League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split: Group stage match schedule and more

A brief guide to match schedule and other details regarding League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split Group Stage (Image via Riot Games)
A brief guide to match schedule and other details regarding League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split Group Stage (Image via Riot Games)

The regular season of League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split, comprising of best-of-one matches, has officially come to an end. It is now time to move to the group stage, which will feature best-of-three matches.

The group stage is new to the LEC in the 2023 season. Before this campaign, best-of-three matches only took place in the LPL and LCK. However, the LEC felt that the absence of this format affected the overall quality of the league, and teams were unable to compete against LPL and LCK organizations due to a lack of experience.

This is why the group stage was introduced in LEC 2023 Winter Split. It is expected to not only make the matches even more refined but also push the players to perform better.


Participating teams and match schedule for group stage at League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split

The teams in the group stage of the League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split have been divided into two sub-categories. The two groups are as follows:

Group A

  • Team Vitality
  • SK Gaming
  • Team Heretics
  • KOI

Group B

  • MAD Lions
  • G2 Esports
  • Team BDS
  • Astralis

Listed below is the schedule for the group stage of the LEC 2023 Winter Split:

Saturday-February 11, 2023

  • Team Heretics vs Team Vitality - Game 1
  • KOI vs SK Gaming - Game 2

Sunday-February 12, 2023

  • Astralis vs MAD Lions - Game 3
  • Team BDS vs G2 Esports - Game 4

Due to the fact that these encounters are best-of-three matches, only two games are played each day.

These are not the only best-of-three matches that will take place at the League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split. Once the initial matches are over, the teams will be separated depending on who wins and who loses.

The winners of games 1 and 2 will play against each other in an upper-bracket match. Similarly, the winners of games 3 and 4 will face each other in another upper-bracket match. The losers in all four games will drop down to the lower bracket.

The losers of games 1 and 2 will play against each other, as will the losers of games 3 and 4. The winners of these loser-bracket matches will play against the losers of the upper-bracket matches.

Once the dust settles, there will be four remaining teams in the League of Legends LEC 2023 Winter Split. These teams will then participate in the play-off stage comprising of the best-of-five games. All of these matches will take place very quickly, with the finals of the LEC 2023 Winter Split set to be hosted in two weeks' time.

As far as the LEC is concerned, this is probably the quickest Split in its history, and it will continue to be the norm in the Spring Split and Summer Split. It is crucial to perform well in the Winter Split in order to qualify for the League of Legends MSI 2023 as the second seed from Europe.

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