Photo courtesy of Riot Games
During the previous seasons, Riot Games slightly changed the schedule of the League of Legends Championship Series. We went from the usual Best of 3 format to the Best of 1, with each of the ten teams playing one match on Saturday and Sunday, for a total of ten matches over the weekend.
Last year, Riot tried to shed the light on the Academy league by organizing a featured Match of the Week on Friday — and they decided to follow the same logic this year.
For the next season, we will be able to attend four remote Academy games followed by one featured Academy game on Friday, which means this day will still be dedicated to that league.
On Saturday and Sunday, things are going to be a little bit different. Each day, we will have four LCS games, followed by one in-game Academy game. Finally, on Monday, we will be able to watch three in-studio Academy games, followed by two LCS games.
Overall, we will have the same number of LCS games but the two leagues will be broadcasted over four days instead of two, and the Academy scene will have ten games broadcasted instead of one.
- Friday: 4 remote Academy games, followed by 1 remote Featured Academy Match (5 games total)
- Saturday: 4 in-studio LCS games, followed by 1 in-studio Academy game (5 games total)
- Sunday: 4 in-studio LCS games, followed by 1 in-studio Academy game (5 games total)
- Monday: 3 in-studio Academy games, followed by 2 in-studio LCS games (5 games total)
This testifies from Riot Games' will to give its share of fame to the 'minor' league, by giving its teams their moment of fame. It's also certainly a way to legitimize the complete esports ecosystem surrounding the LCS by giving a real basis to it.
Obviously, it will require much more organization for all teams currently involved in the LCS and Academy leagues, especially regarding scrims. From our perspective, it means that we'll have much more League of Legends to watch each week, so we can't complain!
The 2020 Spring Split window transfer officially begins on November 18! LCS, LEC, LCK, LPL — we gather all upcoming changes and transfers for the next League of Legends competitive esports season!
