The competitive League of Legends ecosystem is set to undergo its biggest change following the conclusion of the 2024 season. Besides the introduction of Fearless Draft and massive format changes at Riot Games’ grandest events, the biggest change we’re going to see will be in the Americas.
FlyQuest’s historic win over Team Liquid on Sept. 7, as well as paiN’s CBLOL victory and Movistar R7’s triumph in the LLA, spell the end of the regional split format before Riot implements League‘s pan-American dual conference format for 2025.
Does that mean the LCS is dead? Well, not exactly—but things are changing.
Has the LCS finished for good?
The LCS as we know it might be over, but pro League in the Americas is far from dead—think of it as Riot is ushering in a new era of competition instead.
Starting in 2025, the Americas subregions and competitions will be consolidated into two new conferences: North and South. Teams from the LCS, CBLOL, and LLA will make up the new conferences that’ll all play under one league banner (the title for which has not been revealed yet). It’s entirely possible Riot decides to stick with the LCS brand as the name of the new combined Americas league, especially given the strength of the brand and its storied history.
We have a little context as to how things might look thanks to the consolidation of European and Middle-Eastern competitions back in 2022—all of which now feed into the LEC. The LCS is the largest of the Americas League competitions, so we could very well see the newly reformed Americas conferences operate as LCS North and LCS South.
Riot’s official announcement on the pan-Americas merger stated the LCS and CBLOL would retain six teams from the current leagues, with LLA securing one spot in each conference and a final “guest” spot dedicated to promotion and relegation through the tier-two system (which is to be revamped heading into next split). In essence, the bulk of the LCS as we know it will continue to operate as the northern conference regardless of whether it will still be called the LCS.
We’ll know more in the weeks to come, with a report from Mais Esports’ Bruno “LeonButcher” Pereira mentioning Sept. 9 as the date when CBLOL’s six candidates for the southern conference will be chosen. It’s possible this too will be when North America’s six squads will be picked, after which more details will be shared about the merger and its official title.
We’ll also be waiting to hear about Riot’s third international League tournament (to be held before the Mid-Season Invitational) and major plans for the cross-conference playoffs for split three (which decides the squads heading to Worlds 2025).
