Riot Games, in partnership with TJ Sports, has announced the World Star Challengers Invitational (WSCI) — a new international League of Legends tournament that will elevate the Tier 2 scene to a global level. The competition will run from September 20 to October 2. According to sources, the tournament is planned to be held in South Korea, which will allow all participants to compete under equal ping conditions.
The tournament will feature the classic format used in early World Championships: 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four. The group stage will be played in a Double Round-Robin Best-of-1 format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the playoffs. The knockout stage will feature Best-of-5 series. For the draw, teams will be seeded into three pools with strict rules: a single group cannot contain more than two teams from the same region, and representatives from the first and second pools of the same region cannot cross paths at this stage.
Each region was given the freedom to independently determine its qualification system. The distribution of the 16 slots and the currently confirmed participants are as follows:
- EMEA (3 slots): The participation of former EMEA Masters champions — Galions and Solary — has been officially confirmed. The third slot will be decided through a closed mini-qualifier.
- China (3 slots): The academy rosters of EDward Gaming Youth and Bilibili Gaming Junior have already qualified from the LDL.
- South Korea (3 slots): The region will be represented by three teams from the LCK CL.
- Americas (3 slots): One representative each from the NACL, LRN/LRS, and Brazil's Circuito Desafiante (the Brazilian slot was automatically awarded to Vivo Keyd Stars Academy as the best academy team in the league).
- APAC (3 slots): The PCS, LJL, and VCS leagues will delegate one team each.
- Additional slot: The sixteenth spot went to the 2026 Asia Masters champions, Dplus Challengers.
Integrating the tournament into an already packed competitive calendar has revealed some logistical issues. The WSCI dates overlap with the EMEA Masters schedule, which may force organizers to shift the European competition's timetable. A similar scheduling conflict threatens Brazil's top Tier 2 teams, who risk missing the WSCI qualifiers due to their participation in the CBLOL Promotion tournament. Despite these challenges, Riot Games is considering making the WSCI an annual event, potentially adjusting its placement in the calendar for future seasons.
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