No LEC Versus in 2027, LEC commissioner confirms

The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) is scrapping LEC Versus for 2027, according to LEC Commissioner Artem Bykov. The winter tournament, which folded Tier 2 EMEA Regional League (ERL) teams into competition against LEC organizations for the first time since 2019, will not be brought back next year.

Commissioner Artem Bykov says no more LEC Versus

Speaking to Sheep Esports at the LEC 2026 Summer Finals in Nice, France, on Sept. 19, Bykov was asked directly whether fans should expect a repeat of the Versus format heading into winter. His answer was blunt: “We are not bringing LEC Versus back,” he said.

Bykov said the league is reverting to the classic 10-team LEC format for the winter period. He called this year’s Versus tournament a valuable experiment that helped validate blending Tier 2 talent into higher-stakes competition, adding that it paved the way for other events launched later in 2026, including the Esports World Cup (EWC) Qualifier.

Asked whether ERL teams might find another route into the LEC next year, Bykov said that isn’t currently planned either, pointing instead to other organizers, namely the newly announced World Star Challengers Invitational (WSCI), as evidence that Tier 2 competition is developing outside the LEC’s own ecosystem. He didn’t rule out revisiting the format down the line, but said his focus is on 2027 planning for the core LEC calendar.

Last year’s reception and adaptations

LEC Versus replaced the traditional Winter Split, and 2026 marked its only run. The format brought in two ERL sides, Karmine Corp Blue and Los Ratones, the influencer-led roster fronted by Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, to compete against the ten LEC partner organizations in a 12-team group stage, played as a single round-robin followed by a top-eight double-elimination bracket.

Los Ratones’ run became the breakout storyline, drawing on Caedrel’s crossover audience, before a tiebreaker elimination on the final group-stage day sent shockwaves through the community. G2 Esports won the title over Karmine Corp in a 3-2 grand final. Los Ratones has since disbanded.

LEC Versus viewership, Los Ratones dependence

Per Esports Charts, LEC 2026 Versus peaked at 734,933 viewers during the grand final, with 33.8 million hours watched, making it the eighth most-watched event in LEC history. Group-stage viewership climbed as high as 592,000 peak viewers, roughly matching 2025 Winter Split levels.

But once Los Ratones were eliminated, playoff viewership dropped 33%, falling to a 397,000 peak. Even so, only three tournaments in LEC history logged more total watch time, and Versus ranked among 2026’s top live esports events overall.

Thus, seeing how Los Ratones is no longer an active squad, this may have also contributed to the league’s decision to discontinue Versus.

Other opportunities for Tier 2 teams: WSCI

With LEC Versus gone, Bykov pointed to the WSCI as the clearest outlet left for Tier 2 talent. It brings 16 Tier 2 teams from five regions, China, Korea, APAC, the Americas and EMEA, into the first global Tier 2 event of its kind, running Sept. 20 through Oct. 2.

For now, Bykov’s message is that 2027 is about refining the LEC’s existing format, though he left the door open to revisiting Tier 2 integration “at some point.”