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The regular season is over, and playoffs are two weeks away. That means it’s time for the promotion/relegation tournaments to determine the 10 teams that will play in the EU LCS next split.
In previous years, the last place team in the LCS was automatically relegated, but that was changed before this season to give all teams a chance to fight for their spot.
Five teams are in the tournament, which will last Thursday through Sunday, fighting for three LCS spots. The three bottom teams in the LCS (FC Schalke 04, Origen, ROCCAT) will be squaring off with the top two teams from the Challenger Series (Misfits and Millenium).
While ROCCAT was expected to end up here, appearing in the promotion tournament is a better disappointment for both Schalke 04 and Origen. Schalke 04, formerly known as Elements, started the season strong after being purchased by the well-known German soccer club. Origen finished as runners-up in each of its first two LCS splits before an awful split this Summer.
Unlike North America, the Challenger teams are, well, actual Challenger teams instead of secondary rosters for already existing LCS teams. Especially notable is Misfits, which ran through the EU Challenger scene with a roster that includes three of the most-hyped prospects in the region: British top laner Barney “Alphari” Morris, 16-year-old French AD Carry Steven “Hans sama” Liv and Korean support Dong-geun “IgNar” Lee.
With teams like Origen, G2 and Splyce, EU has a long history of teams finding success after qualifying out of Challenger. Misfits have reportedly performed quite well in their scrims against LCS competition, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see them knock out a team like ROCCAT.
For the North American promotion series schedule and bracket, click here.
All matches will be best-of-five and broadcast on Lolesports’ EU LCS stream.
Thursday, August 4
11 a.m. ET Team ROCCAT vs Millenium — WINNER TO SATURDAY, LOSER TO CHALLENGER
Saturday, August 6
11 a.m. ET (EULCS2) FC Schalke 04 vs. Thursday winner -- WINNER TO LCS, LOSER TO SUNDAY
11 a.m. ET Origen vs. Misfits -- WINNER TO LCS, LOSER TO SUNDAY
Sunday, August 7
11 a.m. ET SATURDAY LOSERS SQUARE OFF — WINNER TO LCS, LOSER TO CHALLENGER