The NA LCS Promotion Tournament is coming soon!

Riot·Mar 14, 2016·0 votes·77,295 views

The scrappiest battle in competitive League is about to take place in the NA Promotion tournament!

With the 2016 NA Challenger Series and NA LCS Spring Splits coming to a close, it's time for the spotlight to shift to next season's rising stars. The best teams in Challenger have one final boss to face before securing a spot in the LCS, while existing LCS teams need to prove they belong with the best. Five teams in total will be thrown into the ring -- the three lowest ranked NA LCS teams and the two highest ranked teams from NA Challenger -- but only three can earn a coveted position in the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split!

Schedule

The NA Promotion tournament consists of four separate Best of 5 matches. Here's the schedule:

ROUND	DATE	GAME TIME (Pacific)	MATCHUPS	WINNER
Day 1	April 6	5 PM	Match A (Team Dignitas vs. Team Dragon Knights)	TDK
Day 2	April 7	12 PM	Match B (Renegades vs. Team Dragon Knights)	REN
Day 2	April 7	5 PM	Match C (Team Impulse vs. Apex)	TIP
Day 3	April 8	12 PM	Match D (Team Dragon Knights vs. Apex)	TBD

The winners of Match B, Match C, and Match D will qualify for the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split!

What it looks like

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You can tune into the Promotion action live on Lolesports and come back to this article for updates as the tournament progresses!

Congratulations to Renegades and Team Impulse for qualifying for the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split!

The EU LCS Promotion Tournament will take place on March 24, 26, and 27. For more information on the EU LCS Promotion tournament click here.

This article was updated on March 21 to reflect the changes outlined in the NA Spring Promotion Tournament announcement.

34 Comments

ArcaneEmperorMar 30, 20165 votes

So is there any chance this tournament will be supported on this site unlike the EU counterpart? would really like to see a vods page for EU promotional tournaments and NA promotional tournaments. Riot could even lump every region's English broad casted promotion/relegation/etc tournaments under this new tab if the reason for not having done it would simply be the added clutter from too many new pages added to the selection drop down menu.

AFunkyChick3nMar 30, 20161 votes

This^ please

errboiMar 31, 20161 votes

While it's not directly supported on this site, they do have a playlist of the entire EU LCS tournament on their official youtube channel. It's not perfect, but it's something, right?

TrollFan01Mar 14, 20162 votes

Wouldn't it be something if REN ends up facing TDK?

Nog Nog NogMar 23, 20162 votes

Lol, watch Crumbz switch teams :P

SteefnessMar 25, 20162 votes

I hope not because that would mean Dignitas would be out of the LCS, and it would be strange to not have them in the LCS anymore, they're a staple.

PhillipsFillupApr 3, 20164 votes

The entire league would suffer a severe lack of memes if Dignitas gets relegated

Flash WardApr 7, 20162 votes

staple... meet staple remover

peters bad ggApr 7, 20162 votes

they did and alex ich was only good in season 2/3. Ninja> Alexich

QuartzGolemMar 24, 20162 votes

Rip Dignitas, was a good run, but prepare for relegation...

SteefnessMar 25, 20161 votes

Quiet you

QuartzGolemApr 19, 20161 votes

Did I not predict it???

Doge the altMar 24, 20162 votes

Hoping for REN,APX and TDK.

Miror BMar 14, 20161 votes

Was a bit confused as to how this thing would work (thought for sure there was no "loser's match", leaving 9 teams for the next split instead of 10). With TDK and renegades swapping solo lanes, things could get incredibly interesting should they meet in the tournament. Not saying TDK would stand zero chance of winning, but, yeah.

YeehawManMar 14, 20161 votes

Really think the CS 3rd place should be playing for a spot... item 3070

Count BuffonMar 22, 20161 votes

It's an interesting thought. One could argue that they already played for such a spot in the recent past. But who's to say what's best?

Miror BMar 22, 20162 votes

Would have to be another match played between TLA and MBR though, and even then I doubt those teams would make it in anyways unless there was serious luck involved. I actually dislike the new format as it won't exactly make the LCS thoroughly better. The difference between teams like Dig/TIP/TDK and teams like new-renegades/Apex is pretty massive, which means that even after this tournament is over we're at best guaranteed to have one of the terrible teams still in. If they added more teams into that loser bracket, it'd definitely be more interesting. Hell, give the bottom teams the option to combine and form an "all star team". Combine contractz, shiphtur, gate, fabbbyyy, and Solo, and you'd at least have a servicable 10th team for the LCS.

DarsamMar 23, 20162 votes

There aren't that many other good teams out there though, at least not teams that would be able to play in NA LCS. Those teams that don't make it have a chance to pick up the best remaining players and try again for summer. IMO Dig is better than there record shows because i think they are improved macro and a true carry away from being at least middle of the table with Liquid and TSM. I think the reason that they went to the new format is that in general the LCS teams are better with more exp against the top than the challenger teams so expecting 3 challenger teams to come in get spots and be competitive is why. There has really rarely been a challenger team like C9 and G2 to be good right after coming into the LCS, most are sitting bot of the table trying to get out of regulations.

Nog Nog NogMar 23, 20161 votes

I think you mean relegation at the end but great analysis.

YeehawManMar 23, 20161 votes

I just think the 3rd place CS team should get a chance. G2 and UOL were both 3rd place challenger and came in to lcs after winning very close promo series, and had much succes immediately (UOL 2nd place in playoffs first split, G2 look like possible 1st place in playoffs). I do think that Ember (if they kept their team) and possibly TLA are both better than Dignitas right now. Ember imo is better than even TiP. DIG has just fallen apart and i dont expect them to make it past TDK. TiP has just been unimpressive with the current line up.

TrollFan01Mar 15, 20161 votes

What does everyone think of TDK and Apex's chances are against REN and maybe DIG in match A and C?

Miror BMar 15, 20162 votes

Depending on which jg they start I'm thinking Apex has a pretty good shot at eclipsing Dig and making it into the LCS. After the roster swaps, I am incredibly doubtful that TDK will make it in with flares and Ich proving that they're barely above challenger-level replacements and Renegades finally looking like an actual team. To sum it up:

Apex in, Renegades in TDK out, Dignitas/TiP out

TrollFan01Mar 16, 20161 votes

I think you may be right if these are the match-ups.

SteefnessMar 25, 20161 votes

Renegades should change their name to Renaissance, because that's what happened with the trade, now I think they'll roll through this tournament without much trouble.

LandreinApr 6, 20161 votes

I actually think that TDK is decent. I would argue that the winners would be renegades, apex, and TDK/Impulse. I expect TDK to beat Dignitas who has fallen apart. Renegades should then stomp TDK. Apex should beat Impulse. Finally I expect TDK vs. Impulse to be a close and unpredictable match.

Toa of DeathMar 21, 20161 votes

since there's 3 LCS teams, wouldn't it have made more sense to have 3 challenger teams as well? 1st CS vs 8th LCS, 2nd cs vs 9th LCS, and 3rdCS vs 10th LCS?

Count BuffonMar 22, 20161 votes

You would want the high-ranked teams to be rewarded with a low-rank opponent. One thing that's really nice about the current system is that there's a huge incentive to climb out of 10th or to win Challenger. Both incentives would be diluted if an extra Challenger team were to be added. Not that it's a bad idea to have three in general.

There's also the consideration that the top two Challenger teams already proved something over the 3rd and it would be weird to give 3rd and 2nd close to equal footing.

DarsamMar 23, 20161 votes

I think the problem is that the 3 challenger teams have rarely proven to be competitive when they get into the LCS. very rarely do you get a G2 or C9 and most are fighting to get out of bottom 3 after they join. Also challenger teams may have been able to grab spots in the past but a few have been by the LCS team making a mistake or getting cheesed and then the challenger team looks worse in the LCS than the LCS team did. There really aren't that many teams out there that could take a spot and then compete right away.

StoNeDApEApr 8, 20161 votes

then it be 1st cs vs 10th lcs 2nd cs vs 9th lcs and 3rd cs vs 8th lcs, you dont make it a easier ride on the bottom bracket people

Count BuffonMar 22, 20161 votes

Typo: The summary of the bracket structure uses Match 1, 2, 3, 4 interchangeably with Match A, B, C, D. The correspondence is predictable and easy to guess, but it's best to pick one and stick with it just to be 100% clear. The overall trend in the article is to label them as letters otherwise.

tyson7Mar 22, 20161 votes

There is a typo in the matches chart, match b. Day 2 April 7 12 PM Match B (Renegasdes vs. Match 1 winner) TBD Renegasdes should be Renegades.

Nog Nog NogMar 23, 20161 votes

I disagree with the bracketing. Bracket B is clearly the best place to be and it's been awarded to a team that WAS in the LCS and now has to fight for its life. The #1 CS team has done everything to earn the best spot. Meanwhile the #8 LCS team didn't earn anything. If they had performed better their reward would be to not even be here. This tournament is a punishment for insufficient performance, no LCS team facing relegation should get the best bracket spot, it hasn't been earned.