2018 NA LCS season
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 PC game League of Legends. 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.
| 2018 NA LCS season | |
|---|---|
| League | NA LCS |
| Sport | League of Legends |
| Duration | January 20 – April 8 (Spring) June 16 – September 9 (Summer) September 8–10 (Regional finals) |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | Twitch, YouTube |
| Spring | |
| Champions | Team Liquid |
| Runners-up | 100 Thieves |
| Top seed | 100 Thieves |
| Season MVP | Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black[1] (100 Thieves) |
| Summer | |
| Champions | Team Liquid |
| Runners-up | Cloud9 |
| Top seed | Team Liquid |
| Season MVP | Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng[2] (Team Liquid) |
| Regional finals | |
| Winner | Cloud9 |
Format
Starting in 2018, the North American LCS began franchising. There are various reasons for this. First, it changed the overall structure of the league, encouraging long-term investments from owners. This allowed the league to implement revenue sharing, leading to a better foundation for both the teams and professional players. Lastly, the professional players were 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 (a total $13 million), which was distributed to the teams that were replaced in the league. 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.[3] 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.[4] 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. Several existing teams from the league — including Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Echo Fox, FlyQuest, Team Liquid and Team SoloMid — were reportedly accepted back into the league.[5][6][7] Other existing teams, such as Immortals, Phoenix1, Team Dignitas and Team EnvyUs, were declined from entry into the restructured league.[8][9] The team welcomed four new teams — one endemic esports team and three NBA franchises or affiliates. Longtime esports organization OpTic Gaming was reportedly awarded a spot in the league after receiving investment from Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman.[10] The other three new spots went to Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and his son Kirk as the Golden Guardians, the Cleveland Cavaliers and affiliated venture capital firms as 100 Thieves, and the Houston Rockets as Clutch Gaming.[11][12][13][14]
Spring
Teams and rosters
| Team | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Position | |
|
|
Kim Chan-ho |
Top | |
|
|
Eric Ritchie |
Top | |
|
Colin Earnest |
Top | ||
|
Darshan Upadhyaya |
Top | ||
|
|
Heo Seung-hoon |
Top | |
|
|
Lee Ho-jong |
Top | |
|
|
Samson Jackson |
Top | |
|
|
Jung Eon-yeong |
Top | |
|
OpTic Gaming |
|
Derek Shao |
Top |
|
|
Kevin Yarnell |
Top | |
Results
Regular season standings
| Pos | Team | W–L | Points | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |   |
12–6 | +6 | Advance to semifinals |
| 2. | |
12–6 | +6 | |
| 3. | |
11–7 | +4 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4. | |
11–7 | +4 | |
| 5. | |
11–7 | +4 | |
| 6. |  |
11–7 | +4 | |
| 7. | |
7–11 | -4 | No qualification for Playoffs |
| 8. |  |
6–12 | -6 | |
| 9. | |
5–13 | -7 | |
| 10. | |
4–14 | -10 |
Prize pool and championship points
| Pos | Prize Pool | Qualification Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
$100,000 | 90 | Team Liquid |
 |
$50,000 | 70 | 100 Thieves |
 |
$30,000 | 50 | Echo Fox |
| 4th | $20,000 | 30 | Clutch Gaming |
| 5th/6th | - | 10 | Cloud9 |
| Team SoloMid | |||
| 7th | - | - | Counter Logic Gaming |
| 8th | - | - | FlyQuest |
| 9th | - | - | OpTic Gaming |
| 10th | - | - | Golden Guardians |
Awards
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | | 100 Thieves |
| Rookie of the Split | .svg.png){kind=small} | Cloud9 |
| Coach of the Split | | 100 Thieves |
| 1st Team All-Pro |  | Echo Fox |
| Echo Fox | |
 | Team SoloMid | |
| 100 Thieves | |
| 100 Thieves |
Playoffs
Tiebreakers
First place
| 1st Place Tiebreaker | |||
| 100 Thieves | 1 | ||
| Echo Fox | 0 | ||
Third through sixth place
| First Round | Third Place Tiebreaker | |||||||
| Team Liquid | 1 | |||||||
| Cloud9 | 0 | |||||||
| Team Liquid | 0 | |||||||
| Team SoloMid | 1 | |||||||
| Team SoloMid | 1 | |||||||
| Clutch Gaming | 0 | Fifth Place Tiebreaker | ||||||
| Cloud9 | 1 | |||||||
| Clutch Gaming | 0 | |||||||
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| 3 | Team SoloMid | 1 | 1 | 100 Thieves | 3 | ||||||||
| 6 | Clutch Gaming | 3 | 6 | Clutch Gaming | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 100 Thieves | 0 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Team Liquid | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Team Liquid | 3 | 2 | Echo Fox | 1 | ||||||||
| 5 | Cloud9 | 0 | 4 | Team Liquid | 3 | Third Place | |||||||
| 2 | Echo Fox | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Clutch Gaming | 0 | |||||||||||
References
- Goslin, Austen (7 April 2018). "Aphromoo named NA LCS 2018 Spring Split MVP". The Rift Herald. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- Chang, Brian (8 September 2018). "Doublelift takes home the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split MVP". Dot Esports. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- "Overwatch League, North American LCS head in different directions". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- Greeley, Chris (2017-09-22). "Mid-Flight Update on Our Selection Process for NA LCS 2018". LoL Esports.
- "Sources: Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming to rejoin NA LCS". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Immortals out, Echo Fox in for the NA LCS, sources say". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "FlyQuest accepted as NA LCS franchise". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Sources: Dignitas' League of Legends Championship Series franchising application declined". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Sources: Phoenix1 and Team Envy declined entry into newly-franchised LCS". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Sources: OpTic Gaming to join North American League Championship Series". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Sources: Warriors co-owner lands League of Legends franchise spot". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Sources: NA LCS team roster finalized with Rockets". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Cavs added as League of Legends franchise". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "NA LCS Team Announcement". Riot Games. Retrieved November 21, 2017.