With a successful Summer Season behind us — congratulations again IMT Arrow! — [Champions Queue][1] is back online! And this time, we’ve gone global.
Continuing our mission to provide the highest quality practice experience in the region, and to celebrate the World Championship’s arrival on North American shores, we’re opening Champions Queue to all teams competing at Worlds for the duration of the tournament. That’s right — North America’s refined, high-elo matchmaking service will host the world’s top players, mixing international stars with the best our region has to offer.
In order to provide a low latency environment throughout the multi-city Worlds procession, Champions Queue will move to the server closest to the current stage — Mexico City for Play-Ins, Chicago for Groups through Semifinals, and back to Los Angeles for Finals. All matches will be played on the Worlds Patch (12.18), and will support zero-delay streaming by any player or spectator with Champions Queue access (any suspicion of ghosting will be cause for immediate removal).
Speaking of access, all current Champions Queue players will be given access, pending a review by the CQ Council, in order to participate. In addition to all players competing at Worlds, any active pro players from a Worlds-qualifying league that plan to travel will be able to request access through their local esport office. We’re also expanding the spectator pool, offering streaming access to select content creators globally. Interested content creators should contact their local LPP manager to request access, with the caveat that all Champions Queue streaming will be prohibited during the live Worlds broadcast.
Like previous seasons, Champions Queue will feature integrated voice comms, an MMR system, and a redesigned, Worlds-themed public leaderboard for fans to follow their favorite player’s climb up the ladder. As usual, in order to shorten matchmaking times and soften its impact on regional solo queue, Champions Queue will only run during limited, predetermined windows during Worlds. Given that Champions Queue will primarily be a practice space during Worlds, we will not be offering any prizing for participants in this window, keeping the competitive focus on the tournament.
Champions Queue has been a major step forward for North America’s competitive scene, and we’re proud of the way it evolved throughout 2022 to meet the needs of our players. We can’t wait to welcome our international visitors to the server and introduce North America’s talented upcomers to the best League of Legends pros in the world.
We’re ready for Faker vs. RJS — are you?
[1]: https://championsqueue.lolesports.com
