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The 2020 LCS season was the eighth season of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), a professional esports league for the video game League of Legends. The season was divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on January 25 and culminated playoff finals on April 19, 2020. The Summer Split began on June 12 and culminated with the Spring Split finals on September 6, 2020. Most matches were played online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cloud9 won the spring split playoffs, qualifying them for the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). However, the MSI was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the summer split playoffs, Team SoloMid, FlyQuest, and Team Liquid claimed the first, second, and third positions, respectively, earning qualifications to the 2020 World Championship.

Format changes

For the 2020 season, the league implemented a series of format changes. The league removed the "Championship points" system that was introduced in 2015. In this new structure, victories during the spring split would solely serve to qualify a team for the Mid-Season Invitational. The regional qualifying tournament, which was used to advance teams to the World Championship, was also eliminated. Instead, the top three teams from the summer split playoffs earned the right to advance to the World Championship. The LCS also changed its playoff format to a double-elimination bracket, and the number of teams participating summer playoffs was increased from six to eight.

Spring

The Spring Split regular season ran from January 25 to March 22, 2020. The regular season followed a standard double round-robin format, where each team faced every other team twice, and each game was played in a best-of-one format. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, LCS commissioner Chris Greeley announced the suspension of the 2020 season on March 13, 2020, with no definite timeframe for resumption. Subsequently, the LCS resumed its competitions through online play, starting on April 18, 2020.

The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, a double-elimination tournament, which ran from March 28 to April 19, 2020. The top four teams started in the upper bracket of the playoffs, and the fifth and sixth seeds started in the lower bracket. The top-seeded team had their selection for their first round opponents between the third seed and the fourth seed. The winner of the playoffs would advance to the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). However, the 2020 MSI was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lower bracket final and grand final were planned to take place at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was moved to Riot's Los Angeles studio.

Regular season

Playoffs

Bracket

Final standings

Awards

• 1st Team All-Pro:
  • T Licorice, Cloud9
  • J Blaber, Cloud9
  • M Nisqy, Cloud9
  • B Zven, Cloud9
  • S Vulcan, Cloud9

• 2nd Team All-Pro:
  • T Ssumday, 100 Thieves
  • J Closer, Golden Guardians
  • M Jiizuke, Evil Geniuses
  • B Bang, Evil Geniuses
  • S IgNar, FlyQuest

• 3rd Team All-Pro:
  • T Broken Blade, Team SoloMid
  • J Santorin, FlyQuest
  • M PowerOfEvil, FlyQuest
  • B Cody Sun, 100 Thieves
  • S Biofrost, Team SoloMid

• Most Valuable Player: Blaber, Cloud9
• Coaching Staff of the Split: Cloud9

Summer

The Summer Split regular season was planned to run from June 20 to August 16, 2020. However, due to the cancellation of the 2020 MSI, the starting date was pushed forward to June 13. The Summer Split regular season followed the same format as the Spring Split. The top eight teams from the summer regular season secured spots in the Summer Split playoffs, which ran from August 20 to September 13, 2020. The playoffs played as a featured a double-elimination tournament, with top two teams starting in the upper bracket semifinals, the following four starting in the upper bracket quarterfinals, and the remaining two starting in the lower bracket. The top three teams from the playoffs qualified for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship.

Regular season

Playoffs

Bracket

Final standings

Awards

• 1st Team All-Pro:
  • T Licorice, Cloud9
  • J Blaber, Cloud9
  • M Bjergsen, Team SoloMid
  • B Zven, Cloud9
  • S CoreJJ, Team Liquid

• 2nd Team All-Pro:
  • T Ssumday, 100 Thieves
  • J Santorin, FlyQuest
  • M Jensen, Team Liquid
  • B Tactical, Team Liquid
  • S Vulcan, 100 Thieves

• 3rd Team All-Pro:
  • T Impact, Team Liquid
  • J Closer, Golden Guardians
  • M Nisqy, Cloud9
  • M PowerOfEvil, FlyQuest
  • B FBI, Golden Guardians
  • S IgNar, FlyQuest

• Most Valuable Player: CoreJJ, Team Liquid
• Rookie of the Year: Tactical, Team Liquid
• Coaching Staff of the Split: Team Liquid

Broadcast

The English broadcast was available on the League of Legends Esports website, as well as on Twitch and YouTube. On January 20, Riot Games announced their official partnership with Chinese streaming service Huya, giving them exclusive rights to the Chinese broadcast. On April 8, it was announced that the spring playoffs would be aired on ESPN2 and the ESPN App.

For the 2020 season, the LCS implemented a revised schedule, featuring broadcasts of matches on Monday evenings called "Monday Night League" in addition to their regularly scheduled Saturday and Sunday broadcasts. In May, the league decided to discontinue Monday Night League in May 2020 due to low viewership. Instead, the league extended its broadcasts to include Friday evenings.

Notes

1. The 2020 Mid-Season Invitational was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

1. ^ Rand, Emily (January 7, 2020). "Riot announces Monday Night League, other changes to LCS". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
2. ^ "2020 LCS Format". League of Legends Esports. January 8, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
3. "LCS Spring Split kicks off in L.A. with four winners". Reuters. Field Level Media. January 26, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
4. "How coronavirus is affecting esports and gaming events". ESPN. March 25, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
5. "2020 LCS spring split to finish online as planned". ESPN. Reuters. March 25, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
6. ^ Goslin, Austen (April 23, 2020). "League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational canceled due to coronavirus pandemic". Polygon. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
7. Hitt, Kevin (January 25, 2020). "2020 LCS Spring Finals to be Held in Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas". The Esports Observer. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
8. "2020 LCS spring split to finish online as planned". ESPN. Reuters. March 25, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
9. ^ Binkowski, Justin (April 3, 2020). "Cloud9's entire starting lineup named to 2020 LCS Spring Split All-Pro first team". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
10. Stavropoulos, Andreas (April 17, 2020). "C9 Blaber wins 2020 LCS Spring MVP award". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
11. Geracie, Nick (April 10, 2020). "Cloud9 Head Coach Reapered awarded Coach of the Split in 17-1 LCS Spring Split". Inven Global. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
12. "2020 LCS Summer Split begins on June 13". League of Legends Esports. April 27, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
13. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (August 14, 2020). "LCS unveils 2020 Summer Split All-Pro team". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
14. Esguerra, Tyler (September 4, 2020). "CoreJJ named 2020 LCS Summer Split MVP". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
15. Esguerra, Tyler (August 28, 2020). "Tactical wins 2020 LCS Rookie of the Year, top 5 MVP candidates revealed". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
16. Esguerra, Tyler (August 18, 2020). "Team Liquid wins 2020 LCS Summer Coaching Staff of the Split award". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
17. Matthiesen, Tom (January 20, 2020). "League of Legends: Riot partners with Huya as exclusive platform to broadcast the LCS and LEC in China". Inven Global. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
18. Ocal, Arda (April 8, 2020). "LCS spring split playoff games to air on ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
19. Webster, Andrew (May 20, 2020). "Riot's experimental Monday night League of Legends matches move to Friday". The Verge. Retrieved October 15, 2023.

External links

• 2020 Official Rules (v. 20.1) LCS and LACS

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