The Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), the European Regional League for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, has gained an additional spot in the Amazon European (EU) Masters.
After moaning about the lack of a third NLC seed for what seems like eternity, Riot Games has finally given the UK and Nordics LoL scene a third spot in the EU Masters.
The NLC previously had one Main Stage spot and one Play-ins spot in the EU Masters, and now it will have two Main Stage spots and one Play-ins spot.
But that spot had to come from somewhere, and it’s been taken from the Greek Legends League (GLL).
The GLL will still have two spots overall, but now they will be two Play-ins spots, rather than one Main Stage and one Play-ins. Their additional Play-ins spot came from the Ultraliga, which now has two Main Stage slots and one Play-ins slot, down from two Main Stage and two Play-ins spots in Spring 2022.
The Play-ins stage at EU Masters features 16 teams lower-seeded teams (four of which eventually make it through to the Main Stage), while the top 12 teams from across the ERLs will go straight to the Main stage.
Riot Games made the announcement today in this EU Masters Summer 2022 post on the LoL esports website.
“We’ve made some minor changes to the slot distribution for this Summer’s EU Masters, after reviewing each ERL’s performance from previous seasons following Spring 2022.”
Riot Games
The dates for EU Masters Summer 2022 have also been confirmed. The play-ins group stage will get underway on August 24th to 25th, and the knockouts will take place on August 27th.
Then, the Main Stage will begin on August 29th 2022, with the quarter finals running from September 15th to 18th, the semi-finals from September 21st to 22nd and the grand finals will conclude the tournament on September 25th.
LFL French org Karmine Corp have won the past three EU Masters tournaments in a row, with NLC teams reaching the finals last year, and NLC teams X7 and Bifrost reaching the top eight in the Spring 2022 EU Masters.
You can see the readjusted slot distribution below:
NEW:
- LFL: 2 Main Stage slots, 2 Play-ins slots
- Ultraliga: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- Prime League: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- Superliga: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- NLC: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- EBL: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins slot
- PG Nationals: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins slot
- GLL: 2 Play-ins spots
- LPLOL: 2 Play-ins slots
- Hitpoint Masters: 2 Play-ins slots
- Elite Series: 2 Play-ins slots
OLD:
- LFL: 2 Main Stage slots, 2 Play-ins slots
- Ultraliga: 2 Main Stage slots, 2 Play-ins slots
- Prime League: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- Superliga: 2 Main Stage slots, 1 Play-ins slot
- NLC: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins slot
- EBL: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins slot
- PG Nationals: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins slot
- GLL: 1 Main Stage slot, 1 Play-ins
- LPLOL: 2 Play-ins slots
- Hitpoint Masters: 2 Play-ins slots
- Elite Series: 2 Play-ins slots
More recent NLC news: Emenes benched by JD XL as Mrozku steps in as new NLC mid-laner
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.
