2016 NA LCS season
The 2016 NA LCS season was the fourth year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series.[2] It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. Regular season games were played in the Riot Games Studios in Los Angeles, California.
| 2016 NA LCS season | |
|---|---|
| League | NA LCS |
| Sport | League of Legends |
| Duration | January 16 – April 17 (Spring) June 3 – August 28 (Summer) |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | Twitch |
| Spring | |
| Champions | Counter Logic Gaming |
| Runners-up | Team SoloMid |
| Top seed | Immortals |
| Season MVP | Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin[1] (Immortals) |
| Summer | |
| Champions | Team SoloMid |
| Runners-up | Cloud9 |
| Top seed | Team SoloMid |
| Season MVP | Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg[1] (Team SoloMid) |
| Regional finals | |
| Winner | Cloud9 |
Format
Teams compete in a double round robin tournament over the course of nine weeks during the regular season, with matches being best-of-three. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoff stage, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. The seventh place team qualifies for the next split of the LCS but does not participate in playoffs. The bottom three teams play in a promotion/relegation tournament against the top two NA Challenger Series teams. Playoffs were single-elimination and matches were best-of-five. The winner of the summer split automatically qualified for the 2016 World Championship, while the team with the most cumulative championship points from the spring and summer splits also qualified for World Championship. A final team, the winner of the regional finals, also qualified for the World Championship.
Spring
Offseason changes
As the team with the worst record in the 2015 NA LCS Summer regular season, Team Dragon Knights was automatically relegated to the NA Challenger Series. As the eighth and ninth team places respectively, Team 8 and Enemy eSports were obligated to play in a promotion tournament against the second and third place Challenger teams, who were Team Coast and Team Imagine respectively. Enemy was relegated after losing to Coast 3–0, but Team 8 beat Imagine 3–1 to remain in the LCS. The two teams that won the Promotion matches both sold their spots to other teams before the start of the spring split. The LA Renegades were automatically promoted by winning the NA Challenger Series.
A total of three, Team Coast, Team 8, and Gravity Gaming sold their spots, all to new esports organizations that had been created for the sole purpose of being in the LCS. Coast sold their spot to NRG eSports,[3] Team 8 sold theirs to Immortals,[4] and Gravity to Echo Fox.[5] Team Impulse had announced their intentions to sell their spot,[6] but failed to do so by the deadline.[7] However, Team Impulse eventually sold its spot to Phoenix1 just before the summer split.[8]
Teams
| Team | Position in 2015 Summer Split | First appearance in LCS | Number of splits in LCS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud9 | 7th | Summer 2013 | 5 |
| Counter Logic Gaming | 1st | Spring 2013 | 6 |
| Echo Fox[lower-alpha 1] | N/A | Spring 2016 | 0 |
| Immortals[lower-alpha 2] | N/A | Spring 2016 | 0 |
| LA Renegades | N/A | Spring 2016 | 0 |
| NRG eSports[lower-alpha 3] | N/A | Spring 2016 | 0 |
| Team Dignitas | 5th–6th | Spring 2013 | 6 |
| Team Impulse | 4th | Summer 2014 | 3 |
| Team Liquid | 3rd | Spring 2013 | 6 |
| Team SoloMid | 2nd | Spring 2013 | 6 |
- Notes
- Spot acquired from Gravity Gaming[9]
- Spot acquired from Team 8[10]
- Spot acquired from Team Coast[11]
Rosters
| Team | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Role | |
| Cloud9 |
|
| |
| Counter Logic Gaming |
|
| |
| Echo Fox |
|
| |
| Immortals |
|
| |
| NRG eSports |
|
| |
| Renegades |
|
| |
| Team Dignitas |
|
| |
| Team Impulse |
|
|
|
| Team Liquid |
|
| |
| Team SoloMid |
|
| |
Regular season
| Place | Team | Match record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Immortals | 17–1 |
| 2. | Counter Logic Gaming | 13–5 |
| 3. | Cloud9 | 12–6 |
| 4. | Team Liquid | 10–8 |
| 5. | NRG eSports | 9–9 |
| 6. | Team SoloMid | 9–9 |
| 7. | Echo Fox | 6–12 |
| 8. | Renegades | 5–13 |
| 9. | Team Impulse | 5–13 |
| 10. | Team Dignitas | 4–14 |
Playoffs
The 2016 NA LCS Spring finals saw a rematch of the previous split's finals between Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming.[12] The finals were played in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.[13]
Standings
| Place | Team | Championship points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Counter Logic Gaming | 90 |
| 2nd | Team SoloMid | 70 |
| 3rd | Immortals | 50 |
| 4th | Team Liquid | 30 |
| 5th/6th | Cloud9 | 10 |
| 5th/6th | NRG eSports | 10 |
| 7th–10th | Echo Fox | 0 |
| 7th–10th | Renegades | 0 |
| 7th–10th | Team Impulse | 0 |
| 7th–10th | Team Dignitas | 0 |
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| RS1 | Immortals | 0 | |||||||||||
| RS3 | Cloud 9 | 1 | QF1 | Team SoloMid | 3 | ||||||||
| RS6 | Team SoloMid | 3 | 1 | Counter Logic Gaming | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | Team SoloMid | 2 | |||||||||||
| RS2 | Counter Logic Gaming | 3 | |||||||||||
| RS4 | Team Liquid | 3 | QF2 | Team Liquid | 2 | Third place match | |||||||
| RS5 | NRG eSports | 0 | 4 | Team Liquid | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | Immortals | 3 | |||||||||||
Summer
Teams
| Team | Position in 2016 Spring Split Playoffs | First appearance in LCS | Number of splits in LCS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud9 | 5th/6th | Summer 2013 | 6 |
| Counter Logic Gaming | 1st | Spring 2013 | 7 |
| Echo Fox | 7th | Spring 2016 | 1 |
| Immortals | 3rd | Spring 2016 | 1 |
| Team Envy | N/A | Summer 2016 | 0 |
| NRG Esports | 5th/6th | Spring 2016 | 1 |
| Phoenix1 | N/A | Summer 2016 | 0 |
| Team Apex | N/A | Summer 2016 | 0 |
| Team Liquid | 4th | Spring 2013 | 7 |
| Team SoloMid | 2nd | Spring 2013 | 7 |
Rosters
| Team | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Role | |
| Team Apex |
|
Lae-young Jang |
Top |
| Cloud9 |
Jung Eon-yeong |
Top | |
| Counter Logic Gaming |
Darshan Upadhyaya |
Top | |
| Echo Fox |
Park Jeong-hun (박정훈) |
Top | |
| Team Envy |
Shin Wu-Yeong |
Top | |
| Immortals |
Seung-hoon Heo |
Top | |
| NRG Esports |
Diego Ruiz |
Top | |
| Phoenix1 |
|
Derek Shao |
Top |
| Team Liquid |
Samson Jackson |
Top | |
| Team SoloMid |
Kevin Yarnell |
Top | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Regular season
| Place | Team | Match record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Team SoloMid | 17–1 |
| 2. | Immortals | 16–2 |
| 3. | Cloud9 | 12–6 |
| 4. | Counter Logic Gaming | 10–8 |
| 5. | Team Liquid | 9–9 |
| 6. | Team Envy^ | 8-10 |
| 7. | Apex Gaming^ | 8–10 |
| 8. | Phoenix1 | 5–13 |
| 9. | NRG Esports | 4–14 |
| 10. | Echo Fox | 1–15 |
^ — Team Envy won the tiebreaker over Apex Gaming due to head-to-head matchup in the regular season.
Playoffs
The summer finals were held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the first time an NA LCS match had been played outside of the United States.[14]
Standings
| Place | Team | Championship points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Team SoloMid | AQ |
| 2nd | Cloud9 | 90 |
| 3rd | Immortals | 70 |
| 4th | Counter Logic Gaming | 40 |
| 5th/6th | Team Envy | 20 |
| 5th/6th | Team Liquid | 20 |
| 7th/10th | 0 | |
| 7th/10th | 0 | |
| 7th/10th | 0 | |
| 7th/10th | 0 |
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| RS2 | Immortals | 2 | |||||||||||
| RS3 | Cloud9 | 3 | QF1 | Cloud9 | 3 | ||||||||
| RS6 | Team Envy | 1 | 2 | Cloud9 | 1 | ||||||||
| 1 | Team SoloMid | 3 | |||||||||||
| RS1 | Team SoloMid | 3 | |||||||||||
| RS4 | Counter Logic Gaming | 3 | QF2 | Counter Logic Gaming | 0 | Third place | |||||||
| RS5 | Team Liquid | 1 | 3 | Immortals | 3 | ||||||||
| 4 | Counter Logic Gaming | 2 | |||||||||||
Regional finals
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Finals | |||||||||||
| CP3 | Immortals | 1 | |||||||||||
| CP4 | Cloud9 | 3 | R2 | Cloud9 | 3 | ||||||||
| CP5 | Team Liquid | 0 | R1 | Team Envy | 0 | ||||||||
| CP6 | Team Envy | 3 | |||||||||||
References
- Volk, Pete (April 25, 2017). "NA LCS MVP: Updated winners list". The Rift Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
- Erzberger, Tyler (January 15, 2016). "NA LCS offseason report cards — CLG survives, NRG rises". ESPN.
- "Sacramento Kings co-owners buy LCS spot, recruit GBM, Impact". Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- "Team 8 has sold its LCS spot". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- "NBA legend Rick Fox buys pro League of Legends team". Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- LeJacq, Yannick. "League Of Legends Team Is Selling Its Spot In Next Year's Championship Series". Kotaku. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- "Tempo Storm came close to buying Team Impulse's LCS spot". Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- "Phoenix1 replaces Team Impulse, picks up Gate, Mash, Slooshi, and more". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- Gach, Ethan (June 6, 2016). "Rick Fox's Esport Teams Can't Stop Losing". Kotaku. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
- Hussain, Tamoor (October 7, 2015). "League of Legends Team-8 Acquired and Rebranded "Immortals," Expansion into Dota 2, Counter-Strike Planned". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- Rosen, Daniel (November 16, 2015). "NRG eSports acquire NA LCS spot; sign Impact, GBM, Moon and konkwon". theScore eSports. theScore Inc. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- Wolf, Jacob (January 9, 2016). "Every North American LCS team, and how they should stack up this season". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- "NA LCS spring finals to be held in Vegas". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- Erzberger, Tyler (June 6, 2016). "The NA LCS summer finals head to Toronto". ESPN. Retrieved January 19, 2020.