Full details of the revamped European League of Legends tournament have been revealed – and several teams in the UK scene will be taking part.
As reported by Esports News UK back in early 2017, ESL UK has had plans to host an esports tournament at the revamped Haymarket Theatre – which has a capacity of 900 – for a while now.
Now Riot Games has confirmed that the new European Masters tournament – which replaces the old EU Challenger Series – will have its semi finals and grand finals at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester on April 28th and 29th.
ESL will be producing the tournament, and Esports News UK has heard that official Riot Games casters will be on hand to provide commentary and analysis.
Four teams from the UK League of Legends esports season will be taking part in the tournament: excel Esports (who qualify as reported by ENUK after winning the Autumn 2017 ESL Prem), Wind and Rain (WAR, from the 2017 Challenger Series), plus the winner and runner-up from next week’s ESL Spring Prem 2018 finals (either Enclave or Misfits Academy, as exceL and WAR have already qualified).
There will be 26 teams competing overall for a share of the €150,000 prize pool. Teams will be from every European Regional League, including the ESL UK & Ireland Prem, the ESL Meisterschaft (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and so on.
“We can’t wait to kick off the first ever European Masters tournament and see just how much excitement, anticipation and salt there will be as countries collide”
Riot Games
There will also be Open Qualifier winners from EUW and EUNE, and a few teams from the previous Challenger Series, like Origen, as well as the six European Regional League (ERL) winners from summer 2017.
Play-in runs from April 9th to 12th, group stages take place from April 14th to 17th, while the playoffs get underway on April 19th and end on April 22nd. Then the finals will take place at Leicester’s Haymarket Theatre on April 28th and 29th.
The £3m Haymarket Theatre revamp was given the green light in April 2017, and ESL and Haymarket Theatre hinted at some kind of esports tournament in September 2017.
Riot Games said in an announcement post: “Get your browsers, flags and saltiest memes ready for the newest chapter of European regional competition – Riot is teaming up with ESL to bring out the fiercest EU rivalries in the European Masters.
“We can’t wait to kick off the first ever European Masters tournament and see just how much excitement, anticipation and salt there will be as countries collide. Who will become the masters of Europe?”
Full info including ticketing details will be revealed soon.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
