Get ready for the LCS Spring Split, debuting this very weekend, by reading up on all of the upcoming changes in the following primer article!
Structure Changes
The biggest change to the LCS might just be that there are no longer ten participating teams in the LCS. A short while ago, the LCS announced a restructure that would involve eight participating teams, with Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses no longer being in the league.
This came as quite the shock to many fans, especially considering that Golden Guardians had been enjoying unprecedented success in the 2023 Season. They finished second in Spring and in the regular season of Summer, qualified for MSI in May, and very narrowly missed out on Worlds after losing to Team BDS.
Evil Geniuses had always been a middle to upper place team in the LCS, though their most successful year was definitely 2022. During that year, EG secured first place in the Spring playoffs, then went on to end top four at MSI 2022, before winning first place in the regular season in Summer, then ending third after a grueling five-match game against 100 Thieves.
All in all, both teams will be missed, but many of their players have
fortunately been able to find new homes on other LCS teams.
LCS' official announcement on the restructure, sourced from the LCS twitter account.
Team Changes
Aside from the absence of Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses, there is one other major team shake-up, which is that TSM has sold their LCS spot. TSM has been a huge part of the league; a huge part of League of Legends in general. The team hasn't really been a top tier team for a long time now, and there were many rumours about TSM's departure before it was finally confirmed in the fall of 2023.
Their spot has been acquired by Shopify Rebellion, who had also acquired TSM's former jungler Lee "Bugi" Seong-yeop and mid laner David "Insanity" Challe. Jason "WildTurtle" Tran is also staying on a substitute bot laner and streamer for the team. The rest of the team is rounded out with Aaron "FakeGod" Lee, Ju "Bvoy" Yeong-hoon, and Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam. All three players have lots of experience on various teams across several different regions. We'll see how their chemistry plays out now that they've found themselves on a team together!
The newcomers to the block. Image sourced from the Shopify Rebellion twitter.
Schedule & Time Changes
The LCS experimented with weekday run-times during 2023, which was quite controversial among fans. Now, for the 2024 Season, newly appointed LCS Commissioner, MarkZ, has announced a return to a weekend schedule, with matches taking place on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as Fridays on Super Weeks. The games will begin at 12:00 PST, 15:00 EST or 21:00 CET, a time that seems to work for fans anywhere n America and Europe alike!
LCS 2024 Spring schedule, sourced from the LCS twitter account.
Format Changes
Although this restructure to eight teams is quite a big change, the rest of the format is pretty much the same. The eight teams will participate in a double round robin format, meaning that every team will get to play every other team once. After this series of best-of-ones, the top six teams will qualify for Playoffs, with the top four getting placed into the upper bracket.
Big Roster Changes
The LCS have shaken up quite a bit since last Spring, and one of the biggest changes comes from 100 Thieves. Nearly the whole team has been revamped, and one of their most staggering changes comes from the bot lane, as LCS legend Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng announced his retirement in December of 2023. He's leaving behind big shoes to fill, a role that comes down to rookie Brandon "Meech" Choi.
Doublelift announces his retirement.
Cloud9 has been enjoying great success in recent years, in spite of their narrow loss to NRG in the Summer. As such, the team has mostly maintained their roster, but included the addition of two new players, both formerly of Evil Geniuses - Joseph “jojopyun” Pyun and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme. Both great additions, and considering C9's track record, this team might just be going for gold once again.
Dignitas has always trended towards the bottom of the standings, and are hoping some new additions can change that. They've kept top laner Lee "Rich" Jae-won and bot laner Frank "Tomo" Lam, but have otherwise completely restructured their roster. Their most exciting addition is likely Kim "Dove" Jae-yeon, who had formerly made their name in the LCK and LPL on big teams like KT Rolster and Invictus Gaming.
LCS 2024 rosters, sourced from the LCS twitter account.
FlyQuest has always been a mid-to-bottom tier team in the LCS and they're looking to change that. They've revamped their entire roster for the 2024 Season, from top to bottom. Probably their most interesting changes are the inclusion of two former EU players, top laner Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau, known for playing on Fnatic between 2018 and 2021 and on Team Liquid since then, and Kacper "Inspired" Słoma in the jungle, known for playing on EG in the LCS, and Rogue in the LEC. They're also bringing in a big name in Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, who is probably best known for his long, and highly successful, tenures at Cloud9 and Team Liquid. Huge roster changes like this can be difficult to pull off, but, considering FQ's recent results, it feels like the only direction to go is up.
The Immortals have also changed up their roster significantly, keeping only Edward "Tactical" Rain the bot lane, and bringing in new, albeit very familiar, players in every other lane. Joing Tactical in the bot lane we have Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung, who had achieved the most success playing bot lane with Doublelift on TL in 2018. Since then he's played for Golden Guardians, with mixed success in recent years. Coming from KT Rolster's academy, we also have solo laners Cho "Castle" Hyeon-seong and Lee "Mask" Sang-hun in the top and mid lane respectively, who Immortals are hoping can tip the scales in their favour for the 2024 season.
Finally, we come to NRG and Team Liquid, who both have made only small changes in their teams. NRG is welcoming support Choi "huhi"Jae-hyun,formerly the support of GoldenGuardians, but known for his time on various LCS teams including CLG and 100 Thieves as well. NRG has just won the most recent split in the LCS, so there's no reason to shake things up too much. TL on the other hand has always been a top tier team, but they're looking to reach higher heights once again with the return of Jeong "Impact" Eon-young, and the addition of LCK player Eom "UmTi" Seong-hyeon.
LCS 2024 rosters, sourced from the LCS twitter account.
