The 2020 LCS season was the eighth season of the
''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS), a professional
esports
Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
league for the video game ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
''. The season was divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on January 25 and culminated playoff finals on April 19, 2020. The Summer Split began on June 12 and culminated with the Spring Split finals on September 6, 2020. Most matches were played online due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
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 2013 ...
won the spring split playoffs, qualifying them for the
2020 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). However, the MSI was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the summer split playoffs,
Team SoloMid
TSM (initialism derived from the previous name Team SoloMid) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy Dinh, Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''Apex Legends' ...
,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
, and
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
claimed the first, second, and third positions, respectively, earning qualifications to the
2020 World Championship.
Format changes
For the 2020 season, the league implemented a series of format changes. The league removed the "Championship points" system that was introduced in 2015. In this new structure, victories during the spring split would solely serve to qualify a team for the
Mid-Season Invitational. The regional qualifying tournament, which was used to advance teams to 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 ...
, was also eliminated. Instead, the top three teams from the summer split playoffs earned the right to advance to the World Championship. The LCS also changed its playoff format to a
double-elimination bracket, and the number of teams participating summer playoffs was increased from six to eight.
Spring
The Spring Split regular season ran from January 25 to March 22, 2020.
The regular season followed a standard double
round-robin format, where each team faced every other team twice, and each game was played in a best-of-one format.
In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, LCS commissioner Chris Greeley announced the suspension of the 2020 season on March 13, 2020, with no definite timeframe for resumption. Subsequently, the LCS resumed its competitions through online play, starting on April 18, 2020.
The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, a
double-elimination tournament
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimin ...
, which ran from March 28 to April 19, 2020. The top four teams started in the upper bracket of the playoffs, and the fifth and sixth seeds started in the lower bracket. The top-seeded team had their selection for their first round opponents between the third seed and the fourth seed. The winner of the playoffs would advance to the
2020 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
However, the 2020 MSI was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lower bracket final and grand final were planned to take place at the
Ford Center in Frisco, Texas. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was moved to Riot's Los Angeles studio.
Regular season
Playoffs
Bracket
Final standings
Awards
*1st Team All-Pro:
**
Licorice
Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...
,
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 2013 ...
**
Blaber,
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 2013 ...
** Nisqy,
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 2013 ...
**
Zven,
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 2013 ...
**
Vulcan,
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 2013 ...
*2nd Team All-Pro:
**
Ssumday,
100 Thieves
** Closer,
Golden Guardians
The Golden Guardians (GG) were an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. The organization was one of four that joined the ''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, t ...
** Jiizuke,
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty (series), Call of Duty'', ''Counter-Strike ...
** Bang,
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty (series), Call of Duty'', ''Counter-Strike ...
** IgNar,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
*3rd Team All-Pro:
** Broken Blade,
Team SoloMid
TSM (initialism derived from the previous name Team SoloMid) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy Dinh, Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''Apex Legends' ...
**
Santorin,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
**
PowerOfEvil,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
** Cody Sun,
100 Thieves
** Biofrost,
Team SoloMid
TSM (initialism derived from the previous name Team SoloMid) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy Dinh, Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''Apex Legends' ...
*Most Valuable Player:
Blaber,
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 2013 ...
*Coaching Staff of the Split:
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 2013 ...
Summer
The Summer Split regular season was planned to run from June 20 to August 16, 2020.
However, due to the cancellation of the 2020 MSI, the starting date was pushed forward to June 13. The Summer Split regular season followed the same format as the Spring Split. The top eight teams from the summer regular season secured spots in the Summer Split playoffs, which ran from August 20 to September 13, 2020. The playoffs played as a featured a double-elimination tournament, with top two teams starting in the upper bracket semifinals, the following four starting in the upper bracket quarterfinals, and the remaining two starting in the lower bracket. The top three teams from the playoffs qualified for the
2020 League of Legends World Championship
The 2020 ''League of Legends'' World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game ''League of Legends''. It was the tenth iteration of the ''League of Legends'' World Championship, an annual interna ...
.
Regular season
Playoffs
Bracket
Final standings
Awards
*1st Team All-Pro:
**
Licorice
Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...
,
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 2013 ...
**
Blaber,
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 2013 ...
**
Bjergsen,
Team SoloMid
TSM (initialism derived from the previous name Team SoloMid) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy Dinh, Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''Apex Legends' ...
**
Zven,
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 2013 ...
**
CoreJJ,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
*2nd Team All-Pro:
**
Ssumday,
100 Thieves
**
Santorin,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
**
Jensen,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
** Tactical,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
**
Vulcan,
100 Thieves
*3rd Team All-Pro:
**
Impact,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
** Closer,
Golden Guardians
The Golden Guardians (GG) were an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. The organization was one of four that joined the ''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, t ...
** Nisqy,
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 2013 ...
**
PowerOfEvil,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
** FBI,
Golden Guardians
The Golden Guardians (GG) were an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. The organization was one of four that joined the ''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, t ...
** IgNar,
FlyQuest
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the ''Viola family'', owners of the Florida Panthers.
FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ' ...
*Most Valuable Player:
CoreJJ,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
*Rookie of the Year: Tactical,
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
*Coaching Staff of the Split:
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''.
In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
Broadcast
The English broadcast was available on the ''League of Legends'' Esports website, as well as on
Twitch and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. On January 20, Riot Games announced their official partnership with Chinese streaming service
Huya, giving them exclusive rights to the Chinese broadcast. On April 8, it was announced that the spring playoffs would be aired on
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%).
ESPN2 was initially ...
and the ESPN App.
For the 2020 season, the LCS implemented a revised schedule, featuring broadcasts of matches on Monday evenings called "Monday Night League" in addition to their regularly scheduled Saturday and Sunday broadcasts.
In May, the league decided to discontinue Monday Night League in May 2020 due to low viewership. Instead, the league extended its broadcasts to include Friday evenings.
Notes
References
External links
2020 Official Rules (v. 20.1) LCS and LACS
{{2020 in League of Legends competition
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
2020 multiplayer online battle arena tournaments
League Championship Series (esports) seasons
League of Legends Championship Series season, 2020