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.

Format and changes

Franchising

In June 2017, Riot Games announced that the NA LCS would shift from a promotion and relegation system to franchised league with ten permanent teams beginning in 2018. Each of the ten teams would have guaranteed spots, with the hope to encourage owners to make substantial investments, including the creation of training facilities and improvements in coaching, scouting, and player well-being. Each team was also mandated to maintain an academy squad for emerging talent development. Riot Games also raised the minimum salary for players to US$75,000, with an average annual income for League pros around $150,000. Additionally, a players' association was established to offer financial, legal, and career-building support to players.^[1]

The buy-in price for the league was $10 million for existing League of Legends teams, who had previously participated in the League Championship Series or Challenger Series. New teams would be subject to an additional $3 million, which was distributed to the teams that were replaced in the league. The NA LCS received over 100 applications for a spot in the league.^[2][3] Those applications were then narrowed down to a shortlist, nicknamed "phase two", which saw participants travel to Riot Games' Los Angeles office to interview and review their applications.^[4]

The ten franchised teams were announced in November 2017. Among the already established teams in the NA LCS were FlyQuest, Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Echo Fox, and Team Liquid. The other four existing teams, Immortals, Phoenix1, Team Dignitas and Team EnVyUs, were declined entry into the restructured league.^[5][6] Due to their departure, four new organizations were added to the NA LCS: 100 Thieves, Clutch Gaming, Golden Guardians, and OpTic Gaming.^[7]

Match length

On September 29, 2017, Riot Games announced that the NA LCS would return to a best-of-one format for the 2018 season. The three previous splits employed a best-of-three format and aired two streams simultaneously. According to Riot, the change to a best-of-three format was aimed to increase fan engagement, but its incorporation of simultaneous dual streams to accommodate more games led to a drop in viewership.^[8]

Spring

The Spring Split regular season began on January 20 and ended on March 18, 2018. The regular season followed a standard double round-robin format, where each team faced every other team twice. All matches were best-of-one.^[9] The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which ran from March 24 to April 8, 2018. Of the six teams, the top two started in the semifinals, while the bottom four started in the quarterfinals.^[10] The winner of the playoffs advanced to the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational.^[11]

The Spring Split third place match and final was played at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, Florida.^[12]

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Aphromoo, 100 Thieves^[13]
• Rookie of the Split: Licorice, Cloud9^[13]
• Coach of the Split: Pr0lly, 100 Thieves^[13]

Summer

The Summer Split regular season ran from June 16 to August 19, 2018, and followed the same format as the Spring Split.^[14] The top six teams from the summer regular season secured spots in the Summer Split playoffs, which ran from August 25 to September 9, 2018. The playoffs were a single-elimination tournament, with top two teams starting in the semifinals and the following four starting in the quarterfinals. The winner of the summer playoffs directly qualified for the 2018 World Championship.^[15]

The Summer Split third place match and final took place at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.^[16]

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Doublelift, Team SoloMid^[17]
• Rookie of the Split: Blaber, Cloud9^[17]
• Coach of the Split: Reapered, Cloud9^[17]

Worlds qualification

Championship Points

Regional qualifier

The regional qualifier was a single elimination ladder tournament that ran from September 14 to 16, and consisted of the top four teams in the LCS based on championship points that had not directly qualified for the 2018 World Championship. All matches were best-of-five The winner of the Regional Finals advanced to the 2018 World Championship.^[18]