The 2023 LEC season is the 11th season of the ''League of Legends'' EMEA Championship (LEC), 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

MOBA Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single character with distinctive abilities that grow stronger as the match progr ...

PC game A personal computer game, or abbreviated PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer (PC). The term ''PC game'' has been popularly used since the 1990s referring specifically to games on "Wintel" (Micr ...

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 ...

'', and the first under new branding. The LEC rebranded from the "European Championship" to the "EMEA Championship" to broaden player eligibility. Two team changes occurred for the 2023 season, with Misfits Gaming selling their LEC franchise slot to Team Heretics and Rogue rebranding to KOI. The league also saw a major format change, expanding from two splits to three, and introduced a season final playoff. The schedule also underwent adjustments, with Superweeks every week, extending into Monday.

League changes

Branding and regions

The LEC rebranded from the ''League of Legends'' European Championship to the ''League of Legends'' EMEA Championship, opening eligibility for players with residency status in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East/North Africa to participate in the league without transfer restrictions. The League of Legends Continental League (for CIS and Russia) remained suspended but allowed CIS-based league to be integrated into the expanded LEC in the future.

Format

The LEC underwent a significant revamp in its format for the year 2023. The new format featured three splits with three champions throughout the year. Each split consisted of three weeks of a round-robin regular season, followed by a group stage with the top eight teams from the regular season engaging in a double-elimination bracket over two weeks. The top four teams emerging from this stage proceeded to the playoffs, where they competed in a best-of-five, double-elimination format for the trophy. The three seasonal champions automatically qualified for the Season Finals, where overall seeding was determined by Championship Points. In the Season Finals, the three LEC champions met the top Championship Points candidates in a final four-week, best-of-five double-elimination bracket to decide the yearly LEC Champion. Unlike the previous structure where games were played primarily on Saturdays and Sundays with occasional Friday "Superweeks," the new schedule included Superweeks every week. Instead of concluding on Sunday, each week extended into Monday. This schedule adjustment was part of a broader transformation in the European League of Legends ecosystem. The aim was to increase the significance of regular-season games, as they historically tended to matter less, especially in the Spring splits.

Teams

The 2023 season saw two team changes coming into the season. In July 2022, Misfits Gaming sold their LEC franchise slot to Team Heretics, effective at the beginning of the 2023 LEC season. Additionally, following the merger between Rougue and KOI in October 2022, Rogue rebranded to KOI.

Winter

Regular season

Groups

;Group A ;Group B

Playoffs

Final standings

Spring

Regular season

Groups

;Group A ;Group B

Playoffs

Final standings

Summer

Regular season

Groups

;Group A ;Group B

Playoffs

Final standings

Season Finals

Qualification

A total of six teams qualified for the Season Finals. The winner of each split is automatically qualified, while the remaining teams are determined based on Championship Points. Teams are awarded Championship Points at the end of each split based on their performance, and seeding in the Season Finals is determined strictly by Championship Points.

Bracket

Final standings

Awards

;Winter *1st Team All-Pro: ** Photon,

Team Vitality Team Vitality, or simply Vitality, is a French esport club founded in 2013 by Fabien "Neo" Devide, Nicolas Maurer, Corentin "Gotaga" Houssein, and Kevin "BrokyBrawks" Georges. Team Vitality has teams in eleven PC/console esports titles (''Leagu ...

** Elyoya,

MAD Lions MAD Lions was a Spanish esports organisation owned by OverActive Media. Its main ''League of Legends'' team, which was rebranded from Splyce, competed in Europe's top-level league for the game, the LEC. Its secondary ''League of Legends'' tea ...

Caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

G2 Esports G2 Esports (or simply G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in ''League of Legends'', ''Valorant'', ''Counter-Strike 2'', ''Hearthstone (video game), Hearthstone'', ''Rocket League'', '' ...

Hans Sama Steven Liv, better known as Hans Sama, is a French professional ''League of Legends'' player for G2 Esports. Liv has previously played for Team Liquid in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), as well as Rogue and Misfits in the League ...

** Mikyx,

*2nd Team All-Pro: ** BrokenBlade,

** Yike,

** Nisqy,

** Exakick,

SK Gaming SK Gaming is a professional esports organization based in Germany that has teams across the world competing in different titles. SK is particularly known for their success in '' Counter-Strike'' (CS) tournaments. SK's Brazilian ''CS'' team won ...

Hylissang Zdravets Iliev Galabov, better known as Hylissang, is a Bulgarian professional ''League of Legends'' player for Team Vitality. He previously played for Fnatic, MAD Lions and Unicorns of Love. Hylissang plays the support role. Career Unicorn ...

*3rd Team All-Pro: ** Chasy,

** Markoon,

** Larssen, KOI ** Comp, KOI ** Trymbi, KOI ;Spring *1st Team All-Pro: ** Chasy,

** Elyoya,

** Nisqy,

** Crownie, Team BDS **

*2nd Team All-Pro: ** Adam, Team BDS ** Sheo, Team BDS **

** Carzzy,

** Mikyx,

*3rd Team All-Pro: ** Photon,

** Yike,

** nuc, Team BDS **

** Labrov, Team BDS ;Summer *1st Team All-Pro: ** Photon,

** Elyoya,

** Mikyx,

*2nd Team All-Pro: ** BrokenBlade,

** Yike,

** Nisqy,

** Exakick,

*3rd Team All-Pro: ** Chasy,

** Markoon,

** Larssen, KOI ** Comp, KOI ** Trymbi, KOI ;Season *Most Valuable Player of the Year: Mikyx,

*Rookie of the Year: Yike,

*Coaching Staff of the Year:

References

{{2023 in League of Legends competition

League of Legends EMEA Championship seasons 2023 multiplayer online battle arena tournaments