NA Challenger Series 2018?

SciFi Scrivener·Dec 6, 2017·1 votes·4,850 views

With Season 8 of the NA LCS quickly approaching, and the introduction of the new franchise system, fans are getting excited... or at least I am. One piece of the new system that I feel is getting little attention is the challenger series. Each LCS team is required to maintain a full challenger roster, as sort of farm system for new talent.

Will the CS be streamed? What is the CS schedule for competitions? What are the names for the CS teams?

I hope Riot gives us more information and fully covers the CS. Seeing talent grow and then seeing those players in the LCS will be a great way to expand the fan base.

6 Comments

GeminiRuneDec 6, 20172 votes

As far as I've heard and gathered. The "Challenger Series" is referred to as the "NA Academy Series" or something like that. Yes it will foster talent but I also believe it will be a full scale secondary league. Whether it's broadcast or not, I'm not entirely sure.

SciFi ScrivenerDec 6, 20171 votes

Forgot about the name change, thanks for the reminder.

GrzaDec 14, 20172 votes

We are into that too - I think the story lines that the Academy League creates are going to be great. You should hear more about schedule and format in the next week or two.

Until then, we are not requiring teams to have an "Academy Roster" - instead, teams will have one general roster and every week the teams will designate which players are eligible for LCS and which are eligible for Academy. We think this roster flexibility provides the best possible situation for teams and pros and promotes the kind of fluidity (is that a word? I think it is...) between rosters that we've been looking to encourage.

--Grza (NA LCS League Ops)

RiotRiot CommishDec 14, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Grza,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=khbTUFys,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2017-12-14T07:40:51.252+0000)

We are into that too - I think the story lines that the Academy League creates are going to be great. You should hear more about schedule and format in the next week or two.

Until then, we are not requiring teams to have an "Academy Roster" - instead, teams will have one general roster and every week the teams will designate which players are eligible for LCS and which are eligible for Academy. We think this roster flexibility provides the best possible situation for teams and pros and promotes the kind of fluidity (is that a word? I think it is...) between rosters that we've been looking to encourage.

--Grza (NA LCS League Ops)

Didn't realize I was logged in on an account I'm leveling and not my Riot account - but just posting for the pretty red letters (i.e. the above post was me).

TerraRisingDec 14, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Didn't realize I was logged in on an account I'm leveling and not my Riot account - but just posting for the pretty red letters (i.e. the above post was me).

Question: Since you're both The "RZA" and The "GZA," who at Riot is "Old Dirty B?"

(WU-TANG!)

BreakuDec 15, 20171 votes

Do you anticipate much roster 'fluidity' with the return of Bo1s? Isn't it too risky to try a player out for a match when there isn't the remainder of the series to fall back on?