As we kick off 2020, we begin a whole new year of League of Legends and one of the biggest and most anticipated each year is happening very soon in Europe. The League European Championship (LEC) 2020 will see 10 of the best of European LoL esports teams participate against one another over the first weeks and months of the year.
As well as a prize pool of €200,000 that has been offered as a reward for those who come out on top of this LoL league, the top team will proceed directly into Mid-Season Invitational 2020 live tournament and bypass the traditional qualification procedures. This allows direct passage to this LoL tournament where even larger fortunes and glory can be won – without the need to attend length qualification processes. Allowing the team to instead focus on other tournaments in the meantime and keep their eye on the prize while picking up some decent funds ahead of this.
As such, there is still significant merit in participating and of course, winning and the gravity of the league should definitely not be underestimated. With this considered, we will delve into the tournament and detail all you need to know ahead of the launch of the tournament later this month.
How to qualify for the main event
As of last year, the ways by which you could be eligible for the LEC (formally the EU LCS) Lol League Spring changed. This meant that teams that participated in the tournament became permanent partners of the league going forward. As a result of this, there was no need to have a relegation or a promotion element of the competition. Instead, the teams that will participate this year are the same ones as last year. All they had to do was complete an application process from which they were then selected. Of course, due to the nature of the competition and the fact it is a European-focused one, there was a pre-requisite that the teams participating are all based in Europe.
League format
The way the league format plays out is that it will consist of two separate rounds, a group stage, and a single-elimination round. During the first half of these rounds, all 10 teams will participate in a double round-robin. This means that all the teams in the league will play against one another twice, and so in total, there will 18 matches played per team. All of these initial group stage matches will be Bo1. Of course, winning matches during this stage will help you progress further up the league.
The aim of the game at this stage will be to get in at least into the top six, as it is these a handful of teams who will then progress into the Spring Playoffs. As well as progressing into the next stage of the league, those who finish at this stage will be in the money with all teams in the top 6 walking away with € 10,000 from the prize pool already.
It is at this stage that the league heats up. During this stage, as mentioned it is a single-elimination format so there is no more room for error. All these matches will take place in a Bo5 format, where winning will gradually move you further through the play-off stages. The first stage will be the quarter-finals, where if you win you will move on to the semis.
The semi will promise between €20-30,000 depending on whether you end up in 3rd and 4th place – which is determined by a match between the two losers of the semi-final matchups. After this, of course, we move on the final. During this, the winner of the tournament will take home the maximum €80,000 grand prize and qualification to the Mid-Season Invitational, while 2nd place will take home a still very respectable €50,000 prize.
Aside from these team positions and payouts, there are other awards that can be picked up also. These include MVP, Rookie of the Split, Coach of the split and 1st App-Pro team which is made up of 5 players from across all the participating teams. As such, individual performance will also be recognized as the league progresses.
Teams participating
The team consists of some of the best of what Europe has to offer in the field of esports. These teams are made up of a majority of European players also, but there are several from further afield, particularly, South Korea. The full list of 10 teams are as follows:
· Excel Esports
· FC Schalke 04 Esports
· Fnatic
· G2 ESports
· MAD Lions
· Misfits Gaming
· Origen
· Rogue
· SK Gaming
· Team Vitality
Schedule list
The group stages will take place over the following nine weeks:
LEC spring split (all times PT)
Week 1
Jan. 24
- 9 a.m. | G2 Esports vs. Mad Lions
- 10 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. SK Gaming
- 11 a.m. | Misfits vs. Rogue
- 12 p.m.| Schalke 04 vs. Excel Esports
- 1 p.m. | Fnatic vs. Origen
Jan. 25
- 8 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Mad Lions
- 9 a.m. | Rogue vs. Excel Esports
- 10 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Origen
- 11 p.m.| Misfits vs. Fnatic
- 12 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. SK Gaming
Week 2
Jan. 31
- 9 a.m. | Rogue vs. Origen
- 10 a.m. | Misfits vs. SK Gaming
- 11 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. G2 Esports
- 12 p.m.| Mad Lions vs. Excel Esports
- 1 p.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Fnatic
Feb. 1
- 8 a.m. | Misfits vs. Excel Esports
- 9 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Mad Lions
- 10 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Rogue
- 11 p.m.| Fnatic vs. SK Gaming
- 12 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. Origen
Week 3
Feb. 7
- 9 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Origen
- 10 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Misfits
- 11 a.m. | Fnatic vs. Excel Esports
- 12 p.m.| Mad Lions vs. SK Gaming
- 1 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. Rogue
Feb. 8
- 8 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Excel Esports
- 9 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. SK Gaming
- 10 a.m. | Misfits vs. Origen
- 11 p.m.| Mad Lions vs. Rogue
- 12 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. Fnatic
Week 4
Feb. 14
- 9 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Rogue
- 10 a.m. | Mad Lions vs. Origen
- 11 a.m. | Misfits vs. G2 Esports
- 12 p.m.| Excel Esports vs. SK Gaming
- 1 p.m. | Team Vitality vs. Fnatic
Feb. 15
- 8 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. Origen
- 9 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Misfits
- 10 a.m. | Rogue vs. SK Gaming
- 11 p.m.| Schalke 04 vs. G2 Esports
- 12 p.m. | Fnatic vs. Mad Lions
Week 5
Feb. 21
- 9 a.m. | Misfits vs. Mad Lions
- 10 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Schalke 04
- 11 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. G2 Esports
- 12 p.m.| Rogue vs. Fnatic
- 1 p.m. | Origen vs. SK Gaming
Feb. 22
- 8 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. Schalke 04
- 9 a.m. | Misfits vs. Schalke 04
- 10 a.m. | SK Gaming vs. Team Vitality
- 11 p.m.| Origen vs. Fnatic
- 12 p.m. | Mad Lions vs. G2 Esports
Week 6
Feb. 28
- 9 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Origen
- 10 a.m. | Rogue vs. Excel Esports
- 11 a.m. | Fnatic vs. Misfits
- 12 p.m.| Team Vitality vs. Mad Lions
- 1 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. SK Gaming
Feb. 29
- 8 a.m. | Mad Lions vs. Excel Esports
- 9 a.m. | Rogue vs. Origen
- 10 a.m. | G2 Esports vs. Team Vitality
- 11 p.m.| Misfits vs. SK Gaming
- 12 p.m. | Fnatic vs. Schalke 04
Week 7
March 6
- 9 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Rogue
- 10 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. Misfits
- 11 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Mad Lions
- 12 p.m.| Origen vs. G2 Esports
- 1 p.m. | SK Gaming vs. Fnatic
March 7
- 8 a.m. | Misfits vs. Origen
- 9 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Excel Esports
- 10 a.m. | Rogue vs. Mad Lions
- 11 p.m.| SK Gaming vs. Schalke 04
- 12 p.m. | Fnatic vs. G2 Esports
Week 8
March 13
- 10 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Misfits
- 11 a.m. | Origen vs. Team Vitality
- 12 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. Fnatic
- 1 p.m.| Mad Lions vs. SK Gaming
- 2 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. Rogue
March 14
- 9 a.m. | Mad Lions vs. Misfits
- 10 a.m. | SK Gaming vs. Origen
- 11 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Team Vitality
- 12 p.m.| G2 Esports vs. Excel Esports
- 1 p.m. | Fnatic vs. Rogue
Week 9
March 20
- 9 a.m. | Team Vitality vs. Misfits
- 10 a.m. | Excel Esports vs. Origen
- 11 a.m. | Mad Lions vs. Fnatic
- 12 p.m.| Rogue vs. SK Gaming
- 1 p.m. | G2 Esports vs. Schalke 04
March 21
- 8 a.m. | Origen vs. Mad Lions
- 9 a.m. | Schalke 04 vs. Rogue
- 10 a.m. | SK Gaming vs. Excel Esports
- 11 p.m.| Misfits vs. G2 Esports
- 12 p.m. | Fnatic vs. Team Vitality
During this time, the teams will battle it out with two games per week. This will then be followed in late February by the play-off stages, the exact dates of which are yet to be decided.
Streaming platform list
As is the usual case with esports events, there are plenty of ways by which you can catch the action unfold, permitting you to have an internet connection. The first port of call is streaming sites, such as Twitch and YouTube, who will likely showcase a lot of the league’s action across Europe in various languages. There are also other specialist esports websites in which you can view it, or you can watch it at an online sportsbook that offers esports betting and streaming.
Streaming on esportsguide.com
One of the best sites for watching the game. The perfect guide for users that are new or already into esports. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Predictions
There are two teams in Europe who have dominated this league since its creation in 2013. These are the 6-time winners and current holders, G2, and Fnatic, who have the most titles overall out of all the teams involved in Europe with 7. The latter will have to outperform the former this year if they wish to avoid losing their title as the all-time leader in terms of wins. You can bet on one of these two teams making it to the final, if not both.
