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Riot Games on November 18, 2022, provided some interesting information regarding changes to the League of Legends' EMEA ecosystem. This included changes to the LEC, ERL (Regional Leagues) as well as the European Masters.
These changes will make the competition within Europe a lot more inclusive as it is set to introduce more regions and also enhance the development right from the grassroots to the very top. These changes to the EMEA ecosystem will start a new era in Europe that might change the entire esports ecosystem within the game in the days to come.
The changes to EMEA are being regarded as a pilot program by Riot Games. This means that depending upon how well it does, other regions might also make changes to their formats based on the one that is being introduced in Europe.
Full details regarding changes to the EMEA ecosystem and League of Legends
Before moving further, it is important to mention the exact meaning of the term EMEA. This is because all of the tournaments that are held in Europe, including LEC, ERL, and EU Masters, will now have EMEA in their titles.
EMEA stands for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which means all three regions will be united into a single entity. This means that LEC will become League of Legends EMEA Championships, the EU Masters will become EMEA Masters and ERL will become EMEA Regional Leagues.
The regions that are included in EMEA include Europe, Turkey, CIS, the Middle East, and Africa. All of these regions will work together and be treated as one within the EMEA ecosystem.
In any case, the change in name is only part of the story as there are other changes to each of the specific tournaments as well.
Changes to LEC
As mentioned previously, the LEC has been renamed the League of Legends EMEA Championships. The LEC will now be divided into three Splits, namely Winter, Spring, and Summer.
Each Split will have a best-of-one round-robin stage between 10 different teams. Out of those, eight teams will qualify for stage 2 comprising best-of-three games. Finally, the top four teams from stage 2 will qualify for stage 3, which will consist of multiple best-of-five games to crown the Split champion.
Lastly, there will be the LEC Season Finals that will last for four weeks in total. The winners of all three Splits will directly qualify for the Season Finals, while three more teams will be selected based on Championship points. The best teams from the LEC Season Finals will qualify for the World Championships and the winner of Spring Split will qualify for MSI.
Changes to EMEA Regional Leagues
As mentioned previously, League of Legends' European Regional Leagues will now be renamed EMEA Regional Leagues (ERL). However, there are a few more changes that can be expected within the ERL from 2023 onwards.
As it so happens, two new regions are set to be introduced, namely the TCL (Turkey Championship League) and the AL (Arabian League). This means that in the upcoming season, ERL will have 13 regions in total.
Amongst those, the accredited ERLs include Superliga, La Ligue, Prime League, Ultraliga, and TCL. The non-accredited ERLs will include Northern League of Legends Championships, PG Nationals, EBL, Greek League of Legends, Elite Series, Hitpoint Masters, Liga Portuguesa de League of Legends, and Arabian League.
LCL remains suspended from the EMEA, but the CIS region has now been included and will have the same status as any other region. Apart from that, in order to improve the influx of Turkish fans, Riot Games will introduce a separate broadcast for the LEC in the same language.
EMEA Masters
The EU Masters will now be renamed EMEA Masters, and no major changes are being brought forth here. It will continue to remain the premier tournament where ERL teams test their might on which league produces the best talent.
Obviously, the EMEA Masters will include Turkey and the Arabian League as well, just like the EMEA Regional Leagues.
Thus, the EMEA ecosystem is definitely getting updated right from the ERL to the LEC. The competition is getting more fierce which will definitely help to enhance the capabilities of the players, thereby helping Europe become a much bigger region on an international level.
