Esports

LEC: New faces, the arena and atoning for last year. Europe’s top competition kicks off in 2024

Fans of the world’s biggest esport, League of Legends, are starting to wake up. The competitive scene will run its show during January, with the European LEC being the first to kick off (January 13).

Published

6 months ago

12. 1. 2024

Jakub Kavka

It’s been a long time since we’ve added coverage on the biggest esport on the planet. But that’s now returning in better and higher quality form. The fourteenth season of League of Legends returns with radical changes not only to the game, but also to the competitive scene. During January, all regional competitions across the planet will be gradually launched, starting with the first major – the European LEC.

The European region has expanded in the past year with the addition of Turkey and the Arab League. While this change mainly affects the minor league scene and national competitions, its impact extends to the elite competition as well. The LEC has undergone major changes to its format during 2023, adding to its attractiveness and also presenting new challenges.

Still, Europe has a lot to make up for. The failure at MSI and Worlds has left a considerable aftertaste on European soil and concerns about the developing scissors between the West and Asia.

Moreover, European teams have not even cracked the top eight in the world after eight years and have even been left behind by the American champions. The embarrassing loss to America added to the rivalry and gave plenty of room for improvement. What is Europe coming up with this year?

A more meaningful format and less delay

2023 was also a test year for the LEC to see how the changes introduced took hold. Changing the format from two to three was a bold move. Even the format of each split was now divided into three parts – the regular season, the group stage and the playoffs. The primary goal was to make the opening battles, which were often boring, especially in the second half of the regular season, more attractive.

This direction succeeded to an excellent extent and the change of the format of the matches (one-round each-on-one basic part) added to the importance. Every match now had weight and determined success or failure. Even though eight teams then moved on from the ten-team league, the eventual fall to the bottom was humiliating in some form.

The subsequent group stage and playoffs (played in a Bo3, then Bo5 format) added to the drama that fans enjoyed. But the overall idea of the new system was certainly not without its negatives.

The biggest problem was the considerable delays between splits, especially between the winter and spring splits. The nearly month-long gaps between those splits and MSI made the league less exciting. Fans took this change very hard, and it didn’t do much good for the teams that had to wait a month for a live game if they participated in MSI.

But this year the situation is changing and the organizers have slightly shrunk the gaps between splits. Less time for preparation may seem like a disadvantage, but the teams themselves called for this change.

Increase in age limit and new arena

One of the most significant changes for the LEC was raising the age limit for participation from seventeen to eighteen. This change felt slightly like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will allow potential talents to reach the highest European waters later on. The Asian leagues still have the age limit at seventeen, and every now and then a big rising star will emerge to grace the league – e.g. Peyz at GenG in the Korean LCK.

The organizers justify this increase as an effort to attract new sponsors and make the league more mature. Many saw the change as an effort to lure investors from the tobacco/gambling lobby. However, nothing of the sort has officially surfaced in the LEC yet and we’ll see how the situation plays out.

Also fresh news is the announcement of a new arena where LEC games will be played. The new arena in Berlin has increased its space considerably. The spectators will enjoy the matches more like in a cinema thanks to a wider stage and viewing positions.

First look at the Riot Games Arena pic.twitter.com/UuQnPzKD6z
— LEC (@LEC) January 11, 2024

French giant enters elite company in LEC

In terms of participants, the LEC has announced big news. French stalwart and new emerging European powerhouse – Karmine Corp, is making a strong statement. The strongest national competition within the second-tier league system finally has a representative among the elite.

Karmine Corp will definitely command some respect with Europe’s loudest fan community. Their team has the highest ambitions in the LEC and they definitely want to shake up the traditional order from the position of a newcomer. The French number one will thus replace Astralis in the LEC, who were a pleasant surprise last year.

Will G2 Esports continue to dominate?

The crucial question before the start of the winter split is whether G2, as the best organization of all time, will defend its dominance. Last year, the team mainly gained a new jungle hope – Yiko, who deserved a lot of credit for his performance. The LEC champions have otherwise remained with the same lineup as last year and will definitely be looking to make amends for last year.

Fnatic are loudly claiming the floor. The team managed to make it to Worlds after the fiasco during last season, even with rookies and a coaching change. Experience and stability now hold great promise. Maybe the team will make it to the title with the Czech handcuffs Humanoid and Nightshar.

The MAD Lions, who were last year’s European runners-up, don’t want to be left behind either. But the team is betting on a new generation and quite a risky path. Only Chasy and Elyoya are left from last year’s team. The rest of the team is made up of players and up-and-coming stars shaken off from the second-tier competitions. Will they be the surprise of the league?

Karmine Corp don’t want to be left behind and a very balanced squad is looking to attack the top. On paper, the team can fit the role of a dark horse. A team with LEC stars like Upset, Targamas or Bo, complemented by veteran Cabochard and French superstar Saken, could change the game.

Vitality, on the other hand, are looking to learn from last season. The imaginary European super team failed fatally and failed to produce significant results. This year could be better with a more stable lineup, including our Carzzy. An experienced team, supplemented by Polish star Daglas, can trouble the favourites.

Team Heretics with the most experienced lineup and almost original famous G2 generation (Wunder, Jankos and Perkz) supplemented by Flakked (also former G2 player) and Kaiser – one of the best support players in Europe, is worth a look.

However, the rest of the starting field (Rogue, GiantX, BDS and SK Gaming) definitely doesn’t want to be left behind. We’ll be watching their moves closely too, and who knows, maybe some of them will speak up in the standings.

The Czech team will grow with a new member

Czech fans may be pleased to know that Jackiess (GiantX) will also be making a new appearance in the LEC. After his valuable experience in eSuba, he wants to get off on the right foot among the elite. Of course, looking at the team lineups, there will be a lot of big schooling especially on the mid. The battles with Perkz, Capps, Humanoid and other stars will be very challenging.

Nevertheless, we will keep our fingers crossed and we are glad that the Czech representation is slowly growing (the fifth largest in terms of nationalities – 4). Our humble Czechoslovak HitPoint Masters competition needs good news and it is good that our organization can produce promising players.

Where to watch LEC?

Europe’s top competition will begin its winter split on Saturday, January 13. The league will run its regular season in a Saturday-Monday format. Matches can be watched on the LEC’s official channels (Twitch or YouTube). Game day will start at 17:00. You can find the schedule for each match of the first week below.