These are all of the new changes for the LCS in 2022

Nov 16, 2021

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The top North American League of Legends professional circuit, known the LCS, has announced a sweeping series of changes to the way that professional play will function in 2022.

Riot is doubling down on its investment in the amateur and Academy circuits, as well as addressing some players’ concerns about server location with a small scale recreation of the famous Chinese “super server.” During an already volatile offseason, Riot is making change an even more prevalent constant of the professional League environment.

The 2022 LCS year will begin with the LCS Lock In tournament, a chance for rosters to show off strong initial performances to give fans and broadcasters an idea of what to expect in the coming splits. The 2022 LCS Spring Split will begin on January 14 and run through January 30, when the LCS finals will take place. From there, the spring split will begin in earnest on February 5 and run until April 2. The winner of the 2022 LCS Spring Split will attend the Mid Season Invitational to face off against the best teams from other regions around the world. The summer split will begin on June 18 and run until August 20.

NA super server arrives for LCS 2022

Riot is doing away with Academy Playoffs altogether and is instead opting to use regular play performance to determine seeding for the Proving Grounds tournament, which looks to be Riot’s main focus for showcasing amateur players against sister teams in Academy.

Champions Queue started as a conversation led by @TLCoreJJ six months ago. He challenged the PA to find a way to create a solo queue environment where all players could improve. https://t.co/3H7DFwVjy1
— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) November 16, 2021

Riot is also looking to improve the talent pipeline with a new server set on the west coast for high-skill players named Champions Queue. This appears to be, for all intents and purposes, a small-scale reproduction of the famous Chinese high-ranked servers. The LCS Player’s Association released a statement on the upcoming server.