Welcome to the 2015 Challenger Series

Now that the Unicorns of Love are in the EU LCS, where can you commonly see strategies like Twisted Fate in the jungle? Or Poppy in the top lane? How about a mid Hecarim? Welcome to the Challenger Series. The Challenger Series (CS) is the proving ground for the next wave of League of Legends talent. With opportunities to join the LCS on the line, teams are hungry to prove they have what it takes to play in League of Legends’ premier league. The Challenger scene doesn't strictly follow the meta, so you’ll see unconventional gameplay, surprise picks, and risky gambles that will either pay off big time or fail miserably. With the Qualifiers wrapped and the final teams chosen for the regular season, it’s time to get ready for the CS Spring Split.

What’s the format?

In 2015, the CS is more closely matching the LCS format, with a six-team league, five-week regular season, and a two-week playoff run. During the regular season, each team will play a Best of 1 match on Tuesday, then another Best of 1 against the same team again on Wednesday. The CS Playoffs will be a two-round single-elimination tournament among the top four teams who will be seeded based on their standings from the regular season. Playoff matches will be Best of 3s with the finals as a Best of 5 series. Playoffs will take place over two weeks starting on March 31. For more information on the CS rules, check out the official ruleset here.

Who’s competing?

The Spring Split of the Challenger Series features teams that qualified from the Expansion Tournament and won their group in the Qualifiers. NA CS Spring Split:

• Team Fusion
• Final Five
• Enemy Esports
• TDK
• CLG Black
• TSM Darkness (formerly known as Team Confound)

EU CS Spring Split:

• Reason Gaming
• N!Faculty
• SK Gaming Prime
• LowLandLions White
• Origen
• Nevo

What’s on the line?

Entering the LCS After Playoffs, the 1st place team immediately qualifies for the next LCS split. The 2nd and 3rd place CS teams also have a chance of joining the LCS by battling the 8th and 9th place LCS teams in the Promotion Tournament. The losing teams of the Promotion Tournament will be part of the following CS split, as will the 10th place LCS team. Returning to the Challenger Series The 4th place team will keep their CS spot for next split, while the 5th and 6th place teams will be placed in the Summer Qualifiers with byes. There, they'll fight it out against some of the top teams pulled from the Ranked Teams ladder in order to return to the CS. Prize Pool This season, each of the six Challenger Series teams will be provided a minimum prize of $17,500 USD/ €14,000 per split, with the possibility of earning more from the Playoff Prize Pool. The Playoff Prize Pool is:

• 1st Place: $10,000/€8,000
• 2nd Place: $7,000/€5,600
• 3rd Place: $5,000/€4,000
• 4th Place: $3,000/€2,400

How do I catch the action?

It’s easier to keep up with the up-and-comers with our dedicated Challenger Series broadcast on Wednesdays. On a single day, you can catch recaps and highlights from the Tuesday matchups, then we’ll have live matches on Wednesdays with commentary from the casting lineup of Pulse, Stress, Zirene, and Phreak (that's me!). The CS broadcast will also include player interviews, players to watch, puns, pre and post-match analysis, and more. If you don’t want to wait until Wednesday to see the action from Tuesday, we’ll have gameplay VODs and results available on Lolesports.

When does it all start?

The Challenger Series broadcast starts at 9:00am PST/18:00 CET on February 18 with the EU CS matchups of:

• N!Faculty vs. Reason Gaming
• SK Gaming Prime vs. LowLandLions White
• Origen vs. Nevo

After a quick break for PTL, NA CS picks up the action at 6:00pm PST/3:00am CET with the following matchups:

• Team Fusion vs. Final Five
• Enemy Esports vs. TDK
• CLG Black vs. TSM Darkness

Catch up on the Qualifiers and get to know the Challenger teams over on our spoiler-free VODs page. Tune-in to and catch all the Challenger regular season action on Wednesdays right here at Lolesports.