The 2018 NA LCS season was the first year under partnership and sixth overall of the North American ''League of Legends'' Championship Series (NA LCS), a professional esports league for the

MOBA Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that im ...

PC game A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', Ri ...

''. It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoff stage, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. The three teams that qualified for the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

were

Team Liquid Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players. In 2012, Team Li ...

100 Thieves 100 Thieves, LLC is an American lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2017 by Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag and Dan Gilbert. The organization competes in several video games, including ''Apex Legends' ...

, and

Cloud9 Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 201 ...

Format

Starting in 2018, the North American LCS announced that it would continue under partnership using a franchised model, rather than promotion and regulation. This changed the overall structure of the league, and encouraged long-term investments from owners, which allowed the league to implement revenue sharing, leading to a better foundation for both the teams and professional players. Professional players were also given a larger voice and more protection within the league. 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 ($13 million total), which was to be distributed to the teams that were replaced in the league as compensation. Interested parties were given applications in June, due on July 28, 2017. Over 100 existing esports organizations, traditional sports teams, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs reportedly applied. 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. Riot Games and the North American League Championship Series players' association also decided that league would not expand and instead remain at 10 teams. Buyers for the league were decided in mid-October. Six existing teams from the league,

Counter Logic Gaming Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) is an American esports organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in April 2010 by George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis and Alexander "Vodoo" Beutel as a ''League of Legends'' team, and has si ...

Echo Fox Echo Fox was an American esports organization. It was founded on December 18, 2015, by retired basketball player Rick Fox, who created Echo Fox after he purchased the NA LCS spot of Gravity Gaming. The organization had expanded into various ...

, FlyQuest,

and

Team SoloMid Team SoloMid (TSM) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''League of Legends'', ''Dota 2'', ''Apex Legends'', ''Valorant'', ...

, were accepted back into the league. The other four existing teams, Immortals, Phoenix1,

Team Dignitas Dignitas, formerly known as Team Dignitas, is a professional esports organization based in Newark, New Jersey, founded by Michael "ODEE" O'Dell on 9 September 2003 as a merger of two top ''Battlefield 1942'' clans. Dignitas was acquired by the P ...

and

Team EnvyUs Team Envy was an American esports franchise based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Envy Gaming. Founded in 2007 as a professional ''Call of Duty'' team under the moniker Team EnVyUs, they fielded rosters in '' Counter-Strike, FIFA, Fortnite, Gears ...

, were declined entry into the restructured league. Due to their departure, four new organizations were added to the NA LCS, one endemic esports team, and three NBA affiliates. Longtime esports organization

OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming is an American professional eSports, esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a ''Call of Duty'' team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a ''O ...

was reportedly awarded a spot in the league after receiving investment from Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman. The other three new spots went to the Golden Guardians, supported by the

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co-owner Joe Lacob and his son Kirk,

backed by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, and Clutch Gaming with support from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

Teams and rosters

Spring

Results

Regular season standings

Prize pool and championship points

Awards

Playoffs

Tiebreakers

= First place

= Third through sixth place

Playoff bracket

Summer

Regular season standings

Prize pool and championship points

Awards

Playoffs

Tiebreakers

Playoff bracket

Regional finals

References

{{2018 Spring League of Legends League of Legends Championship Series seasons 2018 multiplayer online battle arena tournaments North American League of Legends Championship North American League of Legends Championship Spring 2018 in League of Legends competitions