The League of Legends Japan League (LJL) is the top level of professional League of Legends competition in Japan.[2][3][4] The league franchised prior to start of the 2019 season and had eight teams under partnership (which became six in 2024).[1]
 | |
| Game | League of Legends |
|---|---|
| First season | 2014 |
| Owner(s) | Riot Games Japan PlayBrain |
| Motto | "Reforge as One" |
| No. of teams | 12–16 (regular season) 6 (LJL Finals) |
| Countries | Japan |
| Most recent champion(s) | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Gaming (2nd title) |
| Most titles | DetonatioN FocusMe (16 titles) |
| Qualification | Franchise partnership(2019–2024)[1] Open qualifiers (2025–present) |
| TV partner(s) | Twitch |
| Promotion to | League of Legends Championship Pacific (2025–present) |
| Official website | jp |
Before 2024, the spring and summer champions qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship respectively.[5] However, in 2024, the top three teams from each LJL split were seeded into the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) playoffs and competed with other PCS teams for a chance to represent the larger region at international events; LJL teams would no longer qualify directly to MSI and Worlds. Since 2025, the LJL is a second division to the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP).
Each annual season of play is divided into three splits, Forge, Storm and Ignite, which then conclude a with playoff tournament known as the LJL Finals. The winner of the LJL Finals qualifies for the LCP Promotion Tournament for the opportunity to qualify for the Asia-Pacific tier one league.
Format
editRegular Season
editOpen Qualifiers
edit- Prior to each split, up to sixty-four teams participate in open qualifiers
- Depending on the number of teams entered, up to eight groups of eight are held, single round robin best-of-ones
- The top sixteen teams compete in a single elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-threes
- Depending on how many spots need to be filled, loser's playoffs will be held after the qualifying round, also best-of-threes, to determine the remaining spots
Forge
edit- The best teams from the prior season still existing (plus the remaining open qualifier teams) participate in a sixteen-team Swiss stage
- All rounds in the Swiss stage are best-of-ones, with the prior season's best teams seeded ahead of the open qualifier teams
- The best eight teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
Storm
edit- Top eight teams from open qualifiers plus top 4 from the Forge split participate in a "Storm Swiss" stage, consisting of best-of-ones
- After the second round, the best 1-1 team is placed into the 2-0 group, with the worst 1-1 team being placed in the 0-2 group
- The best six teams (all teams in the 2-0 group and winners of the 1-1 group) advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
- The winners of the 2-0 group earn a bye to the semi-finals
Ignite
edit- Top eight teams from open qualifiers plus top 4 from the Storm split participate in a "Bounty" stage, lasting 6 rounds and consisting of best-of-ones
- Teams earn 10 points plus triple the number of wins of their opponent per win (maximum of 25 points) and 4 points per loss
- After each round, the lowest-ranked teams choose their opponents for the next round
- The best six teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
- The top 2 teams on points earn a bye to the semi-finals
LJL Finals
edit- The top six teams in championship points, earned from the regular season, participate in the LJL Finals
- Winner qualifies for the League of Legends Championship Pacific Promotion Playoffs and has a chance of entering the LCP as a guest team.
Teams
editNotable
editAs of 2025 season:
| Team | ID |
|---|---|
| AXIZ Crest | AXC |
| Burning Core | BC |
| Sengoku Gaming | SG |
| V3 Esports | V3 |
Former
editPast seasons
edit| Year | Split | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Winter | Rascal Jester | Ozone Rampage | Okinawan Tigers |
| Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Rascal Jester | Ozone Rampage | |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | Ozone Rampage | Rascal Jester | |
| Grand Final | DetonatioN FocusMe | Rascal Jester | ||
| 2015 | Season 1 | DetonatioN FocusMe | DetonatioN RabbitFive | 7th heaven |
| Season 2 | Ozone Rampage | DetonatioN FocusMe | 7th heaven | |
| Grand Final | DetonatioN FocusMe | Ozone Rampage | ||
| 2016 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Rampage | Unsold Stuff Gaming |
| Summer | Rampage | DetonatioN FocusMe | 7th heaven | |
| 2017 | Spring | Rampage | DetonatioN FocusMe | Unsold Stuff Gaming |
| Summer | Rampage | DetonatioN FocusMe | 7th heaven | |
| 2018 | Spring | Pentagram | DetonatioN FocusMe | Unsold Stuff Gaming |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | Unsold Stuff Gaming | PENTAGRAM | |
| 2019 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Unsold Stuff Gaming | Crest Gaming Act |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | V3 Esports | Crest Gaming Act | |
| 2020 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | V3 Esports |
| Summer | V3 Esports | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | |
| 2021 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | V3 Esports | Rascal Jester |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | Rascal Jester | AXIZ | |
| 2022 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | Rascal Jester |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | Fukuoka SHG | |
| 2023 | Spring | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | FENNEL Fukuoka SHG |
| Summer | DetonatioN FocusMe | Fukuoka SHG | Sengoku Gaming | |
| 2024 | Spring | Fukuoka SHG | DetonatioN FocusMe | V3 Esports |
| Summer | Fukuoka SHG | DetonatioN FocusMe | Sengoku Gaming | |
| 2025 | Forge | |||
| Storm | ||||
| Ignite | ||||
| LJL Finals |
Notes
edit- ^ DetonatioN FocusMe's sister team.
- ^ Formerly Rampage,
- ^ a b Merged to AXIZ Crest in December 2023.
- ^ Announced as a partner team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024.
- ^ Announced as a guest team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024.
References
edit- ^ a b Torres, Xander (25 December 2018). "LJL announces new franchises, schedule, and prize pool for 2019". VPEsports. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Wong, Joe (18 January 2019). "Riot Games finds two new organising partners for League of Legends Japan League". Esports Insider. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (27 February 2019). "PlayBrain raises $1.9 million for League of Legends esports events in Japan". VentureBeat. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Murray, Trent (27 February 2019). "Japanese Tournament Organizer PlayBrain Raises $1.9M Seed Round Led by BITKRAFT". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Kim, Alice (10 August 2017). "League of Legends – Japan League". Esports.net.