Earned Through Battle: LEC 2023 Season Finals Tournament Preview
The LEC 2023 Season Finals is a new annual tournament that takes place after the conclusion of the three LEC splits, that being: Winter, Spring, and Summer. Due to the changed format that introduced the third split this year; Winter, the traditional Summer Playoffs can no longer function as the proper culmination of the year’s season. This is due to the shortened length of each of the splits. The tournament is set to run from the 19th of August until the 10th of September.
LEC 2023 Season Finals Format
The LEC 2023 Season Finals will include 6 teams: the three winners of the LEC seasons as well as the top three non-qualified teams (based on Championship points). Due to G2 winning both the Winter and Summer seasons, the ruling became that the number of teams via Championship points would have to be increased to accommodate and reach the 6 teams requirement. Thus, the 6 teams to qualify for the LEC 2023 Season Finals are:
- G2 Esports (360 points)
- MAD Lions (265 points)
- Team BDS (205 points)
- Excel (160 points)
- Fnatic (150 points)
- SK Gaming (150 points)
The tournament will include a double-elimination bracket, with the 1st seed being given the extra bonus of picking their R1 opponent (between 3rd and 4th seed). The 5th and 6th seeds are sent straight to the lower bracket. They will play against the losing teams from the Upper Bracket R1, with the 6th seed set to face the higher seed of the two defeated teams. All series are set to be Bo5s.
The top three teams from this tournament will qualify for Worlds 2023. The 4th place team will qualify for the 2023 Worlds Qualifying Series.
TLDR: Worlds Qualifying Series is a new qualification stage for EMEA and North America. It includes the 4th seeds from the LCS Championship and the LEC Season Finals. They will play in a Bo5 series to determine the team to take the final slot for Worlds 2023. (Read Riot's article here for information on it as well).
LEC 2023 Season Finals Matchups and Schedules
Upper Bracket Round 1
MAD Lions vs Excel [19th Aug | 1500 BST]
G2 Esports vs Team BDS [20th Aug | 1500 BST]
Lower Bracket Round 1
Fnatic vs TBD [26th Aug | 1700 BST]
SK Gaming vs TBD [27th Aug | 1700 BST]
LEC 2023 Season Finals Matchup Early Look
MAD Lions versus Excel promises to be an exciting series. The former Spring winners and MSI 1st seed have recently seen a decline in success, however, the talent on the roster is difficult to fully discount when we have seen what they can do. Excel meanwhile have done what many would have thought impossible before, perform a power run all the way to the Grand Finals. Whilst they did lose to G2 there, Excel also did take down names like Fnatic and MAD Lions during their run.
In the G2 versus BDS series, we have a former underdog turned promising contender against the current ‘best’ team in Europe. The reason for the quotation marks; G2 is not always the cleanest of teams, but the skill ceiling on that roster when all the pistons are firing, is undeniably the highest in the LEC. BDS, for their part, struggled to deliver since their Spring Playoffs run. After a middling season in the Summer, their Group stage run was mid as well, having only taken down Heretics. However, this is a team that has shown immense potential, especially on their sidelanes. Their bot lane duo as well had moments of brilliance during their Spring run.
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Credit: Photos by Michal Konkol/Riot Games and Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games (edited on Canva)