EMEA Masters

Last updated
EMEA Masters
Sport League of Legends
Founded2018
Organising body Riot Games
No. of teams28 from 13 leagues
Region EMEA
Most recent
champion(s)
Karmine Corp (2023 Summer)
Most titles Karmine Corp (4 titles)

EMEA Masters (formerly known as the European Masters) is a League of Legends tournament organized twice a year by Riot Games. The tournament is the conclusion of each split of the EMEA Regional Leagues. The EMEA Masters is the most important tournament in EMEA for teams outside the League of Legends EMEA Championship franchise.

Contents

History

EU LCS and EU CS

Up to and including 2018, the two top leagues in Europe were the European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) and European Challenger Series (EU CS). To get into the EU LCS, one had to first get into EU CS through qualification. You could get into the qualifiers through a previous open qualification or by winning one of the national leagues. [1] Once you got into EU CS, you had to take one of the first two or three (depending on the season) spots in the play-offs. After taking the right spot in the EU CS play-offs, the team would qualify for the Promotion Tournament, where it would face one of the weakest teams from the previous EU LCS season for a spot in the elite.

Transition from EU CS to EU Masters

After pressure from some organizations, Riot Games has decided to switch the EU LCS to a franchise model, as well as rebranding the league into the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) from early 2019. [2] With the transition to a franchise model from 2019, the possibility of promotion to the LEC ceased to exist, making Challenger Series an unnecessary competition. Nonetheless, there were regional leagues across Europe, which until now offered the chance to climb the European league hierarchy. With most European organizations left without an international competition (only 10 teams joined the newly formed franchise), it was decided to create a new Champions League-style competition. The competition was called the European Masters (EU Masters), and the best teams from all European Regional Leagues (ERL) would play in it. [3]

Expansion from EU to EMEA

In late 2022, Riot Games announced the expansion of the European region to include the Middle East and North Africa. The League of Legends European Championship franchise was renamed League of Legends EMEA Championship, and the European Masters was renamed EMEA Masters. With the expansion of the region, the Arabian League and Turkish Championship League were added to the EMEA Masters ecosystem. [4] The format of the tournament itself has not changed.

List of EMEA Regional Leagues

List of EMEA Regional Leagues [5]
LeagueSeeding in EMEA Masters
Seeds in Group StageSeeds in Play In Stage
La Ligue Francaise 21
Şampiyonluk Ligi 21
Superliga LVP 20
Prime League 20
Ultraliga 20
Northern LoL Championship 11
PG Nationals 11
Esports Balkan League 02
Liga Portuguesa de LoL 02
Greek Legends League 02
Elite Series 02
HitPoint Masters 02
Arabian League 02

List of European Masters/EMEA Masters finals

List of European Masters/EMEA Masters finals
SeasonWinnersScoreRunners-up
LeagueTeamTeamLeague
2018 Spring Challenger Series Flag of Europe.svg Origen 3-0Flag of Poland.svg Illuminar Gaming ESL Mistrzostwa Polski
2018 Summer Superliga LVP Flag of Spain.svg MAD Lions 3-0Flag of Europe.svg Ninjas in Pyjamas Nordic Championship
2019 Spring La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg Misfits Premier 3-0Flag of Germany.svg SK Gaming Prime Premier Tour
2019 Summer Premier Tour Flag of Germany.svg Berlin International Gaming 3-1Flag of Spain.svg Vodafone Giants Superliga LVP
2020 Spring La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg LDLC OL 3-0Flag of Poland.svg K1CK Neosurf Ultraliga
2020 Summer Ultraliga Flag of Poland.svg AGO Rogue 3-0Flag of Germany.svg GamerLegion Prime League
2021 Spring La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg Karmine Corp 3-1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg BT Excel Northern LoL Championship
2021 Summer La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg Karmine Corp 3-2Flag of Europe.svg Fnatic Rising Northern LoL Championship
2022 Spring La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg Karmine Corp 3-1Flag of France.svg LDLC OL La Ligue Francaise
2022 Summer Superliga LVP Flag of Spain.svg Team Heretics 3-2Flag of France.svg Team BDS Academy La Ligue Francaise
2023 Spring League of Legends Türkiye Ligi Flag of Turkey.svg Istanbul Wildcats 3-2Flag of Germany.svg Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition Prime League
2023 Summer La Ligue Francaise Flag of France.svg Karmine Corp 3-2Flag of Spain.svg Movistar Riders Superliga LVP

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References

  1. Volk, Pete (January 9, 2017). "European Challenger Series Qualifiers guide: Teams, rosters, schedule, stream". The Rift Herald.
  2. Stubbs, Mike. "Riot Games To Franchise The EU LCS 'League Of Legends' Tournament With €10.5 Million Buy In". Forbes.
  3. "Confirmed: Riot scraps EU Challenger Series in favour of national champions league". esports-news.co.uk.
  4. "Introducing EMEA 2023". lolemea.com.
  5. "Welcome to EMEA Masters 2023". lolesports.com.