League of Legends LCK Could Resume by End of March
The LCK has been indefinitely suspended, thanks to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. The European LEC and North America’s LCS has also followed suit. But according to a report by ESPN’s Tyler Erzberger, the LCK may be resuming by the end of March.
Stopping the Spread
February 5 had both the Lunar New Year celebration and the beginning of LCK action, however, without a studio audience. The league was taking several precautions to make certain that the spread of COVID-19 was not continuing. Facemasks and hand sanitizer was used regularly. Microphone equipment was also covered, for the safety of the players. That of course, comes first.
“Due to the on-growing Corona19 epidemic, to ensure the safety of the members of the league, we have decided to have the LCK and Challengers Korea go on an indefinite hiatus,” Riot told Inven Global on March 2. “Currently, we do not have a set return date and will keep a close eye on the epidemic to choose the appropriate date of return.”
If all goes according to their plan, the LCK will be resuming soon enough. It may not be ideal, with the Mid-Season Invitational looming on the horizon, but it’s better than no League at all. There have been over 8,000 cases of COVID-19 in Korea, but only 75 deaths. The rate of infection has slowed down significantly in South Korea, as they put testing as a top priority.
As of the league’s suspension, Gen.G was standing mightily on top with their 8-1 record. T1 and DragonX are close behind, though, with 7-2 records each. The winner of the 2020 LCK spring season advances on to the Mid-Season Invitational. As of right now, the League of Legends World Championships is still slated to take place later this year in China.
What Happened to Other Regions?
China’s LPL was postponed for several weeks but resumed with online matches only. That started up last week and will continue for five weeks, the Best-of-3 matches taking place every day. The English broadcast of the matches also resumed yesterday. Due to how COVID-19 hit Korea, though, the LCK had to be postponed longer.
However, LCS and LEC matches are still being postponed, due to coronavirus concerns. The number of cases in Europe and the United States continues to climb in the past week. The United States has over 3,000 cases, and Germany (where the LEC is held) has over 4,800, which is a serious number. In the coming days, we’re sure more information will be available on what other regions will do. As soon as we know, you can be sure that you will as well.
Is it possible for the teams to still compete for five weeks before the Spring Split playoffs? It’s possible, but I cannot imagine how stressful and busy it will be. Thankfully, the Mid-Season Invitational was pushed back to July, so there’s still room to maneuver and for players to get their online matches in.
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