2016 NA LCS season

The 2016 NA LCS season was the fourth year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series.[2] It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. Regular season games were played in the Riot Games Studios in Los Angeles, California.

2016 NA LCS season
LeagueNA LCS
SportLeague of Legends
DurationJanuary 16 – April 17 (Spring)
June 3 – August 28 (Summer)
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)Twitch
Spring
ChampionsCounter Logic Gaming
  Runners-upTeam SoloMid
Top seedImmortals
Season MVPKim "Reignover" Yeu-jin[1]
(Immortals)
Summer
ChampionsTeam SoloMid
  Runners-upCloud9
Top seedTeam SoloMid
Season MVPSøren "Bjergsen" Bjerg[1]
(Team SoloMid)
Regional finals
WinnerCloud9

Format

Teams compete in a double round robin tournament over the course of nine weeks during the regular season, with matches being best-of-three. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoff stage, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. The seventh place team qualifies for the next split of the LCS but does not participate in playoffs. The bottom three teams play in a promotion/relegation tournament against the top two NA Challenger Series teams. Playoffs were single-elimination and matches were best-of-five. The winner of the summer split automatically qualified for the 2016 World Championship, while the team with the most cumulative championship points from the spring and summer splits also qualified for World Championship. A final team, the winner of the regional finals, also qualified for the World Championship.

Offseason changes

As the team with the worst record in the 2015 NA LCS Summer regular season, Team Dragon Knights was automatically relegated to the NA Challenger Series. As the eighth and ninth team places respectively, Team 8 and Enemy eSports were obligated to play in a promotion tournament against the second and third place Challenger teams, who were Team Coast and Team Imagine respectively. Enemy was relegated after losing to Coast 3–0, but Team 8 beat Imagine 3–1 to remain in the LCS. The two teams that won the Promotion matches both sold their spots to other teams before the start of the spring split. The LA Renegades were automatically promoted by winning the NA Challenger Series.

A total of three teams, Team Coast, Team 8, and Gravity Gaming sold their NA LCS spots, all to new esports organizations that had been created for the sole purpose of being in the LCS. Team Coast sold their spot to NRG eSports,[3] Team 8 sold their spot to Immortals,[4] and Gravity's spot was sold to Echo Fox.[5] Team Impulse had announced their intentions to sell their spot,[6] but failed to do so prior to the original deadline deadline.[7] However, after the Spring Split, Team Impulse managed to sel it's spot to Phoenix1 just before the start of the Summer Split.[8]

Spring

Teams and rosters
Teams Roster
Top Jungle Mid Bot Support
Counter Logic Gaming Darshan Xmithie Huhi Stixxay Aphromoo
Team SoloMid Hauntzer Svenskeren Bjergsen Doublelift YellOwStaR
Team Dignitas BillyBoss Kirei Shiphtur Apollo KiWiKiD
Cloud9 Balls Rush Jensen Sneaky Bunny FuFuu
Hai
Team Liquid Lourlo Dardoch FeniX Piglet Matt
Immortals Huni Reignover Pobelter WildTurtle Adrian
Echo Fox kfo Hard Froggen Keith Big
NRG Esports Impact Moon GBM Altec KonKwon
Renegades Seraph
RF Legendary		 Crumbzz Alex Ich
Ninja		 Freeze
Ohq		 Hakuho
Remi
Team Impulse Feng Proxin Pirean Mash Gate

Regular season
Pos Team W L Pts Qualification
1 Immortals 17 1 16 Advance to semifinals
2 Counter Logic Gaming 13 5 8
3 Cloud9 12 6 6 Advance to quarterfinals
4 Team Liquid 10 8 2
5 NRG Esports† 9 9 0
6 Team SoloMid 9 9 0
7 Echo Fox 6 12 −6 No qualification for playoffs
8 LA Renegades 5 13 −8 Promotion tournament
9 Team Impulse 5 13 −8
10 Dignitas 4 14 −10 Regulated to NA CS
Source: [9]

† NRG Esports won the tiebreaker over Team SoloMid due to head-to-head matchup in the regular season.

Playoffs

The 2016 NA LCS Spring finals saw a rematch of the previous split's finals between Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming.[10] The finals were played in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.[11]

Bracket
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
      RS1 Immortals 0  
  RS3 Cloud 9 1     QF1 Team SoloMid 3    
  RS6 Team SoloMid 3         1 Counter Logic Gaming 3
      2 Team SoloMid 2
      RS2 Counter Logic Gaming 3    
  RS4 Team Liquid 3     QF2 Team Liquid 2   Third place match
  RS5 NRG eSports 0   4 Team Liquid 0
  3 Immortals 3

Summer

Teams and rosters
Teams Roster
Top Jungle Mid Bot Support
Counter Logic Gaming Darshan Xmithie Huhi Stixxay Aphromoo
Team SoloMid Hauntzer Svenskeren Bjergsen Doublelift Biofrost
Cloud9 Impact Meteos Jensen Sneaky Bunny FuFuu
Team Liquid Lourlo Dardoch FeniX Piglet Matt
Immortals Huni Reignover Pobelter WildTurtle Adrian
Echo Fox kfo Hard Froggen Keith Big
NRG Esports Quas Santorin GBM Ohq KiWiKiD
Team Apex Ray Diamondprox Keane Shrimp Xpecial
Team Envy Seraph Proxcin Ninja LOD Hakuho
Phoenix1 Zig Inori Pirean Mash Gate

Regular season
Pos Team W L Pts Qualification
1 Team SoloMid 17 1 16 Advance to semifinals
2 Immortals 16 2 14
3 Cloud9 12 6 6 Advance to quarterfinals
4 Counter Logic Gaming 10 8 2
5 Team Liquid 9 9 0
6 Team Envy† 8 10 −2
7 Apex Gaming 8 10 −2 No qualification for playoffs
8 Phoenix1 5 13 −8 Promotion tournament
9 NRG Esports 4 14 −10
10 Echo Fox 1 17 −16 Regulated to NA CS
Source: [12]

† Team Envy won the tiebreaker over Apex Gaming due to head-to-head matchup in the regular season.

Playoffs
The playoff stage for the third place match between Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming.

The summer finals were held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the first time an NA LCS match had been played outside of the United States.[13]

Bracket
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
      RS2 Immortals 2  
  RS3 Cloud9 3     QF1 Cloud9 3    
  RS6 Team Envy 1         2 Cloud9 1
      1 Team SoloMid 3
      RS1 Team SoloMid 3    
  RS4 Counter Logic Gaming 3     QF2 Counter Logic Gaming 0   Third place
  RS5 Team Liquid 1   3 Immortals 3
  4 Counter Logic Gaming 2

Regional finals
  Round 1 Round 2 Finals
                        
    CP3 Immortals 1
    CP4 Cloud9 3     R2 Cloud9 3
CP5 Team Liquid 0     R1 Team Envy 0  
CP6 Team Envy 3

References
  1. Volk, Pete (April 25, 2017). "NA LCS MVP: Updated winners list". The Rift Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  2. Erzberger, Tyler (January 15, 2016). "NA LCS offseason report cards — CLG survives, NRG rises". ESPN.
  3. "Sacramento Kings co-owners buy LCS spot, recruit GBM, Impact". Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  4. "Team 8 has sold its LCS spot". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  5. "NBA legend Rick Fox buys pro League of Legends team". Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  6. LeJacq, Yannick. "League Of Legends Team Is Selling Its Spot In Next Year's Championship Series". Kotaku. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  7. "Tempo Storm came close to buying Team Impulse's LCS spot". Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  8. "Phoenix1 replaces Team Impulse, picks up Gate, Mash, Slooshi, and more". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  9. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2016.
  10. Wolf, Jacob (January 9, 2016). "Every North American LCS team, and how they should stack up this season". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  11. "NA LCS spring finals to be held in Vegas". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  12. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2016.
  13. Erzberger, Tyler (June 6, 2016). "The NA LCS summer finals head to Toronto". ESPN. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
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