2018 NA LCS season

2018 NA LCS season
League	NA LCS
Sport	League of Legends
Duration	January 20 – April 8 (Spring) June 16 – September 9 (Summer) September 14–16 (Regional qualifier)
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	Twitch, YouTube
Spring
Champions	Team Liquid
Runners-up	100 Thieves
Top seed	100 Thieves
Season MVP	Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black
Summer
Champions	Team Liquid
Runners-up	Cloud9
Top seed	Team Liquid
Season MVP	Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng
Regional qualifier
Winner	Cloud9

The 2018 NA LCS season was the seventh season of the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS), a professional esports league for the video game League of Legends. The season was divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on January 20 and culminated with the playoff finals on April 8, 2018. The Summer Split began on June 16 and culminated with the Spring Split finals on September 9, 2018.

The 2018 season saw a shift in the NA LCS from a promotion and relegation system to a franchised league with ten permanent teams. The buy-in price for existing teams was US$10 million, while new teams incurred an additional $3 million, distributed to replaced teams. Over 100 applications were received, narrowed down to a shortlist, with the final ten franchised teams announced in November 2017. Of the final ten franchised teams, six were previously established in the NA LCS, while four new organizations joined the league.

Team Liquid won the spring split playoffs, qualifying them for the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational. Team Liquid also won the summer split playoffs, directly qualifying them for the 2018 World Championship. 100 Thieves and Cloud9 also qualified for the 2018 World Championship via Championship Points and winning the regional qualifier, respectively.

Format and changes

Franchising

In June 2017, Riot Games announced that the NA LCS would shift from a promotion and relegation system to franchised league with ten permanent teams beginning in 2018. Each of the ten teams would have guaranteed spots, with the hope to encourage owners to make substantial investments, including the creation of training facilities and improvements in coaching, scouting, and player well-being. Each team was also mandated to maintain an academy squad for emerging talent development. Riot Games also raised the minimum salary for players to US$75,000, with an average annual income for League pros around $150,000. Additionally, a players' association was established to offer financial, legal, and career-building support to players.^[1]

The buy-in price for the league was $10 million for existing League of Legends teams, who had previously participated in the League Championship Series or Challenger Series. New teams would be subject to an additional $3 million, which was distributed to the teams that were replaced in the league. The NA LCS received over 100 applications for a spot in the league.^[2][3] Those applications were then narrowed down to a shortlist, nicknamed "phase two", which saw participants travel to Riot Games' Los Angeles office to interview and review their applications.^[4]

The ten franchised teams were announced in November 2017. Among the already established teams in the NA LCS were FlyQuest, Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Echo Fox, and Team Liquid. The other four existing teams, Immortals, Phoenix1, Team Dignitas and Team EnVyUs, were declined entry into the restructured league.^[5][6] Due to their departure, four new organizations were added to the NA LCS: 100 Thieves, Clutch Gaming, Golden Guardians, and OpTic Gaming.^[7]

Match length

On September 29, 2017, Riot Games announced that the NA LCS would return to a best-of-one format for the 2018 season. The three previous splits employed a best-of-three format and aired two streams simultaneously. According to Riot, the change to a best-of-three format was aimed to increase fan engagement, but its incorporation of simultaneous dual streams to accommodate more games led to a drop in viewership.^[8]

Spring

The Spring Split regular season began on January 20 and ended on March 18, 2018. The regular season followed a standard double round-robin format, where each team faced every other team twice. All matches were best-of-one.^[9] The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which ran from March 24 to April 8, 2018. Of the six teams, the top two started in the semifinals, while the bottom four started in the quarterfinals.^[10] The winner of the playoffs advanced to the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational.^[11]

The Spring Split third place match and final was played at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, Florida.^[12]

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Qualification
1	100 Thieves	19	13	6	.684	Advance to semifinals
2	Echo Fox	19	12	7	.632
3	Team SoloMid	20	13	7	.650	Advance to quarterfinals
4	Team Liquid	20	12	8	.600
5	Cloud9	20	12	8	.600
6	Clutch Gaming	20	11	9	.550
7	Counter Logic Gaming	18	7	11	.389
8	FlyQuest	18	6	12	.333
9	OpTic Gaming	18	5	13	.278
10	Golden Guardians	18	4	14	.222

Source: LoL Esports (Archived August 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine)
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage; 2) head-to-head record; 3) tiebreaker match(es)

Playoffs

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
						1	100 Thieves	3
	3	Team SoloMid	1			6	Clutch Gaming	2
	6	Clutch Gaming	3								1	100 Thieves	0
						Top seed selects opponent
											4	Team Liquid	3
						2	Echo Fox	1
	4	Team Liquid	3			4	Team Liquid	3			Third place
	5	Cloud9	0
											2	Echo Fox	3
											6	Clutch Gaming	0

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Aphromoo, 100 Thieves^[13]
• Rookie of the Split: Licorice, Cloud9^[13]
• Coach of the Split: Pr0lly, 100 Thieves^[13]

• 1st Team All-Pro:^[13]
  • T Huni, Echo Fox
  • J Dardoch, Echo Fox
  • M Bjergsen, Team SoloMid
  • B Cody Sun, 100 Thieves
  • S Aphromoo, 100 Thieves

• 2nd Team All-Pro:^[13]
  • T Hauntzer, Team SoloMid
  • J Meteos, 100 Thieves
  • M Jensen, Cloud9
  • B Zven, Team SoloMid
  • S Smoothie, Cloud9

• 3rd Team All-Pro:^[13]
  • T Ssumday, 100 Thieves
  • J Svenskeren, Cloud9
  • M Febiven, Clutch Gaming
  • B Sneaky, Cloud9
  • S Hakuho, Clutch Gaming

Summer

The Summer Split regular season ran from June 16 to August 19, 2018, and followed the same format as the Spring Split.^[14] The top six teams from the summer regular season secured spots in the Summer Split playoffs, which ran from August 25 to September 9, 2018. The playoffs were a single-elimination tournament, with top two teams starting in the semifinals and the following four starting in the quarterfinals. The winner of the summer playoffs directly qualified for the 2018 World Championship.^[15]

The Summer Split third place match and final took place at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.^[16]

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Qualification
1	Team Liquid	18	12	6	.667	Advance to semifinals
2	Cloud9	18	11	7	.611
3	100 Thieves	20	12	8	.600	Advance to quarterfinals
4	Echo Fox	20	11	9	.550
5	Team SoloMid	20	11	9	.550
6	FlyQuest	20	10	10	.500
7	OpTic Gaming	18	9	9	.500
8	Counter Logic Gaming	18	7	11	.389
9	Clutch Gaming	18	6	12	.333
10	Golden Guardians	18	5	13	.278

Source: LoL Esports (Archived September 10, 2018, at the Wayback Machine)
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage; 2) head-to-head record; 3) tiebreaker match(es)

Playoffs

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
						1	Team Liquid	3
	3	100 Thieves	3			3	100 Thieves	1
	6	FlyQuest	0								1	Team Liquid	3
						Top seed selects opponent
											2	Cloud9	0
						2	Cloud9	3
	4	Echo Fox	2			5	Team SoloMid	2			Third place
	5	Team SoloMid	3
											3	100 Thieves	2
											5	Team SoloMid	3

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Doublelift, Team Liquid^[17]
• Rookie of the Split: Blaber, Cloud9^[17]
• Coach of the Split: Reapered, Cloud9^[17]

• 1st Team All-Pro:^[17]
  • T Ssumday, 100 Thieves
  • J Xmithie, Team Liquid
  • M Jensen, Cloud9
  • B Doublelift, Team Liquid
  • S Aphromoo, 100 Thieves

• 2nd Team All-Pro:^[17]
  • T Licorice, Cloud9
  • J Dardoch, Echo Fox
  • M PowerOfEvil, OpTic Gaming
  • B Sneaky, Cloud9
  • S Zeyzal, Cloud9

• 3rd Team All-Pro:^[17]
  • T Impact, Team Liquid
  • T Flame, FlyQuest
  • J Santorin, FlyQuest
  • M Bjergsen, Team SoloMid
  • B Zven, Team SoloMid
  • S Olleh, Team Liquid

Worlds qualification

Championship Points

Pos	Team	Spr	Sum	Total	Qualification
1	Team Liquid	90	AQ	AQ	2018 League of Legends World Championship
2	100 Thieves	70	40	110
3	Cloud9	10	90	100	Advance to Regional Finals
4	Team SoloMid	10	70	80
5	Echo Fox	50	20	70
6	Clutch Gaming	30	0	30
7	FlyQuest	0	20	20
8	Counter Logic Gaming	0	0	0
9	Golden Guardians	0	0	0
10	OpTic Gaming	0	0	0

Source: 2018 NA LCS Rulebook

Regional qualifier

The regional qualifier was a single elimination ladder tournament that ran from September 14 to 16, and consisted of the top four teams in the LCS based on championship points that had not directly qualified for the 2018 World Championship. All matches were best-of-five The winner of the Regional Finals advanced to the 2018 World Championship.^[18]

	Round 1					Round 2					Finals
											3	Cloud9	3
						4	Team SoloMid	3			4	Team SoloMid	0
	5	Echo Fox	3			5	Echo Fox	0
	6	Clutch Gaming	0

References

1. Webster, Andrew (November 20, 2017). "With new permanent teams, professional League of Legends will look more like the NBA". The Verge. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
2. Wolf, Jacob (September 1, 2017). "Overwatch League, North American LCS head in different directions". ESPN. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
3. Khan, Imad (June 1, 2017). "Riot releases details on NA LCS franchising with $10M flat-fee buy-in". ESPN. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
4. Greeley, Chris (2017-09-22). "Mid-Flight Update on Our Selection Process for NA LCS 2018". LoL Esports.
5. "Sources: Dignitas' League of Legends Championship Series franchising application declined". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
6. "Sources: Phoenix1 and Team Envy declined entry into newly-franchised LCS". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
7. Spangler, Todd (November 20, 2017). "Ten Franchise Teams for 'League of Legends' North American eSports League Unveiled". Variety. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
8. Lee, Julia (September 29, 2017). "NA LCS is moving back to best of 1 format in 2018". The Rift Herald. Polygon. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
9. Goslin, Austen (January 4, 2018). "Here is the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split schedule". The Rift Herald. Polygon. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
10. Mickunas, Aaron (March 19, 2018). "NA LCS 2018 Spring Split Playoffs schedule". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
11. Mickunas, Aaron (April 8, 2018). "Liquid and Doublelift triumph over 100 Thieves to claim the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split title". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
12. Wolf, Jacob (February 4, 2018). "Sources: Riot Games to host 2018 NA LCS Spring Finals in Miami". ESPN. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
13. "2018 NA LCS Spring Split Award Winners". League of Legends Esports. March 24, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
14. Goslin, Austen (June 13, 2018). "NA LCS Summer Split 2018 schedule, stream and results". The Rift Herald. Polygon. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
15. "NA LCS by the numbers -- Summer Split playoffs". ESPN. August 24, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
16. Newell, Adam (May 7, 2018). "The 2018 NA LCS Summer Split Finals will be held in Oakland". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
17. "2018 NA LCS Summer Split Award Winners". League of Legends Esports. August 24, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
18. Newell, Adam (September 12, 2018). "How to Watch the 2018 NA LCS Regional Finals". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 15, 2023.

External links

• 2018 Official Rules NA LCS and NA LACS