Hero image: LoL Esports APAC 2027 Structure. Image: Riot Games, via LoL Esports
From 2027, every LCP team starts each split back in its domestic league. Wild Card regions keep a path in, and Oceania’s route runs through the Promotion Series, so the missing details matter here.
Riot has announced a new structure for the League of Legends Championship Pacific. In a post on LoL Esports on 21 September, it confirmed that from 2027 all teams will begin each split at the domestic level, in the PCS, VCS and LJL. The best of them then qualify for the LCP, which becomes the bracket stage for the region.
If you follow Oceanic League, this is the paragraph that matters. Riot says “the Wild Card regions will continue to have a path into the LCP”. Slot distribution and format are still to come “in the coming months”. There is also a line aimed at local organisers. Anyone who wants to run a Wild Card tournament that connects directly to the LCP can “look out for application details soon”.
Right now, the Wild Card path runs through the Promotion Series. Oceania’s current entry is Team Gromp, who won FLASH Oceania at Fortress Melbourne to earn the spot. Riot says teams that earn promotion or defend their place in “the upcoming Promotion Series” will receive Regional Global Revenue Pool money in 2027, and that a spot in the LCP carries “a direct share of the GRP”.
Under the current system, domestic teams get one chance a year to reach the LCP, and only one or two teams from each league get to compete for promotion. From 2027, every team in the PCS, VCS and LJL can qualify each split. Teams that go on to reach global events will also be eligible for Global Event GRP.
The other big change is where teams live. Riot concedes it was “costly for teams that had to relocate to Taipei”. From 2027 they can move home, which Riot hopes will cut operating costs and put players closer to fans and family.
Some things stay put. The LCP remains the top level of competition in the region and the only route for APAC teams into global events. Riot’s post also points to its record so far. It cites a peak of nearly 500,000 viewers for the 2025 LCP Mid Season Finals, and CTBC Flying Oyster reaching the top 8 at Worlds 2025.
So what should you do with this? Keep an eye on the LCP’s X account for the Wild Card slot numbers and the application details for Wild Card tournaments. Those details will show what the road to the LCP looks like for Oceanic teams in 2027.
Source: LoL Esports – A More Open LCP Ecosystem in 2027, LCP on X – announcement