After the first walkout in league history, a two-week delay, and a ton of controversy in between, the 2023 LCS Summer Split finally got underway—and, in the end, it was all about the NRG miracle championship.
The competitive League of Legends community in North America was buzzing early-on after the LCS Players’ Association decided to protest Riot Games’ recent decisions around the region’s tier-two scene. Once terms were agreed, all 10 teams locked horns in another fiery League season, battling for a regional trophy and the chance to represent their home at the 2023 World Championship in South Korea
Due to the aforementioned walkout and delay, the LCS took place on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays over the six-week regular season to compensate for the missed match days. Players were pushed to their limits in the rapid-fire event, and only the best teams broke into the playoffs in the frantic climb toward the top of the mountain.
Then, in a stunning 2023 LCS Championship run, NRG battled through Cloud9 (twice), Team Liquid (also twice), and Golden Guardians to claim a first title victory for the org and an incredible finale to the Counter Logic Gaming story.
2023 LCS Championship standings
Placement | Team | Prize |
First | NRG | Worlds 2023 |
Second | Cloud9 | Worlds 2023 |
Third | Team Liquid | Worlds 2023 |
Fourth | Golden Guardians | Worlds Qualifying Series 2023 |
Fifth | Evil Geniuses, Dignitas | |
Seventh | TSM, 100 Thieves |
2023 LCS Summer Championship playoffs
Sunday, August 20
- 3pm CT: Grand final
- C9 1-3 NRG
- NRG upset C9 in four games to become 2023 LCS champions. NRG is now Worlds first seed, C9 is Worlds second seed for North America.
- C9 1-3 NRG
Thursday, July 27
- 4pm CT: Upper bracket round one
- EG 3-2 TSM
- EG progressed to upper bracket round two vs. Cloud9, TSM dropped to lower bracket.
- EG 3-2 TSM
Friday, July 28
- 4pm CT: Upper bracket round one
- Liquid 1-3 NRG
- NRG progressed to upper bracket round two vs. Golden Guardians, Liquid dropped to lower bracket.
- Liquid 1-3 NRG
Thursday, August 3
- 4pm CT: Lower bracket round one
- DIG 3-2 TSM
- Winner progresses through lower bracket, loser is eliminated.
- DIG 3-2 TSM
Friday, August 4
- 4pm CT: Lower bracket round one
- 100 1-3 Liquid
- Winner progresses through lower bracket, loser is eliminated.
- 100 1-3 Liquid
Saturday, August 5
- 4pm CT: Upper bracket round two
- C9 3-0 EG
- Winner progresses to upper bracket final, loser drops to lower bracket.
- C9 3-0 EG
Sunday, August 6
- 4pm CT: Upper bracket round two
- Golden Guardians 1-3 NRG
- Winner progresses to upper bracket final, loser drops to lower bracket.
- Golden Guardians 1-3 NRG
Thursday, August 10
- 4pm CT: Lower bracket round two
- Liquid 3-1 EG
- Winner progresses to lower bracket final, loser is eliminated.
- Liquid 3-1 EG
Friday, August 11
- 4pm CT: Lower bracket round two
- DIG 0-3 Golden Guardians
- Winner progresses to lower bracket final, loser is eliminated.
- DIG 0-3 Golden Guardians
Saturday, August 12
- 4pm CT: Upper bracket final
- NRG 0-3 C9
- Winner progresses to grand final, loser drops to lower bracket.
- NRG 0-3 C9
Sunday, August 13
- 4pm CT: Lower bracket final
- Golden Guardians 2-3 Liquid
- Winner progresses to consolidation final, loser is eliminated and qualifies for the Worlds Qualifying Series.
- Golden Guardians 2-3 Liquid
Saturday, August 19
- 3pm CT: Lower bracket final
- NRG 3-2 Liquid
- NRG progressed to grand final, Liquid was eliminated and qualified for Worlds 2023.
- NRG 3-2 Liquid
LCS Summer Split 2023 standings
Teams that appear in bold have qualified for a spot in the 2023 LCS Championship bracket.
Placing | Team | Record |
---|---|---|
1) | Cloud9 | 14-5 |
2) | Golden Guardians | 13-6 |
3) | Evil Geniuses | 12-6 |
4) | Team Liquid | 10-8 |
5) | NRG Esports | 9-9 |
6) | TSM | 8-10 |
7) | Team Dignitas | 8-11 |
8) | 100 Thieves | 7-11 |
9) | FlyQuest | 6-12 |
10) | Immortals | 5-13 |
LCS Summer Split 2023 schedule and results
Week one
Wednesday, June 14
- 4pm CT: Cloud9 (C9) 1-0 Golden Guardians (GG)
- 5pm CT: Team Liquid (TL) 1-0 TSM
- 6pm CT: Immortals (IMT) 1-0 Team Dignitas (DIG)
- 7pm CT: Evil Geniuses (EG) 1-0 NRG
- 8pm CT: FlyQuest (FLY) 0-1 100 Thieves (100)
Thursday, June 15
- 4pm CT: DIG 0-1 C9
- 5pm CT: TSM 1-0 FLY
- 6pm CT: 100 0-1 TL
- 7pm CT: NRG 0-1 IMT
- 8pm CT: GG 0-1 EG
Friday, June 16
- 4pm CT: IMT 0-1 TL
- 5pm CT: GG 1-0 FLY
- 6pm CT: EG 0-1 DIG
- 7pm CT: NRG 1-0 100
- 8pm CT: C9 1-0 TSM
Week two
Wednesday, June 21
- 4pm CT: DIG 0-1 GG
- 5pm CT: TL 1-0 NRG
- 6pm CT: FLY 0-1 C9
- 7pm CT: TSM 1-0 IMT
- 8pm CT: 100 0-1 EG
Thursday, June 22
- 4pm CT: NRG 0-1 TSM
- 5pm CT: GG 1-0 IMT
- 6pm CT: 100 0-1 C9
- 7pm CT: DIG 1-0 TL
- 8pm CT: EG 1-0 FLY
Friday, June 23
- 4pm CT: TSM 0-1 GG
- 5pm CT: IMT 0-1 100
- 6pm CT: TL 0-1 EG
- 7pm CT: FLY 0-1 DIG
- 8pm CT: C9 0-1 NRG
Week three
Wednesday, June 28
- 4pm CT: TSM 0-1 EG
- 5pm CT: FLY 1-0 TL
- 6pm CT: NRG 1-0 GG
- 7pm CT: 100 1-0 DIG
- 8pm CT: C9 1-0 IMT
Thursday, June 29
- 4pm CT: NRG 0-1 FLY
- 5pm CT: TL 1-0 C9
- 6pm CT: DIG 1-0 TSM
- 7pm CT: EG 1-0 IMT
- 8pm CT: GG 1-0 100
Friday, June 30
- 4pm CT: C9 1-0 EG
- 5pm CT: TL 0-1 GG
- 6pm CT: DIG 1-0 NRG
- 7pm CT: TSM 0-1 100
- 8pm CT: IMT 0-1 FLY
Week four
Wednesday, July 5
- 4pm CT: NRG 1-0 TL
- 5pm CT: 100 1-0 FLY
- 6pm CT: GG 1-0 C9
- 7pm CT: DIG 0-1 EG
- 8pm CT: IMT 0-1 TSM
Thursday, July 6
- 4pm CT: EG 1-0 100
- 5pm CT: TSM 1-0 NRG
- 6pm CT: C9 1-0 DIG
- 7pm CT: FLY 0-1 GG
- 8pm CT: TL 1-0 IMT
Friday, July 7
- 4pm CT: DIG 1-0 FLY
- 5pm CT: NRG 1-0 EG
- 6pm CT: IMT 0-1 C9
- 7pm CT: TL 1-0 100
- 8pm CT: GG 0-1 TSM
Week five
Wednesday, July 12
- 4pm CT: 100 0-1 IMT
- 5pm CT: EG 0-1 GG
- 6pm CT: C9 0-1 TL
- 7pm CT: FLY 0-1 NRG
- 8pm CT: TSM 1-0 DIG
Thursday, July 13
- 4pm CT: NRG 1-0 DIG
- 5pm CT: FLY 1-0 EG
- 6pm CT: TSM 1-0 TL
- 7pm CT: C9 1-0 100T
- 8pm CT: IMT 0-1 GG
Friday, July 14
- 4pm CT: TL 1-0 FLY
- 5pm CT: 100T 1-0 TSM
- 6pm CT: GG 0-1 NRG
- 7pm CT: EG 0-1 C9
- 8pm CT: DIG 0-1 IMT
Week six
Wednesday, July 19
- 4pm CT: IMT 0-1 EG
- 5pm CT: GG 1-0 TL
- 6pm CT: FLY 1-0 TSM
- 7pm CT: NRG 1-0 C9
- 8pm CT: DIG 1-0 100
Thursday, July 20
- 4pm CT: FLY 1-0 IMT
- 5pm CT: TSM 0-1 C9
- 6pm CT: 100 1-0 NRG
- 7pm CT: EG 1-0 TL
- 8pm CT: GG 1-0 DIG
Friday, July 21
- 4pm CT: IMT 1-0 NRG
- 5pm CT: EG 1-0 TSM
- 6pm CT: 100 0-1 GG
- 7pm CT: TL 1-0 DIG
- 8pm CT: C9 1-0 FLY
- Tiebreaker for seventh:
- 9pm CT: 100 0-1 DIG
- Tiebreaker for first:
- 10pm CT: GG 0-1 C9