:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49631839/26452587296_11e74209e9_k.0.0.jpg)
Most League of Legends fans are familiar with the LCS, the top level of competition in North America and Europe. But there is a league a tier below, the Challenger Series, where teams fight for the chance of promotion to the LCS.
But first, teams have to qualify for the Challenger Series, which is a grueling process that goes through multiple brackets. That process finishes up in Europe over the next week, with 12 teams fighting for two spots. North America will finish its Challenger qualifying next week.
Below, all the information you need on the European Challenger Series Summer 2016 Qualifiers.
How it works:
The teams will be split into two groups of six and will play a single round robin, playing the other five teams in their group once. At the end of the round robin stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the playoff stage.
In the playoff stage, the No. 1 seed from each group will play the No. 2 from the other group in a best-of-five series. The winners of both series will qualify for the EU Challenger Series Summer Split.
The games will be played on Patch 6.10, which was released Wednesday. Taliyah, the newest champion, will be disabled.
Who is represented?
There were two open qualifiers just to get to this stage, one for the Europe West region and one for Europe Northeast. The EUW bracket had a whopping 40 teams, with the top three (Low Priority, K1ck Black, Fnatic Academy) qualify. EUNE had just five teams in its bracket, with the winner (Team Forge) qualifying.
The bottom two teams from last year's Challenger Series Spring Split (SK Gaming, mousesports) will also be in the tournament, as well winners of national leagues in France (Melty eSport Club), Denmark (Tricked eSports), the United Kingdom (Misfits), Spain (G2 Vodafone), Poland (Szef+6) and Germany (Euronics Gaming).
Who are the favorites?
Probably SK Gaming and Fnatic Academy, but keep an eye on mousesports, Low Priority and G2 Vodafone.
Here are the groups:
| Group A | Group B |
| Low Priority | K1ck Black |
| Fnatic Academy | Team Forge |
| SK Gaming | Mousesports |
| Misfits | G2 Vodafone |
| Tricked eSports | Szef+6 |
| Melty | Euronics Gaming |
When does it start?
May 20th, running through May 27. The round robin games will start at 11 a.m. ET and 5 p.m. CEST each day.
All times Eastern.
| Time | Day 1 - May 20 | Day 2 - May 21 | Day 3 - May 22 | Day 4 - May 24 | Day 5 - May 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 am | MSF vs. MTY | MSF vs. FNA | TRC vs. MTY | FNA vs. TRC | LP vs. SK |
| 12 pm | SK vs. TRC | LP vs. TRC | MSF vs. LP | SK vs. MSF | MTY vs. FNC |
| 1 pm | FNA vs. LP | MTY vs. SK | FNA vs. SK | MTY vs. LP | TRC vs. MSF |
| 2 pm | K1K vs. SZ6 | K1K vs. MOU | ESG vs. SZ6 | MOU vs. ESG | G2V vs. 4G |
| 3 pm | 4G vs. ESG | G2V vs. ESG | K1K vs. G2V | 4G vs. K1K | SZ6 vs. MOU |
| 4 pm | MOU vs. G2V | SZ6 vs. 4G | MOU vs. 4G | SZ6 vs. G2V | ESG vs. K1K |
May 27: Finals (best-of-five)
8 AM ET: 1st seed Group A vs. 2nd seed Group B
After that: 1st seed Group B vs. 2nd seed Group A
How can I watch it?
The games will be streamed live on Lolesports.com .