LEC 2021 Spring Season: Schedule, format, teams, how to watch, and more

The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is always one of the most hotly anticipated leagues in the game, with the ten teams of its franchise system going head-to-head for eight weeks as they battle for a playoff place.

The fight for the title of champion in Europe and a ticket to MSI 2021 will begin on 22nd January. That is why here we bring you all the details of what awaits the ten squads, along with the recently announced broadcast team that will give voice to the LEC in 2021.

LEC 2021 Spring: The teams

(Picture: Riot Games)

Being part of a franchise system, the ten participating teams of the LEC are more than known, however, one of these has undergone a resounding change, thanks to a new rebranding announced a few months ago.

These are the ten teams that will make part of the LEC 2021 Spring, along with their main rosters:

• Astralis (formerly Origen): Matti "WhiteKnight" Sormunen, Nikolay "Zanzarah" Akatov, Erlend "nukeduck" Holm, Jesper "Jeskla" Strömberg, and Mikael "promisq" Abrahamsson.
• Excel Esports: Felix "Kryze" Hellström, Tore "Tore" Eilertsen, Patrik "Patrik" Jírů, Paweł "Czekolad" Szczepanik, and Daniel "Dan" Hockley.
• FC Schalke 04 Esports: Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik, Erberk "Gilius" Demir, Felix "Abbedagge" Braun, Matúš "Neon" Jakubčík, and Dino "LIMIT" Tot.
• Fnatic: Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau, Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek, Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer, Elias "Upset" Lipp, and Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov.
• G2 Esports: Martin "Wunder" Hansen, Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski, Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, and Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle.

(Picture: Riot Games)

• MAD Lions: İrfan "Armut" Tükek, Javier "Elyoya" Prades, Marek "Humanoid" Brázda, Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság, and Norman "Kaiser" Kaiser.
• Misfits Gaming: Tobiasz "Agresivoo" Ciba, Iván "Razork" Díaz, Vincent "Vetheo" Berrié, Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup, and Petr "denyk" Haramach.
• Rogue: Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu, Kacper "Inspired" Słoma, Emil "Larssen" Larsson, Steven "Hans sama" Liv, and Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus.
• SK Gaming: Janik "Jenax" Bartels, Kristian "TynX" Østergaard, Ersin "Blue" Gören, Jean "Jezu" Massol, and Erik "Treatz" Wessén.
• Team Vitality: Mathias "Szygenda" Jensen, Duncan "Skeanz" Marquet, Aljoša "Milica" Kovandžić, Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos, and Labros "Labrov" Papoutsakis.

LEC 2021 Spring: The format

As always, the LEC 2021 Spring format will be the same implemented in its previous seasons:

Regular Season

• The ten teams will face each other in a Double Round Robin format.
• All games will be best of one.
• The best six teams after the group stage, will qualify for the Playoffs.
• In case of a tie, the tiebreaker criteria will be the supremacy between the teams involved, more victories in the second half of the season, and lower victory time between the teams.
• If the tie continues to persist, tiebreakers will be played between the teams involved.

Video explanation of the LEC 2020 format, the same for the LEC 2021 Season. (Credits: Riot Games)

Playoffs

• The playoffs will have a Double Elimination format.
• All games will be best of five.
• The top four will start the Playoffs from the winners’ bracket, while the top five and six will start from the losers’ bracket.
• 1st seed picks between 3rd and 4th seed in Round 1.
• Winner qualifies for the MSI 2021 Main Event.

LEC 2021 Spring: Schedule and Broadcast Team

We move on to the most interesting, the match schedule. The LEC 2021 Spring Season will be divided into eight weeks of competition, with broadcasts on Fridays and Saturdays each week, and with super broadcast days for Sundays, 24th January and the 14th March.

Each broadcast will be live from 5 pm CET to 11 pm CET, with special segments before and after each match.

(Picture: Riot Games)

The first match of the season will be between the reigning European champions, G2 Esports, against MAD Lions, in a rematch of the LEC 2020 Summer Playoffs, where G2 managed to get ahead in the winners' bracket with a 3-1 score.

In addition to this, Riot Games announced yesterday those who will be part of the broadcast team for the LEC 2021 Season, these being:

• Trevor “Quickshot” Henry.
• Eefje “sjokz” Depoortere.
• Daniel Drakos.
• Aaron “Medic” Chamberlain.
• Andrew “Vedius” Day.
• Laure “Bulii” Valée.
• Marc “Caedrel” Lamont.
• Dan “Foxdrop” Wyatt.
• Christy “Ender” Frierson.

(Picture: Riot Games)

Thus, the path for the ten teams of the LEC to become the new European champion is about to begin.

Can G2 Esports stay on the throne for longer? Will Fnatic get back to its great days with its new big signings? Or will it be some other team that manages to surprise and win the championship title?

The LEC 2021 Spring Season begins this Friday, 22nd January, at 5 pm CET, through its official channels on Twitch and YouTube.