Garena Premier League

Last updated
Garena Premier League
Garena Premier League logo.png
Sport League of Legends
Inaugural season2012
Replaced by LST
Owner(s) Garena
No. of teams5
CountriesInfobox ASEAN flag.svg  Southeast Asia
5 countries
Venue(s)Various
Most recent
champion(s)
Flag of Thailand.svg Ascension Gaming
Most titles Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins
Qualification
5 minor leagues
  • Flag of Indonesia.svg LoL Garuda Series
  • Flag of Malaysia.svg LoL Champion Malaysia
  • Flag of the Philippines.svg Pro Gaming Series
  • Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Legends Series
  • Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand Pro League
TV partner(s)Garena Live, YouTube
Sponsor(s) Riot Games, Garena
Level on pyramidTier 1
International cup(s) Mid Season Invitational
Rift Rivals
World Championship
Related
competitions
LMS
VCS
PCS

The Garena Premier League (GPL) was a professional League of Legends esports league with teams in Southeast Asia (included teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau before 2015 and Vietnam before 2018). It was founded in 2012. The opening event took place on May 5 with Riot's CEO Brandon Beck, VP of Gaming Dustin Beck, Taiwanese game designer Jeff Lin, and Nikasaur attending personally. It is the first regional professional esports competition of League of Legends in the world. In last season - 2018 Spring - the league consists of 5 teams who are the champions of 5 national leagues in Southeast Asia. The top four teams of group stage are advanced to the playoff, which are held in a best-of-5 single elimination system. [1]

Contents

In late 2014, Riot and Garena split teams from Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong into their own league, the LMS, which began play in Spring 2015. [2] Following the changes, the GPL no longer sent teams directly to the League of Legends World Championship group stage. The GPL became part of the International Wildcard tournament, along with CBLoL (Brazil), OPL (Oceania), LCL (CIS), LJL (Japan), TCL (Turkey), LLN (Latin America North) and CLS (Latin America South), and would compete to represent the Wildcard regions in the play in stages at the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship. [3]

In 2018, the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) separated from the GPL. The winner of VCS will qualify for Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship without taking part in the GPL. [4]

The 2018 GPL Spring Split was the last GPL tournament. Afterwards, the GPL was replaced by the League of Legends SEA Tour (LST) with a new format. The winner of the LST will represent Southeast Asia to qualify for Play-in Stage of Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship, begin from World Championship 2018. [5]

Participants of GPL

Last season (2018 Spring split)

RegionLeague
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia LOL Garuda Series (LGS)
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia LOL Championship Malaysia (LCM)
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines Pro Gaming Series (PGS)
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore Singapore Legends Series (SLS)
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand Thailand Pro League (TPL)

In mid-2018, the GPL was replaced with the LST , and the leagues of each country were replaced by "LST Qualifiers"

Former

RegionChampionship LeagueNote
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
Flag of Macau.svg  Macau
League of Legends Nova League (LNL)Separated in 2015, became a Major Region (guaranteed two slots in the World Championship, three slots from 2017 onwards). The LNL was replaced by the League of Legends Master Series (LMS).
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)Separated in 2018, became a Wildcard Region (guaranteed one slot for MSI and the World Championship). VCS became a Tier 1 league like the GPL.

Results

YearSplitWinnerRunner-Up
2012 Season 1 Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Sentinels
2013 Spring Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Sentinels
Summer Flag of the Republic of China.svg ahq e-Sports Club Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Sentinels
2014 Winter Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Snipers
Spring Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins Flag of the Republic of China.svg ahq e-Sports Club
Summer Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins Flag of the Republic of China.svg ahq e-Sports Club
After Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau separated
2015 Spring Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Fantastic Five Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Titans
Summer Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Titans Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Jokers
2016 Spring Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Jokers Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Titans
Summer Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Jokers Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Titans
2017 Spring Flag of Vietnam.svg GIGABYTE Marines Flag of Thailand.svg Ascension Gaming
Summer Flag of Vietnam.svg GIGABYTE Marines Flag of Vietnam.svg Young Generation
After Vietnam separated
2018 Spring Flag of Thailand.svg Ascension Gaming Flag of Malaysia.svg Kuala Lumpur Hunters

Record

Top-performing

TeamWinnerRunner-Up
Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Assassins 5
Flag of the Republic of China.svg ahq e-Sports Club 1
Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Sentinels3
Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taipei Snipers1
After Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau separated
Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Jokers21
Flag of Vietnam.svg GIGABYTE Marines 2
Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Titans13
Flag of Vietnam.svg Saigon Fantastic Five1
Flag of Vietnam.svg Young Generation 1
Flag of Thailand.svg Ascension Gaming1
After Vietnam separated
Flag of Thailand.svg Ascension Gaming1
Flag of Malaysia.svg Kuala Lumpur Hunters1

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The 2017 GPL season was the sixth edition of the Garena Premier League, a Riot Games-organised tournament for League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena video game. It is a fully professional League of Legends league over all of the Southeast Asia region, with 6 teams from 6 countries/areas to determine which team is the best in the region, and is the qualification tournament for Southeast Asian teams to play at the MSI 2017, the Rift Rivals 2017, and the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.

References

  1. "Garena Premier League (GPL) in 2018 and Beyond". Garena LoL. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  2. "Garena to separate Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau from South East Asia for the 2015 GPL Season". yahoo.com. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. "The Philippines just lost another chance to compete in one of the biggest esports events of the year". Inquirer.net. July 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  4. "Vietnam is now an independent competitive region". lolesports.com. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  5. "A New Beginning for Esports in Southeast Asia". Garena LoL. Retrieved April 5, 2018.

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