'League of Legends': LCS Spring Finals Venue Announced, Riot Games Is "Trying Something New"

The date and location for the NA LCS Spring Finals has been set with North America's best League of Legends teams converging in St. Louis in April, but the event will only feature the top two teams of the split instead of several competing for third and fourth place.

Riot Games announced that the LCS Spring Finals would take place on April 13th with games starting at 1 p.m. PST, though only two teams will be competing on stage. In a post explaining why the Spring Finals will only decide the first and second-place teams, Riot Games said it was trying something new this year to make sure the match is as climactic as possible.

"This year, we're trying something new with Spring Finals," head of NA esports Chris "Chopper" Hopper said. "We're going to be removing the 3rd/4th place match, and will only have the top two teams in North America competing for the title of Spring Split Champion and the right to play at MSI. While there's certainly been some great moments in 3rd/4th place matches of year past, it's also provided some underwhelming matchups and diminished fan interest due to the lower stakes."

Hopper said it's not a certainty that the third and fourth-place matches won't make a return in the Spring Finals, though the Rioter doubted it would ever happen.

"We want to focus Spring Split on the championship match (and determining the MSI representative) and otherwise try to free up time and space to do more fun activations for the fans," the Rioter said. "We're still planning the conclusion to our Summer Split, but it's more likely that we would play a 3rd/4th Place game then to help rank teams for Worlds and the Regional Qualifier (and when fan interest is far greater)."

There is an event that's being planned for the Spring Finals that Riot Games referred to as a "fan fest" where the League of Legends community can meet with professional players, teams, and others. A venue for that event hasn't been decided on yet, though more information is expected to come soon.

Details on ticket information for the NA LCS Spring Finals will be shared on February 25th, Riot Games said.