Riot Games announces new Champions Queue for LCS and LLA pros

In November 2021, Riot Games teased some of the next steps they would take to improve the experience of pro players in Solo Queue after receiving criticism regarding the toxic nature and harassment received from other League of Legends players.

Now, after a long time of waiting and leading up to the start of the LCS 2022 Spring Split, the developers unveiled the launch of its new "Champions Queue" matchmaking initiative, designed for all of the best players from North America.

Riot Games launches new Champions Queue

In an official press release, Riot said: "With Champions Queue, we've created a productive tool that can have an immediate, positive impact on North American competition, built on feedback given by players, teams, coaches, analysts, the Player's Association and other direct stakeholders."

The Champions Queue will have similar behaviour to the famous Chinese Super Server, accessible only for pro players and top amateur talent from NA and Latin America.

Initially, the Champions Queue will be exclusive to players of the following leagues and groups:

• All LCS and Academy players
• All LLA players
• Top 16 NA Amateur Teams from both of the Spring Proving Grounds Qualifiers
• Recent LCS alumni

Outside of those groups, Riot will also provide a public application for other top players (Master and above) to assess opportunities in expanding their competitive offerings at the highest level.

A new competitive matchmaking experience opens for top North American players. Champions Queue launches February 7! #LCS

Learn more at: https://t.co/6xSqsRB7EWpic.twitter.com/mDcFZJwWqH

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) February 4, 2022

Aside from its exclusive nature, the Champions Queue will have an internal competition tournament with a $400,000 prize pool spread out across the new 2022 Champions Queue seasonal format.

During Champions Queue Seasons, the queue will be active daily between 6 pm - 1 am Pacific Time, as well as 10 am - 1 am PST on Monday, providing focused windows of competition built around pro player scrims. Similarly to the LCS schedule, Champions Queue will feature Spring and Summer Seasons, with three splits per season.

Each split will grant players points based on their final ranking on the competitive ladder. This ranking will reset each Season, and prizes will be awarded to the top points holders at the end of every split and again for the top players of each Season (based on cumulative points).

For all League of Legends' competitive season fans, a new web portal on lolesports.com will provide everything you need to know about Champions Queue, including the leaderboard, match history, player stats, and a Hall of Champions for decorated winners.

"We view Champions Queue as the latest evolution of high-level competitive systems that previously existed within our community," added Riot.

The first season of the Champions Queue is set to start on 7th February.

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games.