League of Legends Japan League

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League of Legends Japan League
League of Legends Japan League logo.png
Game League of Legends
First season2014
Owner(s) Riot Games Japan
PlayBrain
Motto"Reforge as One"
No. of teams12–16 (regular season)
6 (LJL Finals)
Countries Japan
Most recent
champion(s)		Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Gaming (2nd title)
Most titlesDetonatioN FocusMe (16 titles)
Qualification Franchise partnership(2019–2024) [1]
Open qualifiers (2025–present)
Broadcaster(s) Twitch
Promotion to League of Legends Championship Pacific (2025–present)
Official website jp.lolesports.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The League of Legends Japan League (LJL) is the top level of professional League of Legends competition in Japan. [2] [3] [4] The league franchised prior to start of the 2019 season and had eight teams under partnership (which became six in 2024). [1]

Contents

Before 2024, the spring and summer champions qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship respectively. [5] However, in 2024, the top three teams from each LJL split were seeded into the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) playoffs and competed with other PCS teams for a chance to represent the larger region at international events; LJL teams would no longer qualify directly to MSI and Worlds. Since 2025, the LJL is a second division to the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP).

Each annual season of play is divided into three splits, Forge, Storm and Ignite, which then conclude a with playoff tournament known as the LJL Finals. The winner of the LJL Finals qualifies for the LCP Promotion Tournament for the opportunity to qualify for the Asia-Pacific tier one league.

Format

Regular Season

Open Qualifiers

  • Prior to each split, up to sixty-four teams participate in open qualifiers
  • Depending on the number of teams entered, up to eight groups of eight are held, single round robin best-of-ones
  • The top sixteen teams compete in a single elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-threes
    • Depending on how many spots need to be filled, loser's playoffs will be held after the qualifying round, also best-of-threes, to determine the remaining spots

Forge

  • The best teams from the prior season still existing (plus the remaining open qualifier teams) participate in a sixteen-team Swiss stage
    • All rounds in the Swiss stage are best-of-ones, with the prior season's best teams seeded ahead of the open qualifier teams
  • The best eight teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five

Storm

  • Top 4 from the Forge split, plus an LCP academy team and top top seven or eight teams from open qualifiers (depending on the performance of the LCP academy team), participate in a three-set "Storm Swiss" stage, consisting of best-of-ones
    • During the first two rounds, teams face the teams with the same records. In the third round, as only 3 teams can have a 2–0 record and 3 teams can have a 0–2, one 1–1 team will be randomly drawn into the 2–0 group, while another 1–1 team will be randomly drawn into the 0–2 group.
    • Teams receive points for each set separately based on that set's win-loss record: 5 points for a 3–0 record, 3 points for a 2–1 record, 1 point for a 1–2 record and none for a 0–3 record.
  • The best six teams after accumulating points of the three sets advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
    • The top 2 teams earn a bye to the semi-finals

Ignite

  • Top 4 from the Storm split, plus an LCP academy team and top top seven or eight teams from open qualifiers (depending on the performance of the LCP academy team), participate in a "Bounty" stage, lasting 6 rounds and consisting of best-of-ones
    • Teams earn 10 points plus triple the number of wins of their opponent per win (maximum of 25 points) and 4 points per loss. These points will be added into the championship points for LJL Finals.
    • After each round, the lowest-ranked teams choose their opponents for the next round
  • The best six teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
    • The top 2 teams on points earn a bye to the semi-finals

LJL Finals

Teams

Notable

As of 2025 season:

TeamID
Burning CoreBC
DetonatioN FocusMe Academy [a] DFM.A
REJECT REJ
V3 EsportsV3
VARREL YouthVAR.Y

Former

Past seasons

YearSplit1st2nd3rd
2014WinterRascal Jester Ozone Rampage Okinawan Tigers
Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Rascal JesterOzone Rampage
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeOzone RampageRascal Jester
Grand FinalDetonatioN FocusMeRascal Jester
2015Season 1DetonatioN FocusMeDetonatioN RabbitFive7th heaven
Season 2Ozone RampageDetonatioN FocusMe7th heaven
Grand FinalDetonatioN FocusMeOzone Rampage
2016SpringDetonatioN FocusMeRampageUnsold Stuff Gaming
SummerRampageDetonatioN FocusMe7th heaven
2017SpringRampageDetonatioN FocusMeUnsold Stuff Gaming
SummerRampageDetonatioN FocusMe7th heaven
2018Spring Pentagram DetonatioN FocusMeUnsold Stuff Gaming
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeUnsold Stuff GamingPENTAGRAM
2019SpringDetonatioN FocusMeUnsold Stuff GamingCrest Gaming Act
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeV3 EsportsCrest Gaming Act
2020SpringDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku GamingV3 Esports
SummerV3 EsportsDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku Gaming
2021SpringDetonatioN FocusMeV3 EsportsRascal Jester
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeRascal JesterAXIZ
2022SpringDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku GamingRascal Jester
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku GamingFukuoka SHG
2023SpringDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku GamingFENNEL
Fukuoka SHG
SummerDetonatioN FocusMeFukuoka SHGSengoku Gaming
2024SpringFukuoka SHGDetonatioN FocusMeV3 Esports
SummerFukuoka SHGDetonatioN FocusMeSengoku Gaming
2025Forge
Storm
Ignite
LJL Finals

Notes

  1. ↑ Academy team of DetonatioN FocusMe, who compete in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP).
  2. ↑ DetonatioN FocusMe's sister team.
  3. ↑ Formerly Rampage,
  4. 1 2 Merged to AXIZ Crest in December 2023.
  5. ↑ Announced as a partner team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024.
  6. ↑ Announced as a guest team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024. Their academy team currently competes in the LJL.
  7. ↑ Merger between AXIZ and Crest Gaming Act.

References

  1. 1 2 Torres, Xander (25 December 2018). "LJL announces new franchises, schedule, and prize pool for 2019". VPEsports. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ↑ Wong, Joe (18 January 2019). "Riot Games finds two new organising partners for League of Legends Japan League". Esports Insider. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  3. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (27 February 2019). "PlayBrain raises $1.9 million for League of Legends esports events in Japan". VentureBeat . Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Murray, Trent (27 February 2019). "Japanese Tournament Organizer PlayBrain Raises $1.9M Seed Round Led by BITKRAFT". The Esports Observer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  5. ↑ Kim, Alice (10 August 2017). "League of Legends – Japan League". Esports.net.
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