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Explain LCS for me?

Fòcus·2/21/2016, 11:10:00 PM·2 votes·1,518 views

Specifically NA LCS,

What's the point in being on the top of the LCS Ladder? Does being the best LCS team give you anything? Qualifier for a tournament?

Questions:

  1. If there is a tournament that the only the top LCS team(s) qualify for, what is that tournament called?

  2. If there is a tournament, which teams make it? Top 4? Top 2?

  3. How many splits are there? I heard a bunch of stuff like spring split and summer split, is there a winter and fall?

  4. If there is one, what's the cash prize for being the best (or one of the top) LCS team?

  5. In the NA LCS, are there any Canadian/South American teams?

  6. Each weekend, where are those LCS games held, as in what state is the venue in?

  7. Each weekend, do the teams have to fly to the venue, then fly back to the team house? Or is their teamhouses in the same state, or nearby area as the venue, where they use driving for transportation?

  8. Is there any way to get LCS team summoner icons for previous seasons?

Thanks a lot fam [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]

11 Comments

AzureDragoon2/22/2016, 2:16:58 AM2 votes

A7. Most of the teams keep a "Team House" within about an hour's drive (more or less) of the venue. During the regular season the players live there most of the time. Whether they stay there year round, during the off season, varies from player to player, and team to team.

A8. Typically, no. A lot of that get's placed in the store "vault" (read: taken off the store page) after a season/tournament. You'll keep the icon if you purchased it when available, but you can't buy it once it's gone.

Also, on the bottom end of things, there are some things to know. Unlike in most other traditional sports, where the leagues are pretty static these days (With the most that typically happens is a team moving cities due to new stadiums/city funding/etc, and the rare new team joining a league), LCS is more dynamic.

Like baseball, there's a "minor league" for League Championship Series. This would be the Challenger Series. Like minor league baseball, LCS teams that are short of players for whatever reason, can ask for temporary players to fill in. Echo Fox had do this for most of the early part of this Spring Split, pulling players in from the Challenger team Ember due to visa issues.

Now, here's the catch. Challenger Series (CS) teams, are also competing for the chance to move up to the League Championship Series (LCS). Likewise, you'll hear the term "relegation/relegated" be tossed about for the LCS. This refers to the three last place teams in the LCS at the end of a Split.

So, while the LCS is on going, the CS is playing their own short-season split format. The top 4 Challenger teams from each split, then go on to their Challenger Series Promotion Play Offs. The winner of the CS Play Off, get's the LCS spot of the 10th/Last place team in the LCS Split (AKA, "Auto-Relegated"). The 10th place team, likewise, is demoted to Challenger Series (So basically, they swap spots).

The 2nd and 3rd place teams of the CS Playoffs, then go on to a "Promotions" against the 8th and 9th place teams from the LCS Splits (with the 2nd place CS team choosing which of two LCS teams they wish to play against, the 3rd place team gets the other. Promotions, are Best of 5 battles between these teams, with the winner of each match up getting or keeping an LCS spot.

TL:DR version: 8th and 9th place LCS teams after a Split have to win 3 games against Challenger Teams to stay in the LCS or lose their spot to the Challenger team. The 10th place team, is automatically demoted to Challenger Series, and replaced with a Challenger team

Earl Eulrich2/21/2016, 11:20:58 PM2 votes

  1. There´s worlds at the end of the season (october), winner gets quite some money and prestige, so that´s what it´s all about. Placing high in the spring split gets you some pricemoney and points to qualify for worlds. Also the winners of the (current) spring split in each region will clash at the MSI-tournament, gaining prestige (->sponsor-money), international experience (->better chances to win world) and additional price money.

  2. worlds: winner of summer split, best team based on points earned in spring+summer split, winner of the qualification tournament for the 4best teams based on points that did not made it through other means of qualification. MSI: winner of each regions spring split

  3. there´s spring split and summer split, during winter competitive is on break.

  4. winner of worlds gets 1.000.000, 2nd 250.000, 3/4 150.00 each and so forth. But there´s also fix salary for the players during the season payed by Riot + some additional pricemoney for placing high in playoffs/MSI + IEM

  5. there are Canadian players, i´m actually not sure if there´s a Canadian organisation, but i don´t think so. South America has it´s own league(s), mostly powerhoused in brazil

  6. NAs games take place in LA.

Toa of Death2/21/2016, 11:19:08 PM1 votes

1 and 2. 1st and 2nd place goes to semifinals in playoffs and faces the winners of the quarterfinals, 1st place playoffs goes to Mid Season Invitational, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of summer split goes to worlds

  1. 2 splits. Spring and Summer.

  2. No, there are players from those regions but all NA LCS teams are in the US

  3. Regular season and quarterfinals/semifinals games are held in Los Angeles, California in the LCS studio. 3rd place match/finals are held in a rented stadium usually, last year summer finals were in Madison Square Garden in NYC, this year it's in Las Vegas.

Ricky Spanish DC2/21/2016, 11:20:37 PM1 votes

The Lcs is pretty much a professional league of League of Legends. Similar to baseball or any other traditional sport, being the best Na lcs team means that you are the best team in Na. The top 3 teams in the lcs and in other professional leagues around the world qualify for the world championships at the end of the season each year. A split is pretty much just a portion of the season. There are 2 splits, spring and summer, and they each take place in the corresponding season. Each split consists of the 10 lcs teams playing each other team 2 times, leading to a total of 20 games each split. The Na lcs takes place in Los Angeles every Saturday and Sunday. Most teams are not "from" a certain place. The teams are not based out of certain places, they are just made up of professional exports players and their organizations. There is definitely money at stake based on sponsorships and the salary that each player is payed by their team. The prize money based on winners of the world championship is very large as well, reaching into the millions. At the end of each split. There are playoffs, which the top 6 teams in each split make, and compete to determine the winner of the split. Between the 2 splits, there is a tournament called the mid season invitational (msi for short). And the top team in every pro league around the world pretty much qualifies for it.

P.s. I'm not a super expert on this so there are definitely things that I left out/got wrong. Hope this helped.

xJLx MCHammer2/21/2016, 11:36:10 PM1 votes

In terms of revenue, each team makes 100k or 125k per split from Riot.lik any competition, top teams gets better endorsement or revenue streams from ads. Top teams also get better coverage which in term helps in other ways like when they stream on twitch As for the tournament, top two teams don't have to play in the first bracket.

Grashnim2/21/2016, 11:13:04 PM1 votes
  1. There are tournaments and tournaments = cash money. Only good teams get invited.
  2. Depends on the tournament.
  3. Spring and summer splits. Fall is the playoffs.
  4. I think top team gets 100k? Not entirely sure.
  5. There is a South American league.
  6. Los Angeles, California - I do believe.
Smart Kitty2/22/2016, 4:21:58 AM1 votes

{quoted}

Specifically NA LCS,

What's the point in being on the top of the LCS Ladder? Does being the best LCS team give you anything? Qualifier for a tournament?

Questions:

  1. If there is a tournament that the only the top LCS team(s) qualify for, what is that tournament called?

  2. If there is a tournament, which teams make it? Top 4? Top 2?

  3. How many splits are there? I heard a bunch of stuff like spring split and summer split, is there a winter and fall?

  4. If there is one, what's the cash prize for being the best (or one of the top) LCS team?

  5. In the NA LCS, are there any Canadian/South American teams?

  6. Each weekend, where are those LCS games held, as in what state is the venue in?

  7. Each weekend, do the teams have to fly to the venue, then fly back to the team house? Or is their teamhouses in the same state, or nearby area as the venue, where they use driving for transportation?

  8. Is there any way to get LCS team summoner icons for previous seasons?

Thanks a lot fam [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]

  1. Worlds is the big one of course, being a top team in summer means you can represent your region at the world championship. For some of the IEM's and occasional other random tournaments, being one of the top teams in the LCS can get you an auto-qualification. For being a top 2 team in the regular split, you get a first round bye in playoffs, meaning no matter what the worst finish you can get is 4th place. For being the top in playoffs, you get more championship points, which helps your team qualify for worlds easier. It does make a difference, especially in the case of worlds spots last year. If your team wins the playoffs in summer split, they automatically qualify for worlds as first seed. It's pretty hard for me to explain, but the major benefit to being a top team in the LCS is the championship points.

  2. Usually it's the Number 1 team, though sometimes it can be the Number 2. It's rarely 3rd or 4th.

  3. There's only spring and summer, no winter and fall, other regions have sometimes have winter splits, but NA LCS does not.

  4. I don't think there are specifically Canadian teams, but there are Canadian players. There are a few South Americans players as well, but South American teams have their own versions of LCS.

  5. Yes, teams have to travel to the venue and back to the team house each week.

  6. Not that I know of, if there was though, I'd love to get Alliance icon.

4 and 6 I don't know the answer to, sorry.

*lol.gamepedia.com is a good site for keeping up with the LCS, once you understand a bit more. Some of the articles on lolesports are good as well.

ModWulf Helhammer2/21/2016, 11:13:58 PM1 votes

Most is these answers (if not all) can be found be just googling the LCS, or just looking them up on Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Legends_Championship_Series