The LEC will allegedly change to a three-split format in 2023

Big changes are coming to the LEC in 2023. A report from Blix’s Alejandro Gomis details that the European competition is dropping the two-split format and will shift to one that has three splits. The new format is also said to use fewer best-of-ones and instead host more best-of-three matches.

According to the report, each LEC split will be divided into three sections. The first three weeks see all ten teams go head-to-head in matches played across three days each week. Though Blix’s report doesn’t detail it, it’s presumed that this will be a single Round Robin in which all teams play against each other once. After this phase of the split concludes, the top eight of the competition advance to the next phase. The bottom two LEC teams are eliminated from the split.

In the second phase of the new LEC format, teams are put in a GSL group. Over the course of multiple weeks, the teams are pitched against each other in best-of-three series. Matchups in GSL formats are decided based on the standings. This means that an LEC team that’s 0-1 in the GSL group will always play another 0-1 team in their next best-of-three series. The GSL phase of the LEC split ends when four teams have won two best-of-three series. These four teams advance to the playoffs. For the other four teams, the split ends.

Still many uncertainties

There are still many gaps to be filled with regards to the new LEC format. The two-split system that was used in the past years played around the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship, with the winner of the first split going to MSI and the top-three of the second split going to Worlds. If the LEC indeed switches to a three-split format, they’ll have to adjust how these representatives are selected.

That said, the new format does give the LEC’s best teams more games to play during the year. Often-heard criticism of the old format was that the many best-of-ones LEC teams had to play during the regular split deprived them of stage experience. In 2023, the best teams will play a few more games during the year if they consistently make it to the top of the region.