LCS Will Drop to 8 Teams in 2024 — Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses Exit
Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians have exited the League Championship Series. The 2024 LCS season will be the first to feature eight teams since the 2014 NA LCS season.
The news, which was first reported by Michael "Veteran" Archer, was confirmed today in an announcement by Riot Games President of Esports John Needham that was posted to the LCS Twitter account.
LCS 2024 Update - John Needham pic.twitter.com/CmnMmTfgxN
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) November 20, 2023
While the announcement states that the decision was made before free agency in an effort to give the players affected by the change time to find a new team for 2024, Eric “Licorice” Ritchie – the 2023 LCS Summer Split All-Pro top laner and 2023 LCS Most Improved Player – tweeted this morning that he had only just found out and that his plan was to play for Golden Guardians in 2024.
I received the news this morning that GG won’t be a part of the LCS next year
— Licorice (@Licorice) November 20, 2023
My plan for next year was to play for GG again so as of right now I don’t have a team and will likely not be a starter in the LCS next year, since remaining teams have all locked top laners afaik
Licorice also stated that he’d be unable to find a LCS team because all eight teams had already committed to top laners. Mo “Revenge” Kaddoura, who had the best split of his career last summer as the starting top laner for Evil Geniuses, has also confirmed he will be teamless for the 2024 LCS Spring Split.
What Teams Will Play in the LCS 2024?
- NRG
- Cloud9
- Team Liquid
- Dignitas
- 100 Thieves
- Shopify Rebellion
- FlyQuest
- Immortals
Seven teams from last year’s LCS are returning; Shopify Rebellion purchased the franchise slot previously held by TSM following the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Esports/gaming journalist since 2016. He's covered live competitive gaming events from coast to coast in the United States and is based in the esports epicenter of Los Angeles, CA. Over the better part of the last decade, he has developed a unique voice in the LoL Esports space as a columnist, built relationships with premiere organizations, told captivating stories through interviews and features and authored industry-shaking reports all the while maintaining razor-sharp understanding of the game at its competitive peak. He has published exclusively with Inven Global for four years and has been freelancing/writing independently since parting with the publication. If you need someone to tell a story, let's chat.