For the past few seasons, players have viewed League of Legends‘ North American competitive scene as one of the weakest. Many top-level players agree, including former pro-player, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, with several current pro players blaming NA’s infamous Solo Queue. Notorious for its long queue times, low competitive spirit and one-trick ponies, top-level players have complained for some time that the High Elo experience is painful and tedious. Riot Games hopes to improve this with the latest release of Champion’s Queue, a privately run tournament set to foster NA talent.
Active only during certain times, Champion’s Queue is an officially run, competitive match-making experience hosted through a private Discord server. Players have to apply to join, with pro players getting immediate access. Furthermore, all players are required to pass a behavior check, with rules regarding toxicity within the games. With a massive prize pool as an incentive, Riot Games hopes that Champion’s Queue will solve the multiple issues plaguing NA’s Solo Queue, including poor behavior and even worse competitive drive.
Separate from League of Legends‘ Solo Queue, the main reason behind Champion’s Queue is to foster NA talent. Over the last few seasons, the North American esports scene has become extremely watered down. Most of their competitive players originate from other regions, such as Europe, so much so that NA esports has become known as a “retirement home” for EU pro players among the League of Legends‘ fan base. The intention of introducing Champion’s Queue is to fix this by potentially bolstering NA’s esports scene with fresh talent, acting as a scouting ground for players. However, this is not the first time Riot has attempted to improve North America’s competitive scene.
Riot pushed the search for new talent by introducing Scouting Grounds in the past. However, this proved inefficient compared to importing. Fortunately, Riot Games seems to have learned from their errors, and Champion’s Queue has all the potential to save the NA region. Unlike Scouting Grounds, Champion’s Queue mixes up-and-coming talent with established veterans, allowing newer players to receive competitive advice and tips from experienced pro players. Mingling these high-level players with well-known pros also enables scouts to understand how the players work in a more professional environment, which should help recruiters identify potential talent.
Another important outcome from the implementation of Champion’s Queue is that high-skill players that missed out due to ill behavior may be incentivized to improve their mentality moving forwards. With Riot Games constantly looking for ways to reward positive attitudes, it’s almost guaranteed that this won’t be the last tournament the company hosts that requires players to pass a behavior check. The League of Legends community has a nasty reputation for unsportsmanlike behavior, especially in High Elo, where players are likely to come across one another more frequently. It’s not uncommon for people to take revenge by intentionally ruining games. Hopefully, Champion’s Queue will provide enough incentive for poor sports to reflect on their attitude moving forwards.
Despite the lack of success with Scouting Grounds, it seems Riot Games may have finally found the answer to save North America’s competitive scene. Along with an incentive for gamers to play well and maintain sportsmanlike behavior, Champion’s Queue could be the catalyst that propels North America into becoming a dominating competitive presence.
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