Usually, the LEC Finals are the most exciting part of the LoL Esports season in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world watch eagerly as their favorite teams fight for the title of LEC champion and a place at the World Championship. However, the hype is much smaller this year, and it is mostly down to the schedule.
When a major region's split playoffs come around, viewers all around the world are putting their eyes on it. During a short period of time, fans are blessed with action-packed, high-octane best of 5-matches with only small preparation methods. This is true for every major region... well, every region except EMEA.
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Ahead of the 2023 season, Riot Games announced a new LEC format. This saw a shortening of the regular season, cutting the number of best of 1-matches in half. Best of 3s were reintroduced, alongside which the winter split was established to make up for the smaller number of matches and shorter splits. This had fans hyped and hopeful that LEC teams might score better results at international tournaments.
LEC Season Finals: Why The New Format Is More Confusing Than Exciting
However, after three splits and with the season finals well underway, the hype has mostly toned down. Only the most die-hard fans are still excited for the season finals, with the majority of the fanbase being confused about why there is another playoffs tournament after three finished splits.
While viewers already did not tune in to the Summer Playoffs in the same capacity they used to do, the viewership numbers are once again lower than expected for the season finals. With a viewer average well over 200,000, the 2022 LEC Summer Playoffs were one of the most successful tournaments. So far, the season finals have not even peaked above that benchmark. Not even crowd favorites G2 Esports seem to build up the expected hype.
The lack of hype around the season finals is partially explained by the schedule. Even by catching another few casual viewers who have just gotten into LoL Esports, it seems like the LEC can only do so much. A lack of interest usually sets in when the action is absent for too long – and absent for very long it is.
The season finals consist of eight best of 5-matches. The issue is that these are spread over four weekends, with weekdays not seeing any play. For comparison: the LCK summer playoffs hosted eight matches in 13 days, while the LPL summer playoffs hosted 12 matches in 17 days. While others argue back that their scheduling is different than usual due to the 2022 Asian Games, this is actually the same time frame as in summer 2022.
The LEC effectively uses double the time for half the games. This does not stick particularly well with fans of the competition, and it seems like the audience has quickly fallen out of love with the general format as well.
Comment by u/eardrumfibreglass from discussion So what brilliant master mind came up with the LEC finals schedule? in leagueoflegends
One thing that also does not help is that the season finals is being played on Patch 13.15, which saw no major shake-up to the meta. The most popular champions still reign supreme, and apart from the occasional Samira pick from G2's bot laner Steven 'Hans Sama' Liv, it does not seem like teams are looking to innovate in champion selects or on the Rift.
This also means that G2 Esports were once again the undisputed best team in the league, with only MAD Lions managing to beat them in a spectacular 3-2 series in spring playoffs round 1. The lack of innovation and the certainty of G2's success made the LEC rather boring in the eyes of fans.
Comment by u/Thicc_Femboy_Thighs- from discussion So what brilliant master mind came up with the LEC finals schedule? in leagueoflegends
One thing that was also seen as a major positive of the new format was the reduction of best of 1-matches, with more best of 3-/best of 5-matches per season. Fans were hopeful that the extra stage time would lead to better international success, but hopes are once again low ahead of the 2023 World Championship.
At the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational, the LEC teams did not leave a lasting impression. G2 Esports made it through the Play-In stage unscathed, which was to be expected against Brazilian champions LOUD and PCS champions PSG Talon. In the Bracket stage, they stood no chance in their 1-3 against Korean champions Gen.G. Spring champions MAD Lions saw a similar fate when they lost to T1 0-3.
In the following round, G2 beat MAD 3-0 in the lower bracket before being eliminated by Chinese runner-ups Bilibili Gaming in another 1-3. It is safe to say that the EMEA representatives will have to step up their game significantly, or else the first ever World Championship without a European team in the knockout stage may soon be a reality.
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