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The LCS Summer Split is upon us, featuring all of the same teams you know and tolerate/love/loathe (delete where applicable).
Changes to the challenger system are coming into full effect, which means no effect. Weirdly, though, the new system is probably an improvement over the previous one, and not just for teams concerned about losing revenue via relegation.
I have been a big fan of the LCS system since it first started. It has its detractors and its flaws, but with the LCS RIOT pushed esports forward in ways that other esports titles had failed to do. The year-long league system was more or less unheard of at the time and it was paired with a production value we hadn’t seen since the disastrous CGS.
As I fleetingly mentioned above, LCS does have its flaws, and one of them is kind of a biggie, even to me. The unified LCS system all but destroyed third-party tournaments and the amateur scene. ESL’s Intel Extreme Masters limped on for a while, but it was a shadow of its former self. Major teams declined invitation, focusing instead on the more lucrative LCS. Eventually, last year, ESL axed LoL at IEM altogether.
That left a few regional leagues like you might see, and then ignore, on the front page of Twitch from time to time. In my neck of the woods we have the UK University League, which is a fine concept, but fails to attract the viewership it might desire. We Brits don’t take college sports as seriously as Americans.
Others fare a little better, such as the ESL-run Meisterschaft in Germany, but viewership still pales in insignificance next to LCS.
(Cristophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)
The trouble is that nobody cared about regional leagues under the previous system. They were almost meaningless until they overlapped with LCS. Occasionally, maybe a couple of times a season, a player might make the leap from regional team to LCS, but, until recently, they were rare. That changed with the dissolution of the previous Challenger Series, leaving a bunch of skilled players without anything to play for.
The old Challenger Series was an attempt by RIOT to deal with the issue of semi-professional play, but that too was brought to a close last year. It is a shame, really, because it did its job to some extent. It brought us Misfits, at the very least, who then went on to almost defeat SK Telecom at Worlds.
Sadly, though, challenger teams usually fell short against LCS opposition, Misfits notwithstanding. In the North American LCS we saw teams like Gold Coin United and eUnited get close numerous times, only to disband once the Challenger Series was shut down. Their rosters were swallowed up by LCS teams, which shows that the skill gap between LCS and Challenger wasn’t as huge as one might think.
But even when the Challenger Series was running, it was on a tiny scale. We would only see a handful of games per season, with playoffs being the only matches to receive any real promotion from RIOT. The rest was a mystery to your average fan. It was usually cast by up-and-coming commentators, which is fine, and many of those up and comers are now staples of LCS broadcasts, but it added to the pang of unimportance that surrounded Challenger Series.
(Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
So Challenger had its issues, but my faith has been somewhat restored by RIOT’s handling of its new incarnation. The European Masters Series is everything the original CS should have been. Teams play in their local league to qualify for the main tournament, lending some prestige to regional play. Granted, there is no chance of earning promotion to the LCS any more – a necessary evil, if you buy the Montecristo argument – but there is still plenty for these teams to play for.
Exposure is the biggest prize by far. Although the recently finished series was missing from lolesports.com and the VODs were nowhere to be found, the games were broadcast by a mix of new talent and veteran LCS casters. There was an analyst’s desk and the games are streamed live as a standalone event without being tacked onto the end of LCS matches as was previously the case.
In short, Masters Series now looks professional and it looks cared for. More importantly, it has become exactly what RIOT wanted it to be: a place for new talent to put itself in the shop window.
It doesn’t get the viewership of the LCS proper, but it never will, and it doesn’t need to – that’s not the point of an amateur league like this. Challenger Series is important because every game needs new blood to stay alive. All of your favourite LCS pros will retire and some point and will need to be replaced. Challenger Series is a clear path for aspiring pros to follow and a conveyor belt for established organisations.
Now just advertise it a little better and we will really be making headway.