Of the eight teams that launched the EU LCS in 2013, only two still play in Europe's top league under their own name: Fnatic and SK Gaming. Everything else has changed — the name of the league, its formats, its teams, even the borders of the region. Here is how it went from eight teams playing best-of-ones to a twelve-team hybrid tournament opening the 2026 season.
2013–2018: The EU LCS years
Riot launched the EU LCS in 2013 — eight teams, two splits per year, promotion and relegation through the Challenger Series. Three teams were seeded directly via the Season 2 European Regionals (SK Gaming, and CLG.EU, the latter two soon rebranded and ); the other five came through qualifiers — including Fnatic. Already world champion in 2011,
