The new amateur League of Legends scene and how Risen Esports fits into it!
If you’re new to the League of Legends amateur scene, you might be wondering what this whole high elo competitive scene is and how it works.
Back in November, Riot Games posted an update about the 2021 Amateur Ecosystem. They discussed how they were creating a new amateur tournament system that would differ with what they’d tried in previous years.
Before we go over this new amateur system, let’s take a look at the most previous system Riot used — the Scouting Grounds Circuit.
What is the Scouting Grounds Circuit?
Risen Esports participated in the most recent Scouting Grounds Circuit that took place last summer. Teams competed and earned points in the Legends Weekend League run by FACEIT, Upsurge Esports, BIG League, Challengers Uprising, Focus Esports, and Risen Esports.
The 8 teams who earned the most qualification points throughout these tournaments went on to the Scouting Grounds Circuit Playoffs. ANEW Esports emerged victorious for the second year in a row, followed by 100 Thieves Next.
Players from both teams were invited to the 2020 NA Scouting Grounds, along with the top 2 solo queue players in each role. They were drafted into 4 teams and had the opportunity to showcase their talents for LCS teams in a double round robin group stage, third place match, and finals.
How is the LCS Proving Grounds Different?
In the LCS Proving Grounds, players won’t just have the chance to compete against other amateur players; they’ll have the chance to compete with Academy Teams and prove their worth against some of the best players in North America.
Teams will start in Tier 2 tournaments (like ours!) and earn qualification points for Tier 1 tournaments. From there, the top teams from the Tier 1 tournaments will qualify into the LCS Proving Grounds. They’ll compete against each other and LCS Academy teams who qualify into the Proving Grounds.
The LCS Proving Grounds will take the place of the LCS Academy Playoffs. At the conclusion of the Proving Grounds, we’ll get to see who the best NA team is outside of the LCS!
What is the Risen Champions League and how does our tournament work?
The Risen Champions League is an amateur tournament for high elo NA players. We’ve grown immensely over the past two years, going from a Diamond average tournament to Grandmaster/Challenger average for this upcoming split!
This month, we’re running a Tier 2 tournament for the LCS Proving Grounds on 1/11 to 1/12, 1/16 to 1/19, and 1/23 to 1/24 at 8pm ET. Teams will earn qualification points depending on their record at the end of the tournament.
During the first few days, teams will compete in a Swiss-style format. They’ll start out at 0–0 and face teams with the same record as them as they win or lose their Swiss matches. The top 6 teams (teams with a 4–0 record or a 4–1 record) will move onto a single elimination playoffs. During playoffs, the top 4 teams will win a share of our $6200 prize pool.
Where can I watch the tournament and follow along?
We’re streaming two matches each day on our main Twitch channel and on our secondary Twitch channel. The pre-show for our main stream starts at 7:30pm ET and games start at 8pm ET for both streams. Swiss games are Best of 3 and playoffs games are Best of 5. That means you’ll have plenty of game time to get familiar with the players and teams.
On this blog, we’re posting player interviews, team rankings, and more so subscribe to receive free amateur content! If you want to get a head start on scouting the amateur teams, check out the rosters.
You’ll recognize orgs such as Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, and 100 Thieves. And, this tournament season, you’ll have the chance to learn about and cheer on some talented teams and players you hadn’t previously heard of!
We hope you’re excited to join us for this new and exciting amateur season. Sit back, find a team you want to root for, and, hopefully, follow them along to greatness.
