Champions Queue, an exclusive alternative version of League of Legends solo queue for high-level players, will be launching on Feb. 7, according to a recent announcement from Riot Games.
“Conducted through an invite-only Discord server, Champions Queue provides automatic lobby creation, player invites, comms channels and match result reporting, all held on a Tournament Realm that runs alongside the live patch,” Riot said.
Champions Queue will only be accessible to top North American League players via a West Coast server. Players from the LCS, the LCS Academy, the Liga Latinoamérica (LLA), and the top 16 North American amateur teams will have access to Champions Queue when it launches later this week. “A handful of recent LCS alumni,” will also be able to compete in Champions Queue, according to Riot.
Riot intends to explore the option of implementing an application process for Champions Queue that would be open to players ranked in the Master tier and above at a later date.
Champions Queue will only be open for players to compete in during certain hours of the day, with a focus on teams’ scrimmage matches dictating the windows of availability. Players will only be able to access Champions Queue between 6pm and 1am each day, with the window being open from 10am to 1am on Mondays in particular, according to Riot.
Champions Queue will hold two separate seasons—one in the spring and one in the summer. Each of those seasons will be broken down into three splits, with each split lasting approximately one month. Champions Queue will feature a $400,000 prize pool spread out over the seasonal format, according to Riot.
The first season of Champions Queue will begin on Feb. 7. League fans will be able to track their favorite players’ progress via the Champions Queue hub at Lolesports.com.
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more esports news and analysis.
