The LEC in League of Legends is the gathering place of the best teams in Europe. There are only 10 spots and these must be purchased by the organizations. Now, LoL is set to host a tournament where additional teams can participate without a Twitch streamer having to spend a ton of money.
What kind of tournament is this? Typically, several splits of the LEC take place throughout the year. These splits are individual tournaments such as the Winter or Spring Split. Now, according to sheepesports.com, Riot wants to host a kickoff tournament instead of the 2026 Winter Split.
This tournament is supposed to allow all 10 LEC teams and two additional teams to compete. One of the two new teams is Los Ratones, the team of Twitch streamer Caedrel. The second team is expected to be the winners of the EMEA Masters 2025 Summer (European Championship), which will run until November 2, 2025.
Why should the Twitch streamer pay 20 million? Since the LEC is a franchise, organizations and teams like Fnatic, where the second “Demon King” plays, must buy a slot.
In an interview, Caedrel spoke about the system. He said that he would definitely not pay 20 million for a spot in the LEC. While he would be thrilled to participate, it simply does not make financial sense for him. Although his team has won the European Championship twice in a row, they were not allowed to compete in the LEC without paying.
Fans are excited about the tournament
What do fans say about the news? Under the Reddit post about the news, some fans are excited about the new tournament. Gazskull writes that it is freaking awesome and that the LEC and ERL (EMEA Regional League) need exactly this. He doesn’t believe it will be perfect at the start but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
Fan looks forward to Los Ratones against the LEC: Another Reddit user is really excited to see Caedrel’s team compete against the LEC teams. He especially highlights two specific matches: Los Ratones against G2 Esports, which are among the best teams in Europe and multiple LEC winners, and finally Los Ratones against Karmine Corp, where the wonder kid of LoL plays as ADC. SsibalKiseki further states that it will be a huge gain for the LEC and viewership.
Before the new kickoff tournament starts, Caedrel and his team must first face the 5-time world champion, Faker, and the German streamer NoWay. In the Red Bull League of Its Own 2025, they will go head-to-head once more in the SAP Garden in Munich: A year ago, Faker lost to the girlfriend of a Twitch streamer, now the 5-time world champion in LoL gets a chance for revenge.
