Riot Games revealed its plans to change the broadcast schedules of the leagues in its League of Legends esports ecosystem on 15th December 2022. As a result, the League of Legends EMEA [Europe, Middle East, and Africa] Championship (LEC) will be played on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and move away from the usual two-day schedule. Additionally, the games are set to begin at 6 pm CET. Starting 2023, the LEC features three splits starting with the LEC 2023 Winter Split. Following this, teams will play the usual Spring and Summer splits and the LEC Season Finals will be the culmination of the league’s competitive year.
Here’s all you need to know about the LEC 2023 Winter Split.
The LEC 2023 Winter Season is the first split of the newly merged EMEA League of Legends system. This is the fifth year of the LEC and the first season following the changed format. The Winter split features three different stages. Stage 1 saw all ten teams competing in a best-of-one (BO1), single round-robin setup. Meanwhile, the top eight teams advanced to Stage 2, a double elimination group stage. From here, the top four will make it to Stage 3, the double-elimination playoffs. Stages 2 and 3 will feature best-of-threes and fives.
The same format will continue for the Spring and Summer splits, and the top six teams from across the season will fight for the championship in a double elimination bracket and for qualification to Worlds 2023 during the LEC Season Finals.
Stage 1 (Regular season)
10 teams participate
Single Round Robin
Matches are best of one
The top eight teams advance to Stage 2
Stage 2 (Groups)
Eight teams participate
Teams will be split into two groups of four
Double-elimination bracket
Matches are best-of-three (BO3)
Top two of each group advance to Stage 3
Stage 3 (Playoffs)
Four teams participate
Double-elimination bracket
Matches are best-of-five (BO5)
The Playoffs is the final stage of the newly changed LEC 2023 Winter Split. Here, the top four teams from the Group Stage participate. The Playoffs kicked off on 20th February with the first round match and the top four teams in this stage are KOI, G2 Esports (G2), SK Gaming (SK), and MAD Lions (MAD). They will be taking part in a double-elimination bracket and all matches are best-of-five (BO5) to crown the LEC Winter Split champion.
Date | Match | Time (CET) | W-L Record | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
20th February | KOI vs G2 | 6.00 pm | 1-3 | G2 Esports |
24th February | SK vs MAD | 6.00 pm | 2-3 | MAD Lions |
Date | Match | Time (CET) | W-L Record | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
25th February | KOI vs MAD | 6.00 pm | 1-3 | MAD Lions |
Date | Match | Time (CET) | W-L Record | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
26th February | G2 vs MAD | 6.00 pm | 3-0 | G2 Esports |
(You can find the Stage 2 standings and match results below)
The Group Stage of the LEC 2023 Winter Split kicked off on 11th February, with just eight teams in the running after Fnatic and Excel Esports got eliminated after the regular split. The eight teams were split into two groups of four each and they will be taking part in a double-elimination bracket. From here, the top four teams will advance to Stage 3, the playoffs. Note that the matches are best-of-three (BO3) and each game will feature two matchups.
The Groups are as follows:
Group | Teams | W-L Record |
---|---|---|
Group A | KOI (KOI) | 2-0 |
SK Gaming (SK) | 2-1 | |
Team Vitality (VIT) | 1-2 | |
Team Heretics (TH) | 0-2 | |
Group B | G2 Esports (G2) | 2-0 |
MAD Lions (MAD) | 2-1 | |
Astralis (AST) | 1-2 | |
Team BDS (BDS) | 0-2 |
Date | Bracket | Match | Time (CET) | W-L Record | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11th February | Group A Upper Bracket | VIT vs TH | 6.00 pm | 2-1 | Team Vitality |
SK vs KOI | 9.00 pm | 0-2 | KOI | ||
12th February | Group B Upper Bracket | MAD vs AST | 6.00 pm | 2-1 | MAD Lions |
G2 vs BDS | 9.00 pm | 2-1 | G2 Esports | ||
13th February | Group A Winners Match | VIT vs KOI | 6.00 pm | 0-2 | KOI |
Group B Winners Match | MAD vs G2 | 9.00 pm | 0-2 | G2 Esports |
Date | Bracket | Match | Time (CET) | W-L Record | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
18th February | Group A Elimination Match | TH vs SK | 6.00 pm | 0-2 | SK Gaming |
Group B Elimination Match | AST vs BDS | 9.00 pm | 2-1 | Astralis | |
19th February | Group A Decider Match | VIT vs SK | 6.00 pm | 0-2 | SK Gaming |
Group B Decider Match | MAD vs AST | 9.00 pm | 2-0 | MAD Lions |
(You can find the Stage 1 standings and match results below)
Standings | Team | Record |
---|---|---|
1 | Team Vitality (VIT) | 7 - 2 |
2 | MAD Lions (MAD) | 7 - 2 |
3 | G2 Esports (G2) | 6 - 3 |
4 | SK Gaming (SK) | 6 - 3 |
5 | Team BDS (BDS) | 5 - 4 |
6 | Team Heretics (TH) | 4 - 5 |
7 | KOI | 4 - 5 |
8 | Astralis (AST) | 3 - 6 |
9 | Fnatic (FNC) | 2 - 7 |
10 | Excel (XL) | 1 - 8 |
The LEC Winter Split 2023 is kicking off on 21st January 2023 and will feature intense League of Legends action. The times mentioned in the table are in CET and are subject to change.
Date | Match | Time (CET) | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
21/01/2023 | G2 vs XL | 6:00 PM | G2 |
KOI vs BDS | 7:00 PM | KOI | |
AST vs TH | 8:00 PM | HRT | |
SK vs MAD | 9:00 PM | MAD | |
FNC vs VIT | 10:00 PM | VIT | |
22/01/2023 | SK vs BDS | 6:00 PM | BDS |
AST vs MAD | 7:00 PM | MAD | |
VIT vs TH | 8:00 PM | VIT | |
XL vs KOI | 9:00 PM | KOI | |
G2 vs FNC | 10:00 PM | G2 | |
23/01/2023 | SK vs TH | 6:00 PM | SK |
XL vs BDS | 7:00 PM | XL | |
G2 vs AST | 8:00 PM | G2 | |
FNC vs KOI | 9:00 PM | FNC | |
MAD vs VIT | 10:00 PM | VIT |
Date | Match | Time (CET) | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
28/01/2023 | AST vs VIT | 6:00 PM | VIT |
FNC vs BDS | 7:00 PM | BDS | |
KOI vs TH | 8:00 PM | TH | |
G2 vs SK | 9:00 PM | SK | |
XL vs MAD | 10:00 PM | MAD | |
29/01/2023 | AST vs BDS | 6:00 PM | BDS |
SK vs VIT | 7:00 PM | SK | |
G2 vs TH | 8:00 PM | G2 | |
FNC vs XL | 9:00 PM | FNC | |
KOI vs MAD | 10:00 PM | MAD | |
30/01/2023 | XL vs AST | 6:00 PM | AST |
BDS vs MAD | 7:00 PM | BDS | |
KOI vs SK | 8:00 PM | SK | |
G2 vs VIT | 9:00 PM | VIT | |
FNC vs TH | 10:00 PM | TH |
Date | Match | Time (CET) | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
04/02/2023 | SK vs AST | 6:00 PM | AST |
TH vs XL | 7:00 PM | TH | |
BDS vs G2 | 8:00 PM | G2 | |
FNC vs MAD | 9:00 PM | MAD | |
VIT vs KOI | 10:00 PM | KOI | |
05/02/2023 | XL vs SK | 6:00 PM | SK |
BDS vs VIT | 7:00 PM | VIT | |
TH vs MAD | 8:00 PM | MAD | |
AST vs FNC | 9:00 PM | AST | |
G2 vs KOI | 10:00 PM | G2 | |
06/02/2023 | BDS vs TH | 6:00 PM | BDS |
KOI vs AST | 7:00 PM | KOI | |
SK vs FNC | 8:00 PM | SK | |
MAD vs G2 | 9:00 PM | MAD | |
VIT vs XL | 10:00 PM | VIT |
Fans can watch the LEC 2023 Winter Split live on the official LEC channel on Twitch once the league kicks off on 21st January 2023. You can also check out the games as video on demand (VODs) on the LoL Esports VODs and Highlights channel.