LEC Winter 2026 may expand to 12 teams and include Los Ratones

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 02/10/2025

UK-based League of Legends esports organisation Los Ratones, created by Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont, could be in the LEC next year.

That’s according to reports from Sheep Esports, who claim that Riot Games is looking to expand LEC Winter from 10 teams to 12.

This unprecedented change would see two ERL teams join the 10 LEC teams for a new 2026 ‘Kick Off’ event.

This new version of LEC Winter would invite the best-performing EMEA Masters team of the previous year and the EMEA Masters Summer champions.

Having already won two EMEA Masters trophies this year, Los Ratones are already locked in as this year’s strongest team.

Caedrel previously worried that Los Ratones may not exist in 2026.

Should Los Ratones win a third, their Summer Split finals opponent will also be temporarily promoted into the LEC.

One awkward scenario which could arise would be if GIANTX Pride, the academy roster of GIANTX, win the Summer Split.

This means that an ERL team could qualify for First Stand and compete internationally.

However, even if they did, that ERL team would not compete in the LEC for the rest of the season.

The Sheep Esports report claims the idea of having ERL teams compete directly with LEC teams for Worlds qualification was also discussed.

However, this was declined by LEC organisations, who argued it would devalue their guaranteed spots.

These changes are likely a way to shoehorn Los Ratones into the LEC and take advantage of their massive popularity.

It’s surprising that Riot hasn’t implemented the Ascension system from Valorant into League of Legends.

The Ascension tournament promotes teams into VCT EMEA with guest spots and a chance to extend their stay with good performances.

This would give ERL teams more purpose and LEC fans the excitement of new teams joining.

EMEA Director of League of Legends Esports comments on integrating EMEA Masters and LEC

Maximilian Peter ‘MAXtheX’ Schmidt, Director of League of Legends Esports in EMEA, talked with Sheep Esports about promoting EMEA Masters teams.

Caedrel has previously stated that Los Ratones would never pay the €20m for a permanent LEC spot.

Schmidt told Sheep Esports that he has held talks with Caedrel and Los Ratones:

“Just as I’ve been interacting with Karmine Corp, I’m also engaging with Los Ratones to understand their goals and what they want from the ecosystem, and how we can support that.

Guest spots are one potential way we approach this, and we’re considering different avenues to find a mutually beneficial solution without destabilising the ecosystem we’ve created.”

Schmidt also revealed that Riot wants to bring a better connection between the LEC and EMEA Masters:

“We’re very actively looking into ways to better integrate the ERL and EMEA Masters ecosystem with the LEC.”

“We’re aiming to create a more interconnected ecosystem for the entire region.”

Still, no changes for the LEC are currently official.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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