2018 NA LCS season | |
---|---|
League | NA LCS |
Sport | League of Legends |
Duration |
|
Number of teams | 10 |
TV partner(s) | Twitch, YouTube |
Spring | |
Champions | Team Liquid |
Runners-up | 100 Thieves |
Top seed | 100 Thieves |
Season MVP | Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black |
Summer | |
Champions | Team Liquid |
Runners-up | Cloud9 |
Top seed | Team Liquid |
Season MVP | Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng |
Regional qualifier | |
Winner | Cloud9 |
The 2018 NA LCS season was the seventh season of the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS), a professional esports league for the video game League of Legends. The season was divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on January 20 and culminated with the playoff finals on April 8, 2018. The Summer Split began on June 16 and culminated with the Spring Split finals on September 9, 2018.
The 2018 season saw a shift in the NA LCS from a promotion and relegation system to a franchised league with ten permanent teams. The buy-in price for existing teams was US$10 million, while new teams incurred an additional $3 million, distributed to replaced teams. Over 100 applications were received, narrowed down to a shortlist, with the final ten franchised teams announced in November 2017. Of the final ten franchised teams, six were previously established in the NA LCS, while four new organizations joined the league.
Team Liquid won the spring split playoffs, qualifying them for the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational. Team Liquid also won the summer split playoffs, directly qualifying them for the 2018 World Championship. 100 Thieves and Cloud9 also qualified for the 2018 World Championship via Championship Points and winning the regional qualifier, respectively.