

How do I attend matches at the NA LCS studio?

Tickets for the NA LCS Summer Split will be available for the Battle Theater and Battle Arena matches starting on Friday, May 20 at 11:00 AM PT for the first 5 weeks of Summer.  Head on over to our ticket guide for everything you need to know about buying tickets and visiting the NA LCS studio this Summer. For the full schedule of matches, check out the Summer Split schedule.

What are the stakes for NA LCS Summer Split?

Championship Points and Worlds 2016 spots are on the line.

Since the 2015 LCS season, NA and EU leagues will use Championship Points for World Championship qualification.  The 1st place team of the Summer Split will automatically qualify (AQ) for Worlds as the first seed from that region. The team that has accrued the most championship points throughout the season will also qualify for Worlds as the second seed. The final worlds seed will be determined at the NA LCS Regional Qualifier at the NA LCS Studio on September 3-5.

Will NA LCS Summer Finals be on the road? If so, where are you going?

Yes, we’ll be hitting the road for NA LCS Summer Finals. There’s a lot of cool cities across North America that we’d like to visit and bring the live action of the LCS directly to local fans. We’ll announce our NA LCS Summer Finals location and ticket information early in the Summer Split.

50 Comments

Miror B5/19/2016, 1:15:53 AM10 votes

"Yes, we’ll be hitting the road for NA LCS Summer Finals. There’s a lot of cool cities across North America that we’d like to visit and bring the live action of the LCS directly to local fans"

...Unless you live in mexico or canada, in which case you can continue to watch it from your parents' basements and enjoy your miserable lives. #pleasebuyourskins!

Zavyyy5/18/2016, 10:14:23 PM5 votes

Please please please come to Texas! AT&T stadium in Arlington preferably

Mistbu5/19/2016, 1:46:29 AM4 votes

It would be great to have games in the East. I really want to see one live.

V005/18/2016, 10:28:40 PM4 votes

My question is when are you going to get this onto DirectTV so I can watch this on my television? I'm a very dedicated fan, but like many others, I live in rural america where all of the ISP's come with a limited amount of data usage. Streaming 6 hours of video off the web 3 days a week isn't very feasible for those like myself, and a purchasable package (like NFL Sunday Ticket for example) would be very preferable. I firmly believe this is the next major step you need to take in your continuing efforts to grow "E-sports" as a genre, but I've yet to ever hear anything indicating a move in this direction.

VictimEN5/18/2016, 11:15:56 PM3 votes

First of all, it seems really weird that NA and EU are operating under different BoX formats.

Second, this whole 2 streams set up seems likely to really screw over weaker/less popular teams. Previously, the opportunity cost of say watching say Renegades v Dig or something was just the time involved. And the scheduling often seemed to space out some of the biggest teams during the day, so people might stick around to watch teams even if they weren't particularly invested in them. So smaller teams playing each other could still get some support. OTOH, now the Arena and Theater matchups are essentially competing directly against each other.

To be honest, I would have considered making every game watchable live, along with maintaining a much more consistent roster of mid and bottom tier teams, to be a huge advantage of Riot's LCS set up versus the old MLG/IPL event based structure. Not any more I suppose.

TrollFan015/19/2016, 6:59:20 AM2 votes

This is going to be a different split. TSM has a new support. Old faithful DIG is no more. C9 with a new top. REN and TIP having to sell their spots. NRG having old faces as new players. So many changes will make this an extremely chaotic split.

III BAKURYU III 5/19/2016, 9:13:03 AM2 votes

Kinda sucks that we can't watch the games in order instead we have to pick a game to watch so if TL vs TSM is on but we also want to watch CLG vs C9 we have to choose, I 'm not that upset as NFL does the same thing but I would love to be able to watch the games the off day once all the games are completed and not have the spoilers shown in my face before i get a chance to watch them.

Old Riot format CLG VICTORY vs C9 LOST

NEW RIOT FORMAT CLG VS C9 COMPLETED

Also whats up with the point system PTS. why not just have a winner and a standings of the wins instead ?

CLG def C9 2-1 its 2 points for CLG 1 point for C9 why ? Couldn't it be oh CLG def C9 2-1 just have CLG 1-0 and C9 0-1 instead.

I don't know I just have to wait and see how this all unfolds just excited is all and I can't wait !

krt5/19/2016, 10:18:19 AM2 votes

By the way, the YouTube link is incorrect.

https://www.youtube.com/user/LoLChampSeries not https://www.youtube.com/user/LoLesports/

R1zz5/20/2016, 3:27:58 AM2 votes

Bring the summer finals to Canada for a change, Toronto preferably. The region is North America yet everything is always in the States.

YaJpTpOg4C5/19/2016, 8:52:34 PM2 votes

Nobody comes to Ohio :(

Rock Eater5/20/2016, 6:00:12 PM2 votes

Come to Vancouver!

Gijutsu5/23/2016, 2:30:24 PM2 votes

I really don't understand why people are complaining about the matches being aired on two different channels. You have heard of tabs right? And if you have multiple monitors, put one tab on each. It's not that difficult people. Stop acting like you can only watch one match at a time.

Steefness5/24/2016, 3:13:12 AM2 votes

Not sure why people are so upset about the split channels. I'm excited because there's always a game or two I could do without watching, and this gives me options to optimize my viewing experience. If you want to watch both, you can either double monitor (if you're watching on a laptop, you can plug it into your tv and set it up as a second monitor really easily), or watch the other as soon as the one you're watching is over, or watch it later. They say they're going to make it spoiler free if you are sensitive to that. If you're still annoyed by it after reading this, sorry, try being less of a grump.

BadFish135/18/2016, 9:42:05 PM2 votes

I hate the new formats. Hopefully RIOT will as well and go back to the BO1.

Kiryto6/1/2016, 2:51:04 AM1 votes

Back to MSG baby. I missed it last time, but if the LCS does come here, I'll be ready this time :D

Sariok5/19/2016, 12:31:53 AM1 votes

Sound proof booths?

Yordle Xayah5/19/2016, 5:28:48 AM1 votes

Why on EARTH would you split your viewers across 5 DIFFERENT CHANNELS... It's so un-intuitive to follow... and what if my FNATIC are playing at some point, but there's this other big game... say H2K vs ORIGEN at the same time in the other venue. Or there's TSM vs C9 and CLG vs Liquid on the other stream AT THE SAME TIME.

I've been watching LCS since the 2014 season, even though I started watching competitive League with Worlds 2013, and I just really fail to see how "Oh yeah, split the viewers" can be good in any situation. The newbie viewer will be alienated, and many viewers won't even bother to check what place is streaming what. I mean, there's people like me, who'll look into the details of the change and follow the League, but I know FOR SURE that SO MANY PEOPLE just won't even bother with it.

2 Channels, one for NA and one for EU, I could understand... but FIVE different channels?

Chavaman5/19/2016, 6:08:15 PM1 votes

I lot of people are complaining about different channels and feel that RIOT did something wrong. No guys, you don't understand that this new format is to make NA and EU teams more competitive on international stage. Also, we are getting more games than before. Ok, so maybe you won't be able to watch them all live but MORE GAMES. What this will do is just make us watch LIVE games for the teams we follow, and then just catch a REPLAY for the rest.

III BAKURYU III 5/20/2016, 9:40:51 AM1 votes

Who will be the final team for NA I thought the teams had until the 18th, its the 20th and still no word for the final team ?

FoF Qazaqwert5/25/2016, 2:40:13 PM1 votes

"Yes, we’ll be hitting the road for NA LCS Summer Finals. There’s a lot of cool cities across North America that we’d like to visit and bring the live action of the LCS directly to local fans." Riot needs to pull a sever change and make the lcs finals in Chicago. Its a very centralized location that more people could make it out to, (also i live in Illinois so..)

JetpackKatt5/18/2016, 9:38:49 PM1 votes

"We’ll be splitting the streaming of NA LCS games across three different channels." WHY, RITO???