The LCK has long been the most competitive League of Legends region in the world. But as of 2019, it was also the last without a franchise partner. But that will soon be over.

This past weekend, Riot Korea officially announced that League of Legends Championship Korea, South Korea’s premier League of Legends tournament, will move to a franchise model for the 2021 Spring Split.

The end of an era
On its new website, Riot Korea confirmed that the league, commonly known as LCK, will move away from the traditional promotion and relegation series after the summer split. Instead, it will focus on the “long-term partnership” model already used in the other three major regions – the LCS in North America, the LEC in Europe and the LPL in China.

The company cites several reasons for this, such as the supports for the stability of the organizations and fundraising. Creating a better working environment for players and building a long-lasting fan base also plays a role here. However, they also address the criticisms of this model: for example, the possibility that a weak organization does not need to improve or the concerns about the current challenges of the scene.

To participate in the new model, organizations must submit an application to Riot Korea detailing their business plan. They must show how they plan to raise the funds they need and work. Riot will then review the applications and announce in September who will be accepted. This should give the organizations the time they need to prepare for the split in spring 2021.

What is franchising?
Under the current model, amateur teams can play through a series of tournaments to reach the LCK. The final step before that is the league known as Challengers Korea (CK for short). Before each LCK – Season , the top teams in the CK play against the bottom teams in the LCK for the highly coveted starting spots in the LCK.

Many powerful LCK organizations started as amateur teams that fought their way into the LCK. DAMWON Gaming, currently the third best team in the league, did so in the spring of 2019.

However, many team owners have complained that the uncertainty of the old model prevents them from expanding their brands. Also, the profit-sharing method would help them develop their organizations. Riot’s answer to this is the franchise model, which has already been implemented in most professional leagues.

In such a model, organizations compete for permanent spots, with the selected organizations paying a certain amount to become permanent members of the league. They also receive a share of the league’s revenues, e.g., from sponsorships, broadcast rights for games, etc.

New teams can join the LCK only if Riot increases the number of teams, an organization sells its spot, it loses it due to misconduct, or is expelled from the league. The last possibility is extremely rare, but earlier this year it happened in the CIS region, where Vaevictis lost their spot due to lack of competitive performance.

Since there is no longer a promotion system, the Challenger League will be replaced by a new league in which professional teams must field Challenger squads that attract and promote emerging talent. In some regions, such as Europe or China, this circuit is also open to amateur teams, but so far we don’t know if this will be the case in South Korea.

What we can expect

Now that Riot Korea has announced it, the stage is set for the LCK. While many fans prefer the added risks and new faces that come with a promotion system, Europe and China have shown that the new system can improve the level of a region.

Likewise, not only have the major sports associations and Riot Games been pushing for this move for a long time, but the format has been adopted by competitors like Blizzard’s Overwatch League.

It is very likely that some of the organizations participating in Summer Split 2020 will not be eligible for the new league. While Riot has not announced this yet, in other leagues, the organizations that lost their spot were compensated with some of the money the tournament organizer received from the successful applicants. However, most of the big names – T1, KT Rolster or Gen.G – will most likely stay.

Meanwhile, the final Qualifier tournament will take place later this year to determine whether we’ll see some new blood in Korea’s Premier Circuit.

If you want to see what a Qualifier tournament of such a league looks like, you can check out our guide to the EU Masters tournament that is currently taking place!

Overwatch

Overwatch is a computer game by Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft) and a first-person shooter with individual fantasy elements. The game was released in May 2016.

In Overwatch, the player must choose between 21 unique characters, which can be freely selected in a loosely held classification system (offensive and defensive class, support unit and tanks).

A character’s three to four different abilities can be controlled and activated through the mouse and keyboard. The game modes already vary from scoring points to cargo hauling. Team play is required in both modes, as each character takes on a specific role in the battlefield (e.g. heal teammates, provide backup, or secure defensive lines).

The name Overwatch derives itself from a fictional elite military unit that came together when robots tried to subjugate humanity in a near future. Individual characters are associated with this unit in the game, while others oppose it. It is not yet known whether the storyline will continue in multiplayer.

Brawl

Brawl is a game mode in which time-limited rule variations of the well-known modes are drawn. Sometimes completely new game modes are used in Brawls.

Rule variations include, for example, the restriction to certain heroes or classes, changes to the cool-down times or certain cards. New game modes that have been playable so far include a soccer game and a PvE mode.

Usually, Brawls are restarted as Brawl of the Week every Tuesday at 22:00 UTC and are then playable for a week. On certain occasions, such as – Season al events, Brawls may also be playable for a longer or shorter period of time.

The game mode is comparable to the card chaos from Hearthstone and was activated for the first time in the beta phase on March 22, 2016 through a patch.

Actions

• Arcade: More health, shorter skill and ultimate cooldowns, and faster resurrection after death.
• Girl Power: Female heroes only.
• Head’s Up!: McCree, Genji, Hanzo, and Widowmaker. Only head hits count.
• High Noon: High Noon on Route 66, only head hits with McCree count.
• Highly Offensive: Only offensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Junkenstein’s Revenge: Soldier, Hanzo, Ana, Mc Cree only (1 each). The first co-op PVE mode in Overwatch. Part of the – Season al event Halloween Horror.
• Justice rains from Above: Only Mercy and Pharah playable.
• Moba Watch: Only unique heroes per team. No hero switching allowed.
• Mystery Heroes: Upon death, you will be resurrected as a randomly selected Hero.
• Overly Defensive: Only defensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Show Your Support: Support Heroes only. The limit is two of the same Hero per team.
• Super Shimada Bros: Welcome to Hanamura. Only Hanzo and Genji are playable. Shorter skill cooldowns, longer ultimate cooldowns.
• Tanks A Lot: Tank heroes only. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Only McCree, Reaper and Roadhog playable.
• We’re all Soldiers now: Only Soldier: 76 playable on control cards.
• Lucioball: Lucio only: Soccer mode, 3 vs 3.
• Yeti Hunt: Five meis against a yeti that has the characteristics of Winston.

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