The League Championship Series (LCS) is the top level of professional League of Legends in the United States and Canada. The esports league is run by Riot Games and has ten franchise teams. Each annual season of competition is divided into two splits, spring and summer, which conclude with a double-elimination tournament between the top eight teams. At the end of the season, the winner, runners-up and third-place team of the summer playoffs qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship.
Team SoloMid (TSM) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in League of Legends, Apex Legends, Valorant, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros., Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, PUBG Mobile, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Magic: The Gathering Arena, and chess. The organization previously had a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team based in Denmark that later became Astralis and also briefly owned an Overwatch team.
Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional League of Legends team founded by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 and was incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016. Cloud9 has received US$78 million in total raised equity via venture capital funding and was ranked the world's second-most valuable esports organization in 2020.
Immortals is a professional esports organization based in the United States owned by Immortals Gaming Club. It was founded on October 7, 2015 after the acquisition of Team 8's LCS spot.
The 2016 NA LCS season was the fourth year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series. It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. Regular season games were played in the Riot Games Studios in Los Angeles, California.
100 Thieves is a lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California. The organization has teams competing in several video games, including Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite Battle Royale, League of Legends and Valorant. The Thieves' League of Legends team is a franchise team of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and the Call of Duty team has a franchise team in Call of Duty League branded as the Los Angeles Thieves. The organization was founded in 2017 by Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, a former OpTic Gaming Call of Duty team captain, (MLG) X Games gold medalist, and 2014 Esports Athlete of the year. It was co-founded alongside Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. The following year, Canadian singer and rapper Drake and SB Projects founder Scooter Braun led the Series A investment round into 100 Thieves. Other participants in the financing round include Marc Benioff, Drew Houston, and Sequoia Capital, among others.
Heo Seung-hoon, better known as Huni, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for Team SoloMid. He has also played for Fnatic, Immortals, Echo Fox, SK Telecom T1, Clutch Gaming, Dignitas and Evil Geniuses.
Apex Gaming was a League of Legends team that competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. The team was coached primarily by Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco and David "Cop" Roberson. Apex Gaming also had a League of Legends Challenger Series team called Apex Pride, which entered the league after Team Dignitas transferred their spot.
William Hartman, better known as Meteos, is an American professional League of Legends player in the jungler role. In the League of Legends Championship Series, Meteos has played for Cloud9, 100 Thieves (twice), OpTic Gaming, and FlyQuest. During his time on Cloud9, Meteos won two NA LCS titles and appeared in every split.
The 2015 NA LCS season was the third year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series. It saw an expansion of the league from eight to ten teams, as well as the introduction of championship points and the regional finals gauntlet to better determine which teams should qualify for the World Championship. The season 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. Regular season games and the spring playoffs were played in the Riot Games Studios in Los Angeles, California, while the summer finals were held at Madison Square Garden.
The 2013 NA LCS season was the first year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series. 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. Regular season games were played in a film studio in Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California.
Oh Gyu-min, better known by his in-game name Ohq, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player who was most recently an AD Carry for Snake Esports.
FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens and Fortress Investment Group.
Misfits Gaming is a professional esports organisation based in the United Kingdom that currently has players competing in League of Legends and Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate. It originally began as a League of Legends team and was founded on 18 May 2016.
The 2017 NA LCS season was the fifth year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, 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, and also included a promotion tournament and a regional qualifiers for the World Championship.
Clutch Gaming (CG) was an American esports franchise owned by Dignitas and the Houston Rockets. It was one of four organizations that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, the others being 100 Thieves, the Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming.
The Golden Guardians (GG) are an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. The organization was one of four that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, the others being 100 Thieves, Clutch Gaming and OpTic Gaming. On December 18, 2019, the Golden Guardians announced their expansion into the professional scenes of Apex Legends, Teamfight Tactics and World of Warcraft.
The 2018 NA LCS season was the first year under partnership and sixth overall of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, 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.
Liyu "Cody" Sun is a Canadian professional League of Legends player who is the bot laner for TSM Academy. He first rose to prominence while playing for Immortals in 2017, qualifying for the World Championship in his debut year in the LCS. The next year he qualified with 100 Thieves, and again the year after with Clutch Gaming.
The League of Legends division of Cloud9 (C9) is based in Los Angeles, California, and competes in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), the top-level professional league for the game in the United States and Canada.
