The Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL) has announced the format for its 2026 season, which will commence with a Winter Invitational, followed by the Spring and Summer splits.
The LFL Invitational, which officially kicks off on January 21st, will see 20 teams compete for two EMEA Masters spots. Moreover, two opportunities to be a part of the LFL’s regular season 10-team lineup for 2026 are up for grabs.
The opening tournament will feature seven LFL teams, eight teams from the second division, as well as three Game Changers teams. Karmine Corp Blue, the LPL’s eighth team, will not participate due to being involved in next year’s LEC Versus event.
Additionally, there will be two additional influencer teams: one named French Flair, led by G2 co-streamer Jean ‘Trayton‘ Medzadourian, and ZYB, built around Karmine Corp substitute player Yasin ‘Nisqy‘ Dinçer.
The LFL Invitational Format
The 20 teams will initially participate in a group stage featuring five groups of four teams each. Every group will have a mix of LFL teams, Division 2 teams, Game Changers lineups, and, where applicable, the two influencer teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to the next phase. Currently, no indication regarding the match format has been given.
The remaining 10 teams will then be placed into a single super group, where the second stage begins. This phase will determine the top six teams going to the playoffs, which will feature a double-elimination bracket, a common format used in the tier-one scene.
The top two teams from the super group will be placed in the upper bracket, while teams ranked third to sixth will start in the lower one.
At the end of the tournament, the two best non-LFL teams will be able to secure a slot in the European Regional Leagues (ERL) for the rest of the 2026 season and will compete in the following two splits. As a result, this marks a new entry point for teams to enter the tier-two scene, including Game Changers rosters.
The new season format comes shortly after Riot announced changes to its policies in the ERLs. This included removing the unified Locally Trained Representative (LTR) mandate and giving more leeway to every league for roster-building requirements, thus increasing overall regional autonomy.
