The EU LCS 2018 Summer Playoffs will return to Spain this September, with the top teams in Europe doing battle to claim a place at Worlds.
The Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid will play host to the event—the same venue that hosted the game’s Spring Playoffs in the 2015 season. In 2015 Fnatic defeated Unicorns of Love in a five-game final, with SK Gaming, Copenhagen Wolves, H2k-Gaming, and Gambit also in attendance.
The teams who make it will play over two days, Sept. 8 & 9, competing for the title. The winner of the Summer Playoffs will claim a spot in the 2018 League of Legends World Championships main event, while the rest will have to hope championship points are enough to either win them a spot or get them to the Regional Finals.
Worlds this year is returning to Korea for the first since 2014, so Spain isn’t the only country getting a welcome return visit.
The Spring Playoffs may not have any direct bearing on the Summer Playoffs, but they do give a good indication of the teams in the mix. It’s another good omen for Fnatic too—not only did they win the last Playoffs in Spain, they won the most recent edition as well. They claimed the title over G2 Esports with a comfortable 3-0 win in Denmark.
The 2018 Summer Playoffs are also the last before franchising takes hold in the European LCS, so could be a factor in teams deciding whether or not to bid for a spot in the lucrative league.
