League of Legends: how Riot killed the Challenger Series
The franchising year
In 2018, franchising kicked into motion, bringing plenty of changes. Most notably, the League of Legends LCS created “franchise” teams, forsaking the Relegation/Promotion system that had been in place for the last five years.
Though it went widely unreported – seen more as a side-effect than central feature of the changes – this fundamentally warped the purpose of the Challenger Series, and was likely Brutus’ blade sinking symbolically into the prone figure on the Senate floor.
More from Blog of Legends
- Bee’koz Vel’koz Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- King Beegar Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- EMENES retires following leave from Cloud9, cites military service
- EMENES Donezo Manifesto: Former Cloud9 Midlaner airs out grievances
- Team Heretics Perkz: European legend reportedly playing for TH
Long gone were the days of independent squads leveling up and challenging the pros of North America. Now, the Challenger Series was relegated to a “farm league” in which every pro team sponsored their own Challenger squad as a roster of substitutes they could draw upon at any point in time. The league became a sort of blood transfusion for failing pro teams.
At the best of times, these squads were stockpiles for gimmicks, filled with mechanically strong players like Goldenglue and Svenskeren, to be used as an ace up the sleeve when a series was going poorly. At the worst, they were wholly inconsequential to the teams and the viewers.
The teams still played each week, but they had become bundles of five individual players, each trying to impress their parent teams to earn a spot in the main roster.
Most importantly, there was no end goal. Teams had no chance of attaining the coveted LCS spot through the merits of their play, as franchising ensured that no pro teams would ever rotate out of the League.
In as many words, franchising utterly neutered any remaining competitive drive within the teams of the League of Legends Challenger Series. Despite waning coverage — and the resulting weakness in the narratives of the League, relegation had still included an amazing level of hype and tension. This would never again exist in the Challenger Series.