The Lock In tournament began on January 15 and concluded on January 31.[3]
The spring regular season began on February 5 and concluded on March 14. The Mid-Season Showdown, which replaced the spring playoffs, began on March 20 and concluded on April 11.[4] The summer regular season began on June 4 and concluded on August 1.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, Riot Games announced several major changes regarding the league's format. A new, 3-week preseason tournament titled the LCS Lock In was introduced. The top two teams from the previous season would be able to choose their opponents and play in group stage. Each group would play in a four-day Round Robin. The top four teams from each group would then be seeded into an eight-team, single-elimination bracket. The winner of the bracket would receive a cash prize of US$150,000, along with a US$50,000 donation to the charity of their choice.[6]
The regular season schedule was expanded to five games a day, across three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The spring playoffs was also replaced with the "Mid-Season Showdown".[7] While the playoff format is nearly identical to previous seasons, first seed must play fourth seed; side selection always goes to the team that most recently dropped from the upper bracket; and ties are now broken by seeding.[8] The winner of the Mid-Season Showdown would qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational. Standings and team records from the spring regular season would be continued into the summer regular season as opposed to resetting like previous seasons.[9]
In January 2021, the league rebranded its logo, featuring a new logo and refreshed visual identity.[10]
Broadcasting[]
The English broadcast is available on the LoL Esports website, as well as on Twitch and YouTube.[11] A Spanish broadcast was produced by the LCS team FlyQuest.[12]