New name, new region, even more incredible talent: welcome to the newly-branded EMEA Masters 2023!
Last week, we revealed that Europe, Türkiye, CIS, and MENA would be combining to create EMEA, an expanded region for the future of competitive League. And now, we’ve got some more information to share on one of the key tournaments within our ecosystem: EMEA Masters.
EMEA Masters brings together the champions of the EMEA Regional League (ERLs) in a clash of the region’s most exciting rising stars. Formerly EU Masters, the tournament has produced players who’ve climbed their way from ERLs to League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), and gone on to blaze a trail on the international stage as representatives of EMEA’s crown jewel competition.
Of the LEC’s Worlds 2022 representatives, 11 of the 21 starting players were direct graduates of the ERLs. Some of the LEC’s most successful teams are populated by players who, only a few short years ago, were setting out on the EU Masters stage in search of regional and international glory.
And now, EMEA Masters is bringing you a whole new level of competition – as we are happy to announce that the Türkiye Championship League (TCL) and Arabian League (AL) will be joining our existing 11 ERLs in sending representatives to the tournament.
As we transition into a new era in EMEA, a new generation of ERL stars are making their way into the spotlight – and EMEA Masters Spring will be their first chance to show what they’re made of against representatives from the expanded ERL circuit.
The tournament format will remain the same for 2023 – kicking off with the Play-In Group Stage, where 16 teams will be divided into groups of four to qualify and attempt to qualify for the Play-In Knockout Stage. The top two teams from each Play-In Group will progress to the Play-In Knockout Stage, with the winning team from each match progressing to the Main Group Stage.
The Main Group Stage will see the four qualifying teams from the Play-Ins join the 12 teams that automatically qualified for the Main Group Stage be divided into four groups and face off in a best-of-one, double round-robin format. From those four groups, eight teams (two from each group) will progress to the Quarterfinal stage, where teams will compete in best-of-five matches all the way to the Grand Final, in the fight to be crowned the best in EMEA.
With the addition of two new leagues to our ecosystem, we’re changing the slot allocation for leagues participating in EMEA Masters. Here’s a breakdown of how many teams will be invited from each league for EMEA Masters Spring:
LFL - 2 main stage, 1 play-in
TCL - 2 main stage, 1 play-in
SL - 2 main stage
PRM - 2 main stage
UL - 2 main stage
NLC - 1 main stage, 1 play-in
PGN - 1 main stage, 1 play-in
EBL - 2 play-in
LPLOL - 2 play-in
GLL - 2 play-in
ESLOL - 2 play-in
HM - 2 play-in
AL - 2 play-in
13 leagues, 28 teams, and everything to play for at EMEA Masters 2023. The fight for regional pride is only just getting started – which team will you be supporting?
