The 2023 LEC season is the 11th season of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends, and the first under new branding. The LEC rebranded from the "European Championship" to the "EMEA Championship" to broaden player eligibility. Two team changes occurred for the 2023 season, with Misfits Gaming selling their LEC franchise slot to Team Heretics and Rogue rebranding to KOI. The league also saw a major format change, expanding from two splits to three, and introduced a season final playoff. The schedule also underwent adjustments, with Superweeks every week, extending into Monday.
League changes Branding and regions The LEC rebranded from the League of Legends European Championship to the League of Legends EMEA Championship, opening eligibility for players with residency status in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East/North Africa to participate in the league without transfer restrictions. The League of Legends Continental League (for CIS and Russia) remained suspended but allowed CIS-based league to be integrated into the expanded LEC in the future.
Format The LEC underwent a significant revamp in its format for the year 2023. The new format featured three splits with three champions throughout the year. Each split consisted of three weeks of a round-robin regular season, followed by a group stage with the top eight teams from the regular season engaging in a double-elimination bracket over two weeks. The top four teams emerging from this stage proceeded to the playoffs, where they competed in a best-of-five, double-elimination format for the trophy. The three seasonal champions automatically qualified for the Season Finals, where overall seeding was determined by Championship Points. In the Season Finals, the three LEC champions met the top Championship Points candidates in a final four-week, best-of-five double-elimination bracket to decide the yearly LEC Champion.
Unlike the previous structure where games were played primarily on Saturdays and Sundays with occasional Friday "Superweeks," the new schedule included Superweeks every week. Instead of concluding on Sunday, each week extended into Monday. This schedule adjustment was part of a broader transformation in the European League of Legends ecosystem. The aim was to increase the significance of regular-season games, as they historically tended to matter less, especially in the Spring splits.
Teams The 2023 season saw two team changes coming into the season. In July 2022, Misfits Gaming sold their LEC franchise slot to Team Heretics, effective at the beginning of the 2023 LEC season. Additionally, following the merger between Rougue and KOI in October 2022, Rogue rebranded to KOI.
Winter Regular season
Groups
Group A
Group B
Playoffs
Final standings Team Qualification 1 G2 Esports MSI 2023 Play-In stage and Season Finals 2 MAD Lions 3 KOI 4 SK Gaming
Spring Regular season
Groups
Group A
Group B
Playoffs
Final standings Team Qualification 1 MAD Lions MSI 2023 Play-In stage and Season Finals 2 Team BDS 3 Team Vitality 4 G2 Esports
Summer Regular season
Groups
Group A
Group B
Playoffs
Final standings Team Qualification 1 G2 Esports Season Finals 2 Excel Esports 3 Fnatic 4 Team Heretics
Season Finals Qualification A total of six teams qualified for the Season Finals. The winner of each split is automatically qualified, while the remaining teams are determined based on Championship Points. Teams are awarded Championship Points at the end of each split based on their performance, and seeding in the Season Finals is determined strictly by Championship Points.
Bracket
Final standings Team Qualification 1 G2 Esports Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage 2 Fnatic 3 MAD Lions 4 Team BDS Worlds Qualifying Series 2023 5 Excel Esports 6 SK Gaming
Awards Winter
1st Team All-Pro: Photon, Team Vitality Elyoya, MAD Lions Caps, G2 Esports Hans Sama, G2 Esports Mikyx, G2 Esports
2nd Team All-Pro: BrokenBlade, G2 Esports Yike, G2 Esports Nisqy, MAD Lions Exakick, SK Gaming Hylissang, MAD Lions
3rd Team All-Pro: Chasy, MAD Lions Markoon, SK Gaming Larssen, KOI Comp, KOI Trymbi, KOI
Spring
1st Team All-Pro: Chasy, MAD Lions Elyoya, MAD Lions Nisqy, MAD Lions Crownie, Team BDS Hylissang, MAD Lions
2nd Team All-Pro: Adam, Team BDS Sheo, Team BDS Caps, G2 Esports Carzzy, MAD Lions Mikyx, G2 Esports
3rd Team All-Pro: Photon, Team Vitality Yike, G2 Esports nuc, Team BDS Hans Sama, G2 Esports Labrov, Team BDS
Summer
1st Team All-Pro: Photon, Team Vitality Elyoya, MAD Lions Caps, G2 Esports Hans Sama, G2 Esports Mikyx, G2 Esports
2nd Team All-Pro: BrokenBlade, G2 Esports Yike, G2 Esports Nisqy, MAD Lions Exakick, SK Gaming Hylissang, MAD Lions
3rd Team All-Pro: Chasy, MAD Lions Markoon, SK Gaming Larssen, KOI Comp, KOI Trymbi, KOI
Season Most Valuable Player of the Year: Mikyx, G2 Esports Rookie of the Year: Yike, G2 Esports Coaching Staff of the Year: G2 Esports
References