TL;DR

• Welcoming Brandon Sanderson’s Dragonsteel (in partnership with Maryville University) and OTK’s Starforge Systems (in partnership with Cincinnati Fear) to the NACL
• Full Fearless Draft and More Bo5s in Playoffs
• Introducing Money Matches to the Regular Season
• Updated channel naming and a brand new YouTube
• Announcing the Summer Split schedule and format

It’s summertime and the North American Challengers League is just around the corner! There are a lot of new updates this split, so read on to learn more.

Welcoming Dragonsteel and Starforge Systems

First, we want to extend a warm welcome to Brandon Sanderson’s Dragonsteel as well as OTK’s Starforge Systems to the NACL.

When we spoke with these organizations during the off-season, it was clear how much passion they have for the LoL Esports ecosystem and supporting aspiring players on their path to professional play. At the same time, creating an esports organization from scratch is an incredibly daunting task, meaning historically it’s been difficult for organizations without existing esports operations to join the NACL. That’s why over this off-season we implemented a new NACL partnership model.

Through this model, these organizations will be partnering with existing NACL teams while providing direct financial support to foster the future of North American talent. Specifically, Dragonsteel will be partnering with Maryville University, while Starforge Systems will be partnering with Cincinnati Fear. Make sure to tune in this Summer to see them take on the NACL!

Full Fearless, More Best-of-5 Playoffs

Feedback from Spring Season Fearless Draft was overwhelmingly positive from the community, pro players, and teams - in fact, the largest criticism was that we didn’t go far enough!

In Summer Split, we will be one of the first regions globally to feature Full Fearless Draft. Instead of champion picks being locked out per team, champions picks will be locked out across both teams. We’re excited about this change as it should keep every match interesting and dynamic, even in 2-0 series. This also means we’ll be keeping our Regular Season format of Single Round Robin Bo3.

For Bo5s, given the large number of champion lockouts, Game 4 will only allow for teams to ban 3 champions (no second round bans). In Game 5, they won’t be allowed to ban any champions.

We discussed and reviewed multiple different options for Bo5s with teams but went with this version as a way to ensure the games remain competitive without locking out too many champions for teams.

Additionally, we received feedback that fans, teams, and pros wanted more Bo5s in Playoffs as Bo5s showcase how unique Fearless Draft is. As a result, the NACL Playoffs format will feature double the amount of Bo5s, going from four in Spring to eight in Summer. In order to accommodate the extra matches, we’ll be using a modified version of double elimination. The top 8 teams will still qualify for Playoffs to keep the spirit of “miracle runs” alive and well.

Introducing “Money Matches”

Something that exists in other esports is the concept of a “money match,” a one-off match where the winner will walk away with cash prizing! During the NACL Superweeks (Weeks 4 and 5), each NACL team will have two of their regular season series become Money Matches to create fun opportunities for teams and players to banter while chasing that extra prizing on the line. The NACL teams were really excited about this concept and felt it was a great way to spice things up during the middle of the season.

Standardizing Channel Names

We heard the feedback that between LCS Challengers, NACL, and PathToLCS, our branding wasn’t as clear as it should be, and the lack of a YouTube channel as an alternative streaming platform was a pain point. So, we are simplifying all our naming to NACL, as well as launching a YouTube channel! If you were already following the channels in the past, you’re set - but if you haven’t been keeping up with our social channels, follow the channels below to keep up-to-date on all things NACL.

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/watchNACL
• Twitch: https://Twitch.tv/NACL
• YouTube: YouTube.com/@NACL

NACL 2024 Summer Split

With the announcements out of the way, let’s dive into what you can expect from the NACL this summer.

TEAMS

We’re excited to welcome our 10 NACL teams for the summer!

• Area of Effect (AOE)
• Blue Otter (BLUE) - New from the Promotion Tournament!
• CCG Esports (CCG) - New from the Promotion Tournament!
• Disguised (DSG)
• Dragonsteel (DSTL)
• Fear x Starforge (FXS)
• FlyQuest NZXT Challengers (FLYC)
• Supernova (SN)
• Team Liquid Honda Challengers (TLC)
• Winthrop University (WU) - New team!

SCHEDULE

The NACL will still be played on weekends after the LCS ends each week. To avoid super late night matches, we’ll be starting games at 5 pm PT if the LCS runs over broadcast time.

NACL Regular Season

• Week 1: 6/15 - 6/16
• Week 2: 6/22 - 6/23
• Week 3: 6/29 - 6/30
• Week 4: 7/5 - 7/7 (Money Matches)
• Week 5: 7/12 - 7/14 (Money Matches)
• Week 6: 7/20 - 7/21
• Week 7: 7/27 - 7/28
• Week 8: 8/3 - 8/4
• Week 9: 8/10 - 8/11

NACL Playoffs

• Week 1: 8/17 - 8/18
• Week 2: 8/23 - 8/25
• Week 3: 8/29 - 9/1
• Finals: 9/8 @ Riot Games Arena, Los Angeles

NACL Qualifiers

The NACL Qualifiers are back for Summer! Things are mostly as you remember them from Spring with two month-long tournaments consisting of a Swiss Stage, GSL Stage, and Elimination Stage. As in Spring, the winner of the second Qualifier in addition to the top 3 teams from points earned across both tournaments will advance to the NACL Promotion Tournament (a Double Elimination bracket) for their chance to make it into the NACL.

There are a few changes for Summer, including switching to Full Fearless Draft to match the NACL. Additionally, we’ll be making a small change to our Swiss Stage - reseeding teams after their Day 1 performance thanks to feedback from teams. We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be providing partial live coverage of the NACL Qualifiers on our second broadcast channel - Twitch.tv/NACL2. For more information on the first Qualifier, including applying to compete or for the Selection Committee, make sure to head over to Rally Cry.

NACL QUALIFIERS SCHEDULE

• Qualifier #1
  • Week 1: 6/15 - 6/16
  • Week 2: 6/22 - 6/23
  • Week 3: 6/29 - 6/30
  • Week 4: 7/6 - 7/7
  • Week 5: 7/13 - 7/14
• Qualifier #2
  • Week 1: 7/27 - 7/28
  • Week 2: 8/3 - 8/4
  • Week 3: 8/10 - 8/11
  • Week 4: 8/17 - 8/18
  • Week 5: 8/24 - 8/25
• NACL Promotion Tournament
  • 9/2 - 9/7